So, after months of discussion, planning and van research, the decision has finally been made and a deposit paid on a 2011 Renault Trafic short wheel base, to be converted by us into a day van, with seating, sleeping and cooking/washing up facilities, plus a loo in a cupboard! Honestly, you wouldn't believe the amount of time and drawn plans, lists on what we really need/want/is non negotiable! We have looked at everything, from a Landover with a demountable safari back, to a massive Mercedes Apache/Cherokee which appears to sleep about 50! We decided that we will definitely keep the caravan, get a tow bar fitted onto this new van, (not onto the Beetle, which was part of the 'original' plan), and then we have the best of all worlds - days/weeks out in the small van, on or off sites, or taking the caravan for a bit more 'luxury.' I do use the word luxury loosely, but we enjoy it! We should be able to collect the new addition on Friday afternoon, so Friday evening we will probably sling the camping stove and a futon in the back, and head off to the clifftops for a few hours of walking, lounging and drinking tea, or maybe a drop of elderflower liqueur for me. The proper full conversion won't start until we have finished using the van as a work horse for the garden, so probably not until after Christmas.
Food this week will be a bit erratic, as OH is also on holiday, which means days/meals out most days. I am aiming to select as much free food as I can for meals/snacks, but will allow myself a few goodies each day. Won't be counting syns religiously, but will try to keep them down to within limits over the week as a whole. We will probably be doing a fair amount of walking, so hopefully that will balance things out. A STS would be a good result.
Monday 18th August
Breakfast: GF Toast with a little butter and honey, yogurt with a few fresh chopped cherries
Lunch: A packet of Wotsits!
Dinner: Home made spicy beef burgers with onion, lettuce, toms, beetroot and BNS spicy wedges, followed by fresh pineapple and pear chunks, a mini meringue nest and a spoonful of vanilla ice cream
Drinks: Water, one milky coffee, one coffee and cream, earl grey teas
Syns for the day:15.5
HEB: Toast
HEA: Milk in coffee and teas
Tuesday 19th August
This was van viewing day, so we set off as soon as we were up, which left me needing to buy something to eat en-route. I was actually really pleased with my choices:
Breakfast/travelling: Peppered ham slices, cooked chicken pieces, a natural yogurt and a punnet of seedless grapes (not a crisp or a haribo sour in sight, which is our usual travel fare!)
Afternoon snack at the coast: Small latte and a slice of light fruit cake.
Evening at the pub: Sirloin steak, peas, tomatoes, mushrooms, jacket potato (ditched the butter) one of OH's onion rings, diet coke
Other drinks: Water, earl grey teas, mid afternoon G&T
Syns: don't really know - would have been the cake, the latte (minus allowance for the milk?), the onion ring and the gin, plus any fat used for cooking at the pub, but overall I'm pretty happy with my choices there.
HEA/HEB: Ditto!
Today, Wednesday 20th August
We were planning a cooked breakfast out somewhere this morning, but ran out of time after delivering daughter-in-law's birthday card and present, so instead we headed to a North Norfolk farm shop/deli/café for lunch:
Caesar salad, with no croutons. There was a little dressing, but they had kept that to a minimum by using hole real anchovies in the salad for flavour, so basically it was lettuce, mixed salad leaves and watercress, tomatoes, soft boiled egg, chicken breast, two slices well grilled bacon, a few parmesan shavings, anchovies, salad dressing, also had a pot of earl grey.
Later, after some shopping in the Farm Shop (smoked garlic, giant chilli sausages, two fresh figs, medjool dates for the OH and some luxury fruit nougat,) we headed to Holt for a walk round the town, bought some plums and some basil plants and had afternoon tea! Well actually it was one coffee and cream, one piece of GF chocolate and butterscotch cake. This is one of the few places where when you ask for the gluten free option, they reel off about six choices!
Next stop was the coast for a wander round the local carnival floats, the fair and the cliff tops. Managed to resist all the food stalls, which included doughnuts, candy floss, burgers, hot dogs, loaded jackets, thai curries and noodles, crepes, duck and hoisin wraps, pies etc., and instead had a fig, two plums and some of the fruit nougat, half of one of OH's dates, and a diet coke. Quietly impressed with myself!
Other snacks/drinks: At home, two prawn cocktail crisps, two earl grey teas and one GF chocolate ginger biscuit. I was planning to have a small bowl of beef stew, but too full!
Syns: again don't really know - will be salad dressing, bacon, as it was streaky, the nougat, the cake and cream in coffee, plus the ginger choc biscuit. and the two pinched crisps and half a date. Sounds quite a lot when I list it all!
HEB/HEA: could probably combine the milk in teas and the parmesan for a HEA. That's as close as I can get, but as I said I am happy to make generally good choices for meals and allow myself a bit of slack for this week.
And I'll still be weighing in from NZ!
