Better Late Than Never SoTo Speak.

Apologies for the late posting of our trip to the NEC but I had to have a new HD installed in my computer,anyway all done now.

We thought it was a bit quiet on the Thursday when we visited the show but reports from other days,especially Friday and Saturday,said it was rammed with people especially around the Bailey stand and more especially around the new Unicorn 3.

Well we succumbed and ordered a Unicorn 3 Cadiz for delivery sometime in March/February.

Got a good deal from Yorkshire Caravans where we bought the Orion,it was about £1200+ more than another quote we got.

Will be quite sad to see the Orion go as we have had some good holidays in it but we wanted two fixed singles and a bit more space so the Unicorn it had to be.

To judge from the interest in it I think Bailey are on to a winner,especially after listening to customers ( me included ) and moved the front nearside locker door nearer the front to better accommodate a porch awning.

The Orion will will be going in part-ex sometime before Christmas so we will be vanless until delivery of the Unicorn.

On another tack we were amazed at the number of motorhomes of all shapes and sizes at the show,they appeared to outnumber caravans to a great degree,there were literally hundreds of them,motorhoming must be really taking off.

Incidentally we stopped overnight at the Hilton Metropole on the NEC site,according to a lot of posts on Trip Advisor it wasn't up to much but we found it very acceptable with the bar food being very good value.Just one downer,beware of getting a room to the rear of the hotel as there is an air-conditioning unit on a flat roof which drones away all night,SWMBO was not amused.Next year I think we will book an executive room at the front.

I will be renaming the blog when we get the new van but have decided against starting a new one so all the Orion stuff will still be there to help anyone who needs it,just got to think of a catchy new title now..............................

Ian

Back Safe and Sound

Well,further to my last post and after a tussle with Green Flag,the Orion was returned safely to our storage yesterday by a firm from Thirsk that is used by them.

( I didn't realise until the recovery chap told me that GF do not have any patrols of their own and use local firms exclusively for their call outs,unlike the AA,RAC etc. )

They still demanded to see a doctors letter ( which I had eventually obtained ) before even considering arranging transport,naturally my scanner wasn't working so I had to post it,more delay.

They [GF] still seem to be in the age of the fax machine and woe betide you if you don't use e-mail or haven't got a smart phone.

I can understand them being wary of people abusing the system to get them home on the cheap but as I said previously,just do what is necessary,ask for a doctors note within so-many days,if this is not produced then send a bill and terminate membership.

Anyway they have said that in the light of my problems they are going to re-examine their rules and regulations so there may be a change sometime in the future,we shall see.

Many thanks to the owners of Hillside Park who let us leave the van on their site at no charge until it was collected and even offered us a discount on a future booking as we went home early.

The back is slowly improving but in the midst of it,to cut a very long story short I also have a slight heart problem that I wasn't aware of so I can't drive for at least a month so that probably rules out any more vanning for this year.

Thank you to the people that have enquired.

SWMBO has said she will go on the CC manouvering/driving course next year so we will be prepared if there is a next time,God forbid..


We are going to the NEC show next week to probably order a Unicorn 3,the Orion has served us very well and we love the van but we want one with fixed single beds so that we aren't climbing over each other in the night and is a bit bigger if we are going to accommodate grandchildren.

Ian

Hillside Park

We had planned to have four nights at Hillside Park just to the north of Thirsk but events overtook us and we only managed two and had to return early.

Hillside Park is a lovely little site ( 50 pitches ) that has won awards for its eco-friendliness,the owners are very friendly and obliging.

The site wasn't very busy but as they also store vans a lot of the pitches had empty vans on them for some reason which unfortunately gave it a sort of "ghost town" appearance.

When we were moving the van to hitch up at our storage for some strange reason the offside Reich motor mover wouldn't move onto the wheel,anyway with a bit of help from the chap who serviced our van who happened to be there we eventually got it sorted and were on our way.

Visits to Rievelaux Abbey and Helmsley on the Thursday passed a very pleasant day but on the Friday morning my back went as I was getting a shower and agony barely described it.

We therefore decided to pack up and go home,SWMBO was a star as I wasn't much help,she packed everything up including the awning ( with help from a friendly neighbouring vanner for the awning ,thanks Phil ).

We intended to ask Mayday-Green Flag to get the van home as I was in too much pain to drive and SWMBO doesn't tow but they refused until I produced a medical certificate,not the most helpful of responses when you are in agony in a caravan field out in the sticks,will think twice when renewal comes.

Why not just do it and ask for a certificate within seven days or so,but no,so the owners said we could leave the van on the site and I will collect it in a few days when my back has hopefully improved.

Ian