Back To Normal.......

Yes.....Everything seems to be back to normal on the weather front.....
The recent bank holiday was in the full UK tradition of wet and windy..... 
All the good weather that we enjoyed for the past couple of months seemed  long gone as we hunkered down on Bank Holiday Sunday and like most other people on the site stayed within the confines of our awning and caravan........

Our view from the awning can be seen below.......

Traditional Bank Holiday Weather

One of the benefits of the bad weather was that all the kids on site were also confined to their tents and caravans/motorhomes.
Now don't get me wrong......it must be hugely disappointing for both the kids and their parents when they go for a weekend camping and the weather is really bad but I am looking at it from our perspective......

We have spent a lot of the summer on an adults only site and coming back to a C&CC site is a real shock to the system......

The privately owned adults only site was peaceful at all times..... All of the site rules were followed and if not were enforced...everyone knew where they stood..... 
The facilities were kept clean by both the owners and the campers as was the site......
All of this made our stay more enjoyable.

Our current C&CC site is a very nice site and has first class facilities and like all club sites everyone is given a leaflet setting out details about the site and a few rules such as the quiet times on site etc.....

One of the rules here is that Ball Games, Frisbees and Kites are not allowed on site.
However, even parents have been seen kicking balls about with their kids..... perhaps they can't read or for some reason they feel that it doesn't apply to them.....

If you look at the picture above you can see that it is quite a reasonable rule as the units are quite close to each other with no open space on which to kick a ball about.
A kicked ball can cause damage to a caravan or even a car........

There is a 5mph speed limit on site but for some reason this doesn't apply to kids who race around the site at breakneck speed.....
They are not supposed to ride around the toilet facility buildings.... but I stepped out of the building yesterday only to be slammed into by a future Mark Cavendish on his little toddlers bike.....

Lukily I escaped without any lasting injury but it could well have been a different story with an older and more frail camper....... Parental supervision??? 
That seems to be left at the gates of the site.....

Toilets not flushed....toilet paper everywhere..... noise till late at night..... I could go on...

Now kids will be kids and that's fine but it seems that when on sites the parents are quite happy for their kids to go off and play with no supervision at all as long as they play outside someone else's unit......  
A lot of parents don't seem to know...or don't care what their children are up to as long as they don't bother them.......

The attitude seems to be they are away camping so that they can do whatever they want with no thought for any other campers on the site......

The above is not just my opinion either....talking to other campers on various sites over the past few years this seems to be a widespread observation......

Now we knew that it would be like this as we were obviously aware that our two weeks stay here was still within the school holiday period but as I said above it is still a bit of a shock to the system.......

It is a pity that the Camping and Caravanning Club don't have an adults only area on sites like some commercial sites......
We have decided that as from next year we will be seeking out more adult only sites on which to stay.........

Now that I have written this post I will ride my bike at 5mph out of the site for a peaceful evening ride....

View across the lake at our current site...

Fifty Six Days.....Gone!

Tomorrow we move on from Suffolk....
We have been in Suffolk for fifty six days and now those fifty six days are gone......
We can't believe that our two month stay in this part of the country is now over...... the time has really flown by.
What has helped of course in making the time fly by was the brilliant weather that we have all enjoyed this summer.....
One of the reasons I have not been posting on the blog as often as I have in the past is because I have been enjoying myself  so much..... If truth be told I would rather be out riding my bike in the good weather than sitting at the computer hitting the keys.......

During the latter part of our stay here my friend Peter Calcutt was also visiting the area and we met up a couple of times for a bike ride..... I always enjoy meeting up with Peter and what can be better than a cycle ride.....a natter with a mate.....and a coffee and cake stop........

Obviously in the time spent in the county Anne and I have visited lots of different interesting places and to make up for my fewer blog posts I will be telling you more about our stay in Suffolk over the quieter winter period.......

So where are we heading tomorrow...?
We are going to spend a couple of weeks in the Surrey hills/North downs so I can do some cycling in that area......
As a youngster I used to spend a lot of time cycling from my then home in Feltham and heading for places such as Dorking.....Leatherhead etc.....
One of my regular rides used to be out to Box Hill and back. I have not ridden up Box Hill for well over fifty years so it is about time that I rode up the hill again.......

Reflection on my Summer.......

Eribatastic......

Earlier this week we enjoyed the first rain that we have had since we were at the Osiers campsite back in May......
Since then with all the lovely dry weather I have been managing to get out on the bike almost every other day. It has certainly been a great summer so far for getting out and about on the bike......

One of the things that I really enjoy as we travel around the country staying at various campsites is meeting up with other Eriba owners...
It is really interesting seeing all the different models of Eriba that have been available over the years and most owners are happy to show you around their pride and joy.....

Below are just a few of the Eriba Touring vans that we have seen on our travels this year....
Eribatastic...........

Eriba Familia from the 1980s with matching awning.

A 2015 Eriba Triton

A 1983 Eriba Troll (An early cousin to my own Eva the Eriba)

A visitor from the Netherlands - A Puck.

A 1985  Eriba Familia

A very sharp Eriba Puck....