Kingsbury Water Park Again

Valentine's weekend (13th - 16th February) was our first foray away since September last year and boy did we need it!

Having done our now usual trick of booking our caravanning capers away for the year ahead on New Year's Day; we found ourselves traveling down after a somewhat bitter Winter (so far) on our first caper down to Kingsbury Water Park again
We traveled down on the Saturday after a late night (2am ish) on the lash with some friends the previous evening which resulted us not exactly being 'hung-over' but nevertheless, the 2.5 hour drive down took its toll and a "Saturday afternoon kip" was in order once we'd got pitched.

Post Storage Pains

This was the first time we'd used our Unit since the Autumn the previous year (if you excuse its use on New Year's Eve as a "spare bedroom on the drive" when we had friends staying over at home.)
However it seems the harsh Winter of 2009/10 has taken its toll. Here's a list of niggly things we found after our caravan's Winter storage on the drive which have only become apparent upon first use. Not all these can be accredited to the lack of use over Winter, but hey ho!

1. The kitchen sink tap sprung a leak - a split on the neck, which resulted in a small but constant leak; which in turn flooded the cupboards under the sink basin. A bodge job of wrapping the neck with PTFE and then electrical tape, offered a temporary repair.
2. The bulb in the lamp above my Wife's seat blew.
3. The outlet drain water pipes became blocked resulting in drain water backing up into the shower tray when the kitchen sink plug was pulled. Different drain pipes and a floor mopping exercise solved this, but a pain regardless.
4. We had to put new tyres on before we set off. A swift £100 there then!. The bloke down at ATS said the tyres he'd removed were "perished" and were 10 years old. This didn't surprise us as our van is 10 years old itself this year.
5. For some bizarre reason, one never noticed before; we seem now to have running hot water even without a gas supply. Normally we've had to physically turn on the gas water heater to enjoy running hot water. However after a process of elimination which included turning the gas supply off altogether, it became apparent that the flow of hot water would continue regardless. We're on an "electric hook-up" but that's normal. So where's the hot water coming from? Further investigation is needed when we get home. Clearly we have a gas-electric combi water heater. Something we weren't aware of before. Still we live and learn!
6. Our DAB digital radio, our sole source of media entertainment, decided to pop its clogs which meant a trip to the local ASDA to buy another.

Settled In

This lot aside, we soon got settled in and on this occasion used our small porch awning which was swift to erect, we took Lucy out for a wander.

Valentine's Day

Sunday was Valentine's Day and the weather whilst "fresh", was bright and sunny. Our original plan for this day was to take Lucy out for a quick walk around the pools and lakes in the Water Park and then go for some lunch at the nearby Dog and Doublet Inn on the tow path next to the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal

However, we decided that we'd postpone that until the next day and instead went for a 2.5hr walk around the park.

Tuesday - Packing Up Day

It rain a few times in the night which left the awning soaking wet, however by the time we'd got ourselves sorted out and had taken Lucy out for 45 mins it had dried out a bit and was easy to take down.
Well practiced at packing up now, we were on our way home by 12.30pm and were home by three o'clock.
Roll on the next caper which is at Easter.