Great time in Graffham with good friends.

During our 2015 tour of France we were very lucky to meet some lovely people who have now become very good friends.   Irene & Derek live in Portsmouth so after what seemed an awful lot of "can you make this date?" conversations we finally managed to book this weekend away - halfway between Portsmouth and Crawley is roughly about Graffham where there just happens to be a caravan site  http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/campsites/uk/westsussex/petworth/graffham.

Lovely campsite, lots of pitches hidden in the woods, lovely friendly wardens.   The site is in the South Downs National Park and is one of the "12 areas in the country undisturbed by light pollution" (her words, not mine) - hence there were no lights at night except in the toilet blocks. http://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=8&lat=6648977&lon=-54915&layers=B0TFFFF

As you can imagine there was an awful lot of talking and a lot of wine consumed but what a lovely time we had.   Saturday we had lunch at http://www.thecricketersduncton.co.uk/ - very nice too, well worth a visit if you're in the area but probably best to book.   Then in the evening we all got together for "nibbles" and watched Strictly and X Factor - what a perfect evening with good friends.

Photo bombed by Rosie!

The weather during the day, considering it was mid-October, was really quite pleasant and I sat outside in a t-shirt reading my book for a little while, but come the night time, my goodness did it rain!   I woke about 1am and saw this bright light coming through the skylight, when I looked it was the moon (almost a full one), but the brightness was just beautiful.

Weather Alert! - Tsunami in Chertsey!!!!!!!

Cheeky little weekend away in Chertsey - we're just lovin Bill!  The Camping & Caravanning Club site is right alongside the River Thames, but this time because of a rally the campsite was heaving and our pitch was just inside the main gate.   Really not a problem as the very friendly and helpful warden helped us park up in a very awkward position, Del did an amazing  job parking in a really tight spot.   Fab wardens at this site, can't do enough to help without invading the driver's 'prowess'.

Saturday woke to dark grey skies and lots of rain so I took the opportunity to do a little crafting, while Del watched the GP in Malaysia.  

Fuchsia

The afternoon bought some little patches of blue and the rain dried up for a while so we decided to have a walk to the 'local' - The Kingfisher which is just across the bridge from the campsite.  

The River Thames at Chertsey

Now, although never spoken of, there's a little bit of a competition between Del & I as to who can 'check-in' on Facebook first.   Del won this time and was amazed to find a reply saying "where are you?" with a photo of a moho hiding in the shrubbery at Chertsey.  Several messages went to and fro and then an arrangement to meet up in the pub!   Welcome Jo and Spike, fellow campers who just happened to be members of a Facebook page that we also belong to.   A great afternoon was had lots of talking and a few glasses emptied.  When returning to the campsite we were all startled when a loud beep came from a passing car at the same time as the b*@!&%d driver went through a huge puddle (on purpose) and absolutely soaked the four of us!   Poor Del caught it face on and was absolutely soaked through. Fortunately, Bill has a lovely heater which blows warm air throughout so we managed to dry out and get warm again pdq.    Tonight was definitely, a curry, Strictly and X-Factor night!

Sunday dawned, lovely and sunny and t-shirt weather which was rather nice for early-October.   Breakfast and pack-up, leaving Chertsey and indoors within 2 hours.   Off again in a couple of weekends.... woohoo!