We have been camping abroad many, many times with a tent , car/caravan and now with a motorhome, but have always used the tunnel or short ferry. This year we are going from Portsmouth to Caen.
This journey is 5 hrs plus and I have just realised that the large fridge/freezer in the Mh will be off all this time! I assume I am right in thinking that we cannot leave the MH on the car deck with the fridge on gas?!!!
The freezer will be packed tightly full and I can put frozen water and ice packs in to pack out the fridge. Will this be OK?
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You could buy a couple of 4 pintas of milk the week before, freeze them at home and put them in the mh fridge as you leave. They will stay frozen for 24-36 hours, helping to keep your fridge cool on your journey.
Frozen water and ice pack are a bit of a waste of space.
Freeze litre blocks of orange/apple juice, which because they are foil lined, stay frozen for ages and ages. We only freeze things that we can use afterwards, once they're defrosted. As Keith says, freezing ice packs and water is a waste of space.
We have done Poole - Cherbourg and Harwich - Hook, both around 4-5 hours. Just left fridge on high until last minute. Also take frozen milk, casserole, chilli con carne and bread, for first night or two. Everything has been fine.
------------- The Travelmoores
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We nearly always use Hull to Zeebrugge (i.e.overnight)and simply do not load up the fridge at all.
Part of the pleasure of touring on the continent is to visit the excellent supermarkets and see what is on offer. I just love looking at the fishing rods whilst the other half is food shopping!
We have done Portsmouth to Caen for last 12 years in a Motorhome. I leave the fridge on until the last possible minute before loading on to the ferry, we take fish fingers frozen pies etc etc.
Making sure not to open the fridge door till we are well underway the next morning, so it's been off for approx 7 hrs. We have never had a problem with any of the food.
One motorhome we had allowed the fridge freezer to work on vehicle battery power without key in ignition.
We like to take a taste of home with us.
We fill the fridge up and the freezer prior to travelling.
Enjoy your trip.
------------- we are going to france in august and would appreciate if anyone has info on (is it possible to park in the port of La Rochelle) in our M Home ?
Thanks for your help and suggestions. Will put frozen bread, juice and milk in the fridge. We are driving from Caen to Spain and on to Portugal, using Mh Aires a lot, so will be taking a lot of home frozen meals with us.
Also picked up the tip to use large car sponges cut up as packing in the fridge to keep everything upright and stop rattling.
Why do people take things like bread, juice and milk abroad?
All are available FRESH in Western Europe, often as cheaply and with better quality than in the UK!!
Surely part of going abroad is to use the local supplies and support the local shops and industries, not to take the UK with you?
When we go to France the only thing we take are tea bags and perhaps something for the first evening if we don't plan to get there early enough to shop
I must admit we take some food - because we have a long journey and it can be tedious having to arrive on site and immediately find something to eat. We tend to pack two home made frozen meals, to be eaten in the evening on our 'travelling' days, and we take some staples which are much the same price as at home.
What with those, and picnic stuff for en-route lunches, and breakfast things, we have quite a full fridge. We take juice and milk, for the same reasons - because we can drink it en-route. We take one loaf of my home made bread - but once we've found a boulangerie that gets used for something else - croutons, bruschetta, or feeding the birds!
We always buy everything else as locally as we can - ideally from the little old man with the allotment in Riviere sur Tarn who sells whatever is ripe and fresh that day! (only if we're in the area though!)
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You'll be fine. When we go overseas we use the Hull-Zeebrugge/Rotterdam ferry (up to 14 hour crossing plus additional time for embarkation).
About 3 days before we travel I pack the freezer box with sausages, bacon, pre-cooked chilli, curry, pasta sauce etc. I pack them in freezer bags and stuff them in so there is no space between. By the time we set off it has all frozen into a solid block that isn't going to start defrosting for at least 24 hours as long as the freezer door is kept closed.
As for the fridge itself, like others have said, I freeze Capri Sun drinks and also a couple of pre-cooked meals in tupperware boxes that I will use on our first couple of nights. I pack them around any chilled items to keep them nice and cold while the fridge isn't powered.
I haven't had any problems yet and always have a good supply of ready cooked meals that just need to be warmed on the evenings we don't fancy going out and I don't fancy cooking.
Quote: Originally posted by TickleMePink on 24/3/2014
You'll be fine. When we go overseas we use the Hull-Zeebrugge/Rotterdam ferry (up to 14 hour crossing plus additional time for embarkation).
About 3 days before we travel I pack the freezer box with sausages, bacon, pre-cooked chilli, curry, pasta sauce etc. I pack them in freezer bags and stuff them in so there is no space between. By the time we set off it has all frozen into a solid block that isn't going to start defrosting for at least 24 hours as long as the freezer door is kept closed.
As for the fridge itself, like others have said, I freeze Capri Sun drinks and also a couple of pre-cooked meals in tupperware boxes that I will use on our first couple of nights. I pack them around any chilled items to keep them nice and cold while the fridge isn't powered.
I haven't had any problems yet and always have a good supply of ready cooked meals that just need to be warmed on the evenings we don't fancy going out and I don't fancy cooking.