Visiting Friends - Seaford, East Sussex

So after two days rest we were off to see Joy and Nick (and Paddy the dog).  Now this journey was quite interesting as the Sat Nav didn’t want to go the way Iain had decided on the map.

So we came to a roundabout and the sat nag said “Turn Left” and Iain said “Go straight on”, I questioned the decision what answer did I get but “Well you will be deviating from the route” – of course this is the sort of answer that a politician would give, I hadn’t got a clue which route I would be deviating from, his or the sat nag so of course I followed the sat nag. 

As an aside,  Iain does quite fancy himself as a politician as he did stand for parliament 8 years ago, for a minor party that are actually doing quite well at the moment and that was quite an interesting experience, going to the count and seeing all those ticks against his name did make me feel very proud.  I think he would have been good at it had he got in, but he had a proper job so didn’t pursue it any further. He’s definitely got the right political answers for things – no answer at all.  We have discussed this fact a few times this week, since the answer on the way to Seaford and in fact only yesterday I said “Are you ready for lunch yet?” And he replied  “Well it is a quarter to one”, which of course told me nothing.  I remarked that he was doing it again and even he had to laugh at the non-information of his response.

Anyway the route I went to Seaford took me through a small village called Alfriston. Now I don’t want to harp on this, but this area between Eastbourne and Seaford contains both Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters so you can imagine what the terrain was like. VERY HILLY AND NARROW.  The sign said nothing over 7.5 tonnes through the village so I knew that although we were legal it was going to be tight.  We proceeded very slowly through the village and then up a steep hill until we descended into Seaford.  I’m getting used to this now though so although glad to arrive, we were yet again unscathed.

So here we were, ready for a busy two nights with our friends we had met in Spain.  We wild-camped on the seafront and while there were signs that parking was restricted to 12 hours we were not moved on.  I don’t expect you would get away with it in the summer though.  The only thing between the bottom of Nick and Joy’s garden and the seafront is the road, so we were actually only just outside their house.  As expected this was to be a heavy weekend and Nick and Joy had laid on some entertainment for us.  A steam train was due in on the Saturday as a celebration of 150 years of the Seaford railway, a 2/6p tour of Seaford and then on the Sunday afternoon a BBQ.  Which was actually in their neighbours garden but there they all seem to share one big area. 

Nick doing his bit to pump up the "banana boat" for the neighbours

Dogs enjoying a walk along the beachfront

Busy doing nothing - on Joy and Nick's balcony

View from the balcony - the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry passing

Best view - but then I would be biased

Sunset from the balcony - with views like this I wouldn't ever want to leave home

We had a terrific downpour about an hour earlier - then the sun came out!

The seven sisters and the beautiful countryside

Apparently the most photographed view in the country - so I just had to join in

Seaford is not somewhere that I have ever been to before, but it was an absolutely stunning place and I'd recommend it to anyone, even if they don't know Joy and Nick.

So by the Monday we were again ready for a rest and so we headed for Ringwood in Hampshire which would get us about half way to Exmouth in Devon where we were to visit Iain’s dad.