France. Off the beat and track

[nabsim]

Even the certified sites can be expensive, we paid £15 to park in a slopey field with a tap on a falling-down post in one corner, sheep droppings everywhere, and the toilet was in the farmer's outhouse. I had wondered about asking a C&CC site for some water as I think I read somewhere that some of their sites are offering use of the facilities - showers, toilets, water, cassette dump for £7.50 for two hours, I think. But I'm not sure if that was a standard thing that they all have to offer, or if it is only some of them.
They all quote "from" something but as with the one I investigated on my phone last week, when it said "from £20 a night" reality was £47 a night. You could spend that in internet search fees looking.
Thanks for the encouragement that you are exclusively UK @nabsim . Years ago we got a 5 litre bottle from Tesco but recently , looking in Asda and the Co-Op the biggest we could find was 1.5l. Anyway it got us out of trouble for two days. Tricky trying to clean the toilet after a dump though!

I always used to buy the supermarket own brand packs of 2 litre bottles, worked out at 17p per bottle but this year they have not far off doubled in price. It’s now cheaper to buy the 5litre bottles, or was at the start of July in Wiltshire. You get some funny looks pushing a trolley out with 15 x 5ltr bottles across the car park.

 

[Greengrass]

Ugh, I recall trying in vain to use FB some years ago. Now, when I try to create a new account because I didn't realise I already had one, I go through the routine of 'can't remember my password' they 'send you a 6 digit code to your phone'. I get a 6 digit code and enter it where they tell me do. They say "The number that you've entered doesn't match your code. Please try again" so I try again, "we'll send you another one". It jolly well does match but in any case I don't receive another one. Harrumph.
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Will I ever get to sample the delights of a camp site less than £10 ? ? ?

Just been on that site all the one where I live are way out of date by two or three years, Most are now £8 and the one's in Appledore are £15 a bay so if you have long one £30 a night

 

[gasgas]

I always used to buy the supermarket own brand packs of 2 litre bottles, worked out at 17p per bottle but this year they have not far off doubled in price. It’s now cheaper to buy the 5litre bottles, or was at the start of July in Wiltshire. You get some funny looks pushing a trolley out with 15 x 5ltr bottles across the car park.

It's the same with Sunflower Oil. I had a diesel Ford Focus and sometimes ran it on sunflower oil, which cost 50p / litre. It ran perfectly. This of course was before EGR valves, DPFs, apocolyptic converters, Blue Teeth and so on, and the exhaust smelled of a fish and chip shop. Luverrrlee.
I would fill a trolley with bottles of oil and the checkout girl asked if I was running a chip shop, and if there was any left on the shelves. "I don't know if I can let you have all that lot, is there any left?" "What are you doing with it?" 'I'm running my diesel car on it, it's better than half the price of diesel'. She gave me a funny look, not knowing whether to believe me. I filled the car in the supermarket car park, then ran the trolley with all the empty bottles around all the litter bins filling them with empty sunflower oil bottles. Oh what fun we had in them thar far off innocent days. You (I) could run your (my) motorhome on central heating oil as an alternative so long as you (I) added a pint of SAE 30 to every five gallons of heating oil. I had that on good authority from a central heating oil delivery man who said that CH oil is one stage more refined than diesel fuel at the refinery. In fact on the Isle of Man all central heating oil is in fact aviation gas - they need to import aviation gas and it's not worth the bother of importing and storing different fuels that are so similar.

 

[Scotia]

It's the same with Sunflower Oil. I had a diesel Ford Focus and sometimes ran it on sunflower oil, which cost 50p / litre. It ran perfectly. This of course was before EGR valves, DPFs, apocolyptic converters, Blue Teeth and so on, and the exhaust smelled of a fish and chip shop. Luverrrlee.
I would fill a trolley with bottles of oil and the checkout girl asked if I was running a chip shop, and if there was any left on the shelves. "I don't know if I can let you have all that lot, is there any left?" "What are you doing with it?" 'I'm running my diesel car on it, it's better than half the price of diesel'. She gave me a funny look, not knowing whether to believe me. I filled the car in the supermarket car park, then ran the trolley with all the empty bottles around all the litter bins filling them with empty sunflower oil bottles. Oh what fun we had in them thar far off innocent days. You (I) could run your (my) motorhome on central heating oil as an alternative so long as you (I) added a pint of SAE 30 to every five gallons of heating oil. I had that on good authority from a central heating oil delivery man who said that CH oil is one stage more refined than diesel fuel at the refinery. In fact on the Isle of Man all central heating oil is in fact aviation gas - they need to import aviation gas and it's not worth the bother of importing and storing different fuels that are so similar.

Think you may have meant Kerosene not aviation gas.

 

[gasgas]

Yes of course you are right, I presume that you are saying that aviation gas is American Petrol, as in gasoline. I am sure I have seen tankers at airports labelled avgas fuelling jet aircraft . . . .

 

[Scotia]

Yes of course you are right, I presume that you are saying that aviation gas is American Petrol, as in gasoline. I am sure I have seen tankers at airports labelled avgas fuelling jet aircraft . . . .

Avgas has a 100 octane level we would mix this with regular pump fuel 50 / 50 which helped prevent premature detonation on highly tuned engines. Strangely enought we used to purchase from Jurby airfield on the IOM when completing at the southern 100 and TT.

 

[Biggarmac]

Trouble with the UK is the lack of water We have just been away for 9 days which is all we could manage without resorting to blackmail from campsites . I am a C&CC member so I looked up some local sites when I needed water, and all I got was £47 a night.

As a C&CC member you can use THSs. Water and waste dump always available. Around £10 a night. Look on the Out and About app from the club for THSs and club meets open in the area you need.
Also "service stop offs' on some of their main sites. £7.65 allows you to empty and fill, have showers and use washers at normal cost. Up to 3 hours on site. Ring sites to check if they are in scheme and for conditions.i

 

[cheyenne]

Ugh. Looks as if I might have to succumb to Facebook.

wouldn't give it the time of day with people saying I HAVE 200 FRIENDS & they wouldn't know them from Adam .cheyenne

 

[gasgas]

Avgas has a 100 octane level we would mix this with regular pump fuel 50 / 50 which helped prevent premature detonation on highly tuned engines. Strangely enought we used to purchase from Jurby airfield on the IOM when completing at the southern 100 and TT.

I like to get E5 petrol for my 1981 Mercedes as I suspect that E10 may dissolve bits of it, and for my new Royal Enfield motorbike because I think psychologically it runs better. At Sainsburys in Rugby I see that the E5 is labelled as 98 octane - wasn't that four star, and 99 or 100 was five star?

 

[gasgas]

Thanks @Biggarmac I'm a bit new to trying to go on holiday in the UK, I'll probably have to get used to it. I've printed off what you wrote and I'll stick it in my C&CC book. I don't mind paying £7.50 occasionally for showers and so on.
What about the visitors parking areas you see at C&CC sites? When we went on a fairly long cruise it was cheapest to park the camper on a farm certified site than to pay public transport to and from the port so that's what we did, and paid the full nightly rate for camping. I wonder if sites have a facility to leave your camper in the visitors car park for several weeks?

 

[Scotia]

Wee Aire free pitch black and grey waste, €4 for water €4 for 4 hrs ehu close to a vet for worming tablet €35 1 hr from Le Tunnel.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Literally dozens of basic sites around, many of them beautiful and quiet, for under £10 a night. https://m.facebook.com/groups/424445484557782/?ref=share

Thank you very much for the link, Bill. Within 5 minutes of applying to the group I'd been accepted. Moments later I'd found, downloaded their spreadsheet and saved it inside an email to myself.

I'll have a look when I finally return from driving a friend to hospital for some surgery.