Big Tin Bus » General

Jane.

Keith — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:37:59 +0000

Have we mentioned Jane? think not. Jane is our sat nav, if you are a driver sat nav’s are like marmite, you either love them or hate them. In general she is good, but, like all of us she has her faults. Keith who doe’s all the driving thinks she is great. A sat nav is no different to a paper map, it presents you with information and you interpret it, very useful for knowing what the road ahead is like, tight bends etc.

Jane has features which are even more useful in that you can choose the type of route, shortest, fastest, avoid motorways, tolls and others. A great feature is walking routes, we use this in cities to get around, find railway stations, car parks, get our bearings and the shortest distance between points of interest.

France, Italy, back into France then, finaly Italy.

Keith — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:46:43 +0000

We left the med coast of France and headed for the Italian lakes, a two day journey. We made our way along a route that at times was tight and involved some hard, long and twisty climbs, (don’t mention the heavy rain). We passed some signs that seem to indicate height and width restrictions which were less than those of the rig, ah well plough on. We were halted on an hairpin bend by a queue of stationary traffic, just making out some signs and traffic lights in the distance. We started moving then reality hit us it was a tunnel with restrictions, s..t. We pulled to one side and waited whilst the cars carried on, the tunnel operated an alternate one way system. After all the cars had gone we were waved on by an official and procceeded along the centre line which gave us enough clearance. Phew.

Overnight in a the car park of a petrol station. Sunday morning and we were on our way again only to be stopped by the police at a checkpoint, documents checked we were on our way.

The weather.

Keith — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:04:26 +0000

As Brits, we love to talk about, perhaps even complain about the weather. We thought that we were being a little self centred with our perspective on the weather over the last year, not so. We have talked to people all over Europe, residents and visitors. The common theme is that the weather is, colder and wetter. Spain, flooding the worst in living memory, snow, heavy, prolonged and reaching right down to the southern med, plus freezing temperatures. Gibraltar, unusually wet, cold and windy. UK, snow, freezing cold followed by heavy rain and cold winds. Switzerland, some of the alpine passes were opened three weeks later than on average and there is still an un seasonal amount of snow on the tops. Southern France, rain and thunder storms in early/mid June. People who know the area and are regular visitors complain about having one sunny day in three weeks.

Whats going on?

The countryside and nature.

Keith — Sun, 30 May 2010 18:36:47 +0000

We are currently on a site at Freienbrink, south east of Berlin, close to the E55 motorway. The countryside reminds us of the UK in the early sixties, pre farming on an industrial scale. Water meadows grazed by cattle, unimproved grassland, clean rivers and open countryside, woodlands that are free to walk through.

We have discovered an Osprey’s nest on top of an electricity pylon, on a platform kindly constructed by some nice person. A red squirrel in the woods that did not appear at all bothered by our presence sitting on the ground and in the tree to have a good look at us, nice. Wild mink on the river, not so good.

At last, sunshine.

Keith — Sat, 22 May 2010 17:09:16 +0000

We have been having some foul weather which has discouraged us from getting about to much, the last two days have been good. The previous two days it rained heavily for most of the time, to the extent that, on Thursday morning, we awoke to ankle deep water surrounding the van.

Cheese market

Keith — Mon, 03 May 2010 04:34:18 +0000

We were told about the weekly cheese market so, decided to go and see.

It looks as if it is a long tradition which manages to survive modern commercial dictum’s, including H&S and food hygiene. Who cares? The guys who carry the trays, or whatever they are called, are a great example of kinetic lifting. Watch some smart ass of a jobs worth tell me I am wrong.

We don’t pretend to understand the process, what is evident is that it is a great way of connecting with the consumer. Lots of consultants have made lots of money trying to create that in the UK.

Back to the porters. These guys pick up the load and then set of at a trot, some are not so young. They manage to coordinate it so that they set off exactly together and make it look easy.

Dordrecht and beyond

Keith — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:46:07 +0000

Today, Saturday we visited Dordrecht, the first Dutch city. From there we took a river bus to Rotterdam, about an hour each way. We did not land , it was just a nice way of seeing life on the water.

One day, four countries.

Keith — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:36:00 +0000

England, France, Belgium and Holland. We sailed from Dover to Dunkirk with Norfolk line, the boat is modern, clean and the crew are friendly.

From Dunkirk we drove to Holland, about five hours. It would have been a lot quicker but, the traffic on the Antwerp ring road is horrendous, eat your heart out M25. On that note make sure you have plenty of fuel.

We are currently at a site near Massdam, rural, quiet and cheap. The lady who owns the site welcomed us with coffee, cream cake and a shot of snaps. Today, Wednesday, she brought us some soft cheese to try.

The return leg

Keith — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:16:06 +0000

Hi everybody, sorry that I have not blogged for a while.

We decided that, because of the bad weather we would return to the UK. We hit snow about 20k south of Madrid, it was so bad that we could not get on a pitch at a site outside of Madrid on the night of the 11th. On Tuesday the 12th we headed out, it took us a while to clear the heavy traffic around the city, but the roads were clear. Then we hit a hill and, because of the snow, nearly did not get up it, just managed to retain traction. We arrived in Calais on the afternoon of the 13th, snow all the way. On our arrival at the site in Dover we had to be towed in by tractor.

A week later Keith recieved a phone call to say that one of his sisters had been admitted to hospital and was very ill. Drop everything and head for Dorset. We will say no more except, that we await developments.

Our life at the moment is in a state of flux and we are using the time to research possible destination and make some draft plans. The best bit is that we get to enjoy the company of our children and grand children.

The weather and moving on.

Keith — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:28:46 +0000

It,s Sunday 10th. Yesterday was nice and sunny if a little on the cold side in the wind, some good birding. No consulation for those of you suffering from snow and freezing conditions, however, the temperature here is 13 degrees below average. An indication that the extreme weather is Europe wide.

We have looked at the weather forecast for several areas and it is not good anywhere. We have decided there is no point in staying here, waiting in the hope that it may get better. With flooding, strong winds and damaged roads, even when it stops raining it will take time to improve. So, we have decided to go north, where, at least we should have access to television for news and entertainment until conditions improve and we will be in a position to explore our options further.

The next two days will see us covering lots of k,s.