Not a great way to begin our adventure …. Bev ending up in the Brighton Police Station!!… but more about this later…

Yes, Bruce is finally going on his first sleepover! After our restless night due to anticipation & excitement, we head off south of London to the beautiful seaside town of Brighton. Being a sunny Sunday, it seems everyone has the same idea and we sit in heavy traffic with car accidents, ambulances & police cars adding to the flurry!

However, this allows us time to soak in the vista of green rolling hills and quaint towns. Sitting high up in Bruce our panoramic view is really impressive. We feel quite the tour guides, except with no extra passengers & minus all the knowledge, etc !!

On arrival at Brighton Caravan Club site, we pull up behind another motorhome outside reception. We enter, show our membership card and are asked to choose our pitch (site). When we go back outside, another motorhome has pulled in closely behind us … this would normally be OK except the one in front has broken down …… mmm … better them than us!!

The park is beautiful & snuggled into a fold in the South Downs – 2 miles east of Brighton. We choose a lovely pitch with thick green grass and a backdrop of trees.

With Bruce all secure and comfy …. On yer bike… we go to explore the marina, which boasts to be one of Europe’s largest!! Whilst cycling along an Englishman asks me (now imagine English accent) — “Are yer on a bikin oliday?”, “Yes” I replied…. ” Oh Blimey, I just loove yer bikes!” I cycle on, inwardly pleased someone has admired our new bikes!

By late afternoon we were feeling feint and realize its due to our lack of breaky and lunch!.. Too excited to stop and eager to see everything….Bring on the BBQ Mark! … What, the gas has run out!? No problem we can cook our steaks inside & enjoy our delicious, well deserved meal!! What a great day.

Our second day does not begin well with Bev ending up in the police station! As we’re merrily cycling along the beach promenade, Mark’s mobile rings! It’s detective Eva Collins from Brighton Police. She asks Bev to report to the police station ASAP!!….. Now what has she been up to you may well ask??… drunk & disorderly?? Doing the splits in a public place?? Speeding in the pedestrian only path?… No, not yet, anyway!

After hightailing it to the police station, looking quite disheveled & anxious she asks if Bev is missing anything? (mmm… well yes, our family and friends back in Australia) she then produced a black shoulder bag not dissimilar to mine!? She apparently discovered it next to the bike rack where we parked them for coffee earlier in the day. Was this a stroke of good fortune, luck or someone up there is looking after us! How fortuitous that a police woman was the 1^st to discover my bag which contained phone, wallet with credit card & licence and our camera amongst other things. Using her detective skills she had searched the bag for ownership details and bingo… she found our Bartlett Travels card with our details!!. She was really lovely and even wants to follow our blog!!

Relieved that there was a happy ending to our bag drama we continued our cycle exploration of the many lane-ways and interesting shops!! Lots of hills meant our bikes got a great workout!