Jane and Ken's 2014 Adventure: Day 59: Friday 16 May

Jane and I awoke somewhat subdued after an excess of alcohol last night.

It was time to say farewell to Phil, Kerry and the girls. They had been very accommodating allowing us to park Mabel on their drive while we prepared for our trip and providing an electricity supply from their mains. Today was the start of our trip in Mabel proper and it would be at least 5 months before we were back in Knowle.

We set off at 09:15 with Jane in command and heading for Swanage in Dorset and on the south coast. Our first stop however, was at Middleton Cheney where we had arranged for Paul Maynard to investigate the faulty toilet indicator light. I learnt that a magnet on a float in the cassette attracts another magnet in the toilet itself, the level of which is indicated by means of three lights, two green denoting 1/3 and 2/3 full and one red meaning the tank is full. A simple check on the magnet in the toilet itself showed that was working correctly and Paul disappeared with the cassette itself to check that out. He was soon back announcing that a piece of toilet tissue had been stuck in the float and causing the faulty reading.

We continued down the M40 motorway leaving it north of Oxford to take the A34 south. There had been an accident where the northbound lane of the A34 joined the motorway interchange roundabout. A truck had run into the back of a loaded car transporter, the truck’s cab was about 10% of its usual length and the box van body was smashed and lying at a crazy angle. Traffic was backed up on the A34 for miles. We learnt later that the accident had, not surprisingly, been fatal.

Tailback On A34 Following Accident

We made good time travelling south passing the exit for Highcere Castle – the house used in Downton Abbey. We pulled into a service area for lunch of Jane’s left over potato bake. It was also time to change drivers. It wasn’t long before the dual carriageways of the A34, M3 and M27 gave way to single carriageway roads that became more congested as we headed west. The final leg of our trip took us through the village of Corfe Castle overlooked by castle ruins, soon after we passed through the town of Swanage and along its seafront to the Ulwell Cottage caravan park.

Corfe Castle Ruins

It was disappointing to find the park didn’t have a facility to enable us to dump our grey waste. We drove out to a nearby layby where we lost some of it, but guilt overcame us and we returned to the camping ground. There, a bit of lateral thinking allowed us to decant the waste into a bucket in stages which we then tipped into receivers designed to take grey waste from caravan cassettes.

It was a fine afternoon and the temperature was in the low 20s. We were really excited at being able to pitch the awning although working out how a central strut stowed in the garage fitted into the awning took a while. Eventually, we were all set up with our picnic table and camping chairs on the mat under the awning.

There were lots of fine Vespa motor scooters in all shapes and sizes in the camping ground. Some of the riders looked to be older than me. It turned out there was a Veteran Vespa Club rally at the camp site over the weekend.

Vespa In Ulwell For The Rally

The reason for visiting Swanage was that Sue and Richard were staying nearby in their caravan that they park in a farmer’s field over the summer and visit when they can. Now that they are both retired they will have a lot more opportunity to get down there from London.

Late in the afternoon Sue and Richard came over to inspect Mabel. After G and Ts under the awning we drove to their caravan for a barbeque. It was great to be able to sit outdoors and eat although it became cool as the sun went down forcing us inside for some warmth.