Adventure Bear

We have a new member of the Escape route team

Yarg The Adventure Bear

Meet Yarg the Adventure Bear, named after the Cornish Cheese that is wrapped in Stinging nettles. Yarg is Gray spelt backwards named after the Gray family of Cheesemakers that devised the Cornish cheese.

Yarg the bear is totally hand made and I expect most of my vast readership will think that he was created by the Extreme knitter, but no.

Move over Extreme knitter and make way for the Wild Bear maker, yes me. You didn’t see that coming did you.

Ok, I did get a lot of sewing advice from the Extreme Knitter.

He is a little rough and ready around the edges, but not to bad for my first attempt.

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Candle Power

The Extreme knitter gave me a candle lantern for Christmas.
Not just any old lantern, but a UCO camping lantern, complete with three candles each with a nine hour burning time.
Sitting below the wind out awning of the camper van at night, sipping a Bacardi & coke, Rhubarb & Ginger Gin or a beer under the warm glow of candle light is going to be bliss.

The Extreme knitter received a gift this Christmas that was obviously labelled incorrectly and must have been intended for me.
A white ceramic survival stove fuelled by a tea light candle.
Although the portions that I cooked were very small and I needed to eat each ingredient of the meal individually while I cooked the next one. It was surprisingly good.
It works at maximum efficiency with two tea lights.
The flowery box it came in contained some smelly wax type substance, which was probably just packaging, so I threw that away.

Bacon sizzling away

Baked beans simmering away and bread being toasted at the same time. Thats multi-tasking.

A mince pie that I managed to bake.

And at last after a lot of practice a complete meal produced on the survival stove.

This is definitely my go to stove if ever I get lost in the wilderness. I shall have to mention it to Ray Mears when I see him next. Not that Ive ever met Ray Mears, but if I did, I would certainly mention it.

For some reason the Extreme knitter wasnt happy with me commandeering her prezzy, ranting on about oil burners and wax melts for air freshening or something like that.

She was just the same when I used her black pencil for my colouring in book. How was I supposed to know it was for use on her eyebrows.

Adventure Overland show and Campervan show

Next April just got better, after the announcement of an extra campervan show along with the Adventure Overland Show at Stratford on Avon Racecourse. The whole event is supported by The Overland Journal.

Overland Journal

Adventure Overland show

 

Announcing the launch of the INTERNATIONAL CAMPERVAN SHOW [ICS].

Covering mostly two-wheel-drive vehicles, the INTERNATIONAL CAMPERVAN SHOW is the sister event …to the twice yearly ADVENTURE OVERLAND SHOW [AOS]. Now into it’s 8th year, AOS held at Stratford-upon-Avon Racecourse has Spring & Late Summer editions.

The inaugural INTERNATIONAL CAMPERVAN SHOW will take place at the same Racecourse venue directly alongside the Spring edition of AOS … that’s 27-28 April 2019.

The result of this expansion means that visitors booking either show – AOS or ICS – will have unlimited access to both shows … basically that’s “two shows for the price of one”!!!

In conjunction with the world renowned adventure travel magazine ‘Overland Journal’, the INTERNATIONAL CAMPERVAN SHOW is a major festival of all things related to two-wheel-drive campers and “homes on the move”.

Much like the AOS, the INTERNATIONAL CAMPERVAN SHOW will span professionally-built ready-made motor caravans, companies specialising in build to order van-to-campervan conversions or simply ideas for your next self-build project.

Whether your preference is 4×2 or 4×4, the event now covers all types of overland vehicle!

INTERNATIONAL CAMPERVAN SHOW

Scarborough

Scarborough was a place we had visited briefly a few years ago and it hadn’t impressed us then. You have to give a place a second chance, so the following day we wound our way down to North Scarborough which turned out to be a vast expanse of beautiful beach with parking along the promenade. Elsie loved the beach, but still wasn’t keen on the sea, even when the extreme knitter went paddling. I can’t see her being a rescue dog, but we will persevere you never know she might end up loving it.

North Beach

 

We then drove on down to the town of Scarborough and seaside resort. The town centre was a large pedestrian shopping street with lots of the big named stores. Elsie and I stood outside many of these shops, just waiting until I spotted a sign for a cliff railway, I didn’t know Scarborough had a funicular and my heart missed a beat. When the extreme knitter reappeared I dragged her to the cliff top station, all aboard and down the side of the cliff we went.

I love a funicular me, especially when I find a hidden one.

 

The carriage doors opened and we were on the south beach promenade complete with all the seaside tat and amusement arcades.

The bright lights, bells and whistles let us know we were outside Coney Island. Not the real one obviously, just an amusement arcade of the same name. If you’ve ever watched the movie “Big” with Tom Hacks you will remember that he was transformed into a 13 year old boy by Zoltar the fortune telling Wizard in a penny machine, well low and behold outside Coney Island was the same machine. When I looked at the wizards face it was apparent that he was cross eyed. Now excuse me for being cynical here, but if the wizard couldn’t look me straight in the eye, how was he going to tell my fortune.

Tom Hanks and Zoltar

After a hasty wander up and down the prom we were back on the funicular heading back up to the main part of town. Elsie and I took our usual positions outside Marks & Spencer while the extreme knitter just popped in to buy food.

It was at this point that the reality of town life reared it’s ugly head.

As Elsie and I were stood outside M & S along with all the other waiting husbands I noticed a guy arrive and stand by me, No problem I thought, until after a while I realised he was slowly edging his way nearer towards me to the point I was starting to be wary. Then across the other side of the walkway a girl appeared and waved a purse at him and he shot off with her up a narrow alleyway. Then a policeman came running out of M & S giving chase. I really believe I was going to be a target for a pick pocket.

Undaunted we returned to the campsite with all the nice goodies the E / knitter had bought from M & S for our evening meal.

 

 

Whitby

The campsite we were staying on was clean and regimented, but not the type that we would normally stay at with its neat pitches in straight rows and lots of “do not do” signs. When you’ve been staying off grid for a while it rankles being told what you can and can’t do, especially when the commands are just common sense things you wouldn’t dream of doing. One even said “do not wear walking boots in the shower” I can’t remember the last time I showered on walking boots.

Anyway we were there and that was that. Nice, but It lacked a soul.

It was bright sunshine when we set off to visit Whitby; by the time we had found somewhere to park it was pouring with rain and blowing a gale. Luckily a man just leaving the car park gave us his ticket with six hours parking left on it. We were hardy tourists and we all wrapped up in our rainwear including Elsie. Touring the town proved difficult, looking in shops and trying to keep upright at the same time. It was that windy it was a struggle to cross the bridge to the Scary part of Whitby.

 

To get some relieve from being battered by the wind, we shot into a dog friendly pub that served local fish and chips. We found a table and ordered our food just before the rest of Whitby descended on the pub all with the same idea.

I was going to run up these steps. really!

Back on the harbour and the Extreme Knitter saw a sign that brought back traumatic memories of one holiday we had in St Ives, back in the 1990’s. She had just purchased a clotted cream Ice-cream, when a rogue seagull swooped down and snatched it from her hand before she had even licked it. Was she livid that day? You bet she was and she still has flashbacks to this day. She even reckoned that if she saw it again she would recognise it. The seagull that is, not the ice cream.

When we left Whitby I gave the parking ticket to another happy parker with three hours still remaining.

Puffin’s wiper blade decided to start shredding itself in all the torrential rain, so a trip to the local Halfords was called for and a pair of new wiper blades were purchased and fitted in their car park. Luckily it had stopped raining long enough for me to avoid getting soaked while fitting them.

The rain had set in for the rest of the day, so we spent the remains of our time in the camper reading, eating and generally lounging about until bedtime.

On Top of the World

The wind and rain had died away in the morning and what a view to greet us.

It doesn’t get any better than this. Well, I suppose it does, but not at that particular moment.

Our Overnight Spot

As always when we are on tour our morning starts get later and later. On to the A68 and heading to Bishops Auckland, in particular the local Morrison’s . We needed fuel, Propane gas and the use of their facilities. After getting lost in the one way streets of Bishops Auckland I eventually found a Calor Gas depot  behind Morrisons to get a replacement bottle of gas.

After our fourth night in a row of staying off grid we were starting to stink. It was becoming obvious that the Extreme Knitter was getting tired of washing with wet wipes and a flannel and my suggestion of a hospital type bed bath didn’t go down well.

Ohh er Matron !

“We’ll not have any of that malarkey ” she said.

With a swarm of flies following us down the road we headed in a sea ward direction.

We found a campsite just south of Whitby near to Robin Hood bay and booked ourselves in for three nights. The showers were clean and hot. It’s amazing how hot water can make you feel invigorated

I looked at a map in the evening and realised how close we had been to ” High Force Waterfall” the previous night. I could kick myself for not visiting. I really must start looking in more detail when doing my research.

 

 

 

 

Hawick and Kielder Forest

We had a very quiet night in the Hawick car park. 

Hawick Aire

The following morning after bacon butties, we visited Morrisons to use their facilities again before we set off for Kielder Water arriving at the start of the forest drive, a 12 mile long gravel road through Kielder forest.

I had read all the warnings that the forest road was only suitable in a 4×4 vehicle , but I worked on the basis that if the track became impassable we could turn around. The track was a toll road with a payment machine costing £3 and a notice warning about the need for 4 x 4.

I really enjoy driving these forest tracks

Kielder Forest Drive

A stop over at the six mile point for food and beverages

The 12 miles of track came to an end near a main road, so we turned around and went back along the track to travel another 12 miles doing the return trip.

 

As can be seen from photos the road is a fairly level gravel surface with some steady gradients that you could drive along in your Granny’s Fiat 500 without any bother. Not as challenging as I would have liked, but certainly an enjoyable drive.

It was starting to get late, so somewhere to overnight was a priority before it got dark. There was a pub that allowed motor homes to over night in their car park if you had a drink and a meal in the pub, but It didn’t appeal to us.

I had heard that overnighting around Kielder water including the forestry drive was banned and checked by the forestry agents. All the parking areas had barriers across the access.

We gave up after driving around aimlessly and decided to head back to Hawick car park for another night.

You’ll note that this was the third night we had stayed off grid

Maths, Munch and a School Day

My day started with me getting ready for school. I quickly left the house at 8.50am as I wasn’t going to be late for the maths and munch session. Our  seven year old granddaughter, Vicky had invited me to attend a Parents meeting to hear how her school were changing the way they taught maths and they used the promise of a bacon buttie as a lure . It was explained that they had researched the way maths was taught around the world and they came to the conclusion that Shanghai produced the best results. The first part involved us being told that the children were going to be taught and tested on their times table as though this was some amazing method they had just discovered. Anyone reading this of a certain age will remember the Friday mental maths tests we endured saying our times table as a rhyme. Then we were shown the pictorial examples of tuition that had many of us looking confused. Eventually it sank in and we were all there happily laying out counters and drinking straws, creating shapes and graphs that were remarkably similar to an abacus ( remember Shanghai) .

An hour and a half later I was busy loading the camper van with supplies and the extreme knitters vast array of clothes and shoes. All these years and she still hasn’t taken on board the travel light concept .

Ruby stayed with the feral daughter at the crazy shack and Elsie came with us for her longest road trip so far.

It’s now becoming a foregone conclusion that we will always revisit Scotland. So there we were winding our merry way to the Scottish border like a couple of geriatric gypsies, but we were going to go a long way around.

A change of plan to break the trip down into shorter chunks had us heading towards Wales instead, Betws-y-coed, Snowdonia to be precise.

When the Extreme knitter asked where we were staying that night I said “At the Swallow Falls Hotel darling” and she seemed impressed by my choice.

I knew that the Swallow falls hotel offered overnight camping in their car park, so that’s where we went, arriving at 5pm to settle in for the evening. Not quite the en suite hotel room with spa that the E/Knitter was expecting.

In the Swallow Falls Hotel car park we spotted an unusual tree that we found out much later was in fact a disguised mobile phone mast

Out second day started as any other as you do when you’ve woken up in a Hotel car park. We ate bacon butties and wandered over the road to look at the Swallow falls. Paying our two pound entrance fee we walked down the many flights of steps . The roar was deafening and the air was saturated with water spray. The recent rain meant the waterfall was in full flow and turbulent.

Swallow Falls

I suggested that we visit the Zip World forest just to have a look, as you do. I think the extreme knitter could see through my ploy as she’s got used to my sneaky ways .

Zip World

The forest coaster is a fast down hill ride that twists and turns sharply down through the steep forest on a track. She even agreed to go first while I gallantly held Elsie. The first of her three rides was a gentle amble down the track with the brakes on. However the adrenaline kicked for the second and third rides, she let it go full speed and enjoyed it.

Now I’m not one to be beaten by a girl, so I had to man up and just let it go as fast as I could. Wow!!! the rush you get is exhilarating.

The Extreme Knitter going at full pelt and obviously petrified. This was one of the official photos as all the ones I took turned in to blurred images at that speed.

 

 

We headed back to the Hotel car park for a second evening stop over after a very pleasant wander around Betws-y-coed. We couldn’t be bothered to cook for the evening so drove back down to a pizza shop in Betws-y-coed .  The extreme knitter went in and ordered a ham and pineapple pizza.

” Sorry we don’t put pineapple on pizza, but if you supply your own pineapple we will cook it and charge you a 15 pence fee” said the guy behind the counter. In a state of shock she accepted the ham pizza and departed. Why no pineapple? I don’t know.

Before we set off for this trip our Grandson Sam and his partner Lauren gave us the news that we were going to become Great Grandparents as they were expecting a baby girl in November. We couldn’t more proud of them and thank them for the wonderful gift they are giving us. As you can imagine The Extreme knitters skills were going to be used to the “extreme”, providing far more baby clothes than any child can possibly wear.

 

 

Overland Wild Party

Come to our Wild Party, the Face book post said, so we did. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we are open to something different.

The Wild Party/Festival was being held at a farm in Ailsworth, Peterborough which is the headquarters of Nene Overland, the suppliers of all things cool and adventurous.

Nene Overland

Nene Overland had organised the event to Coincide with the Land Rover show at the Peterborough show ground.

The long drive on Friday afternoon to Nene Overland led to the campsite in a field beside their offices and workshop.

We were the first to arrive and had the choice of pitches in the vast camping field. A Big top marquee hosted the entertainment along with the obligatory beer tent and Kids zone tent which I was barred from as I was rubbish at colouring in.

In the evening we dined on our usual Meat balls in home made tomatoes sauce then tottered over to the beer tent to sample the beverages on offer, well it would have been rude not to.

Saturday was the main festival day with food, drink served all day and entertainment in the evening. We had a very chilled out day just lazing about reading and eating. Elsie had a massive field to run around , so she was in her element. We had a wander around the Nene Overland displays and their 1^st Class workshop facilities predominantly catering for the Land rover owner. The Land rover sales pitch was full of stunning vehicles and the showroom displayed their range of overlanding equipment. The list of vehicles that I would have happily driven home in was vast, but I particularly wished for the Ex Army ambulance as they make an excellent off road camper. Sadly it had the sold sign on it. One day perhaps.

Sunday morning and most of the campers headed off to visit the Land Rover show. We had leisurely drive home.

This was the first time the festival had been staged and it’s pretty obvious that the future ones will be a popular venue once the word is out there. We are certainly looking forward to next year’s event.

I will probably meet up with them again next weekend as Nene Overland will be attending the Adventure Overland show at Stratford on Avon racecourse on the 22^nd & 23^rd September 2018.

Adventure Overland Show

 

The Cheeky Monkey and a Toad in the Hole

Our latest cooking gadget is a Toasted sandwich maker or Pie iron made by TF Gear, but more commonly know as a “Ridge Monkey”.

The TF Gear iron is identical to the Ridge Monkey, so we have nicknamed ours “The Cheeky Monkey”.

TF-Gear-Sandwich-Toaster

I was hoping that this would be the camping nirvana after all the good reviews I had read. We don’t have an oven in the campervan, so it limits our possible menu.

I tried the Omnia oven, but I couldn’t get on with it and it was a little oversize for our campervan hob.

Omnia Oven

We have a similar sandwich toaster called “The Diablo” that toasts sandwiches, but they were small and you had towaste a lot of bread cutting it to fit the round shape. The TF Gear is a square shaped pie iron that makes toasted sandwiches using a gas hob, open fire or barbeque. It is very popular with fishermen who cook breakfast on the river side. So far I have cooked Bacon, Burgers, Eggs and a small Pizza, well warmed one up. As the cooking process is enclosed, the top gets a chance of being cooked.

A Chicago pie pizza approximately 3 “diameter fits nicely. I heated one side of the iron until hot then turned it over and placed the defrosted pizza on the unheated side. The theory being that as the pizza base was directly on the bottom of the iron, preheating the top would give the cooking of the pizza top a head start before the base burnt. It actually worked. I did turn it over once just to brown the top. I shall be asking the extreme knitter to make some homemade pizzas that fit the Cheeky Monkeys shape and size. If they are thinner they might cook quicker and more thoroughly.

I’ve tried McCann’s frozen oven fries as they were thin. These cooked perfectly. I think the trick with frozen food is to thaw it out first, so that your cooking time isn’t taking up having to defrost first.

The next try out was Toad in the Hole, an easy to make quaint English recipe that is basically sausages cooked in a dish of batter mix using a very hot oven. The batter would normally rise in an oven enveloping the sausage in a crispy Yorkshire pudding. Cooking it in the Cheeky monkey was going to be a challenge.

 

Start by cooking 3 or 4 sausages in the Cheeky Monkey. I like to butterfly mine to make sure they are thoroughly cooked.

 

While the sausages are cooking make your batter mix

1 cup of plain flour

A pinch of salt

300mls of milk

Whisk these ingredients until you’ve got a smooth liquid (without any lumps)

This will make approximately 450mls.

Boil some water.

When the sausages are cooked take them out and pour a good glug of veg oil in the Cheeky monkey and heat until smoking hot.

Pour a small layer of the batter mix into the hot oil that will seal the underside, them place the sausages in and pour some more batter mix over them. I used about 250mls. If the mix is too deep it will burn before the middle is cooked. I cooked it on a low flame for 20 minutes turning the Cheeky Monkey over regularly to stop the mix from burning.

 

Make a small amount of gravy using gravy granules and the water that you boiled earlier. (yes, I know, but we are camping so short cuts are allowed).

 

Much to my amazement it worked out and tasted good. I didn’t rise as it would in an oven, but because it was thinner it cooked all the way through.

The batter mix could be made at home before setting off on your camping trip to save time.

If you’ve been paying attention you’ll be asking what about the 200mls of batter mix that I had left?

Well that’s for pudding, three Pancakes to be precise. Even though it was Sunday I like a Fat Tuesday

These can be made in the Cheeky monkey by pouring in a small amount of veg oil and pouring a third of the mix on top. They can be made sweeter by slicing some bananas into the mix or possibly pineapple chunks. The beauty of the monkey is that you just turn it over to cook the other side.

The experimenting goes on.