Solar Test - Part 3 (The last bit)

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Part 3

The trip so far has been great, but we like the sea side so we set a course for the home of some more old friends and a long overdue catch up. A few years back our friends Dana and Paul bought a Pup in Pevensey Bay, they’re not on the Brit Stop list but that didn’t matter to us. We didn’t call ahead so it was a picture to see Danas face when we pulled into the car park. Luckily it’s a big car park, on a bit of a slope so we had to park right outside on the level bit. Useful for Paul if he wanted to check the guttering from our roof, ha ha. We had a very pleasant evening with great company and great food. Pevensey is a bit of a secret, so don’t tell anyone about it. The beach is lined with private houses, posh shacks, all with beach frontage that goes on for miles. Best thing is there’s nobody else around, we loved it.

We thought from there we would just meander along the coast and see where we ended up. Lunch was spent on Beachy Head. A strange mix of beauty and tragedy, Beachy Head is of course infamous for people doing a swan dive 500ft onto the rocks below. There’s no cry for help here, it’s a proper job if you’re sadly that way inclined. On a brighter note, it’s a fab place for Paragliding and walking. There’s a fabulous pub and we could have stayed overnight for free. We’ll definitely go back and do just that. It was a great drive along the coast, Eastbourne and Brighton, resplendent in the sunshine. We ended up for next two nights in Newhaven, right on the harbour wall and next to the passage for the Newhaven Diepe ferry, which was sight I can tell you. We met some nice like-minded folk there with whom we shared some laughs and a few beers. One of them gave Lydia a gift, a must have for longer trips. It was a knickers drying contraption from the pound shop. It holds about 8 pairs (small ones), that’ll get good use once a month, I’ll leave you to work that one out. ;-)

From Newhaven, we headed off a bit further down the coat to Hayling Island. We thought we’d spend the next couple of days on the beach there, boy were we in for a shock. Just weeks before, Hayling (we clearly don’t want to encourage tourism) Council, had banned overnight sleeping in Campers in all areas. The local business were up in arms and it’s fair to say so too were a couple of other would be over-nighters that had turned up the same time as us. Well it’s dark by now which make squeezing in to pub car parks already bustling with clients very difficult. I had an idea, Port Solent, we’d been sailing from there in the past so knew there was space. Luckily they were wonderful, security was very friendly and allowed us to park up right next to the Marina, and for free. That’s more like it. We stayed a couple of days, there’s lots to do and see, if you like boats. Our good friends Simon and Elma came to visit with wee Woody in tow so the dog’s had a playmate for the day too. Thank you Port Solent for your Hospitality, never again will Hayling Council see our custom, idiots.

Well we’d been away for the best part of a month and everything we wanted to prove had been proven. I had a small list of jobs, just extras, so we headed for home with a real sense of achievement and excitement at the thought of what is come in our Ruff Nomadic adventures.

We really know now we are ready to cross the channel and be able to live off grid for as long as we like. That would be a new story that will hopefully start very soon...

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