More repairs .....

I'm off work Sunday to Thurs beginning 6th Feb so I have to get the mover sorted while I'm off.Gave them a ring and they seem to think its some sort of problem with some pins shearing,and someone is going to ring to arrange a time as he's working in Yorkshire all week.No one rung by Tuesday so i ring them back and after telling them I'm back at work Friday, its Friday when they are going to come .......idiots.They then ring again to say it will be Saturday.this has a funny feeling about it.
The same lad who fitted it turns up half an hour late ........Dismantles the whole thing,changes the pins  but it is still only engaging on one wheel.Says he will have to order a new one,but it will only take a couple of days.I inform him that we are going away the following Thursday and I want it sorting by then........Its arranged for Tuesday at 8.00 am,this time he strips the whole thing down and rebuilds it after changing the pins again,an hour later and I'm away to get to work on afters,mover refitted and hopefully sorted.
Next job get the Aeriel sorted.......I ring the caravan spares shop http://www.discountawnings.co.uk/ ........Yes they stock and fit them.......£145 +£50 for fitting......OK ....need a telly ....booked in for Thursday morning.
AS we are going away that afternoon I take the van over early,and await the call .
At about 1.00pm he rings back and says the Aeriel on the van is exactly the same as the one he was going to put on ,and he had got his TV plugged in and it was fine.
We arrived to pick the van up and were amazed at the picture one the telly.He said switch off the booster and look at the difference in the picture ......Booster ? what Booster ? D'oh ......in the cupboard where the main electric switch was a white box,when switched off the picture went all funny switched back on and its perfect !!!!!!! So it was my fault all along oh well you learn by your. mistakes .......i must be well genned up now with all the mistakes I have made .

So off we treks for a weekend at Stroud Hill Park in Cambridge shire http://www.stroudhillpark.co.uk/ takes us a couple of hours but we arrive before dark and are advised to pick our pitch ........At this stage there's only about 5 other vans on so we find the flattest pitch and begin setting up.the mover is working fine and easily parks the van in position for us.Its getting quicker now and doesn't take long at all.But when the telly is put on the picture is the same ........No in fact its worse than we've had of the two previous times.I try the Aeriel in every conceivable position and still no joy......nightmare.

We get a couple of channels that are remotely watchable but by no means ideal.....this will have to be sorted once and for all when we get back.

The site itself is very good,all pitches are hard standing each one with its own water drainage and elec point.But when we picked the pitch we didn't take into account which side the water point and drainage were on.It was at the wrong side so that our pipes wouldn't reach either the tap or the drain ......if we had picked the pitch at either side it would have been fine.Quite frustrating but nothing that cant be put right with the benefit of hindsight and a bit of experience.

We are at the left hand side of the site right next to the dog walk.One way goes round the edge of a golf course and the other disappears up a hill but is fenced by an elecetric fence,keeping the dogs out of the farmers field and his animals out of the site. I suppose !

The toilet block is immaculately clean with the  showers each having their own sink and toilet !!!
There is a shop,bar and a restaurant as well.

After television tuning efforts we give it up as a bad job and adjourn to the bar/restaurant.They have some real ale on sale from the Cambridge brewery http://www.cambridge-brewery.co.uk/ and very nice they are too. I sample  3 or 4 pints and Martine has a couple of Guinness's.We have a meal consisting of sea bass with fennel for Martine and I had home reared pork, for dessert we had Lemon tart and orange sponge pudding respectively,we both had a cappuccino to finish and it came to about £60 which may seem a bit expensive but it was quality snap and the beer was very good.There were only us and another couple in the place.

Back to the van and make up the beds .....guess who's forgot to bring the pillows ....still in static mode,got to shake this off.We have to use the cushions which are adequate for the job if not a little hard.

Next morning after taking Jazz round the golf course i venture out to find the shops.Its about a mile and a half to the village but there's no shop !!!!! just a pub.I finally find one in a neighbouring village a further 2 miles away.and this also is where the nearest cash machine is.

After breakfast i take Jazz for another walk but this time go the opposite way from the golf course where i am advised by signs to keep the dog on a lead as its a conservation area. Its quite a steep climb up the hill and quite boggy at the bottom.The elec fence tails off to the left and the path straight on. I meet someone coming the other way with 2 dogs not on the lead so i let Jazz off as there are no animals in the adjacent fields. As i get nearer to the main road i realise its the road leading out of the village where the pub is situated, and the way Ive just come is much shorter than going by the road but, not feasible for a night out as its far too muddy.

More vans and motor homes are arriving ........and whilst on a trip to empty the rubbish i have a word with someone and enquire about their TV reception ...."its fine with most of the free view channels as well".......


The Bridge over the river
 in St.Ives town center

 Into St.Ives around mid morning, where there is a bustling market in place. Its quite a busy little town with plenty of pubs/shops/take aways. We also notice a craft and food fair the following day which Martine makes a note of.
We find a Tesco which turns out to be about 8 miles from where the van is and stock up with a few essentials.
Back to van and soon realise that the main reason for going to tesco was to get a couple of pillows.We forgot to get them , so as we cant face another night with a rock hard minute cushion i am dispatched all the way back to get a couple.

Next day we are back in St.Ives and find the craft/food fair.It costs £3 each to get in but that's nowt to what it ended costing me .........Martine found a stall selling pictures,each one unique.The artist is the seller whom Martine insists she has seen on the telly on some crappy daytime prog.Any way she has got to have this painting of some flowers  .......75 bleeding quid ......after I'm brought round by smelling salts I tell her to get it if she really wants it.... Its only money. Once its gone its gone!
We also ended up buying a garlic crusher thing for a tenner,some cheeses and chutney for about the same,some herbal drink for another tenner. So all in all an afternoon at the craft fair ended costing £100+ !!!!!

Sat' night we decide to go up to the village pub "the Mad Cat"but have to go in the car so only have a couple and go back to the bar on site.This time is absolutely packed, with most people using the restaurant, but we manage to get a seat.It must have a decent reputation because the people here aren't staying on the site.They arrive and leave by taxi or in their cars.

Sunday is spent chilling....and then its off home on the Monday.
Each task (setting up/packing away and parking  back in the storage yard) is getting quicker as we get the experiance of each.