Caravan Capers

Arm Update

2010-06-23T03:39:00.000-07:00

Whilst strictly not a caravanning subject, many of my blog readers have been following the status of my injured arm, which was sustained during a caravanning excursion and are now looking for an update.

If you want a refresh of what has happened to my arm take a look at these previous posts in order.

Staples Are Out

As of writing my staples have now been taken out, I'm no longer using a sling and I've started weekly physiotherapy sessions. I still can't drive, as I can't elevate my arm high enough to man handle a steering wheel, but a least I can get back to some sort of normality at work and am able to use a computer keyboard again.

An x-ray was taken of my shoulder just before the staples were taken out. A photo (taken on my phone) of this x-ray can be seen below. The staples may be seen at the top and those three screws you can see are 50mm long each.

Ouch!

Here endeth the update!

Electric Mover

2010-06-13T05:05:00.000-07:00

In my last post I described how a trip to Clumber Park CC site resulted in me breaking my right arm moving our Van on to pitch.

As a result of that, come hell or high water or in our case; limited funds, we were going to have an electric mover fitted to to our 2 berth Elddis Gulfstream Ex2000.

Electric Mover

This we now have fitted. A second hand one admitedly which was supplied and fitted by our local dealers of choice Kenmore Caravans in Mirfield; for the princely sum of £425.00. That went on the credit card I can tell you, given that it was a large and unexpected cost. At least we managed to get one second hand as these things are typically £800 brand new.

So there we have it, a used Powrtouch No1 electric mover now takes pride of place under our van. Works fine and came complete with its remote control, instruction book and cables (in case it needs to be used wired) and even a nice little wall holster to put the remote in.

The bloke down at Kenmore's gave us a tuturial before we set off home, on its use but also warned us once again, that if we did trade up to a bigger Van: then the mover we had probably wouldn't be up to the job. (This we were told before taking the decsion before we bought it, however our thinking is we'll cross that bridge once we got to it and was worth the trade off against the lower cost for a used mover.

Precision Placement

Back at home, it took a little practice to move our caravan onto the drive, which is on a sloght incline, but otherwise no problems and resulted in precision placement on the drive.

Roll on to our next caper.

Oh by the way, here's a pic of the surgeon's incincion on my shoulder (my arm was pinned with 3 screws) whch was taken during a dressing change.

A Break Down at Clumber Park in More Ways Than One

2010-06-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

Taking our van down to the Caravan Club Site of Clumber Park last Bank Holiday Monday so that my wife's parents could spend a much welcomed holiday proved to be break for both of us in more ways than one.

The plan was this.

We would take our van down to the Clumber Park Site on the Monday, pitch it up then have a spot of lunch with them and then return home leaving them to stay in it for a rest of the week.

Then come Saturday, we would go back down, again have some lunch with them where upon they would return home leaving us to have a single night stay over on the Saturday night returning home on the Sunday.

What Laid Plans...?

All started off well, we made good time down there; just over an hour and despite a queue at the gate to book we, we quickly found a pitch near the bog block.

I reversed our van onto the pitch well enough however upon unhooking we decided that it could do with shifting over a few feet to the left.

Not a problem, caravans are designed to be man handled (despite what some non-coverts may believe) so we set about moving it over.

Forward a bit, twist and then a big shove back was all that was needed.

Then it happened!

The gravel under my feet gave way and my body slipped downwards as the caravan slowly moved backwards courtesy of my right arm grasping one of the front handles.

Crack!

It was like the sound of a stick snapping. I hit the floor still grasping the manoeuvring handle on the front of our unit whereupon I quickly leapt to my feet dancing around in agony at the very sharp pain that was shooting up and down my arm and across my shoulder.

An inspection by all present seemed to indicate that nothing was broken. By now though I had lost all feeling in the arm and couldn't move it. So we concluded that I had dislocated it at worst or perhaps just bruised it.

We'd pop-in to Dewsbury Hospital A and E (our local hospital) on the way home. So I was left on the sidelines to direct the erection of the awning and the remainder of the van set-up.

Once set-up we went off to look for some lunch; so there I was with a limp limb dragging along by my side eating my carrot cake with my left hand.

A and E

On the way back from leaving our unit down at Clumber Park with my P's in Law we popped into Dewsbury Hospital Accident and Emergency, thinking they would simply confirm a case of severe bruising which warranted a sling.

A couple of x-rays and a few hours waiting around later, it seems I had not only undergone severe muscle damage of my right arm, but had also snapped a lump of bone off the Greater Tuberosty part of my arm (the bit near the ball joint in the example x-ray below)

Added to this, as I found out at a visit to the Fracture Clinic a couple days afterwards (more waiting around), they wanted me into hospital to have the piece of bone pinned back into place (which took 3 screws BTW).

Sob!

So instead of enjoying a relaxing one night stay over at our caravan down at Clumber Park; I spent Saturday in theatre having surgery on my arm and the night over in the Orthapedic Ward which in itself was an endurance test of interrupted sleep, pain and sauna like conditions.

Some pics of my arm and shoulder the day after my operation are below.

Note the rainbow of colours demonstrated by the bruising. Under that dressing on my shoulder is a 5 inch cut held together with metal staples.

Guess what we've just ordered and are having fitted in the next couple of days to our van?

Yup! You guessed it. An electric mover! Gets fitted on Friday. Sod the cost!

Update: The following post to this one offers a new photo of my "incision" to these. Check it out.

Hanging Around in Slingsby

2010-05-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

As Britain woke up to it's first hung parliament for decades on the 7th May 2010, we chose to set off for a two night break at the Slingsby CCC site which is a stone's throw outside the Castle Howard Estate near Malton in North Yorkshire.

The Slingsby site is just over an hours drive from home and is ideal for just two nights. So having prepared our van the night before, when wifey got home from work just after lunch on the Friday; we set off!

By 4pm we were all pitched up and having a cuppa.

Déjà Vu

The Slingsby CCC site is on the outskirts of the Village of Slingsby which is a pretty little place hat features stone cottages and houses down it's typically rural North Yorkshire style, wide main street. The site was the first ever one we visited when we first got our caravan back in March 2008 (the photos you see on this page were taken at that time as I forgot our camera on this occasion).

But this time, having travelled around a bit since our first visit, we were a dab hand at pitching up. So no lost tempers and scraped knuckles unlike last time. This time we pitched up on the far side of the 'bog-block' that you can see in the photo below.

Walking the Dog

Unlike our first visit to Slingsby, we now have Lucy, our Stafforshire Terrier cross who is now 20 months old and as such are always on the look out for local walks when we choose a site to stay at.

The Slingsby site doesn't disappont.

There's quite a few public footpaths close to the site, the main one being directly opposite the main entrance which leads one down a disused railway line which runs for some 2.5 miles, as I found out on the Saturday, to the nearby and attractive, village of Hovingham (again sporting those wide main streets, grass verges and immaculately tended font gardens that are so typical of many North Yorkshire villages).

The Slingsby Club site itself is, we were told, built on an old railway siding which links in with the disused railway line footpath I suppose. 1/4 of a mile in, a plaque by the wayside gave further explanation of the railway which was formally a branch line shut in 1964 by the Beeching Axe.

To the Pub

Saturday night was our last night of this short break. So for some grub and couple of swift-ones we choose to pop in to The Grapes Inn which is on the main street of Slingsby village, about a 5 minute gentle stroll from the site entrance.

A good pub, nice friendly welcome, reasonably priced food and the pints of Guinness and Hobgoblin (on draught, a rare treat) I had were decent pints. The menu was typical pub-grub attire with nothing to get excited about but it was home made and tasty, so no complaints really.

On the whole, a good pub and well worth a revisit when we come back to this site.

WiFi

Before I sign off on this post, it's worth mentioning for our own reference, that CCC sites that offer WiFi, now provide BT Openzone support. Which means if like us, you have free BT Openzone minutes bundled into your Home broadband account; then you can surf away to your heart's content without having to splash out on vouchers for the CCC's own WiFi access or relying upon a temperamental 3G coverage using a dongle.

Good stuff!

That's if until our next caper.

Que te cuides

Kingsbury Water Park Again

2010-02-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

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!

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.
The bulb in the lamp above my Wife's seat blew.
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.
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.
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!
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.

Eat, Drink and be Merry: For Tomorrow We Die!

2009-09-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Well perhaps not quite as drastic as the headline suggests, but we do go home after this extended caravan caper around Wales.

Today has been the only full day for us at the Bala site. So we used the opportunity to pop into the town of Bala for a few bits and bobs and to have a look around, before driving around the lake of Bala, parking-up and taking a walk along the shore line for about an hour.

On returning back to our unit we "chilled" for the remainder of the afternoon before I took Lucy out for a couple of miles or so before the rain set in.

Plus point of the Bala site:

There's lots of things to see and do within a short drive away when it comes touristy stuff, if you have more time.

Downside:

No pub nearby!

Welsh Speakers

Incidently we're staying in area which is the closest we've been to the English border as far as this caper is concerned; yet we have heard more of the locals - both young and old, speaking Welsh as their everyday tongue in one afternoon than we have the entire time we've been in Wales.

Wild!

That's it for this caper, our next one is planned for October so keep following us.

In the meantime, take a look at our image gallery in the right hand column of this blog: we'll upload pictures of this caper and others.

Hwyl

Bala and the Jets

2009-09-03T09:46:00.001-07:00

Forget Bennie and the Jets - we prefer 'Bala and the Jets' or so first impressions would indicate as we arrived mid afternoon to the more sheltered Bala CCC site just outside the town of Bala on the final leg of of our Welsh tour before heading off home on Saturday afternoon.

Why Jets I hear you ask?

Well in the couple of hours we've been here, we've counted a dozen or so low flying RAF jets (Tornados, Hawks and the new Eurojet Typhoon) which are obviously practicing their low-flying skills in and around the surrounding Snowdonia valleys, whizzing past the site at super-sonic speeds.

These come from RAF Valley to the north we are reliably told by the site wardens, however we knew this anyway as Debbe's uncle was based there during his stint in the RAF.

Not a problem for us, there's always an air of excitement when fast jets go past: (think "Top Gun" and all that). The sound of these things going past can be felt through the ground.

As Debbe says, "lots of training been done today, but then again there's a lot of wars being fought at the moment". True, very true!

The Wind Doth Blow

Our final stay at the Cardigan Bay last night site will not be known as one that gave us some restful kip. Once again gales howled around our unit and kept us awake for most of the night. So for our pitch at Bala we weren't taking any further chances; sod the awning! We'll manage without it for our two remaining nights.

So far, so good, the weather's calm and winds are low given the site's sheltered location.

Twenty Minutes

So having taken just 20 mins to unhook and pitch up (remember - no awning), here I am catching up with posts to this blog whilst I negotiate a few well deserved beers following our two and half hour drive to get here.

More capers soon.

Last Night at Cardigan Bay

2009-09-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

As our last day at the Cardigan Bay Camping and Caravanning Club site draws to a damp neigh drenched, close; what's the consensus of opinion about this particular site from the Caravanning Couple's corner?

Things going for it...

It's a 'pretty site' and what you would expect from the CCC standards when it comes to the bog-block (on-site toilet and shower facilities) and the general upkeep of the site. The site is on a slope, so if you get pitched at the top of the site as we did, you get some great views across the surrounding Welsh countryside.

WiFi is available through the CCC's service provider and unlike the St. David's site visited last week, there's good mobile phone and radio signals.

There's a good dog walk which is sufficiently large enough to allow mini-ball-chucking sessions for one's pooch.

A public footpath, immediately outside the gate, runs along the side of the site and opens out into a series of fields which (livestock permitting) presents easily accessible walking for dogs and humans alike. During our stay, we could wander around 4-5 fields quite easily without encountering livestock.

The local pub, the Penrhiwgaled Arms, is about 1/2 mile away (20 mins walk) in Cross Inn and has great Guinness and a large choice of good grub served all day! There's a general-store across the road from it and a newsagents further down the street.

On the downside...

The nearest beach is 3 miles away, a car journey, at New Quay. Whilst this is a pleasant little seaside town, dogs are banned on its beaches as they are with all other ones up and down the immediate coastline. Not an issue if you're a non-dog owner, but a hindrance if you are. Lucy's jaunt on the beaches for this holiday looks to be limited to her escapades on Abereiddy beach back at the St. David's site.

There isn't a supermarket or decent store to stock up on supplies for miles. The general store in Cross Inn has some booze, but quite frankly I've had more in my fridge at home on many an occasion.

Not much to moan about really, with the positives outweighing the negatives.

Would we come back? Yes, if in the area again but from a location point of view, I think we preferred the St. David's site given its proximity to a dog-friendly beach and some breathtaking cliff top walks.

Tomorrow is another day as we pack up and move on to Bala for the final couple of nights before heading home.

Cardigan Bay - Final Day and a Trip to Aberystwyth

2009-09-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

Leg three of our Welsh tour is drawing to a close as tonight is our final and fifth, night at the Cardigan Bay CCC site before we enter the fourth and final stage by traveling up to stay two nights at the Bala CCC site in Snowdonia tomorrow.

Weather for today looked promising when we woke, so after brekie and having taken Lucy out for a thirty minute charge about in the fields that line the back of the site; we decided to venture into civilization (or the closet thing we've seen to it for the last 10 days) by taking a shopping trip up to the town of Aberystwyth some twenty five miles further up the coast.

A journey we chose to take without our pup, Lucy whom we were to leave back at the caravan. A decision we could regret!

View Larger Map

Spend, Spend, Spend!

The road to Aberystwth took us fifty minutes to drive (yes 50 minutes for a 25 mile drive on a supposedly fast A road). This was largely due to two caravanners out in front of the traffic stream, chugging along at an average of 30 miles an hour.

Bloody caravanners!

As it turns out, they weren't 'holiday makers' but fairground travelers in tatty old trucks. This made us feel a little better in the fact that at least they weren't "one of us".

Anyway, once on the outskirts of the town, like dutiful tourists, we followed signs for the Park and Ride and obtained a combined bus and parking ticket (£1 all day - how cheap is that?) once we'd managed to figure out the complicated instructions on the dispensing machine, we waited for the bus.

Aberystwth itself isn't a particularly large town, about the same size as Keighley in West Yorkshire if that means anything to you! However despite its small size we weren't there to walk about but instead for only two purposes, namely; to stock up on supplies at the Morrisons we'd spied on the way in and to do a spot of shopping for some bits and bobs which included new reading material for the remainder of the holiday, buying a new and very pink-cased digital camera that was more portable than my large digital SLR thing and perhaps a coffee and a bun to celebrate our brief independence from not having the pup in tow.

Given our desire to get back to Lucy in the caravan as quickly as possible; who is still at the "wrecking things" stage if she's left too long; we didn't give the town justice by having a walk around I'm afraid. Perhaps some other time. We wanted to get back!

Round the Houses

However, we needn't have worried about losing out on the town-tour because having spent-up in the shops including forty five quid on books in Waterstone's; we were treated to an impromptu back-street tour of the town by the Park and Ride bus which included such delights as a trip through the building complex of the local hospital, past the cop-shop and a tour of the local retail parks before being dropped off where we started.

It seems the P&R bus doubles up as a regular bus for the locals to the hospital, which also explains why there was a lot of bandaged and sick looking people on the bus when we got on.

Still, I suppose we got our money's worth for our £1 bus-ticket!

A whizz round the Morrisons supermarket next to the P&R and we set-off back to the site. A drive which took us a more respectable thirty five minutes. Bloody caravanners!

Where's Me Tea?

Oh dear, what a sight as we got back into the caravan?

Lucy, having been left on her own for over 3 hours, had decided to demonstrate her annoyance by not only spilling her water all over the carpet and pulling all the cushions on to the floor; but had dragged and eaten most of tonight's tea (meatballs, left on the side to defrost) shredded a box of tea bags and its contents placed two shelves up from the floor and scoffed her way through a mixed box of nuts and raisins she'd managed to drag off the side.

The place was a real mess which took us a further thirty mins to clean-up (aided by our trusty Dirt-Devil vac of course). Still, serves us right for leaving her so long, however it's something she needs to get used to.

So there you have it, our adventures for today.

Debbe is now completely absorbed with her newly purchased books so that's the end of conversation for the day as far as I'm concerned, so I'll probably post again later this evening, perhaps with an overview of what we thought of the Cardigan Bay club site.

Oh, and its pissing it down again and there's no meat-balls for tea!

Sob!

Hoorah! It's Officially 'Beer O'Clock'

2009-08-31T12:46:00.000-07:00

In typical style for a British August Bank Holiday, the weather is poor and miserable.

Why should I be even surprised? It is summer after all!

Our day here on site in West Wales has been unsettled at most weather-wise so we decamped to the local for for some lunch (surf 'n' turf and a few bevies). As I write this post sat in our awning on the evening, the rain is lashing against roof and walls and making a hell of a racket.

Don't believe me - download and listen to this sound clip to get a feel of what I mean (it's 6.9Mb .WAV file which for Firefox users should stream in your browser. IE users will have to download it).

I pity those poor saps in tents nearby, if this keeps up - they won't be getting any kip tonight.

Beer O'Clock

On a more positive note I read that the Collins English Dictionary has added in 267 additions in the English language, one of which is my much used "Beer O'Clock" phrase.

Which describes, in case you don't know, when it's time for a beer or three.

I suppose now that as the phrase is official, there's nothing left to do but to put it into practice. I'll drink to that!

Cheers!

It's Crunch Time on the way to Cardigan Bay

2009-08-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

We're now into our second day on the Cardigan Bay CCC site, having packed up yesterday morning in bright sunshine and more importantly, low winds at the St. David's site some 60 miles further down the coast.

A reminder of where we've been and where we plan to go can be seen on the map below.

View Caravan Holiday Destinations Aug 09 in a larger map

During our pitch-down, we got chatting to a fellow camper who was there with his family whom, as it turns out; lives only a few miles away from us in Bradford. How bizarre is that? All this way into West Wales and you end up speaking to some bloke who lives down the road from you. Wild!

On the Road

Off we set on the road to Cardigan Bay with cries of "where's the crisps?" and "what sweets are there?" being met with "we've only just left the campsite" from Debbe neutralizing pangs of manufactured hunger. Hey, if you don't ask you don't get is my motto!

Turn Left Here: Crunch!

I thought things were going too well!

My navigator mistakenly tells me to take the next left at a roundabout an hour into our journey. The mistake was quickly released and a spot was chosen on a residential street to turn around. Not a problem, easy peasy in a car, or van (read motor home). But in a car/caravan towing combination like ours; forward planning of any maneuver is needed. A luxury denied to us on this occasion.

The end result being a miscalculation of an eighteen point turn and a confrontation with a steel gate gate which we lost resulting in the damage to our van that can see in the shot below. The gate came off unscathed in case you're wondering.

Sob!

Earlier this morning (Sunday) we took a break from our holiday merry-making to look for a caravan dealer we'd been told about some 20 odd miles away which would hopefully have a replacement light unit. Fifty quid later we had a replacement which was fitted in a jiffy. The split body work will have to wait till we get back home.

That was an expensive left turn.

Cardigan Bay CCC Site

Despite the mishap en-route we arrived at the Cardigan Bay Camping and Caravanning Club site in good time, in good weather and in good spirits.

First impressions were good and we were allocated a good pitch. The local pub, which we sampled later in the day, was only a 15 minute walk away and served food. A point noted for later in the week.

Mobile phones have signal again and our DAB radio is once again, able to keep us entertained. We closed our first day on site with a barbie (gas-powered of course) and a few tinnies to celebrate the start of leg two of our four centre holiday.

More capers soon.

PS: Take a look at the slide show I've added to the right of this blog. I'll keep it updated with photos of our exploits both past and present.

Light Pollution

2009-08-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

One of the cool things about staying away in the sticks, is that the amount of light pollution on a night is reduced to nil.

This makes great sky watching conditions and assuming there's no cloud as there was last night; it's quite breath taking to see the zillions of stars and the ribbon of celestial light that is the "Milky Way" stretching across the night sky. It really is something to behold and a sight that very few of us in urbanised Britain actually get to see these days.

[The image above isn't what I could see last night (my photography skills aren't up to it) instead it's a 'milky way image' I've 'borrowed' off the web to illustrate the concept for you urbanites and city dwellers reading this post who perhaps think the night sky has a permanent orange glow to it]

Getting the Wind Up

Having done a spot of star gazing in a cloudless sky before bed last night, we were woken up at 2am by howling winds battering our van and awning to buggery again last night.

The noise and imminent fear of the awning being ripped from its pegs and being blown out to sea was once again with us. The conditions, once again left us with a broken-night's sleep.

A quick inspection of our unit this morning showed no signs of damage or loss (a testament to our pegging skills and the 'storm strap' added earlier in the week).

As the morning progressed the winds died down and the sun came out but as I write this post over a few tinnies, conditions are still blustery.

Still, if the weather stopped us, we Brits would never do anything.

Tomorrow we pack-up and move up the coast to the Cardigan Bay CCC site.

See you then.

Time for a trip to the beach me thinks!

Hell's Bells Bill: Your Tail Gave us a Whipping!

2009-08-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

In yesterday's post - I was sceptical about the need to have a storm strap pegged down over the front of our awning despite the predications of the site manager, that the tail end of Hurricane Bill was about to hit.

After all when the need to have one was explained the sun was out and blue skies a yonder.

However, by 2am this morning, I was glad we did as Bill's Tail was whipping it's way along the coast.

Needless to say and for all the wrong reasons; we didn't get a wink of sleep last night due to the high winds and driving rain battering our little unit.

Visions of the awning being ripped from it's pegs and being blown out to sea were very real and vivid, but thankfully never came to pass.

If you've never tried to sleep in a caravan which is being subject to storm conditions; then I would say you haven't lived. Beats any theme-park ride for the adrenalin rush!

In the morning the winds had died down and the ground was sogged, minimal damage: just a few pegs pulled out and a misshapen awning was all that was left to show that Bill had made his mark before leaving.

Then the sun came out!

What bizarre weather we have here in the UK.

Hols in Wales - Pics So Far

2009-08-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

Now that we're settled into our pitch at the St. David's CCC site, we took the opportunity to explore the area so we could make plans on what to do over the next few days.

This basically entailed travelling to the various beaches and small towns up and down the coast.

Here's some pics to date in a slide show, taken during that time:

Points to Note

The beach at Whitesands, whilst pretty, bans dogs for the Summer season and has a £3 car parking fee (we must be getting 'tight' in our old age)
The Sloop Inn pub at Porthgain offers better value grub, so we were told in hindsight, than the harbour front bistro which served (slowly) Fish and Chips with a cup of chaa and a can of coke for £12.45 each! It'll take me years to recover from that!

When we got back to the campsite the weather was still fine, blue skies and a bit of cloud, so I took took Lucy for a walk whilst Debs stayed on camp.

Upon arriving back it seemed the site manager had pulled a fast one on my wife and had sold her a "storm strap" (a flat, webbed strap that goes across the front of the awning to hold it down in high winds).

This was done on the pretext that the "tail end of Hurricane Bill" was about to hit the site overnight having done some damage over on the east coast of Canada.

Surely not! A ploy to sell us something we didn't need?

Let's see in another caper post.

Wot! No 3G, Mobile Phone or Even a Radio Signal?

2009-08-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Having packed up in clear weather on the Monday morn, we set off from the Winchcombe site for the second leg of our journey into the wilds of Wales.

The trip took us a steady 4 hours down the M5 and over the 'new' Severn Bridge into South Wales past Newport and Cardiff towards the Pembrokeshire coast.

St.David's

The St.David's' CCC site is actually about 5 miles north along the coast from the City of St. David's, 1 mile from the coast and the hamlet of Abereiddey which has a small but nice dog friendly beach; as can be seen with our pups first reaction to it when we arrived on the Monday afternoon after pitching-up.

St.David's' itself is only a small town despite it's official 'city' status and took some negotiating with a van in tow when we went through it, due to the large amount of tourist traffic milling about and the narrow streets. The camp site is a fairly small site, with only 40 pitches over two fields. Compared to other CCC sites, facilities are quite basic giving the site a feel more akin to a certified site: only two showers in the breeze-block built facilities building.

The whole site is on a 30 degree angle and it was quite blustery when we were pitching up which meant our previous personal best was not going to be broken this time.

The End of Civilisation as We Know It!

The blurb about the site warns that there is no mobile signal on site. This is true, but it actually goes beyond that as there's no 3G signal and neither is there a radio signal of any description (DAB or FM). Whether there's a TV signal I can't comment on as we don't have, by choice, a tele in our van! However I suspect not - given the lack of TV aerials on the other units!

However and ironically, the site has WiFi access using the CCC WiFi network - hence why I'm able to keep you updated with these blog posts. Although it's relatively costly.

More capers soon.

Wales or Bust - August 2009

2009-08-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

South West Wales, specifically the Pembrokeshire coast, is the destination of choice for this year's extended caravan caper.

However to get there from our home in West Yorkshire is a bit of a jaunt to say the least; particularly when you're limited to 60 miles an hour max. So we decided to break the journey up into chunks with an initial two night stop over at the Wincombe Club site near Tewkesbury in the Cotswolds on the first Saturday and Sunday nights.

Cotswolds

We've been away to the Cotswolds before, having stayed at the excellent Moreton-in-Marsh Caravan Club site just a few miles down the road from the Winchcombe CCC site we were heading for, so the area was well explored. However this stopover was purely a traveller's rest chosen because of its proximity to the M5 and was deemed to be a midway point to South West Wales and St. David's where we hoped to pitch by Monday afternoon.

Arriving just after two on the Saturday afternoon, the trip took us 4 hours. Incidentally, to those of you reading this post who live on the "dark-side" and are card-carrying members of the Jeremy Clarkson fan club: please note that we would have got there a little quicker if it weren't for the non-caravan pulling drivers dawdling on the motorway or on the A-roads including some bozo in an open-top Mercedes which obviously couldn't go any faster than 45 miles an hour.

If you can't drive, get rid of your car!

On the way down, we'd worked out a routine between us, a process if you like; that would allow us to get parked-up, unit levelled, awning erected (a job in itself), floor down and kettle-on as quickly as possible. Typically this process has taken us up to 2 hours plus! Remember we're new to this!

So we delegated tasks between each and upon arrival and getting unhitched - we set the timer going.

A Personal Best

Well what can I say? Little victories make life worth living.

From brakes on and van unhitched, to awning floor down and the kettle on! We achieved a time of of 51 minutes, just slightly slower than our past personal best of 48 minutes at Kingsbury Water Park. Still, not bad if I do say-so myself!

A Good Stop-Over Site

As a site Winchcombe is a 'good stop over site' we would say. Anything longer and we'd recommend the afore mentioned Caravan Club Site of Moreton-in-Marsh as it's a better located site for exploring the Cotswolds and has everything you need within a short stroll.

The Winchcombe CCC site itself has little going for it locally that doesn't involve negotiating the fast and pathless A-road outside the gate. This means you take your life in your hands should you choose to walk anywhere. Consequently this renders everything, including a trip to the nearby village of Alderton with its pretty thatched cottages, a drive out. Shame! Having said that, if you're into fishing you're on the right site. Pitches surround a central man-made lake which has been stocked with carp. Various fishing platforms are dotted around the edge which meant that campers were never more that a few feet from a fishing point.

The site manager made a point of telling us that there was a thirty-pounder somewhere in the lake and various pictures on his office wall indicated that fish bigger than your average stickleback did indeed exist.

On Sunday morning we drove to Alderton with Lucy, our now 10 month old Staffie-cross pouch. From the village centre, we found a bridle way that ran for miles through fields and woods which was obviously part of the Grouse shoot of some local estate, given the large number of the critters that were running about. Afterwards we had a swift pint and cuppa at the delightful Gardners Arms pub in the centre, before driving back to the site.

Gas Barbecue

Sunday gave us our first opportunity to test out our newly acquired gas barbecue. Only a little thing, not one of these outdoor culinary machines that would make St. Delia jealous. I've had grub off them before, but am mindful that critics of this cooking technology seem to think you don't get the same "smokey" or "cremated" flavour that you get from a normal charcoal barbie!

Well having cooked bacon on it for a Sunday lunch snack and the full-barbie-monty for the evening meal (see pic) - I can tell that not only does it taste the same, it cooks grub better and you don't have to wait the best part of an hour for the thing to heat up.

Gas guzzlers for me every time from now on!

Second Leg

It pissed it down on Sunday night in the wee small hours and given that we had an early start planned for the Monday morning, we had visions of us having to dismantle everything under a brolly on Monday morning.

However, as luck would have it, the British weather being what it is, the sun came out and dried everything out which made the whole job a lot easier. We were all done and dusted and back-on the road to South Wales by 10.00am.

Map

The map below is where we'll be travelling over the next 14 days

View Caravan Holiday Destinations Aug 09 in a larger map

Kingsbury Water Park: Further Exploits

2009-07-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

We're now into day three of our break in the Warwickshire at the Kingsbury Water Park and in between the showers, some of them quagmire creators; we've done a bit more exploring of the area which is proving to be most interesting and fruitful.

Ah the Pub!

One of the first things we found (after a bit of digging I must admit), was the local hostelry, namely the Dog and Doublet Inn right on the tow path next to the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal which runs past the Kingsbury Water Park and is only a 15 min walk from the CCC site (we timed it). We only had time on this occasion for one beer each, but we made a mental note to return on future visits.

Water, Water Everywhere

As the name suggests Kingsbury Water Park is populated with lakes and pools everywhere you look. This in turn prompts a very large population of wild bird life, we were privy to see Herons and Kingfishers without any real effort so goodness knows what the numerous Twitchers that were wandering around the place all weekend, must see!

The slide show of pics below, taken during our visit, gives you a flavour of the scenery.

So What Do We Think?

This site is probably the best site we've been to so far, here's why;

The location of the site; immediately next door to the park accessed through a small gate or via the main entrance.

There's plenty to do locally ranging from walks (long and short), water sports, nature stuff and shopping in towns.

There's a decent pub nearby and two in the local village of Kingsbury which is a mile away (although we didn't get there on this occasion)

There's WiFi on site or better still, a moderately good 3G connection via the mobile network.

On the downside:

The M42 motorway, being only about 1/4 mile away means there's constant background traffic noise. However, we're used to that - but if total silence is important then this site s not for you.

In Conclusion

We love this site and will come again. It's ideal for a week or just for a few days and given that it's a 2.5 hour drive from home. Perfectly reachable.

Kingsbury Water Park: July 2009

2009-07-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

The Kingsbury Water Park Club Site in the West Midlands is our site of choice this time for a short 3 night, Saturday to Tuesday break in July.The site is just a short hop off the M42 in the Midlands, so we thought maybe a 2 hour drive from our home in West Yorkshire, which itself is a similarly short-leap off the M62 near Leeds. But alas no, stick another hour onto that time estimate given the volume of traffic on the M1 and a minor accident which ground everyone to a crawl just north of Nottingham.

Still we got to the site in plenty of time to execute our now well practiced technique of pitching-up and erecting our full-awning, which incidently, took a personal best of 48 minutes on this occasion; helped no doubt by sunny, wind free conditions upon arrival and right through until early evening.

As a comparison, the first time we pitched it, 2 hours was the standard! Practice makes perfect!

Tents!

After the initial and obligatory cuppa and settling in we took a wander around the site which was practically full when we arrived on the Saturday afternoon, mainly with families who by and large, all seemed to be in tents of varying sizes which out numbered the vans I would say, by quite a wide margin.

It's quite good to see tents at a camping and caravannn site as by and large (if the club's magazine is anything to go by) there is often a bias towards the caravan owning members. So here's too the tenters!

However by the afternoon the following day; Sunday; the majority had gone leaving we caravanners to battle it out against the heavy rains which were working their way towards us.

Taking the usual high standards of cleanliness in the bog-block and around the site in general that one can expect from CCC sites as read; the main aspect to note is that the site itself is a stone's through from the nearby Kingsbury Water Park - in fact a small gate at the bottom of the site, leads straight into the park!. Great for walking the pooch and worthy of future reference.

360 Degree Site Tour

There's a cool 360 degree tour of the site on the CCC website which can be viewed by following this link.

Pools = Lakes

Walking into the adjacent water park, where we found quite a few "pools" as they are called. Lakes more like it I would say which are obviously man made by the looks of them (perhaps clay-pits or open cast mining at some point in the past) but now completely taken over by nature and well managed so that everything looks as nature intended.

These are yet to be fully explored, our next post about this site will report back.

Tamworth

On the Sunday morning we took a trip into the nearby town of Tamworth for a walk about and to top-up on some supplies which we'd forgotten to pack (mainly a bottle of washing-up liquid).Tamworth itself is a fairly nondescript but not unpleasant town in my book which has undergone a recent rapid expansion judging by the number of new house builds we passed on the way in. Its most redeeming feature that we could see is a park or "Castle Pleasure Grounds" as they are named, surrounding a moat and baillie style castle which overlooks the town.

On the morning of our visit, the sun was out in force as were the locals which gave the park a nice, relaxed but busy atmosphere. A band stand, complete with performing orchestra at the foot of the castle added to the summery feel of the day.

Unusually for us, we didn't go into the castle itself, being restricted by our pooch, not to mention the £5 each entry fee, so instead I resorted to a few external pics.

The Spot

At the end of Tamworth's main shopping street is an estate agents which has the sign "The Spot"on two sides of its building. This name apparently derives from the times when the building was used as a meeting point for people, as in "We'll meet you at the spot at the end of George Street".

This story I have been told by my mum-in-law, now in her 60s but who as a young girl; lived in a flat above this as now estate agents, but as then; a shoe shop called Dunn's.

During her youth, the building was commonly called The Spot, so it's nice to see the current building's incumbants, erecting signage which helps keep this tradition alive.

Further reports in tomorrow's post.

Woodhall Spa: A Walk on the Wild Side

2009-05-26T09:47:00.001-07:00

One thing we like about the Woodhall Spa site is its proximity to some good good walks where we can let the pooch off her lead.

Firstly, there's the "rabbit run" as we name it. So called because it's overrun with zillions of rabbits and pock marked with rabbit holes.

This route is dead easy to get to: out of the site gate, turn left and about 400 yds on the left is the entrance (past the nature reserve entrance which forbids dogs). The run is essentially a farm track down the side of a field but it does go on for a fair while and gives a walking opportunity of some 30 mins there and back.
The other route: out of the main gate, turn right down Wellsyke Lane, turn right again at the cross roads where, after about 200yds, is the entrance on the left just off a small lay-by after the dog forbidding nature-reserve gate. About a 10 minute walk from the site entrance.

This walk takes you into a forestry commission pine tree 'plantation', as it was described to us by the site managers. Once inside; there's miles of tracks in and amongst the trees and along their fire-breaks. It's quite easy as we did, to walk about for two and half hours without crossing previously trodden tracks.

Walking through the woods we came across the remnants of an old wartime airfield: common in this part of Lincolnshire.

Parts of the runway were still there as were some of the outbuildings which today look to be used for storage by forestry workers. Despite their remoteness in the woods these buildings must get broken into by thieves quite often judging by the message scrawled on one building's door.

Back at our unit, curiosity got the better of me about this redundant airfield, so I booted up the laptop and googled "WW2 Airfields in Lincolnshire". Sure enough a myriad of websites were presented showing details of the ones local to the camp site.

The one we'd been walking around, was the RAF Woodhall Spa airfield which was used for some time during the second world war by the famous 617 "Dambusters" Squadron. Interesting stuff. Hard to imagine it now, given its demolished and overgrown status and pine tree enclosed location.

Our last full day on the site is drawing to a close. The sun is out again after last nights torrent and the pools of water that threatened to turn the site into a quagmire this morning have drained away.

Tomorrow will be packing up and heading off home.

Until next time.

Woodhall Spa: A Day at the Beach

2009-05-26T04:06:00.000-07:00

Now before you start posting comments, yes I know that the CC Club site of Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire isn't on the coast.

However Skegness or 'Skeggie' about 30 miles from the site, is. This is where yesterday, we chose to take Lucy, our 7 month old pup, for her first taste of the sea and a romp along a beach.

Skegness itself is a typical British seaside holiday town with its rows of 'statics', scraggy looking pubs, amusement arcades and sea front shops selling the usual seaside tat. However we weren't there for those delights but for Skeggie's main enduring feature above and beyond a large off-shore and majestic looking wind farm; namely its long and sandy beach which was surprisingly quiet given it was a Bank Holiday Monday and sunny, if somewhat breezy.

So having avoided another bout of puppy-puke brought on by the journey (Lucy suffers from car sickness a lot), we parked up on the North-side and got ready to make the introduction

The tide was out so the feeling of space was immense, something Lucy picked up on straight away as she ste off chasing about like a pup possessed! But not after making her first deposit of the day. Out with the pooper bags.

Did she enjoy the experience? Judge for yourself with the slide show below.

After an hour or so, an ice-cream and a burger each, (for us, not the dog) we were in the car on the way back to the site, stopping off at very chilly Tescos in Horncastle on the way for supplies.

Another Woodhall Spa Post soon.

Oh - by the way - those are my feet above after paddling in the muddy sand flats on Skegness beach. Good for the skin despite what you may think!

Woodhall Spa: May Spring Break 2009

2009-05-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

A joint break of 5 nights away with my wife's brother, his wife their little un, our two and half year old nephew; at the Camping and Caravanning Club site of Woodhall Spa on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds was a welcome change for us given as it was our first trip away since Easter.

The site itself isn't particularly big (about 90 pitches I'm led to believe) and is set in the middle of woodland. A whacking great big pond full of bread laden fish and Mallards, offers a central focus point to the site and was a constant attraction for a two and half year old and the other kids there.

The dog walk, a feature we now take notice of on any site since the arrival of Lucy, our Staffie-cross pup; was notably small, but I suppose it did what it said on the tin and served its purpose. Local walks near the site compensated as I will explain later.

The small spa town of Woodhall Spa itself, some 2.5 miles from the site is nothing to write home about (or blog about as the case may be), apart from the bakery and deli down its main street which sells some of the best home made cakes and buns I've seen in ages. The shop was visited a number of times as you can imagine!

More thoughts in my next post as I regale you with the best walks local to the site and our trip to nearby Skegness, our pup's first experience of the sea.

For now though it's time for a couple o' beers!

You Dirty Old Devil!

2009-04-25T05:40:00.000-07:00

After Easter's jaunt away, the first time with our new pup Lucy; we came to realise that its time we bought a vac for cleaning out our van mid trip, rather than waiting until we got home.

So off we went down to the local retail park to browse round the multiples to see what they had on display.

Initially our thoughts were set on one of those Dyson handhelds. After all we've had a Dyson upright for a number of years in the house and it's a brand we are loyal to given their vac's abilities to suck the socks off your feet.

However, it seems the Dyson range of handhelds are battery driven. We'd rather have a mains powered unit as they are more powerful. Added to that the Dysons only give you about 6 minutes worth of use after a 3 hour charge. Useless, particularly as they are the best part of one hundred quid a pop!

What else did they have? Nothing! So that was the end of that then, but we still needed a small vac specifically for the caravan.

So back at home we got on'tinter-web and browsed around, eventually settling for a Dirt Devil mains powered thing with 1100 watts, bagless, 8 metres of cable and all for a smidgen under forty quid.

I tell you what! It does the job brilliantly; not too big (so it's easy to store), light weight and comes with lots of accessories. Sucks like a dream as well! (Oo-er missus!)

So there you have it if you need a small powerful vac for your caravan get yourself a Dirt Devil.

Barnard Castle: Easter 2009 - Bank Holiday Monday

2009-04-13T07:05:00.001-07:00

Today, Monday, is our last day at the Barnard Castle site, having arrived here last Thursday.

We originally booked to stay until yesterday (Easter Sunday) but as the weather was glorious and neither of us had any pressing need to be back in the office on Tuesday morning, we thought sod it and booked another night on our “grass with electric” pitch. After this we jumped in the car for a jaunt up the road to the High Force Falls which is about 12 miles away just outside Middleton-in-Teesdale.

According to the touristy blurb “High Force is one of the most impressive waterfalls in England” Let's see.

Having parked up, all three of us took the short gravel paved walk to the falls and yup! Pretty impressive! Busy as well as it seemed every man and his dog was spending Easter Day there.

Next to the river and falls were some pretty severe looking rocks that need to be negotiated before one could get to get to the water’s edge; so we were glad we heeded the leaflet’s advice to wear “substantial footwear”. The same couldn’t be said for some people and we waited with baited breath as the teenage girl in Moonboots staggered her way across wet, mossy rocks towards the edge of the falls with its 21 metre drop. You go for it girl!

A good couple of hours romp with a picnic to boot.

Back to Monday and the present day. I’m glad we booked the extra night. As we awoke this morning a clear blue sky again greeted us and added to this we were kept satisfied with the view of what seemed to be the entire site packing-up and going home. By lunchtime there was a steady stream of vans and cars filing out of the main gate in obedient unison and by early afternoon you could count the remaining “units” on one hand. We just sat and watched them go, mug of tea in hand, sitting in the sun outside our awning; sheer smug satisfactory bliss written on our faces.

We’d already designated today as a chill-out day which basically means doing nothing apart from sitting around; Debbe working on her cross-stitch and me reading the paper, listening to music or perhaps taking Lucy for a walk.

First of all though we had chores to do! The daily task of emptying the waste water carrier, refilling the fresh water one and (gulp) emptying the now precariously full toilet cassette. Once these were out of the way, it was a case of Debbe taking a shower whilst I took Lucy for a walk through the adjacent copse and across the fields and stream. This she enjoys but what is it with dogs and their desire to eat fresh horse/rabbit/cow muck?

Back at camp the need for some more supplies was pressing so a quick trip into Barney stocked us up with grub for lunch, stuff for tonight’s barbeque and a few more bottles of the real ale I’m into at present.

So that’s it really, upon reflection here are our thoughts on the Barnard Castle Club Site:

Plus Points:

Countryside location so if you’re into wildlife and farm animals, plenty asunder.
Reasonable amount to see and do locally, although you do need to drive to it all.
Not too far from our West Yorkshire home, about a 2 hour drive.
Barnard Castle is a nice town with plenty of independent shops

Negative Points:

Barnard Castle is not really a walk away as the distance is about 2 miles along a busy, pathless B road. Shame really.
No pub near the site. So if you fancy a walk to a local eatery one night, forget it.
The walking is limited. Whilst there are plenty of fields nearby, all of them were restricted to walkers and even more so dogs, as lambing season was pretty evident.
No Wi-Fi on site (a point I now look for on caravanning sites due to me dependence on my Crackberry and my laptop)

So would we come back? Yes I think so but perhaps only for a long weekend to chill.

Barnard Castle: Easter 2009

2009-04-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

It’s the start of our second season as caravan converts and we’ve chosen to spend it at the C&C Club site near Barnard Castle in County Durham.

This trip also marks our first foray with our new puppy, Lucy (pictured); who we’ve had since January so there was some apprehension as to how she’d settle in. At 6 months old and still convalescing after having just had her “tubes” cut a few days prior to setting off, we had some concerns.

A two hour trip north up the A1 and along the A66 and we were at the site which would be our base for the next four nights which means us packing up and leaving on Easter Sunday. The site itself is about two miles outside the town along a fast and pathless B road; a fact that was to prevent us visiting the town on foot over the next few days. Car only I’m afraid. A downside to the site’s location!

So we’re here and what do we think?

On the upside and as usual with Camping and Caravanning Club sites everything is immaculate and well organised. Added to this we were greeted by a friendly couple spouting those wonderful, soft, North East tones that we love.

Immediately to the rear of the site behind the “bog block” (our term for the toilet and shower block on these sites) is access to a “dog walking area” which doubles as a bridal path for the adjacent riding school; a run which takes you through a copse, past a stream and onto the entrance road of the school itself. Lucy’s reaction to these big animals is still at the “what the hell are those?” stage – but she’ll learn.

Barnard Castle itself is a market town, very reminiscent of Skipton in Yorkshire (if you’ve ever been there) in that it has a wide central street which is turned into a street market on market days and acts as a car-parking area on others. Like Skipton, the town boasts a myriad of small independent shops which is always good to see and the locals are not short of a pub or three to visit. A small Morrison’s supermarket hides away behind the town centre shops and helped us stock up on some missed essentials (like more beer). A ruined castle ("Barnard's Castle") overlooks the town and offers a good starting point to explore.

This being the Easter weekend the site soon filled up to capacity with a mixture of tents and caravans (or ‘vans’ as they are affectionately known). In our excursions to date as newbie caravanners we’ve generally only encountered a small percentage of tenters at any of the sites we’ve visited, but this time the mix looked to be fifty-fifty. Lots of families too!

As we discover more we'll write again in the next post...