Tag Archives: lake

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Henry’s Lake

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imag0513_rattlesdenThree weeks before the start of the season, or before a long trip, the Sooty Van goes for a little run out to a local campsite near the house. A bit pointless, I hear you say, however it does give me a chance to test the van is OK, that the fridge, heating, water pump work and so on. I work on the basis that it’s easier to fix those things at home rather than in the wilds of Europe. The brakes completely failing in Vienna last year was a nightmare!

Normally I go to the Camping and Caravanning Club site at Polstead in Suffolk – about 30 miles from the house, it covers motorway, A roads and “twisties” so is ideal. However, they are setting minimum lengths of stay which does annoy me (shouldn’t I decide how long to stay, not have someone tell me?).

Enter Henry’s Lake run by Kate Henry. This is a C&CC Certificated Site occupying 5 out of 9 grass pitches at any one time to give them a bit of rotation. I have the whole site to myself in the Suffolk wilds and there is something quite relaxing about that. The van is performing well so is good to go for France, Germany and Belgium in three weeks.

We will be back here again, and may even do something with the Bambi Owners Club, a long weekend rally perhaps? The people who run the place are very friendly and it would make a great rally location for those wishing to get a bit of peace and quiet.

 

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Oil Leak

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Hmm… took the van out for a 30 mile run yesterday and noticed a patch of oil on the floor after it had been parked for an hour. It’s coming from either the front of the gearbox or somewhere near the back of the engine.

I hope it’s something simple like the rocker cover gasket or seals on the distributor. I don’t want to have to start rebuilding engines or gearboxes with less than 4 weeks to go until the trip.

There’s a pre-holiday weekend trip planned to Henry’s Lake in Suffolk for the 23rd/24th February to test that everything is OK, water pump works, fridge works, and so in. That’s less than a week away so the oil leak needs to be looked at today. Lucky the weather is nice and the sun is shining!

 

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Day 18: Des Grangettes

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It was always my desire to visit Montreux but there is no public transport from the campsite which complicates things a little. Google maps is my friend in this instance and tells me I can walk 3.5km to Villeneuve which is the nearest town. Villeneuve has a railway station and the line runs to Montreux.

When I got there the station was closed for lunch from 12:00 – 13:30 so I decided to check out the Istanbul Kebab House and relieve them of a Doner. By the time I’d eaten it, it was raining. I had no coat and couldn’t be arsed getting getting rained on waiting for the railway station to open so returned to base.

On the way back I got some shopping at the supermarket. 1.5kg bag of potatoes, 160g pack of boiled ham, and a Cornetto. Over 10 Swiss Francs, that’s nearly seven quid. This has to be the most expensive country in the world to live in!

I will forgive the Swiss though, because the country is clean and tidy, also the views are stunning. Sat in the van late afternoon, the sun came out again to light up the local landscape. From the window I can see Lake Geneva, Montreux and Lausanne.

Tomorrow I’ll make an early exit, around 8AM to head up to Troyes in Eastern France.

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Less than 3 weeks to go

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Less than 3 weeks to go until my grand tour of Europe in the Sooty van.  I’m currently finishing off some of the last jobs like the detailed route plans and rules for each country.  This now runs to some 22 pages and has taken a big chunk of the weekend to put together.

Time has gone quickly and I can’t believe there are less than three weeks to go.  I’ve now put bookings in for the last of the campsites, there are ten in total.  I’ve tried to book sites near to the centre of the City I’m visiting which has met with varied success.  Prague, for instance, is 15km out of town but Nuremberg is a short walk from the City centre.

The final dollops of currency have been ordered.  Fuel and campsites can be paid on the credit card but cash will be required for beers, souvenirs and maybe the odd gondola.  Would you believe that I need six different currencies?  To save you working them out it’s British Pounds, Euros, Czech Koruna, Polish Zloty, Croatian Kuna and Swiss Franc.

I’ve even bought a cheap clone of a dictaphone (remember them?) so I can make voice notes as I go along, otherwise I will forget things.

Anyway, all my paperwork is done and the van is in top shape complete with new welding and a replacement differential.  I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures of the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia with its turquoise lakes and stunning waterfalls.