Collection of our brand new Mobilvetta,Dave, from the UK, May 2017

Just a note that this is more a factual record of the trip rather than a blog post as I am writing this more than a year after the event.  We have just had the site built by our son, Jamie, so just trying to keep a complete record of Dave’s travels.

Dave’s Collection

170510 - Condor Liberation to Poole was late, arrived about 11pm, and rode our bikes to the Premier Inn in Holes Bay.

170511 - we had an extra day in U.K. before collecting Dave because of ferry timetable. Luckily the weather was ok, as it had rained a lot overnight. We rode around and had a look where we needed to go the next day in order to find Marquis, and also their service centre. Rode around the ‘posh’ expensive area of Sandbanks. Had lunch whilst watching the Chain Ferry. Followed by shopping at the Dolphin Centre. Neither of us slept very well, Premier Inn was really hot, with no air conditioning.

170512 - collected our brand new Mobilvetta K yacht 85 from Marquis at 11.00. Went through the paperwork with Lyndon. A person called Sarah showed us around. She had only been there for six weeks, wasn’t very informative. Sadly, the first thing I noticed was a scratch near the entrance door! Didn’t leave until about 13.00. Martin and I took it in turns to drive, just to the Red Lion pub outside Poole. We weren’t prepared for the internal noise whilst driving!

170513 - drove to Rosewall campsite in Osmington and Jamie and Bel joined us about 10.00. Went down to Smugglers Inn and had lunch out in the sunshine. Was so good we went back there in the evening for pie and mash! J had made Martin a lovely late birthday present, a jerry can converted to store Bacardi and coke! Went off in J’s car to Chesil Beach and Lulworth Cove.

170514 - woke up early. J and Bel found the pull-down bed comfy. We all used campsite showers as we hadn’t really experimented with our facilities. Lunch at Smugglers Inn again, followed by coastal walking.  Weather sunny, but windy. It rained a lot overnight. We were Billy no mates, every left the site by early evening.

170515 - Drove down to the showers as the rain was so heavy! Drove off to Marquis service centre with a whole list of things to be done under warranty. Bill was in charge! We caught the bus into Poole Town (£6.20 return for 2). Was drizzling on and off, mooched around the shops and had lunch at Pizza Express - they had free WiFi! By the time we returned at 5pm an extra solar panel had been fitted, the blue lights wired the wrong way round had been corrected, generally most things sorted out. Need to get another passenger side airbag under warranty from Fiat. They’ll also order another internal sliding door which has been damaged by badly fitted screws. They still haven’t got the registration details, and have requested again from the DVLA. Stayed on the industrial estate overnight.

170516 -  Drove to the Filly Inn, a pub in the New Forest and parked up. Got our bikes out and rode for about 16 miles on the Witches Ride to Burley. Saw lots of ponies, squirrels and a herd of deer near Burley. It was trying to rain on the way back to Brockenhurst. Had a good evening meal, steak and kidney pie for him and chicken tikka in a pita for me - £35. Parking next to roadside, but behind hedge, was fine!

170517 - Slept well. Martin tried to call Solent Solution as the inverter for the bike batteries in the garage doesn’t work. Drove out to Whitefield Moor. It rained all day. Surprisingly very pleasant, read our books, had cups of tea looking out over the Moor. Drove down to the Turfcutters Arms just down from Beaulieu for the night. Found we could check out the size of pub car parks using google maps. We then called them, generally happy for us to park overnight, as long as we ate there.

170518 - Got the bikes out and rode to Bucklers Hard and towards Beaulieu. Drove to Lyndhurst in the afternoon and walked into town. Visited the information centre/museum, free and informative. Had a look in the Ferrari and Maserati shop, bit out of our price range! Stayed in the car park of The Swan Inn.

170519 - Bikes out again and a ride to Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary. Went walking and saw lots of deer! Rode back via Minstead, only about 10 miles. Left after lunch and drove to Marquis and collected the vehicle registration documents which had miraculously arrived in the morning. Walked along to Halfords where Martin bought two colour coordinated panniers (£40). Drove to Bakers Arms just outside Poole ready for the ferry home.