- Sep 23, 2013
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- Globecar Campscout
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- Since 2008 (started in a VW T4 campervan)
A chronicle of our first ever trip to France in the van.
The van is a 6.4m Globecar Campscout.
The destination is the meet at Twin Lakes.
The preparation seems to have been going on for a long time - starting with passport renewal, then travel insurance, getting solar panels fitted, improving internet access - it seemed to go on for ever. There are still jobs that need doing, such as improving the way the beds are lifted so that Jane's electric wheelchair can be hoisted in underneath.
Monday morning saw some last minute work related jobs finished off, then the afternoon was dedicated to van packing. There must be a word for fitting the maximum number of irregular shaped objects into a rectangular space. The Campscout has a large garage like space under the rear bed, but that is mostly filled with the electric wheelchair. In the end, just about everything went in somewhere.
We finally left early evening, whet 14 miles down the road, stopped & had dinner in the van. There still seemed a lot of people with places to go on a Monday evening, but the traffic gradually thinned & we had an increasingly easy run down to The Parade at Birchington, on the north Kent coast.
We arrived around 1am to find was one other van there already, so not being French, we parked a respectable distance away & settled down for what remained of the night. Up shortly after 7am for a leisurely breakfast looking out to sea. No pictures, but it didn't look very different from a lot of other English seaside towns.
Then down to Dover & onto an earlier ferry than the one I originally booked. When I made the booking, P&O had an offer on - a Standard Flexi ticket for the same price as their standard no refund, no changes ticket. This gives you a +/- 4 hr sailing window, plus a refund if you cancel. We were originally booked for the 15.40 sailing, turned up just before 11am & were on the 12.05 sailing. The channel was like a millpond, so we had an uneventful crossing.
I must pay a compliment to the staff in the Food Court on board. We had taken Jane's folding manual chair onto the ship - partly because it's quicker to get in & out of the van & partly because it copes better with ships' door thresholds. So I was pushing Jane & she was balancing the tray on her lap. A young member of the catering staff appeared & offered to carry everything for us & guided us through the whole area, sorted teas & coffees & took us to a table. I'm not sure if it's part of their training or just something that she did, but it was a reminder that there are nice, helpful people about. The passenger area of the ship was pretty quiet - whether she would have had time to do the same on an August bank holiday weekend is another matter, but it made paying £10/head for cod & chips more bearable.
So that was it - off the boat & into France. Next instalment - a missed meeting & a chance meeting - to follow.
The van is a 6.4m Globecar Campscout.
The destination is the meet at Twin Lakes.
The preparation seems to have been going on for a long time - starting with passport renewal, then travel insurance, getting solar panels fitted, improving internet access - it seemed to go on for ever. There are still jobs that need doing, such as improving the way the beds are lifted so that Jane's electric wheelchair can be hoisted in underneath.
Monday morning saw some last minute work related jobs finished off, then the afternoon was dedicated to van packing. There must be a word for fitting the maximum number of irregular shaped objects into a rectangular space. The Campscout has a large garage like space under the rear bed, but that is mostly filled with the electric wheelchair. In the end, just about everything went in somewhere.
We finally left early evening, whet 14 miles down the road, stopped & had dinner in the van. There still seemed a lot of people with places to go on a Monday evening, but the traffic gradually thinned & we had an increasingly easy run down to The Parade at Birchington, on the north Kent coast.
We arrived around 1am to find was one other van there already, so not being French, we parked a respectable distance away & settled down for what remained of the night. Up shortly after 7am for a leisurely breakfast looking out to sea. No pictures, but it didn't look very different from a lot of other English seaside towns.
Then down to Dover & onto an earlier ferry than the one I originally booked. When I made the booking, P&O had an offer on - a Standard Flexi ticket for the same price as their standard no refund, no changes ticket. This gives you a +/- 4 hr sailing window, plus a refund if you cancel. We were originally booked for the 15.40 sailing, turned up just before 11am & were on the 12.05 sailing. The channel was like a millpond, so we had an uneventful crossing.
I must pay a compliment to the staff in the Food Court on board. We had taken Jane's folding manual chair onto the ship - partly because it's quicker to get in & out of the van & partly because it copes better with ships' door thresholds. So I was pushing Jane & she was balancing the tray on her lap. A young member of the catering staff appeared & offered to carry everything for us & guided us through the whole area, sorted teas & coffees & took us to a table. I'm not sure if it's part of their training or just something that she did, but it was a reminder that there are nice, helpful people about. The passenger area of the ship was pretty quiet - whether she would have had time to do the same on an August bank holiday weekend is another matter, but it made paying £10/head for cod & chips more bearable.
So that was it - off the boat & into France. Next instalment - a missed meeting & a chance meeting - to follow.
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