Being an un-organised sack of poo. I was rushing around the last day building IKEA units for the kitchen and trying to shift some weight off the van. After a trip the my local weigh bridge i only had 100kg to play with so i decided to shed some weight. Sadly i couldnt get it off my arse straigh away so had to look at shedding weight off the van. The board bags were holding rain water so were adding at least 30 kg to the weight of the van. So i purchased some surfboard socks. They give bugger all protection but protect the boards from the sun. If i want to take so much kit this is a price that has to be paid. After shedding bits and bobs i got the weight down well and felt confident that the van weight would stay within its limits.

I said goodbye to my lovely girls. Thats a pic of my wife Ali with my daughters Gemma on the right and Daisy on the left. They have been great support for me through some rough times since christmas and it's with their encouragment that i'm taking the leap and doing this trip. They will be hooking up with me in Croatia in 2 months i hope. (i may be somwhere else if it looks good for them)

The ferry from Plymouth had top notch food onboard and was affordable. I opted for the reclijning chair for my sleeping arrangments and regretted it from the start. I ended up on the floor with only 3 or 4 hours sleep.

Disembarking from the ferry the customs officer stood in front of my van and motioned me to stop. With my passport at the ready i gave my first bonjour. "where are you going and for how long"? he said This curve ball of a question (in my mind) made me go blank. errrrrr ummmm one sec..... Leaucate! yes Leaucate!! for 3 months to go windsurfing. It's great sailing there.

Hs eyes narrowed. "Do you have any guns or drugs onboard"? With this question i gave an instant answer for fear of the stretchy glove. "OK". He said. "Enjoy your stay". He didnt even look at my passport. I must have an honest face.

After my last trip down to Leaucate. I chose to use the toll roads all the way down. This cost around €100. So to try and budjet my travel i went the non toll route. After 6 hours of slog i relented and went back on the toll roads as these are so much quicker and i probaly save a tank of fuel with the extra time it takes.

The wonderful thing about France is the way it caters for all things camping. The “Aires” that are placed at regular intervals and are free. They are so clean and well kept. In the UK we are lucky to have a bench to sit on let alone showers, waste water facilities and loads of seating for picnics. One Aire I stopped at had a Gothic church that had been restored and was free to view. Very interesting and again very well kept.

The windmills are massive. They dwarf the windmills that are dotted around Cornwall. They are so big that the warning lights that flash on top can be easily seen from miles away even in bright sunlight. They must be taking half of the windmills energy just to run them.

As I arrived at Leaucate the turn off for Le Franqui was blocked. I could see the main parking area for the lagoon was chocker with vans, so that will be hard to get into until next week. Looking at the forecast I dont think there will be any wind until then anyway so it's play time on my bike.

I've just parked in a lay-by and have been very lucky in finding a non secure wifi connection. Many thanks to whoever owns the bandwidth!