InvictaMoto's Family Travels

Two weeks to go before we set off.  With Covid the owners are requiring extra time to clean up after the previous visitors and so we can't be in until 5pm. On the way up we will be calling in at Claire's sister's house in Suffolk. With it being a Friday it's the worst day for getting through the Dartford Crossing. Leaving after rush hour gives us time to get through and maybe have some stops on the way up. Constable country for lunch? Flatford Mill?    https://www.visitsuffolk.com/explore-constable-country-in-suffolk

Cases are going up locally and we are supposed to be "free". Looks like the Government made a complete boo-boo with that decision. The curve looked as though it was levelling a bit but has taken off again!

Done. After trawling the internet for cottage booking sites I finally found a place that meets our criteria.  I actually wanted a place near to our childhood holiday resort of Dawlish Warren. I couldn't find anywhere in that area that suited us but we decided to stick to Devon anyway. In the end we have booked and paid the deposit for a nice looking place in Brixham in Devon. It has two bedrooms and really importantly when you have a dog, an enclosed garden. The bonus is that it has off road parking for one car. We only have one! So many places are street parking or even council car-parks. Total the cost for a week is £660 and I paid a third deposit today  It's still ten months away so we have plenty of time to refine things about what to do when we are there and of course, getting there.  I think we might have to do the same as friends who live in the same area as us and leave about 5am! Gulp.

It's a toss up between Suffolk and Devon. Personally I am in favour of Devon.  When we went in 2019 it was a long day in the car both days to get to North Devon where we had a cottage.  Next year I will have retired and we will have unlimited time to drive down there.  The Juke is automatic and that will make it easier to drive if the traffic builds up. It has stop/start technology as well as auto hand-braking. I had a look at dog friendly cottages today. Being able to go when we like and not stuck with school holidays means that the rental costs are much lower at the majority of places. With a dog that likes to control his environment and becomes a little protective of the space, I always look for somewhere with a secure garden, and hopefully he'll be able to settle down. He does like to think that most of the area around our house is his territory and will bark at people he considers invading it.  So apartments are definitely out! I have found a couple in Brixham in Devon.  I

I've not been looking at this all that much recently as it is done and dusted.   All I have to do is look for places to go when we are there. Various dog friendly web pages and apps will be used. It seems that wherever we look to go, the cottage is about 30 miles away!  name i and that's what Google maps "directions" says....

Now that Awaycation Tulips has bitten the dust as it were, I can turn my attentions to planning another staycation.   Before then we have the Staycation 2021 - Norfolk to get through next month.  The possible fly in the ointment is that despite the UK Government saying that from July 19th we are "free" from all the restraints that have been imposed since March 2020, the number of Covid cases continues to rise day on day. We are just under a month away from the Norfolk trip and yet if this gets any worse we could be in lockdown?

Awaycation Tulips 6 marks the end of the planning and the decision to discontinue with this plan. Yep, you read that right.  Trip cancelled. It's is still a long way off but this decision has been a hard one to make.  As well as the ongoing and somewhat complicated relationship the UK has with the former "partners" in the EU since Brexit, and the apparent impossibility that Covid will ever be defeated we had a long hard look at plans. Another reason is that our dog, Reggie, has begun to suffer with what can only be called "separation anxiety". With both of us being at home since March 2020, Claire retired and me working from home online, he is used to us being around.   He follows us everywhere. Anyone that doesn't have animals in the home probably won't understand this can happen, but it is very real. So,  I will have to start looking elsewhere but in UK.  I will be retired next year and so we can go whenever we want. Outside school holidays is fantasti

One of the day trips we took from Sorrento in May 2009 was to the Greek temple site at Paestum . This site pre-dates the Roman Empire by quite a long time. What is amazing it that the structures of the three temples are in such amazing condition and are in a very small area. Looking at the road map we decided to go the loner way around and avoid the Amalfi Coast Drive (ACD)! The reasons for this are that we had already done it one way as far as Ravello, and the fact that although the view of the sea on the right of you as you head east is spectacular, the road is jammed packed at every town with coaches and the occasional truck! So we chose a route that would go up through Sorrento, Pompeii and across the top of the peninsular via Salerno. This is actually the way that Google maps sends travellers now. The first stop was to take in the spectacular view of Vietri sul Mare on the opposite end of the ACD to Sorrento. It was sunny and we stopped briefly on the overlook off the road. Vietri

Our room @ Casale Antonietta, Sorrento Back then I was a budding blogger of my travels and tended to write very little.  Verbosity was learned over the years. I saw an article about agritourism in Italy and how the market has blossomed in the Noughties and was now well established for those that wanted to be away from the city centre or beach location hotels. We stayed at Casale Antonietta in May 2009.  The place was a converted farm that was accessed by a very narrow lane, where even in a Fiat Punto we had to pull in the door mirrors to get past.  I had ordered a Fiat Panda from the rental company at Naples Airport but they did me a favour with a "free" upgrade to a bigger car. Fiat Punto T-Jet 1.4  My Tripadvisor review from 2009 Peaceful with excellent service I booked this place as I didn't want a town centre hotel with all the associated noise and parking difficulties. We weren't disappointed. It is easy to find and the bus stop is a short walk and is signposted.

Today's little excursion wasn't as far as last week's, but only to Dungeness. Plenty of parking but with extra trains running that far there were many people walking to the pub and to the other fish places along the private site's road.  We easily parked in the parking lot near the station. Spaces are clearly marked, or at least they were, with wooden guides.  Unfortunately, shingle doesn't take long to cover the battens up. We parked anyway as best we could given the other cars. Reggie likes a walk on the shingle. He likes the smells and of course, the rabbit holes all over the estate.  Out first stop was for a coffee in the "End of the Line Café". There was a train in the station and another special came in. I found a table in the garden and Claire went in the building.  It's a shame but dogs aren't allowed inside. If the weather is not too good then it is a place to avoid with no real outside cover. Whilst we were there the second train, this on

With little to do but plan for holidays in the future I have started to consider what to do after we have looked at a few million tulips... I had though that on the way up to Noordwijk and the bulb fields that we could meander through Zeeland. In the end I decided that it would be simpler to go straight there and leave any meandering to the way back. With the Juke having its own navigation system it should be quite easy for Claire to use her Nissan Connect app to send specific addresses from her phone to the system.   On the way back then I have booked a hotel on one of the Zeeland islands. Currently the booking is with the Hotel Hector in  Zierikzee. This of course change as more places for 10 months away come into play.

Today's Staycation trip was to the nature reserve at Rye Harbour in neighbouring East Sussex. It's only about 25 miles door to door but it shows that we have some wonderful scenic places on our doorstep. The A259 road across Romney Marsh winds through the marsh and salt marshes from Kent into East Sussex and the Cinque Port of Rye itself. We passed through Rye to the harbour, parking up in the free car park near the old ruined castle. They keep the car-park free and ask for donations. The entrance to the path into the nature reserve is right outside. It's over a mile along side the River Rother on one side to the salt marsh on the other. Along the way are hides to watch the waterbirds from. At the end we had a walk on the beach and I let Reggie off the lead to run around and into the sea for a cooling lie down. After a sit in the sun on the rocks we set off back to the car. I checked on my phone to see if the Red Pig food truck was open at Petts Level in nearby Winchelsea