22 March 2023 - On The Road Again

Miles driven today = 41

Total Miles to date = 41

Past experience has shown us that it is always sensible not to venture too far away from home on the first run out with the van after a lengthy stationary period.  Amazingly I had the foresight to check the water pump last week and sure enough I found that we had somehow managed to open the shower tap with the 12v supply switched on while we were laying the van up for winter.  As a result, with no water in the system, the pump had burnt itself out and blown the fuse.  So after lots of swearing and scraping of knuckles trying to work in the confined space around the water tank we have a new and hopefully more robust pump installed.  I need to get another spare though as they do tend to stop working with notorious regularity.

But we hadn't been able to test the fridge or charge the gas and water systems before leaving home, so rather than blast straight over the QE Bridge into Kent and find we have a problem, or that we have left something vital behind, we've decided to stay relatively local for our first couple of nights.  All seems to be hunky dory so far.  

Although we make regular trips to Mersea Island we've never explored the Blackwater and Crouch Estuaries in either of our previous vans so that's what we are initially going to do for a couple of days while we make sure everything is in tip-top working order.

My Suffolk home is barely a mile from the River Stour which, for a large part, forms the county border with Essex.  I often used to joke with my erstwhile colleagues from South of the border that I could spit into their county, which is as it should be!  A couple of weeks ago we went to an art exhibition in Colchester where we read it described as "England's most misunderstood County" and I'm sure a lot of people's impressions are blinkered by the white stilettoed, spray tanned stereotype of the TOWIE set.  But Essex is unfairly maligned and parts of it are surprisingly wild and stunningly beautiful.

We initially diverted to my Mum's to fill up the fresh water tank, then just as we joined the A12 at Colchester the milometre clocked up 10,000 miles, so we have already quadrupled the van's mileage since we brought her just a little over a year ago.  We turned off the dual carriageway at Kelvedon and skirted round Tiptree, of jam producing fame.  Then it was on through Great Totham to Heybridge and Heybridge Basin.  We are spending our first night at the Jolly Sailor pub among the clanking hallyards and mudflats of the Blackwater estuary.

I've mentioned before how few and far between proper motorhome aires are in this country.  We have plenty of campsites, many of which are open for 12 months of the year, but they do tend to be a fair bit pricier than they are on the continent and in our experience can be rather regimented and over-officious.  Pleasingly, what we also have in increasing abundance are pubs who are prepared to give over a bit of space in their car parks to motorhomers.  There are generally no facilities so we have to be self-contained but the parking is usually free provided you pop in and have a drink and maybe a bite to eat, which is absolutely fine by us and we will hopefully be using several more of these on this trip, interpsersed with nights on sites when we need to empty and replenish tanks and charge laptops and other 240v equipment.

Once we had checked in at the bar we decided to take ourselves off for a stroll.  I have a new pair of boots which need breaking in before festival season so a quick 2.7 mile walk round the basin seemed a perfect opportunity.

The Blackwater Estuary is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) with a number of conservation projects in place to protect the habitat and wildlife.

We crossed the sea lock at the end of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation and followed the sea wall path around the basin, which is effectively a landlocked mere.

We were on the lookout for samphire to have with the salmon which is the fridge for tomorrow evening but the tide was a bit too high for foraging.

All the time we were accompanied by a cacophony of gulls, predominantly of the black-headed variety.  We also spotted what we thought was a Marsh Harrier hunting among the reed beds.

Looking across the estuary to Maldon, famous for its sea salt and also home to a large number of old Thames barges.

We walked back along the towpath of the navigation.

Plenty of blackthorn flowers and moorhens collecting nesting material.

"Marie's Garden" has a wonderful menagerie of model animals.

Back at the Jolly Sailor I've tried to type this blog out on my phone but we are really struggling for data signal so I'm unlikely to be able to publish tonight.  In 3 months of travelling round Europe we only failed to have 4G connectivity on 2 or 3 occasions and yet here we are on day 1 in supposedly technically advanced England and we are seemingly back in the age of dial-up.  Marvellous isn't it!

They've got a music bingo night in the pub tonight which we have politely declined.  The food was pretty decent though and very reasonably priced. 

And so to bed.  We have put our wrap-around external screen on this evening.  Its pretty bulky and therefore we didn't take it on our previous tours but we've left our bikes at home for this trip so there is plenty of room for it in the garage.  It's only the second time we have used it but hopefully it will keep the cab area warmer at night and cut down on condensation on the windscreen.  

Night night.

23 March 2023 - The Blackwater & The Crouch