Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 12:14:33 +0100
Reply-To: "Woodcock, Frank" <f.woodcock@UNISON.CO.UK>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Woodcock, Frank" <f.woodcock@UNISON.CO.UK>
Subject: Pooh gets there and back!
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'Pooh' AKA 1981 Volkswagen Holdsworth Villa conversion had it's first
major journey following repairs to the 2 Litre air-cooled engine.
We went from Redditch, (Nr Birmingham) to Newhaven and the new heat
exchangers worked OK.
The journey down the M40 and M25 motorways went smoothly and mostly in
top gear at a speed of between 55 and 65 miles per hour. The oil
consumption was reasonable, down from full to halfway between the marks
on the dip stick - not too bad for a round trip of 400 miles.
We stopped overnight at a campsite just outside of Newhaven, pretty
basic but the surroundings of chalk cliffs were very nice. We were
directed to park by the lake and drove down to the water where there was
a parking area. We were surprised to see a very nice green type 2 called
'The Turtle' pull up very close to Pooh and the driver and his wife get
out without any greeting. Mmmm.. not too friendly thinks us. Next thing
he is on a bicycle and he disappears for 10 minutes.
By this time we have the elevated roof raised and the kettle on for a
cup of coffee after the long drive and test the television for
reception. The television by the way is a 'Game Gear' with an adapter
that converts it from a cartridge game machine to a small LCD screen
television. The television reception was about as poor as our previous
encounter!
Soon after a man arrives and informs us that we are parked in the car
park used by caravan owners and that the lake is the other side of the
site. There is a lesson to be learned here.
Undaunted we move to the other lake and park a discrete distance from
some tents. The television reception is a lot better.
We got a taxi to Newhaven and went to Dieppe in France as foot
passengers. The ferry was delayed over an hour due to the knock on
effect of the recent strike at Calais, France. The ferry journey was
uneventful, though I was lucky enough to win a £50 (sterling) jackpot on
fruit machine. This paid for the duty free perfume and spirits.
Dieppe was very nice but we only had an hour so it was a brisk walk into
town and straight back.
We were booked on the Elite catamaran which had to wait until the ferry
had turned around.
The Elite is very fast and after about an hour into the journey, we
overtook the ferry.
Back at Newhaven we settled in for the night with our duty free and woke
to sunshine. England has had one of the wettest April's on record so we
were lucky with the weather.
We took a country detour on return journey to Redditch to avoid the
motorways and stopped just outside of Reading for a snack and a cup of
coffee.
We did get caught up in an army convoy and travelled several miles on
narrow roads with a military escort. Why do the army drive with their
headlights on full beam? I can understand if it was military tradition
but nowadays it would be more practicable if they used flashing beacons
like those used on breakdown wagons. Enough said.
We arrived back tired but happy that Pooh had done the business without
any problems.
