Home again

We woke earlier to a lovely clear sunrise with Lottie keen to go out, but by the time we were ready to leave heavy clouds were appearing. Van-Man gave Lottie a second short walk round the camp site while I washed up and got the van ready.

We set off straight for home. Van-Man handed over the helm to me at Victoria Services. My first drive was dry but windy, however I have got used to the gusts and managed to keep up to 60mph most of the way. I stopped at the Hog and Hedge at Whiddon Down where we walked Lottie, used the facilities and enjoyed excellent coffee.

Sally-Van

Unfortunately Van-Man drove into long queues waiting to get on the M5 at Exeter. As we reached the last exit we heard on the radio that 2 lanes were closed due to a broken down lorry. He turned off but ended up driving towards Torquay. After turning round we headed cross country to Honiton which was tricky and congested as lots of other drivers were by passing Exeter. He stopped briefly at the Honiton services for a toilet break and then carried on driving only to get stuck in a queue of traffic at Monkton. It was slow through the Blackdown Hills at times it felt we would have been quicker walking. The queues and stop start only abated after we joined the A303. Slowly the traffic flowed quicker.

Van-Man eventually stopped at the first lay-by after Solstice Services. This section had taken him over two hours.

The rain eased as I took over and I managed to drive at a good pace. We reached the M25 at 15.45 which we hoped was early enough to avoid the worst traffic jams. We eased onto the M25 without too much trouble and the traffic improved after we passed the M3 turn off. I drove into Cobham services to find a large area including that reserved for caravans, coned off. I had to park in the car park taking up two spaces to fit Sally-Van in.

Van-Man had an easy drive home as the M25and A22 were running freely at the speed limit.

It was not the easiest journey home from Cornwall.