The first time it felt like we were actually doing what we set out to do, was after a family party in Suffolk. We celebrated my sister’s 50th, and then went to the Suffolk Coast, to try out parking in unknown places. First stop was the weighbridge. The weight of the van had been worrying Neil. He was convinced we were over 3500kg and that we would be pulled over by the Police and stuck at the roadside, or have to leave our belongings in a layby, so we could carry on driving. Neil is a lot more cautious than me. We were overweight – 3560 kg. I didn’t think this was enough to worry about. Neil did. He was very stressed until we got back to Hampshire and put our camping stuff in the storage unit. We are now just under weight, except when heading back from France, with champagne, wine and cider! (And we have never needed the camping stuff.)
After the stress of the weighbridge, we headed for Woodbridge, and found a carpark where we could stay overnight. The app we used was Park4Night, which has been our favourite app for finding places to stay. We also use Searchforsites, but tend to go to Park4Night first. We parked safely and comfortably at the second place we tried. I was happy with the first choice, Neil wasn’t. I’m sure it is becoming clear very quickly that Neil is far more cautious than me. It’s proven to be a good balance. I am always the one to suggest we just park where we are; that we drive down narrow roads and that we drive up steep hills – Neil looks for safer parking spaces; avoids roads he doesn’t like the look of and avoids steep hills. Between us, we manage a happy balance – although if we drive anywhere a little scary, it is me who does the driving.
From Woodbridge, we visited Sutton Hoo. Despite living in Suffolk for more than half my life, I had never been. It was lovely. I have to confess I had it confused in my mind with Grimes Graves, another historic Suffolk site, we have since visited. I was expecting mounds and shafts into the ground from flint mining. Of course, we found an Anglo Saxon royal burial site. There was a model of the 6th century ghost ship found in the excavation of the site, an exhibition of Anglo-Saxon life, a look at life for an archeologist at the time, and beautiful walks, where the burial ground can be seen from ground level and also from a 17 meter viewing tower. It was a warm sunny day, and we walked several miles, taking in the burial mounds and the nature walk. By the time we left, we had joined the National Trust and felt like we were really living our dream.
The following day was spent at Dunwich nature reserve and we walked to Dunwich. The walk was through heather and bracken, purple and yellow amongst the green, with the huge expanse of grey sea stretching out beside us, until it met the sky. During the walk we found a cute little bridge, which I was obliged to climb up to, some very pretty Suffolk cottages and the wide shingle beach. I didn’t go in the sea, not even to paddle, and I can’t recall why. Now I am in the sea at every opportunity, whatever the weather. I definitely missed a perfect day in Dunwich, as it was actually warm, despite being summer in England.
Dunwich is a fascinating place, having almost disappeared into the sea over the years. Most of the old town and the harbour has gone, leaving the capital of the Kingdom of the East Angles as a tiny village with about 180 inhabitants. The remains of Greyfriars Medieval Friary are there to explore and there is one remaining gravestone, from a graveyard which was once inland. For now the gravestone balances on the cliff edge, behind a fence as the edge is unstable. It will soon join all the others, and fall into the sea. Apparently bones from inhabitants of the graveyard have been seen sticking out from the cliffs. Fascinating, but also sad.
It was a lovely few days exploring a small part of the UK coastline but nothing stays perfect for long. We parked up in a quiet location in Halesworth. Quiet, until the lorries started leaving the nearby depot very early the next morning. It was a rude awakening and we have since learnt to read the reviews on Park4Night, before parking up. We have also got really good at sleeping despite road noise – well, I have. Neil is a light sleeper and still complains when we have to stay on the roadside, and can’t find a quiet stop.
We also had a smell in the van. It was very unpleasant. It is hard to describe, but sort of eggy, and was much worse on sunny days. Having worked out that it came from under my seat, where the shower outlet was, we turned to Facebook for help. We tried cleaning out the grey waste tank with dishwasher tablets, diluting it by running more water, changing to eco washing up liquid and flushing it out completely. Nothing worked, which was really worrying, as it wasn’t something we could live with. We contacted the converter and asked if a U bend could be added to the pipe – he informed us there was one. In the end the answer was a simple one. The smell only came from the plug hole for the shower tray, not the sink, so after trying about 10 different plugs, we found one which fitted very tightly, without popping out, and the smell was no more.
Our shower is one of my more inspired ideas – aided by Pinterest. It is under one of the seats in the van. When we want to use it, we lift the seat cushions and lid, pull up the shower curtain and fix it to the ceiling, hang up the shower head, and get clean. The shower curtain dries quickly, and then we put it all away again. We decided on this, and not a shower cubicle, to save space and also because we felt a full height cubicle would cut down on the feeling of space. And space is definitely something we do not have going spare!
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