A Review of the past Year’s trips
The year started in January with the yearly MOT and this year a full service. All OK, so the next job was to start booking campsites that we had already planned.
February came and the annual habitation service was booked. I checked the van before and found that the cooker grill was not working properly. I stripped the burner down and found there was some sort of dust/rust in the gas inlet, once the dust was removed and the gas jet cleaned all was back to normal and working better than ever. The hab service was completed with a couple of minor issues which I fixed.
Our first few campsites were booked, starting with a new to us site in the outskirts of Nottingham.
In March I turned 70 which now meant I had to reapply for my license because Iona was registered at 3650kg. Normally this is a medical and forms to fill so I can retain by C1 category on my license.
I contacted DVLA to clarify some points and was told that because of my ICD,( like a heart pacemaker), I was now banned from having a C1 category on my driving licence. My only option now was to downplate Iona back to 3500kg.
Without going into detail I managed to do this using a specialist firm and I was now allowed to continue to drive Iona.
The next problem was making sure that we were not overloaded, so a couple of trips to the weighbridge made sure we were within the weight limit.
Our second trip took us to Norfolk and Brancaster for the Mussels and we also took in a night of Sea Shanty practice at The Jolly Sailors pub.
We started off and booked campsites we had been to before. Our first new site was at Sutton on Sea in Lincolnshire, we could walk into the town along the sea front and we found a pub with a big beer garden where we enjoyed a beer in the sun.
In May we had to cancel one trip but the next was new to us, Mr Moos Ice Cream parlour at Skipsea, Yorkshire. The Ice Cream was brilliant but there was no access to any beaches and walks were limited.
We then visited sites that we knew which included a site at Fenny Bentley in September, we had previously walked to Ashbourne and Tissington along the Tissington Trail which is an old railway line. This year we walked to Dovedale over the hills although they felt like mountains.
We had two final sites in October, a new one for us at Withernsea on the east coast. The final trip was to East Runton in north Norfolk between Sheringham and Cromer. We walked to both and enjoyed the beach and the coastal path.
Now we empty Iona and prepare for a couple of months without motorhoming.
This year we visited 16 different places, we had 60 nights away, drove 3115 miles, We spent £1820 excl food, on campsites, fuel & tolls.
Time to start planning next year.
Iona’s Travels 