Where's Bertie? He's in a car park next to a lake at Neufchateau in Belgium (exact location: 49.83781, 5.43142).
Weather: Mainly overcast, with a bit of sunshine, quite a lot of rain, including a big thunderstorm, and a bit of hail.
There was great pondering this morning as to where we were going to spend tonight. My first idea turned out to be too near, and the place I finally popped into the SatNav had the major flaw, when I looked more closely, of not being on our route. With a desire for a service point, I pondered some more as Mick drove and we decided on a stop at Tournai (a place we know from a visit in March 2018) for elevenses and further contemplation.
We sat there longer than intended as there was no way we were going outside in *that* rain, but eventually it did let up, the service point was used and by then I had come up with a night-stop that was the right distance away and not too far off route.
Mick did all the driving today and even with the assistance of podcasts and audiobooks I was thoroughly bored and ready to stop by the time the SatNav said we had half an hour of our journey remaining. It was thus a relief to pull into the car park here to find there was a space (just the one), that it was suitable for Bertie and that it was a nice location, being right next to a lake.
After a late lunch, we joined the masses and walked around the water. One lap wasn't a good enough leg-stretch, but with the sky looking threatening we didn't want to venture too far away, so we went around again and witnessed an angler land a huge fish on our way.
We made it back to Bertie just as the first rumbles of thunder were heard. Twenty minutes later, the car park had almost emptied and the rain was bouncing. The occupants of the two remaining cars were soggy indeed when they returned.
It was as tea was minutes away from ready that our day took an unexpected turn. I went outside to get something out of Bertie's boot to find it doing a fine impression of a swimming pool. When we last found water in the boot (a one-off event in March) we hoped that it was because we'd failed to put the top on one of our water bottles and as we've had plenty of rain since then and not a hint of moisture inside, that seemed to be a sound explanation for that incident. Alas, no. We have a serious leak somewhere, but (as we've gone months without any ingress) we are now pretty sure it's only coming in when we are parked nose in the air on a left-leaning slope. Litres and litres of water were bailed out, a major mopping-up exercise followed and having examined everywhere we can think it could be getting in we are none the wiser as to the source. Next time we have heavy rain in a place where we're parked at this angle, I'm going to have to empty the boot and get inside and watch. What fun that'll be...
Weather: Mainly overcast, with a bit of sunshine, quite a lot of rain, including a big thunderstorm, and a bit of hail.
There was great pondering this morning as to where we were going to spend tonight. My first idea turned out to be too near, and the place I finally popped into the SatNav had the major flaw, when I looked more closely, of not being on our route. With a desire for a service point, I pondered some more as Mick drove and we decided on a stop at Tournai (a place we know from a visit in March 2018) for elevenses and further contemplation.
We sat there longer than intended as there was no way we were going outside in *that* rain, but eventually it did let up, the service point was used and by then I had come up with a night-stop that was the right distance away and not too far off route.
Mick did all the driving today and even with the assistance of podcasts and audiobooks I was thoroughly bored and ready to stop by the time the SatNav said we had half an hour of our journey remaining. It was thus a relief to pull into the car park here to find there was a space (just the one), that it was suitable for Bertie and that it was a nice location, being right next to a lake.
After a late lunch, we joined the masses and walked around the water. One lap wasn't a good enough leg-stretch, but with the sky looking threatening we didn't want to venture too far away, so we went around again and witnessed an angler land a huge fish on our way.
We made it back to Bertie just as the first rumbles of thunder were heard. Twenty minutes later, the car park had almost emptied and the rain was bouncing. The occupants of the two remaining cars were soggy indeed when they returned.
It was as tea was minutes away from ready that our day took an unexpected turn. I went outside to get something out of Bertie's boot to find it doing a fine impression of a swimming pool. When we last found water in the boot (a one-off event in March) we hoped that it was because we'd failed to put the top on one of our water bottles and as we've had plenty of rain since then and not a hint of moisture inside, that seemed to be a sound explanation for that incident. Alas, no. We have a serious leak somewhere, but (as we've gone months without any ingress) we are now pretty sure it's only coming in when we are parked nose in the air on a left-leaning slope. Litres and litres of water were bailed out, a major mopping-up exercise followed and having examined everywhere we can think it could be getting in we are none the wiser as to the source. Next time we have heavy rain in a place where we're parked at this angle, I'm going to have to empty the boot and get inside and watch. What fun that'll be...
A big entertaining read this morning - three posts in one. A couple of queries: the gas check? What does that involve? When I was flying they wouldn't let me take the burner part of my Pocket Rocket which is merely a benign piece of metal. Query number two: what is a Brompton - I await replies in eager snriciparion.
ReplyDeleteMobile phone reception permitting, I'll hopefully keep up with posts for the rest of the trip (although I'm remembering that last year we didn't find phone covering to be widespread).
DeleteThe gas check: Eurotunnel doesn't allow LPG powered vehicles to use the tunnel, but it does allow LPG tanks, provided they are isolated. When leaving the UK, after clearing both UK and French Border Controls, all motorhomes get pulled over to the inspection lane at the Customs post. What then happens varies from "Let me check you've turned your gas off" to "Show me you've turned your gass off" to a simple "Have you turned your gas off?". The first time we travelled through the tunnel in our original van they wanted to physically check the gas themselves, which lasted until I explained that they had to crawl underneath to do so, whereupon they decided my word was acceptable.
On leaving France it's curiously more relaxed. Usually, the person who directs you to a lane in the boarding queue also checks the gas, but we have on occasion driven onto the shuttle unchecked. In fact, on one occasion, when we found ourselves driving straight from check-in onto a shuttle, with no chance to pull in anywhere, we were on the train before I had any opportunity to do the necessary furtling in the gas locker.
A Brompton is a very lightweight and compact folding bicycle, designed for commuters, as it can be packed into a bag and carried onto a train as luggage, rather than as a bike. They're eye-wateringly expensive new (mine's the 6-gear one), but I bought a second hand one from a chap on a motorhome Aire in Portugal earlier this year. I'm yet to use it, but hopefully that will change on this trip.
Thanks for your prompt reply. Bedtime calls - I'm sure I will now sleep more easily. As soon as I read about the Brompton I realised I did know about it. I see another post has arrived now so maybe I will have another comment there.
ReplyDeleteI have visions of you sitting in the garage, waiting to spot the leak. Giggling seems mean, but unavoidable.
ReplyDelete