NIC WILLIAMS
NIC WILLIAMS
2011
Sorry it’s been way too long since I updated this. Obviously I have been super busy :-) Well quite busy.
It was time to take Vern to Croyde and go and see what campsite we wanted to stay on when we go back in June. I love Croyde, it’s a magical place that I have been visiting for 20+ years. I first found it with my great friend Paul and friend James as we drove the north Devon coast road in his Austin Maestro with 3 windsurfs strapped to the car on two planks of wood. Eventually we happened across Croyde and the magic was there. If you’ve never been go tomorrow. It’s also a special place for me as it was where I was when I learned of the death of my great friend Simon Cooper as I supped a pint of Thatchers Gold frozen cider at The Thatch pub. I’ll think of him every time I am back there.
The first couple of days were wet and wild at Croyde. It gave me time to play around with a couple of photos and design a T-Shirt with a picture of Vern on it. I published it only for it to be removed within 24 hours. VW lawyers had contacted the company and my T-Shirt infringed their copyright. After some playing around I worked out it was as I had called my T-Shirt a name including VW California. Well I’ve republished the sketch of my van and you can see the results below, you can even buy your own!
Weeks 11,12 and 13 - Devon, Norfolk, London and some lazing around
24/05/2011
Croyde in stunning Devon, nights out in London, lots of caching and then a big birthday weekend at Deepdale in Norfolk.
So after the efficiency of VW I put up a couple of designs. They’ve been quite popular already, now I need to market them.
The weather improved so I got to go out and play. I’d got my Body Board with me so I spent the next few days in the surf. It was great fun. I also met some other campervan fans.
On the way back home I popped in and spent the day with my god daughter Sophie and great friends Flo, Mark and Oliver in their new house near Bristol. Very nice too.
After some caching for a couple of days it was time to hit the big smoke and pop along and see the work crowd. We had a great night in the Crown and Anchor on Drummond Street, my brother even came out to play. Mike came along too, great going since it was his 3rd consecutive night out following his 40th - Happy Birthday Mike. I managed to get home safely and even woke with no hangover, how did that happen, was it the kebab on the way home from Cambridge station on my bike?
The bank holiday weekend brought our annual trip to Burnham Deepdale for a weekend of camping and of course, my birthday. This year Carlos, Nicki and the boys joined Anne, Dave, Michael, Helena Bob, me and Helena on the site. Helena’s school friend Rumbles and his wife Zo and the girls were also there. Rumbles runs the excellent website www.vintagecamper.co.uk.
Needless to say the evenings were spent with the odd drink or two and the BBQ fired up. The excellent fish shack just a short walk away provided us with squid, scallops, sea bream, smoked salmon, swordfish... When you’ve got such excellent local produce on hand why just cook sausages and burgers although the local sausages were excellent as well.
We took the kids crabbing at Blakeney two days in a row. Or was it that the kids took us crabbing. Within 10 mins of us arriving every one of the adults had taken over and it had got very competitive, so much so we had to all go and buy or own crabbing lines. Carlos chose to ignore the ‘No Hooks’ sign and amazingly caught an eel.
Monday was wet, so after Carlos, Nicki and the boys left, the rest of us took off geocaching. We found 5 before we then had the most amazing cream tea at a great deli. We followed that up with several pints in a couple of pubs, The Lifeboat and then The Ship. Great amusement then ensued as during a game of draughts Dave spotted that the set wasn’t complete. Turns out that when we picked up two sets from my Mum’s house, neither was a complete set.
Dave and Anne taught us the card game ‘Chase the Ace’ in the evening. Dave’s very competitive streak provided some great entertainment as usual.
We left Deepdale in glorious sunshine after a huge breakfast at the Deepdale Cafe. They have the best bacon I have ever tasted so we go back time after time. We also got the great news that Dad was out of hospital after 5 days in with a severe chest infection.
So did I get any olympic tickets? How do I know? Everyone else seems to be finding out, even the radio tells you that you should know today.