SOUTH ENGLAND & WALES

SOUTH ENGLAND & WALES: 

The result of Trent getting his end of term dates wrong was us in a van for 7 days. With only had a vague outline of where we wanted to go in South England and Wales we set off on what was a great, but testing adventure.

Rye & Brighton, England:
Day 119:  Today we picked up our camper van from London Campers and started our journey South toward Rye, of course however, not without some issues. As can be seen by the photos, the van was old, but we expected it to be slow and potentially bad on fuel, but not entirely useless... which it was. We got about an hour down the road before the oil light turned on which then set off a horrible droning sound. We called the man we had hired from as we couldn't even find where to put the oil in... Once we found that we realised there was no funnel so had to use a dust-pan. Thinking we would be in the clear once we did this we set off again... We eventually made it to the beautiful historic town of Rye but not without some serious oil light disturbance. We suspected the fuse had blown but you're talking about two people who couldn't find where to put the oil in so our diagnosis was by no means something to rely on.
Rye is so beautiful, we spent the afternoon wandering through the gorgeous cobblestone streets however, could not find any accommodation there so decided to continue our drive through to Brighton. We spent the night in Brighton parked in a car spot looking over the Pier. It cost us 3pounds to stay here overnight, if you're happy to go without a shower it's a great view to wake up to!

Brighton & Lands End, England:
Day 120: 
Today we set off for Lands End, Penzance, the Southern most tip of the United Kingdom in our less-than- functioning big blue mess. After nearly 9hours of driving, a few detours, and a few wrong turns, we finally arrived in the late afternoon. We went for a quick walk before the sun set then huddled in the van for the rest of the night while some seriously strong wind rattled big blue.
On this night we decided to stay at a caravan park.

Lands End, Penzance, Exeter & Newquay, England:
Day 121: 
Today we finally gave up on big blue, the power connector didn't work, it wasn't insured with AA, the gears were impossible and that wretched noise was only worse. We called the man we hired from and he offered to meet us in Exeter with a replacement van. Exeter was about 2 and a half hours from Lands End which was annoying but we either forfeited the entire trip or we drove the 5hour round trip to get the replacement van. Before we left Penzance we drove around the coast, lots of pretty little fishing villages, would definitely recommend stopping here. Trent believes that this is where the Fisherman Friends mints come from, not based on anything other than the fact that it simply 'looks like they could come from here'. We still have not researched their true origin.
We left Penzance and drove to Exeter, swapping for an automatic with a pop-up roof which was handy when we needed to store our bags of a night-time. We then drove to Cornwall getting in after dark.
On this night we parked in a public car park and stayed there for 2pounds around 100meters from the ocean.

Good riddance to unlucky 13!

Cornwall, England & Newport, Wales:
Day 122: 
Today was our first full day of actually being able to enjoy our trip after everything that had happened  so far. We started our morning with baked beans and coffee on a headland in Newquay. We then drove along the coast, through Newquay to Bedruthan Steps and spent some time here admiring the coast line. Parking was around 3pounds(cash) from memory and it's definitely worth visiting, similar to the Twelve Apostles but the tides are so extreme that there's plenty of beach to discover them while the tide is low. From here we drove to Newport in Wales and spent the night in the cutest little caravan park.

Newport, Pontypridd & Swansea, Wales:
Day 123: 
This morning we left Newport and headed for the town where my great-grandmother was born, Pontypridd. We drove out to the church she was registered under along the most beautiful windy roads covered in autumn leaves. The town overall wasn't particularly impressive but it was still nice to go there for sentimental reasons.
After Pontypridd we drove to the Mumbles in Swansea. This is such a beautiful stretch of coastline and is definitely worth visiting. We spent the afternoon adventuring along the coast then settled in the afternoon at a carpark on the beach where we experienced just how high the tides rise and fall.

Swansea & Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Wales: 
Day 124: 
This morning we woke up and headed for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. We arrived around midday then spent the afternoon wandering along the beach. It's a really beautiful stretch of coast and is definitely worth a visit.

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park & Bourton-on-the-Water:
Day 125: 
Overnight another camper van joined us at the carpark we were staying at and bought with them their beautiful pooch, as we were having breakfast he decided to come and join us. After spending some time getting our dog fix we set off to our final destination, Bourton-on-the-Water, the Cotswolds. The day prior when we were driving to the National Park we saw all these signs for 'Burial Chambers' and today we decided to see what they were. They were ancient sites that were burial chambers for VIPs around 6,000 years ago.
Bourton-on-the-Water is such a picture perfect little town, it genuinely doesn't feel real. There's ducks in the stream, small corner stores and old English pubs. It's just beautiful. I'm not sure why we didn't take more photos here. We watched the Rugby World Cup final in the local pub, the majority sadly were rallying for New Zealand.

Bourton-On-Water & London: 

Day 126: 

This morning we woke up and drove the hour trip back to London from Bourton-on-water. We dropped the car back and then headed for our hotel in Luton. Finally being able to have a good shower and a sleep on a  comfy bed, we settled in for the night, excited for the following day... PARIS!

TIPS:
EE-SIM: EE offers a 10GB sim card for 10pounds which we used on our trip. Having access to maps and ability to search for accommodation on the road is so handy.
LONDON CAMPERS: I couldn't not recommend more NOT booking with this company! While they did provide us with a second replacement vehicle we lost an entire day of travel because of being given a faulty vehicle in the first place. Not only this, but we had to wait two weeks to receive our deposit of 500pounds back which we gave in cash. We were not made aware that there was a wait time, nor were we met with anyone when we took the car back. Really disappointed with our service here and would highly recommend spending a little bit more money and going with a reliable brand such as Wicked Campers.
PLACES WE DIDN'T MAKE IT TO: We didn't make it to the Lost Gardens of Heligan, the White Cliffs of Dover, or Snowdonia National Park. These places all look amazing and we'll definitely make it there next time... in our WICKED CAMPER!
LUTON: If you're staying in Luton or going to the airport note that you can't use your Oyster card. You have to buy a ticket as it is 30kms out of the London zone... thank God Trent could sweet talk us out of a 20pound fine each.
EASYJET HOTEL: We stayed at the EasyJet hotel in Luton and although basic is was perfect for an overnight stay, would recommend as a cheap option.
PORTSMOUTH: Portsmouth is basically a city sized shipping yard and is not worth the detour!

CARAVANING AND CAMPING: A lot of caravan parks close for the autumn/ winter period so you're options are limited. Be sure to do some research in advance if you're depending on their facilities.
TOLL BOOTH BUSINESS: There are three main roads (that we could identify) that take you from England to Wales. The Southern-most option is a really long bridge, with a really high toll! It costed us something like 23pounds... on the way home we opted for a different route to avoid this.