Cuckmere Haven

A last minute decision to head out just before Saturday lunch time found us heading south on the M23. We decided to revisit Cuckmere Haven, somewhere familiar to us but not to the boys who were last there being towed behind push bikes with friends some years ago. We arrived early afternoon after lunching on the move on a petrol station picnic to find that campervans cost double that of cars to park… Rudolph has the same footprint as our family estate car.. pity we forgot National Trust members park free…

So we trotted down past the meanders via some interesting soil erosion and the boys played chicken with the waves, and lost. It was windy but great to be out.

Returning to the van at around 4.30pm, fish and chips were calling, so we head to St Leonards again to our current favourite chip shop and ate two haddock and chips and one cod and chips between us on the sea front in increasingly heavy wind and rain..

The next decision was where to spend the night, I’d read of a not so secret location atop a south down, sort of on the way home. So we head west again and found the car park empty, although we stayed in the horse box area as we couldn’t fit under the height barrier. We half expected to be moved on by a disgruntled local, or the police, or be surrounded by the area’s boy racers doing donuts on the grasscrete in the small hours. Or worse!

Of course the night passed without event, although the wind and rain pelted the van, causing it to rock impressively. Not for the first time did I not miss being in a tent.. Next morning, I was up at dawn and we had quick mugs of tea and hot chocolate watching the odd brave cyclist pass by in the near horizontal driving rain.

Arriving back in South London before 10am for breakfast, the weather brightening up, I decided to undertake the oil change I’d been aiming at for a while. Naturally the ‘universal’ sump socket didn’t fit properly and fear of rounding off the plug temporarily stopped play until Cara, returning from a food shop, picked up an 8mm square sump socket from Halfords. Oil out, and a surprisingly straightforward change of filter, I then replaced the sump plug with the new one I had supplied with the filters. Of course it didn’t seal properly, showing tiny amounts of left over oil weeping through, so leaving the van on the ramps bereft of oil in the engine, I currently await delivery of a copper washer in order to fill it up with fresh oil (or will do when I order it!)

Whilst in the mood, I also replaced the dim 8W fluorescent tubes to two of the fittings in the rear of the van. It appears they are cool white which is a little annoying, not least as the light fittings are certainly one of the less well conceived things I’ve come across, requiring 8 small fiddly screws to be removed and replaced to change a bulb..

Hopefully get the washer in the next day or two and have things back up and running. I need to replace a dodgy fuse holder in the split charge system whilst I’m at it and I’ve worked out why we dribble fresh water when leaned to the right, the connection of the filler hose to the fresh water tank is suspect.. One for next weekend. All good fun.