A long weekend away 

Since we bought the van, we’ve only overnighted in it at Colchester, so we were long overdue a long weekend away.  I’d booked today off work some time ago, and earlier in the week we booked up to come to stay on a site in Dunwich, on the Suffolk coast.

We’ve gradually been taking stuff to the van in preparation for our travels in January, and this morning we loaded up the car, stopping off at the supermarket on our way to Colchester to pick up the van. It was great to give the van a proper run out, and once we’d cleared the traffic at Ipswich, we had a clear drive to Dunwich.  The site we booked is in a remote area overlooking the North Sea right next door to Minsmere, the RSPB nature reserve which hosts the BBC’s Springwatch series.  It’s so remote that there’s no phone or data signal.

The weather is glorious for this time of year: cold, but with clear blue skies, so after a spot of lunch we went for a walk along the shingle beach. It was great to have the whole beach to ourselves, and I loved just standing there watching and listening to the waves crash in.  It’s now early evening, and we can still hear the waves in the distance.

Dunwich beach

Today’s Black Friday, the US retail event which seems to have caught on in the UK. I normally shun these gimmicky events, but I saw that a satnav app I’d been looking at called CoPilot had been reduced from £50 to £25, so it would have been rude not to. The version I’ve bought covers the whole of Europe and is specifically designed for motorhomes, allowing you to enter the dimensions of the van so that it doesn’t send you on an unsuitable route. A terrific bargain!

The forecast for tomorrow is for more good weather, so we’ll be going for a hike around Minsmere.

Mike