39. whitby weekend

finally had a weekend away, though we didn't sleep in the van - that would be far too ccolldd!! This time we got the kids and Olive-dog looked after (thanks Jason) and Rog and I were Whitby bound ...
... with a harbour view room booked at The Dolphin, and a fab view of Venus and a crescent moon...... The next day was full of excitement, we went on an adventurous seafaring voyage with extreme perils, such as a slight swell in the sea and a baby seal for 'Jolly Cap'n Roger' to avoid... ... the whole journey out of the port and back in lasted 5, maybe ten minutes, and it's well worth it for the comedy value, it was only £3 to catch the boat from near the pompous queue at the Magpie Cafe, and was probably the best money we spent on the weekend, until that is we saw Elizabeth the Steam Bus...... yes it is an actual steam powered bus (is this the future of camper vans!). Rog was very excited when for a couple of English pounds they let us board for the wonderous trip of a lifetime around Whitby, especially when flames came from the cab, but Elizabeth is slightly spoiled by the naff Thomas the Tank-esq face...




.... but I'm sure kids love it... then it was off in the van to Robin Hood's Bay to look for baby dolphins and fossils...

... though the only fossil I found was Roger, he found a blow fish in a window that he said bore an uncanny resemblance to me... ... I'm not convinced though!! That night, back at the Dolphin in the harbour view room we were treated to the spectacular sight of one side of Whitby bridge opening...

... amazing! The next morning it was kipper time, though the mere mention of kippers turned Rog a bit green so it was pot of tea then walk up to the Abbey without kipper timemaybe I'll get kippers next time....

All in all a great long awaited weekend break, now I'm back at work though so I'll just have to long await the next one!

38. topsy's troubles

Well, it's been a couple of months since any big adventures, mostly due to me working too much over Christmas and new year.... but Topsy has also had to have her starter motor repaired - thanks to Wayne for doing the job though, I struggled for an hour and a half to get the starter motor off the van, Wayne did the job in two and a half minutes!!! He also took the van away the next day and replaced the bushes, what a very nice man!
Unfortunately Topsy is still the target of the aycliffe vandals, all her tyres were let down the other morning, yet they aren't punctured - and the vandals replaced the dust caps - very very strange! rather annoying though as it takes ages to blow them up with the plug in pump thing!
Plans for this years adventures are going well though, we're looking into going whale watching up in bonny scotchland, and trying to organise a joint camping trip with the kids mates families.... ..... for now though we're just pleased Topsy is still running well and getting us and the dog out for a few local day trips....

37. topsy is vandalised

well, during the dark hours of sunday to monday a person or persons unknown vandalised topsy. They smashed the windscreen, let a tyre down and had a bit of a go at the wipers and mirror. Luckily she's insured so the windscreen is getting replaced today, it's a bit of blow this close to christmas though.... here's the pics

the offending stone