I have been writing travel articles about noticing the small things recently and so when I came across this quote from Dr Seuss it hit the right note. As much as I love the mountains and the big wide skies and far-reaching views that walking in the mountains and fells provide, I do get as much enjoyment from those harder to see things and you are just as likely to find me searching the ground when I am walking, as well as admiring the view.
My eye sight has never been very good and I have worn specs all my life [apart from a few years as a teenager when I was too vain to wear them and missed a lot]. Consequently, bird watching isn’t a hobby I am very good at on my own; however, my hearing is still almost perfect. Fortunately, Mr BOTRA has eagle eyes [but poor hearing] and so together we make a great bird watching team as we have the senses required to spot birds and animals [learning to recognise more bird calls beyond the easy ones is on my list of skills to learn when paid work ends].
Fortunately flowers don’t move as much as birds and animals and so I get a lot of pleasure from finding beautiful flowers wherever we travel. I try to identify them, photograph them and occasionally very badly sketch them. The process of identification forces me to stop and really look at the detail of the plant I am interested in; the colour and number of petals, the shape of the leaves and check for any fragrance or hairs.
I have looked at apps for identification of plants but find these wanting and continue to use a book to identify plants, although I am still looking for a good wild flower key for southern Europe. I find sketches and diagrams easier to use for identification than photographs. Any recommendations would be welcome!
It takes really bad weather to keep us ‘van bound on a camping trip. We have good waterproof gear and our map reading skills can deal with low cloud and showers. But the recent weekend was as bad as it gets in the Lake District. Of course, we did get out for a walk on both days but Saturday was that atrocious combination of high winds and heavy rain that makes walking more of a chore than an enjoyable past time. We walked from the campsite for about an hour and a half and then filled the site drying room with our dripping gear.
Spending time reading and playing cards in the ‘van did give us chance to talk over some things in depth; we talked about work and no longer working and we shared our worst fears for our forthcoming retirement. What was interesting is that for two people who have been planning this retirement for at least the last six years [and actually for the last 30-years] our anxieties are very different.
My worries are all about our health. I fret that one of us will either not even live long enough to enjoy our retirement or only survive for a year or two in to retirement before dying. My alternative nightmare has one of us becoming too ill or infirm to take part in all the walking and cycling we want to spend our long retirement doing. I am optimistic [or naive] about our finances, sure that the sums are robust and that we’ll deal with any problems as they arise.
Mr BOTRA’s worries are mostly related to money; he is the more cautious one of the team. He is concerned that we haven’t budgeted correctly and we will run out of money before all our pensions kick in [not until 2026] and he worries that by finishing work he is closing off options to earn a few thousand extra that could be kept in the bank in case we want to move house, buy a new campervan or have some other emergency [of course we have a small contingency fund]. Having worked full-time for all his working life [apart from our gap year] he also has concerns about how his days will be filled without work, although he has no shortage of interests and ideas for things he wants to do.
While Mr BOTRA assures me that we will probably live a long and healthy retirement, I equally reassure him that he will soon wonder where he fitted in the time to go to work and that the spreadsheet doesn’t lie. These reassurances are important but equally important is to recognise and face the fears of your partner honestly so that you can work as a team to put things in place and [hopefully] stop these fears becoming reality.
The unbeatable sanitary facilities of Les Trois Vallées site near Lourdes
‘The sanitary facilities will be closed between 11.00 and 12.00 for cleaning’ is a familiar sign to anyone who has used a club campsite in the UK and this can be very irritating. Of course, I would be the first to complain if the toilets and showers were not in a spit-spot condition and [as a former Youth Hostel warden] I do understand how much easier the task of sanitising the conveniences is if there are no campers wandering in and out while you mop the floor. But, I am on holiday and don’t want to get up at the crack of dawn; after a leisurely breakfast it can often be 11.00 when I am hoping to use the ladies one last time before setting off on a walk and confronting one of these signs on the door is maddening.
All I am asking for is a little consideration for the paying guests, who, let us remember, keep the campsite in business. Good club sites will leave the disabled toilet open while they clean the main facilities and this is a welcome compromise; however, not all camp sites are run with this amount of thoughtfulness and I have stayed on at least one club site that has two sanitary blocks but will still close both for the full hour.
Away from club sites, there are many different approaches to how to get the toilets and showers clean after they have been used and abused by hot and sweaty campers. One solution, of course, is to not bother carrying out any cleaning at all, but these are few and far between and are not camp sites we stay at for more than one night, or return to for another holiday.
A lovely site on the Gargano peninsular in Italy used an industrial size hose pipe to vigorously sluice out the showers and toilets once a day. They did not close the facilities during this process, but you only used them at your own risk.
In Mediterranean countries, you also often see signs telling you that the facilities are closed between 04.00 and 05.00 and on one level this seems a good plan; the toilets can be cleaned while the campers are all fast asleep in their tents and campervans. However, I always feel concerned for the cleaners who have to work such unsociable hours. Presumably this works well in warmer climes as it enables the cleaning to take place before it gets too hot to care about polishing chrome and scrubbing tiles.
Another popular way for campsite owners to ensure their facilities are immaculate is to work around the campers, cleaning the sanitary blocks while they are in use. This can work satisfactorily, so long as either the site is not busy or they opt to get the mop and bucket out during a quieter period. One Polish campsite [charmingly called Camping 51] stands out for the impeccable state of its toilet and shower blocks, as the elderly female owner could be found cloth in one hand, bleach in the other at every hour of every day, dedicating her life to ensuring a germ-free environment. Her constant presence somewhere in the sanitary blocks caused Mr BOTRA to take up joyful whistling during his ablutions, to be sure that she knew he was there and avoid any possible embarrassing encounters.
One of the many reasons touring campsites in our campervan is fun is that every site is unique and has its own way of doing things but we do sometimes have to ask why. One beautiful campsite on Luneburg Heath in Northern Germany had spotless facilities that were open at all times, with one important exception; they closed and locked the dish-washing area at 20.00 each evening, not re-opening it until 07.00 the next day. As we don’t eat our evening meal until around 19.30 or later on holiday [and we are not alone in this] the choice was to either stack up the dishes for the next morning or rush to start the washing up as soon as the last forkful had been eaten. Not surprisingly, this often resulted in a very busy washing up area at 19.55 every evening, as everyone tried to beat the imposed curfew.
Restricted access with key pads and locks for the sanitary facilities is becoming more and more common at campsites in England. These provide endless opportunities for irritating the camper; with so many pin numbers to remember, keeping in mind the random selection of numbers and letters for the toilets has no chance of sticking in my mind and forgetting to take the key on a trip to the shower is an entertaining game we play..
Limiting access to the toilets can be understandable on a site with a footpath running through it or one that is next to an attraction or park. On other sites there is no excuse for keeping the toilets and showers under lock and key, I have stayed at sites with locked facilities where there is not even have a house within 500 metres and no passing pedestrians who might decide to spend a penny.
Some camp sites provide very specialist facilities and my favourite sign is one generally found on coastal and riverside sites in southern Europe, where they have a sink marked for fish washing only. Although I’ve never witnessed any actual fish washing, I am grateful to a site for providing these specific facilities; no one wants to wash their laundry in a sink where gutting and boning of the days catch has recently occurred.
Finally, I am sure there are two camps regarding the provision of piped music in campsite facilities and I am generally in the pro-camp. However, there are times when the melodies seem incongruous; I’m thinking now of a favourite camp site in Cortina in the peace of quiet of the Italian Dolomites which inexplicably played pan pipe music from South America on a continuous loop.
In the mountainous Ecrins the houses in the villages huddle together for warmth and companionship around a winding road, joined by steep narrow cobbled lanes and steps. The houses are built from rough stone with steep roofs and small windows. Typically, the windows have shutters and the traditional stone houses have a sort of wooden balcony for storing logs.
Above the village of La Grave the villages cling to the hillside, looking as if they could slide down at any time. Around the villages the pattern of the old farmed terraces can still be seen in the meadows. Each village has a church in a similar style and there are also stone wayside shrines on the roads between the villages, you might also find the communal oven and you will always find a water tap of fresh mountain water. As you climb higher the houses in these villages are less likely to be occupied all year round. In Le Grave we stayed at the wonderful Camping de la Meije just a few minutes from the village.
In Vallouise and Venosc we admired the sundials, including the beautiful 19th century Zarbula sundial on a magnificent villa in Vallouise. You can follow the Sundial trail through the region to find more.
We toured around the Ecrins National Park in an anti-clockwise direction over a couple of weeks and camped in five different valleys, each one having its own personality and each offering spectacular mountain walking. We used the Cicerone guide to the area for walks which has ideas for each valley.
We enjoyed all the walking but there are a couple of favourites worth mentioning. From Venosc we drove to the mountain village of La Berarde, walking 11 km to the Refuge du Chatelleret at 2,232 m and back with 520m of climbing. The route starts steeply and becomes more gentle along the valley on a pleasant sandy path with juniper and birch trees and plenty of flowers. Higher up the landscape become more rugged and with waterfalls and fewer shrubs adn the occasional snow field.
From Vallouise we drove to the large car park at Pre de Madame Carle and walked up the stunning and dramatic Glacier Noir path. More details about our trip are in my MMM article here.
You might enjoy my second post about where to see marmots in the Ecrins.
There was no one at reception & only one other camper so we left money in an envelope. This grassy site has some trees, the ground fairly hard, facilities clean & water hot. Small village with some shops but no bakery. Walks from the site.
Near the beautiful village & by the river, grassy site with trees, clean facilities, flowers & well maintained & good views. Roomy showers & very hot water, wash up undercover. An excellent site.
This large rambling site has great views. It is dotted with permanent erected tents & chalets. The new toilet blocks are good and pleasant reception area.
Le Champ du Moulin Camping, Le Bourg d-Arud near Venosc
Marked pitches, good views, friendly welcome, small shop & bread. Facilities are in basement & clean, warm & showers are hot & roomy. There is also a drying room.
We are back from our annual fix of European culture, weather and food. As well as enjoying excellent and unbeatable mountain walking in the Ecrins National Park in south-east France [don’t worry no one seems to know where this is – find Grenoble and go slightly to the south and east], we found some adorable wildlife.
The Alpine marmots were abundant in the Ecrins and we saw at least one or two every time we were out walking. Sometimes we firstly heard a marmot, calling out a warning high-pitched whistle and searching the rocky landscape we would spot the look-out marmot on a rock, sitting up on its hind legs apparently warning the other marmots of our presence but really drawing attention to the presence of marmots. At other times we would spot them scampering low across a meadow or moving easily down steep craggy hillsides, twitching their stubby tails as they move and then disappearing down a handy burrow. At Pré de Madame Carle the marmots were pottering around the car park and finding shade under the cars.
If you don’t want to climb the steep paths of the Ecrins to see marmots, there are a group that are easy to find at Mont-Dauphin, south of Briançon. Since we last visited here in 2009 [Mr BOTRA had lots of fun making the video embedded in the blog post at the time] the humans have been managed so that the marmots can now run in and out of their burrows freely and avoid the humans if they wish to. Marmots hibernate for more months than they are out and about so you need to be around in summer to see them.
There are places that mean a lot to me and this meaning comes from a combination of things; the experiences and memories I have of the place, the stories and folklore of that area, the scenery and the vistas and the history of the area.
I read motorhome magazines [MMM and Practical Motorhome] cover to cover, as well as other owners blogs and forums. Through these I read lots tales about campervans being broken in to and valued items being stolen. I know it must be dreadful when this happens; a campervan is after all a home as well as a vehicle. Touch wood, in our ten-years of motorhoming over 90,000 miles we haven’t had many problems but we do take a few precautions.
We try not to own anything too expensive [no really flash camera, no top of the range tablet] although with a small ‘van where space is limited everything we carry is valuable [to us.]
We think about where we are leaving the ‘van and consider whether it feels safe; if one of us is unhappy with a car park they are allowed a veto.
We never leave money or credit cards in the ‘van but always choose to carry them on our person [walking trousers/shorts and shirts have the benefit of lots of pockets]
We put any valuables [to us] that might be left in the ‘van out of sight
We prefer to park with the back doors reversed to a wall as they feel like a weak point and this makes it impossible to access the ‘van this way. Parking in this way also makes it difficult to get at the bikes when they are loaded.
We have added Lock M Out window locks to the two large side windows and we always lock the ‘van doors at night.
If the worst happens and someone steals the whole ‘van, we have a tracker which we hope will mean it can be found.
During our year travelling we did have a couple of problems which were both [coincidently] in Spain. The first time, someone attempted to take the bikes off the bike rack when it was parked in a small town that had felt safe enough. They had buckled one of the wheels in the process and we had to replace this. A few week’s later someone tried to force open one of the van side windows and scratched the plastic and then scored the drivers side window [perhaps in frustration] and we had to have that replaced.
Pinned up in the van is the above list of things. Mr BOTRA and I think of the lines of this verse as our ‘to do’ list when we are on trips in the van.
Our plans for our [hoped for] long and happy retirement are to spend lots of time on campervan trips and doing all the things on this list.
This list is not ours it is one of those oft quoted things you find on a fridge magnet or a postcard but it does nicely summarise the things we like to do on our campervan trips.
Walk in the rain – or [hopefully] in the sun, or the wind; whatever the weather we will just walk [or cycle] every day. We will walk up mountains, along valleys, traverse ridges, follow coastlines and explore towns and cities, at walking pace we can really appreciate the great outdoors. When we were away in the van for a year in 2009/10 (blog here) we walked most days, slept well and were fitter and healthier than we had ever been.
Smell flowers – There is no better display than the one nature provides and I always take time to smell the flowers [and watch the birds and animals], as well as try and identify what they are with the books we have in the ‘van … sometimes this is very hard.
Stop along the way – In a campervan there is really no rush and no excuse not to stop and explore whatever we find because being in the ‘van is part of the fun and the journey. Sometimes these unscheduled stops take you to unexpected and interesting places.
Build sandcastles – Or beach comb, or bird watch or just more walking but on beaches.
Go on field trips – For me every day in the ‘van is a field trip and the blog is my field note book. When I was a geography student the field trips were my favourite part of the course and I picked modules to maximise the number of trips I took part in. Field trips are about taking everything in, observing, experiencing and soaking in the sounds, tastes, history, smells and stories of a place.
Find out how things work – I will admit to a liking for interpretation boards and Mr BOTRA reads these avidly. I am also addicted to looking things up on Google. As far as I am concerned, every day is an opportunity to learn something new.
Tell stories – To each other and to others [when they will listen].
Say the magic words -These must be ‘Let’s go camping!’ I say these all the time.
Trust the universe – Okay, this is a bit dippy, I trust it to just keep expanding and be there.
The ruined St Mary’s Church in Colston Bassett in Nottinghamshire
With nine Devon Conversions ‘vans grouped together on the campsite near Nottingham it wasn’t unreasonable for a perplexed fellow camper to ask, ‘do you all come from Devon?’
We had gathered for the spring Devon Owner’s Group rally and once again had lots of laughs, met old friends and made some new ones, learnt plenty of useful tips and came away with new ideas for places to visit.
We were camped near the village of Cotgrave near Nottingham and Mr BOTRA and I caught a taxi to the pretty village of Colston Bassett with a plan to buy some delicious and creamy Blue Stilton cheese from the dairy there and then follow the lanes and the old canal back to the campsite (approximately 13 kms).
The taxi driver was a chatty character and told us he had been 20-years a miner at the Cotgrave pit before it closed and came from a family of ten generations of mineworkers. This took me back to the 1980s when we lived in the East Midlands and were surrounded by the hardship of the mineworkers and their families as they endured the long strike.
Colston Bassett, as well as having a dairy that makes fantastic creamy and tangy Stilton, also has an atmospheric ruined church on the edge of the village that was worth exploring. All the villages around here had charming names and we found a second cheese shop in Cropwell Bishop and opted to buy their tasty Beauvale soft blue cheese.
The Grantham Canal is no longer navigable and is now mostly a greenway of shrubs and plants and proved to be a haven for wildlife and we enjoyed watching a Willow Warbler flitting among the long grasses. As the canal reaches Cotgrave we walked through the lovely country park, landscaped on some of the land that was the mine.
The weather forecast had been for showers and so we had packed the waterproofs but we never needed them and we felt lucky as the day stayed warm and pleasant day for walking.
Last weekend we had the heating on, fleeces and hats during the daytime and were wrapped up at night in pyjamas, silk sleeping bag liners, duvets and blankets. One week later, here we are at last in shorts and able to sit outside the ‘van. We have moved from Please make it warmer! to putting the thermals and thick socks to the back of the drawer in just a few days.
As we set off walking in the rolling Shropshire countryside Mr BOTRA and I both felt lighter and we were. We were carrying just the camera and binoculars, no need for waterproofs and those extra layers. In the ‘van making the beds was easier and now we could eat outdoors, there were no crumbs in the van after eating.
We had a glorious weekend near Shrewsbury; walking up and around Lyth Hill, where we were congratulating ourselves for our excellent navigation skills and Shropshire Council for their excellent signage and then [you guessed it] we got lost. We found our way back to our route and then got lost again due to poor signage through a farmyard [we suspect the farmer was trying to deter walkers and had removed the helpful yellow arrows].
On the Sunday we visited the beautiful ruin of Haughmond Abbey, a tranquil and scenic spot and then moved on to Hawkstone Park Follies. If you have never been to this fantastical wonderland of grottos, narrow bridges, tall monuments and stunning woodland, all set on a sandstone ridge, then you should try and get here soon. I last visited in the late 1970s, when it was neglected and over-grown and not operated as a visitor attraction at all. Then we felt like we were the first people to discover it as we fought our way through rhododendron bushes and along narrow paths. Today, the paths are well marked and with your entrance fee to see the 200-year old park you get a map. Despite this taming of the landscape, the walks are both fun and demanding and there are still uneven paths, steep steps and dark caves and gullies to explore. We particularly liked ‘The Cleft’, a rocky gash in the hillside that is dark, damp and mossy and the rain water has eroded circular patterns in the sandstone.
It was cheering to see so many people having so much fun in the outdoors. What a difference the sun makes!
Back on the road again 