Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 03:39:40 -0700
Reply-To: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: UK trip report - 1
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To all concerned: All is going very well on our UK trip. We're at the U of Warwick and I have a
few minutes of free internet time, so I'll take a minute to re-cap.
Our trip had an inauspicious start; Marc Peters was late picking us up at the Amsterdam airport,
as we sat on our luggage by the Rembrandt Cafe (where-else) wondering if there there had been some
massive linguistic mix-up. But Marc showed up (with our rental van) after about 45 minutes and
all was well. We drove Marc back to his place (about 1 hour south) and then off to campground for
30 Euros!
Next day we headed back up near Amsterdam to the Keukenhof tulip festival gardens. Just as we
entered, part of Pat's rear tooth let go (from a weak filling) which gave her something to think
about other than how pretty the flowers were. But WHAT A PLACE! Acres of gardens all with bulb
plants. Almost took Pat's mind off of her tooth. We have contacted Colin in Ireland and he has
made a dental appointment for Pat. The chipped tooth is giving Pat NO pain.
That night the fridge did not work, so the next day was back to Marc's place for him to trace down
a bad ground wire. That night I leaned on my left wrist in some awkward manner and I strained
some tendon/ligament or some-such and my wrist was in pain for a few days. I bought some elastic
bandage and some rulers and fashioned a splint and after a few days, all seems to be OK.
We, in our now sorry state, headed for England. The ferry crossing into Dover was rain, drizzle &
fog, so the White Cliffs of Dover were a bit muddy gray, but it was a great introduction to
English weather.
We joined the UK Camping and Caravanning club to gain access to their campgrounds (at a discount)
and we joined the National Trust and after only 5 places (gardens and other points of interest) it
has paid for itself already.
In England we have been visiting gardens that are associated with stately English country-side
manors. These are often 40 or 80 acres gardens and have been in place for over 100 years. Places
visited include: Swinden, Stourhead, Glouster, Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Hidcote Manor Garden,
and others. It's nice having the National Trust pass, as we can stop into many places on a whim
that otherwise we might pass up as "not worth the £20". For instance, we stopped at Kipling's
home estate for a cup of tea and look around.
The last few days have been spent working our way up through the Cotswolds. This area has such
cute little villages like Upper and Lower Slaughter, Chipping Norton, we stopped in Chipping
Campden for a true afternoon British cream-tea. Last night was at Stratford-upon-Avon, a bit more
touristy than we're used to, but.....
The next few days see us off to Braintree & Stebbing, which are our Stebbins' ancestral villages,
and then on to London for about 5/6 days of museums and of course the Chelsea Flower Show for Pat.
Then on over the Ireland to see Colin & Carmen.
I've taken a zillion photos already, but I have not posted then anywhere yet, maybe we'll do up a
2007 calendar.
Now for the folks on the Vanagon list-serve reading this: As for the van, it's a EuroVan (T4)
Wesfalia camper, newer than our Vanagon. It drives more like a car and the fuel efficiency on the
Diesel TDI is relatively good, 7.55 liters/100 kms (about 30 mpg). With a bigger diesel tank, we
went 800 kms and and there was still 1/4 of a tank of Diesel. On the back roads we drive about 80
kph. BUT, there is MUCH less room in the EuroVan camper, MUCH less counter space. My advice is to
NOT lust after a Eurovan, but rather put some money into your vanagon to keep it on the road.
Much better for camping, but, as I said, less drive-ability as compared to the Eurovan.
So folks, that's it from your roving reported. Next up-date when I get free internet access. Bcc
to several other folks. Malcolm & Pat
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