We had a brilliant Easter holiday in France and Spain with Budgie.  We were away for 10 days and covered over 1750 miles (2850 km), making it all the way down to the Spanish Pyrenees. As is usual for our road trips, we did a few long travelling days, but interspersed these with shorter days and one two-night stay in San Sebastian. Ferry to France We chose to take the DFDS ferry from Newhaven, in Sussex, to Dieppe, in Normandy.  For us, Newhaven is only about an hour and a half away and this route was considerably cheaper than the alternative routes from either Portsmouth, Dover, or ..read more

Following on from our post about fitting solar panels to the Alu-Cab Icarus roof on our Defender, the next step was to fit the auxiliary battery, run the internal wiring, fit the charge controller and fit the diesel heater! Diesel Heater Location After much debating on the position for the diesel heater in the Defender, we decided that the best solution for us was to remove the front middle seat and fit the heater in the Nakatanenga heater console.  Nakatanenga supply a full heater kit for the Defender, with all of the components required to fit it.  The only UK supplier is 4 ..read more

One of our favourite things about living in Victoria, BC, was being able to explore beautiful Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, but our love of islands didn't start in Canada.  It actually started in Scotland on the Isle of Jura. I (R) have been visiting Jura for almost 40 years now, and Sarah has been joining me for more than 20 years.  It's one of our favourite places, and we even got married there on the beach at Corran Sands in 2012.   One of the best things about being back in the UK, is being able to get up to Jura regularly.  This is our third trip up in ..read more

We're now back to reality with a bump after our Christmas break!  We travelled almost 1400 miles (2250km) in Budgie (our Defender); from our home in Portsmouth up to Sarah's parents in Edinburgh, down to Ridley's Dad in Northumberland, back to Edinburgh, over to our cottage on the Isle of Jura, then back home to Portsmouth via Edinburgh and Northumberland! Sarah's parents kindly looked after our dog, Hector, while we went skiing before Christmas, and we spent a lovely Christmas back in Edinburgh with Sarah's family, for the first time in 5 years.  Click the link to read more about ..read more

Shortly after we moved to Portsmouth, the boys realised they wouldn't be able to ski every weekend of the season, like they had been used to in Canada!   After a bit of internet searching and researching European ski locations, we settled on a trip to Montgenèvre in France.  The small town sits about half way between Grenoble in France and Turin in Italy and is right on the border.  We flew into Grenoble Alpes-Isère Airport with EasyJet from Edinburgh, and had a private transfer with Snow Cab. It's the oldest ski resort in France and it's possible to ski across into Ital ..read more

We purchased our new adventure wagon in October 2023 and we are now converting him into an off-road camper.  I'll keep this post updated as we progress with the conversion. Budgie the 110 Defender Our new vehicle is a 1993 Land Rover Defender 110 County Station Wagon with the 200Tdi (Turbo Diesel Injection) engine.  He was affectionately named Budgie by a previous owner's kids, apparently because he had a squeaky fan belt which chirped like a budgie! Prior to our purchase, Budgie had an extensive renovation including a galvanised chassis and some serious rust repairs.  He e ..read more

Well it's almost two months since we moved back to the UK, and we're still kind of getting over the culture shock, but as usual we're making the most of things. The boys are enjoying lots of UK snacks that they had totally forgotten about (as is Sarah!) so every trip to the store is bigger than intended.....  It's been great to catch up with old friends and family, although we've still got lots more people to catch up with! Exploring our new home has been fun, and we've managed to keep some of our Canadian traditions like pumpkin picking before Thanksgiving, this year joined by the boys ..read more

Getting to Seattle from Vancouver Island We travelled to Seattle on the FRS Clipper service from Victoria on Vancouver Island.  It's a fast, passenger only catamaran service between Victoria's Inner Harbour and Pier 69 in downtown Seattle.  The journey takes roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes to cross the scenic Juan de Fuca Straight, then into Admiralty Inlet and Puget Sound towards Elliott Bay. Keep an eye out for whales and dolphins whilst you travel at 30 knots, or just enjoy the views of Mount Baker and the Olympic mountain range. The clipper has 3 different classes of tic ..read more

We spent most of the winter skiing at Mount Washington, so spent a lot of weekends in the mid-island.  Our camping spot was about half way between Courtenay and Campbell River, and we've done a lot of exploring around the area. Mount Washington and Strathcona Provincial Park are well worth a trip up the mountain.  Mount Washington is a great ski resort in winter and mountain biking park in summer, as well as offering zip lining and scenic chair lift rides.  The views from the mountain out to the ocean and the Gulf Islands are stunning! The ferry to Quadra Island departs from Ca ..read more

San Josef Bay, in Cape Scott Provincial Park, is rightly famous; recently making the Top 50 of the World's Best Beaches.  With it's stunning sea stacks and beautiful white sandy beach, it's easy to see the attraction.   Getting to Cape Scott Provincial Park  Despite its remote location on northern Vancouver Island, San Josef Bay is the most accessible beach in Cape Scott Provincial Park; it's an easy 45 minute walk in from the trailhead. Getting to the trailhead involves a roughly 70km drive along gravel logging roads from the junction at Port Hardy.  These are active ..read more