Went to reception this morning and told them we’d moved pitches, but didn't bother to tell them why. We met a nice couple who were walking their cat on a lead. Turns out they both work in the funeral profession and want to move to Devon to live and want to buy one of those static mobile homes. We swapped email addresses with them, hope we can keep in touch as we had a lot in common.
Had a nap after lunch and now I'm writing this whilst Paul is playing with his fishing rod outside. It's not really nice enough to sit outside though, this bloody weather, I'm fed up with it!
30th July 2009
We left Thirsk very early, we were on the road by 8am, and stopped on the way and bought Paul some fishing gear as the campsite we are heading to this week has a fishing lake and Paul wants to do some fishing.
We also stopped at Sherwood Forest and had a walk around the visitor centre and drove through Bakewell before arriving at this site. It's set right in the middle of the Peak District and again is a typical Caravan Club Site. They are well equipped and well laid out, but a bit boring really and this is miles from anywhere so nothing to do unless you like potholing or exploring caves. We found a nice quiet pitch but no sooner had we set up, than two families in caravans on the next but one pitch came back from their day out and proceeded to have a BBQ and party with loads of kids running about everywhere including backwards and forwards over our pitch. Why can't people respect others when they do this and at least keep their kids under control? The adults just stood round the BBQ and allowed the kids to do whatever they wanted.
We stuck it out until 9pm, hoping that they’d pack up and quieten down, but they didn't, so we packed the van quickly and moved to another pitch. So glad we can do this in a few minutes. Grrr, noisy kids and barking dogs, the two worst things for us.
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| Sherwood Forest visitor centre |
We also stopped at Sherwood Forest and had a walk around the visitor centre and drove through Bakewell before arriving at this site. It's set right in the middle of the Peak District and again is a typical Caravan Club Site. They are well equipped and well laid out, but a bit boring really and this is miles from anywhere so nothing to do unless you like potholing or exploring caves. We found a nice quiet pitch but no sooner had we set up, than two families in caravans on the next but one pitch came back from their day out and proceeded to have a BBQ and party with loads of kids running about everywhere including backwards and forwards over our pitch. Why can't people respect others when they do this and at least keep their kids under control? The adults just stood round the BBQ and allowed the kids to do whatever they wanted.
We stuck it out until 9pm, hoping that they’d pack up and quieten down, but they didn't, so we packed the van quickly and moved to another pitch. So glad we can do this in a few minutes. Grrr, noisy kids and barking dogs, the two worst things for us.
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| Losehill Campsite Peak District |
29th July 2009
We managed to get some fresh air today by walking into Thirsk and looking around the shops. We got back to the van just in time as it's started to pour with rain again. Played AC and watched TV and went on my laptop for a while, as did Paul.
28th July 2009
Oh great, the weather is rubbish again today, in fact it rained so much in the night we thought the pitch would be flooded as it's very flat here. So we were stuck in the van all day again, BUT, it gave me the chance to finish my book, YES I've finished it. OMG, I didn't think I would ever get it done. Now all I have to do is edit the whole thing, maybe more than once, and set it out (format it) properly. I'm so proud of myself, YAY. Paul's walked into town to the Tesco store to buy a bottle of Taittinger Champagne so we can celebrate.
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| Yay I finished my first novel!! |
27th July 2009
We're now heading back to England, goodbye bonny Scotland! Although the weather has been awful nearly all the time, I still think Scotland is my favourite place. If we ever thought we could move away and not worry about family etc. then I think we’d live in Scotland, it's absolutely beautiful.
We're headed to a Caravan Club site at Thirsk racecourse and hope that the weather improves a bit.
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| Thirsk Racecourse site |
We got up quite late for us, 9am, so got ready quickly, no showers today, and got on the road. We stopped at a Morrison's just up the road from the campsite and got some shopping and then at an Asda to have some lunch in their restaurant.
It was a long drive and we were tired and worn out by the time we arrived at Thirsk. We travelled all down the east coast, saw the Angel of The North and even some RAF fighters across the A1 motorway.
I've never been to a racecourse before, and certainly not one with a campsite in the middle of it. I understand that on race days you have to move off the racetrack area to another site and then you can come back afterwards. Mmm think we'll move before race day which is Thursday.
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| Angel of the North |
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| RAF trainer jet |
I'm sitting outside writing this, no rain! It's even a bit sunny, quite windy but it's nice to get some fresh air for a change. It's not exactly warm for this time of year either. Would be nice to go back to Europe, it's probably hot there but the campsites are so expensive in the holiday season that we can't afford them. About €40 per night for most of them in July and August and that's partly why we made the decision to come back to the UK for the summer.
Besides, I wanted to tour the UK. I've lived here all my life but haven't seen much of it before, and have never been to Scotland or Wales or ‘Up North’ so I really wanted to see some of my own country too. Paul's been booking some of our campsites ahead in case it gets busy, and he says he just booked a nice looking adult only site near Shrewsbury. It's a bit expensive at £25 per night but we’re fed up with kids everywhere running about and being noisy, we just want a bit of luxury for a change. Okay I know it's school holiday time, and to be expected, but it still irritates us as we just want to enjoy the peace and quiet and we're NOT on holiday.
We'll have dinner in a bit, we bought pizza for tonight and I'm really looking forward to mine, goats cheese, red onion and rocket mmm, Paul's got spicy chicken. I'm not eating chicken again at the moment as we saw a TV programme called ‘What's in your Food’ and it showed what they inject into them to make them look plump. As well as water they inject beef protein which is all the yucky bits of the animal ground up. Really, the state of our food these days is disgusting. They wouldn't have put up with it in the forties! So, we're eating more veggie and fish things, which won't do us any harm.
The difference the weather makes is amazing, you instantly feel happier if it's sunny. I'm going to sit out here for a while longer as I don't want to go inside yet. Oh blimey, I've just offered to help Paul wash the van, I must be mad or am I ill?
26th July 2009
Tina: Didn't do much again today as the weather is still rubbish. We're getting a bit fed up with being stuck in the van, it's been raining almost non-stop for two weeks now. It's great when you can open your door and your garden is the whole outside world, but stuck indoors you notice how small your living space actually is.
We talked about what we’d change if we did this again and I think one thing we both agreed on was a different van layout. It would be nice to have some extra lounge space and that means a foldaway master bed. We decided that it might be worth the compromise of having to make the bed up each night and being able to have a rear lounge area to use during the day. See, we said you should take time when choosing a Motorhome, but some things you can't be sure of until you've actually tried it.
This weather has given me the opportunity to get on with my novel, I'm nearly finished now, 84,000 words. Done the bit about Felicity being stalked, all that's left is Mollie & Graham's wedding, the girls shopping for outfits, then Graham giving Molly the keys to the tea-room at their reception.
Played AC for a bit and tried to format a copy of my book but it was taking too long so I gave up. We had shepherd's pie for dinner, watched TV, did the dishes and went to bed.
25th July 2009
We’ve decided to stay here for a couple more days, because the site I’d booked emailed us to say they had a problem with their toilet facilities and we wouldn't be able to shower or anything. Although it's pretty dismal here it would be worse if we couldn't wash or anything. We packed the van and drove to a nearby M&S as Tina would like to get another track suit top and some track suit type trousers and to stock up on provisions. She says she's put on weight and nothing fits anymore. We got her two pairs and two fleece tops so she said she's okay for winter now, In July?
We then drove to a Jaguar dealer to look at some cars. We had been discussing what we’d do when we decided to stop travelling in the van, and we thought that we may buy a caravan and tow it with a car, or if not, then sell the van, buy a decent car and go to Italy for a while next spring. Tina has never really expressed an opinion on what cars we’ve had, although she did like the Audi A6 Quattro.
I asked her what sort of car she’d like and she kept saying ‘a proper car shaped car.’ After getting her to draw what she meant, and looking on the Web, it transpired that what she meant was something with a long bonnet and boot and I couldn't think of a car like that so asked her to look through some pictures. What she picked out was an "S" Type Jaguar, so that's what we went to look at. The people at the dealership were really interested in our Motorhome. All the sales staff came out and had a look over it, I think they were hoping we might part-exchange it! We did look at some "X" type Jags, but they are just Ford Mondeos with a Jaguar body but the "S" Type is quite different and looks like a traditional Jag. We both liked them.
We drove back to the campsite had dinner and watched Casualty on TV.
24th July 2009
Weather still bad, raining and gloomy so we just did stuff on the computers, Tina wrote some of her novel. She is up to 81,000 words now and must be very near the end. As the internet signal was so good I managed to download an Anti-virus programme and Explorer 8 for her laptop so that’s now fully set up.
23rd July 2009
We left Braemar and headed south again. We were heading for a campsite at Glenrothes, between Perth and Edinburgh. On the way I spotted a Tesco so we stopped to top up provisions and as we were very low on fuel we filled the tank as well.
Paul: We made a slight detour so I could see RAF Leuchars which I had often heard about but never seen. There wasn't actually much to see so we pressed on to the Balbirnie Caravan Club campsite .
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| Balbirnie Campsite Glenrothes |
This is set in the woods outside Glenrothes, and although a nice site, it was dark and dingy in the rainy weather and a bit gloomy under all the trees. I'm sure in the height of summer it would be much nicer. We had some lunch and then Tina wrote more of her novel and I read. Despite being tucked under the trees I managed to get an Internet signal so Tina spoke to Shanice on MSN for a while.
22nd July 2009
Today I wrote some more of my novel, I want to finish it if I can, and then we took a walk into the village of Braemar. There wasn't a lot there but we found a fish & chip shop that was very popular and we bought cheesy chips for lunch. Paul had a white hogs pudding to go with his. Then we walked back to the campsite and I did some more of my novel and we watched TV. The weather is pretty dreadful for July, lots of rain and wind. I'm not sure whether this is typical or not.
21st July 2009
I had a really bad night last night. Woke up about 1am because my shoulder was hurting and I had restless legs. Horrible night!
We got up and the rain had stopped so Paul took one of the carpets outside and beat it to death, whilst I did some washing in the camp laundry. I put it in the tumble drier but it didn't do much! As the weather had improved, I hung it outside to dry off properly, but the wind got up and Paul had to take the awning down so I had to hang the washing in the van to dry. Not ideal.
I slept in the afternoon as I was so tired after last night. We had a roast dinner in the evening but it didn't turn out too well. The gravy was horrible and Paul had chosen a summer roasted vegetable mix and it just didn't go with the rest of the meal. So, a bit disappointing really. Never mind, I'll have a look in the freezer and see what we can have tomorrow.
We got up and the rain had stopped so Paul took one of the carpets outside and beat it to death, whilst I did some washing in the camp laundry. I put it in the tumble drier but it didn't do much! As the weather had improved, I hung it outside to dry off properly, but the wind got up and Paul had to take the awning down so I had to hang the washing in the van to dry. Not ideal.
I slept in the afternoon as I was so tired after last night. We had a roast dinner in the evening but it didn't turn out too well. The gravy was horrible and Paul had chosen a summer roasted vegetable mix and it just didn't go with the rest of the meal. So, a bit disappointing really. Never mind, I'll have a look in the freezer and see what we can have tomorrow.
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| Mmmmm don't mention Hoi Sin Sauce!! |
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| Please can we have some bread? |
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| And us too! |
20th July 2009
We left the campsite and headed back towards Inverness, stopping at the big Tesco store again. Apart from bread and milk, we bought some new trainers, mine were half price down from £35 and Paul's were also cheap. We realised when we got back to the van that mine were slightly different colours. No wonder they were cheap. Here's hoping that as they wear, the colours will equalise a bit.
We drove through some wonderful scenery again up over the Cairngorms and there was snow at the top.
We drove through some wonderful scenery again up over the Cairngorms and there was snow at the top.
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| Typical Scottish river |
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| Heather just starting to colour |
We stopped to take some video but as we hadn't used the camera for ages, the battery was flat so I took some photos instead of the weird patchwork heather across the fields, and found loads of pinky heather flowers. It was a little early for full bloom but nevertheless gave the hills a pinky purple glow. It was beautiful. We also stopped at a Scottish Castle which was full of tourists so we didn't go in.
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| Scottish Castle |
We tried to visit Balmoral, which is the Queen's Scottish residence but again there were too many people and the price to get in was a bit steep for our budget. We then drove to find our next campsite which is the Invercauld Caravan Club site in the village of Braemar, right next to Balmoral. As with all Club sites, it's very neat and tidy and there are a lot of ducks wandering about. Surprisingly considering the weather, it was quite busy. The weather is pretty dismal now, wind and plenty of rain so after setting up and Paul having a shower, we stayed in the van and read.
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| Invercauld Campsite Braemar |
19th July 2009
The weather is miserable again so we stayed in the van and did computer stuff, watched TV etc. Thank heavens we are leaving tomorrow, the kids are driving us crazy. Paul caught the young girl hooking a bungee cord over the electric hook-up post in front of our van, so went over and told her off. He should have left her to electrocute herself, clearly her parents didn't care.
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| Dunnet's Head Campsite |
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| What a difference a bit of sun makes! |
18th July 2009
We packed up the van in the drizzling rain early this morning and Paul was attacked by thousands of midges as soon as he stepped outside. If this is what it's like by the lochs, imagine what it's like in the Western Isles where the midges have a ferocious appetite. I think we'll give that part of Scotland a miss thank you.
We headed up to Inverness and stopped again at Tesco for provisions. It seems a bit of a nuisance having to shop every few days but we can only store so much frozen and cold food as the fridge/freezer isn't enormous. In any case we're getting used to it now. We also got a new cooking timer and Paul bought a satellite finder meter in Maplins, on the same estate as PC World.
We headed north, making ultimately for John O’ Groats. There was quite a lot of traffic, especially cyclists, and it made the roads pretty hairy as there isn't enough room to pass cyclists, especially when they choose to travel two abreast.
We stopped at the northernmost point in the UK and took some photos. A group of bikers took some photos of me and Paul so we reciprocated and took some for them too. We bought some postcards to send home and had a wander over the headland and dock area. The weather is very damp and misty but the rain has held off a bit. We said that we'd go back and visit Land's End later in this trip so we can say we went from one end of the UK to the other.
We left and drove to the campsite at a place called Dunnets Head. It's another caravan club site so it's clean and tidy and the facilities are okay. The weather however is so misty you can't see anything around you.
We headed up to Inverness and stopped again at Tesco for provisions. It seems a bit of a nuisance having to shop every few days but we can only store so much frozen and cold food as the fridge/freezer isn't enormous. In any case we're getting used to it now. We also got a new cooking timer and Paul bought a satellite finder meter in Maplins, on the same estate as PC World.
We headed north, making ultimately for John O’ Groats. There was quite a lot of traffic, especially cyclists, and it made the roads pretty hairy as there isn't enough room to pass cyclists, especially when they choose to travel two abreast.
We stopped at the northernmost point in the UK and took some photos. A group of bikers took some photos of me and Paul so we reciprocated and took some for them too. We bought some postcards to send home and had a wander over the headland and dock area. The weather is very damp and misty but the rain has held off a bit. We said that we'd go back and visit Land's End later in this trip so we can say we went from one end of the UK to the other.
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| John O Groats |
We left and drove to the campsite at a place called Dunnets Head. It's another caravan club site so it's clean and tidy and the facilities are okay. The weather however is so misty you can't see anything around you.
There are people on the next pitch and their children are running wild, jumping over people's guy ropes and running over their pitches, but the parents don't seem to care. Grrr kids! I went on my computer and also played AC and watched TV.
17th July 2009
It rained more or less all night, more like the typical Scottish weather I’d been told about. Paul spent most of the day setting up my new laptop. I went and had a shower about 10am, well tried to. The shower and basins are terrible. There's no drain or plughole in the shower so the water just fills up and runs all over the floor. The basins were full of dead flies, where on earth did the five stars come into it? And £20 per night, what a rip-off. We watched TV and luckily had no further power cuts.
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| Shores of Loch Ness |
16th July 2009
Ugh I feel ill this morning, we ate too much last night, three courses and I've felt sick all night. Can't face food today. We went to the restaurant last night but not the one opposite the camp. We walked up the road for a bit and found a hotel restaurant and the food was very good. We got chatting to some people there including a girl with a gorgeous collie puppy which sat and begged for food from her. Collies are so intelligent aren't they? He's only about ten weeks old and was already learning tricks. Mind you he did disgrace himself by peeing on the floor, bless him.
We left the campsite and drove up through the highlands on our way to Loch Ness, which was to be our next destination. Ooh. I wonder if we'll see the Monster! The scenery is stunning in places, mountains, brooks, lakes, forests, really stunning, I love Scotland. We passed Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland, although we couldn't see much of it because of the mists, and lots of pretty lakes, and finally arrived in Inverness.
We found a Tesco on an industrial estate and there was also a PC World so Paul bought me a laptop so now we each have our own. He just has to set it all up for me, which will take him a couple of days.
We left the campsite and drove up through the highlands on our way to Loch Ness, which was to be our next destination. Ooh. I wonder if we'll see the Monster! The scenery is stunning in places, mountains, brooks, lakes, forests, really stunning, I love Scotland. We passed Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland, although we couldn't see much of it because of the mists, and lots of pretty lakes, and finally arrived in Inverness.
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| Near Glencoe |
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| Approaching Loch Ness |
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| Infamous Loch Ness |
We then drove back to Loch Ness, and found a site right on the side of the Lake.
Although the location is fantastic, it has the worst facilities we’ve seen in both Europe and the UK. It's supposed to be five stars, but there are only two toilet blocks, one at each end of the site and they each have only two showers. So four showers for God knows how many people. It's a good job it's not busy.
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| Very poor private site at the side of Loch Ness |
It was warm when we arrived but in the evening it started to rain. We sat in the van and watched TV but the electricity failed twice and it took ages for someone from the campsite to come out and fix it. This seems a typical case of the owners thinking they have a captive market because of the location and not spending any money on the facilities. We definitely do not recommend this site to anyone.
We thought about leaving tomorrow but we'll try one more night and see if the weather gets any better, if not then we'll press on and find something nicer.
15th July 2009
I felt a bit stir crazy this morning so we went for a walk into the woods, well kind of. Behind the site we saw a red squirrel, the first I've ever seen in the wild. We also saw the remains of a castle so we climbed up and had a closer look. There was the remains of a mausoleum too with a husband and wife buried here. On the way back we visited a little graveyard, I find them such peaceful places.
We got back just in time to greet the rain! We had lunch in the van and I wrote some more of my novel and played AC. We might go to a nearby restaurant tonight for dinner.
We got back just in time to greet the rain! We had lunch in the van and I wrote some more of my novel and played AC. We might go to a nearby restaurant tonight for dinner.
14th July 2009
I wrote some more of my book yesterday and spent most of today writing too. I'm determined to finish it and start the editing. Paul sat and read and played his guitar. I feel that we should be doing more though, this is the trip of a lifetime and we seem to be doing normal boring things, shouldn't we be out and about visiting places? On the other hand we're not on holiday, this is everyday living for us so does it really matter?
We see lots of things as we travel, wonderful scenery, we meet lots of new people so I should be satisfied with that.
I played AC this morning so no need to again today. I have to play it each day or else all my flowers wilt and die and I have to spend ages going round watering them. What was I saying about doing boring things ha ha! Anyway, I'm going to play every other day from now on and I'll lose a few flowers.
We see lots of things as we travel, wonderful scenery, we meet lots of new people so I should be satisfied with that.
I played AC this morning so no need to again today. I have to play it each day or else all my flowers wilt and die and I have to spend ages going round watering them. What was I saying about doing boring things ha ha! Anyway, I'm going to play every other day from now on and I'll lose a few flowers.
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| Hotel / Pub opposite campsite gates |
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| View over the Trossachs |
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| Yet another visitor |
13th July 2009
This morning we're off to Stirling, which isn't a long drive so we can take it easy and admire the views. We had to cross the Forth Bridge so I tried to take some photos as we drove across.
We stopped at a Tesco in Stirling for provisions and then drove on into the Trossachs to our next campsite. We arrived about 2pm and set up the van. Paul fell backwards down a slippery bank whilst setting up the satellite dish and I couldn't help laughing. I think it shook him, though he didn't hurt himself much. There's a lovely view up over the hills but at the moment there’s a lot of low cloud so you can't see much.
Lots of people have dogs on this site. In fact we appear to be the only ones who don't have one. Maybe we could borrow one! People don't seem too friendly, they are mostly caravan owners and I'm not sure if that’s typical. It does seem that there is a bit of aloofness from caravan owners generally.
I started writing my novel again today, I'm going to try and finish it whilst we are travelling.
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| The famous Forth Railway bridge |
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| Margowan Caravan Club site Killin |
Lots of people have dogs on this site. In fact we appear to be the only ones who don't have one. Maybe we could borrow one! People don't seem too friendly, they are mostly caravan owners and I'm not sure if that’s typical. It does seem that there is a bit of aloofness from caravan owners generally.
I started writing my novel again today, I'm going to try and finish it whilst we are travelling.
12th July 2009
We didn't do much today as the weather has turned again and it's been raining most of the time. We read a lot and I played Wii games and things.
11th July 2009
We got up early and caught the free camp minibus to Edinburgh city. The driver was really nice and gave us a tour round Edinburgh describing all the sites before dropping us just off Princes Street. He said he’d meet us at this spot at about 2pm for the return trip. The free bus is a great idea and makes this campsite ideal for people like us who don't have bikes on the back of their van or tow a small car.
We did some shopping. Paul bought some books and guitar stuff and I bought an Artist & Writers Yearbook. We then had lunch in a department store restaurant on Princes Street. Paul had Haggis with neeps and tatties, ugh, and I had stovies, corned beef and onions fried up together. It was lovely. Then we waited back at the rendezvous for the mini-bus to pick us up. We panicked a bit as we weren't sure we were in the right place but the driver turned up at about 14:10.
This morning as we went past Fettes College, the driver said it was used in the filming of Harry Potter so we looked it up on the internet to discover he was telling porkies, or shall we just call it artistic licence!
We sat out in the evening and then cooked dinner and watched TV.
We did some shopping. Paul bought some books and guitar stuff and I bought an Artist & Writers Yearbook. We then had lunch in a department store restaurant on Princes Street. Paul had Haggis with neeps and tatties, ugh, and I had stovies, corned beef and onions fried up together. It was lovely. Then we waited back at the rendezvous for the mini-bus to pick us up. We panicked a bit as we weren't sure we were in the right place but the driver turned up at about 14:10.
This morning as we went past Fettes College, the driver said it was used in the filming of Harry Potter so we looked it up on the internet to discover he was telling porkies, or shall we just call it artistic licence!
We sat out in the evening and then cooked dinner and watched TV.
10th July 2009
It was a lovely sunny day today so I did some much needed laundry, sheets, duvet covers and underwear, and put it all on the clothes horse and it dried quickly in the sunshine. We both sat outside and sunbathed, and in the evening we had a barbecue. Paul bumped into a German family and proceeded to have a conversation in German with the man. I think it really surprised them.
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| Edinburgh city campsite |
9th July 2009
We thought enough was enough, packed up and headed off to Scotland. That's one of the great things about the van, if you don't like where you are, you pack up and move on. It takes about fifteen minutes to be on the road again, we've got it down to a fine art now. Paul takes care of the outside and I do the inside packing up.
We drove up to Carlisle and then took the road across from Brampton right along Hadrian's Wall and the Northumberland Moors, stopping a few times to admire the remains of the wall, which in places is very well preserved. It was a long drive but I'm glad we did it as it was also quite exciting crossing the border into Scotland.
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| Just so! |
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| Large sections of the wall are quite intact |
We arrived at the Edinburgh Caravan Club site mid afternoon and it's a nice site with good showers. Most Caravan Club sites are the same; you know they will be consistently of a good standard with the same type of amenities. Being close to the city we got a good internet signal and also good TV.
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| Hooray Bonnie Scotland here we are! |
8th July 2009
We can't remember what we did but it continued raining for most of the day so we must have read some more, played Wii games and sat around. Camping isn't a lot of fun when it rains non-stop that's for sure.
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| Wet and soggy Park Coppice Coniston |
7th July 2009
Paul and I decided to go for a walk into Coniston village. It absolutely pissed down half way there and we got soaked. We sheltered under the trees for a while and waited to see if the rain would stop, but it didn’t. In the end we conceded defeat and returned to the van. Paul read and I caught up with this journal.
6th July 2009
We left Kendal and headed towards Coniston as there was a Caravan Club site there. We needed to get some provisions and as there was a Tesco at Barrow-in-Furness and a hospital, we decided to head there first and see if I could get a doctor to look at my shoulder, which was still giving me problems. Four hours later we were none the wiser as x-rays showed nothing specific and the doctor couldn't suggest anything else. He suspected that it was a rotator-cuff injury which wouldn't show up on x-ray anyway. What a waste of time! The only thing I can do is have a scan so I have to wait until we've stopped travelling to arrange that.
We got some shopping at Tesco and arrived late at the Park Coppice Caravan Club site because we got a bit lost and had to back track. The roads we were on were too small to turn round easily. It then took us ages trying to find a suitable pitch as they are all under trees and in the forest, where we wouldn’t get a satellite signal. The site is very busy. Although we did finally get a TV signal, we couldn't get internet. We had a shepherd’s pie for dinner and chatted to some of our fellow campers who are really friendly, then watched TV till bedtime.
We got some shopping at Tesco and arrived late at the Park Coppice Caravan Club site because we got a bit lost and had to back track. The roads we were on were too small to turn round easily. It then took us ages trying to find a suitable pitch as they are all under trees and in the forest, where we wouldn’t get a satellite signal. The site is very busy. Although we did finally get a TV signal, we couldn't get internet. We had a shepherd’s pie for dinner and chatted to some of our fellow campers who are really friendly, then watched TV till bedtime.
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| Park Coppice Caravan Club site Coniston |
5th July 2009
We got up quite late and had breakfast then watched TV for a while. I spoke to the woman on the pitch next door, who was in a tent and wore a bandana. I swapped a couple of books with her. Then we spent some time watching the antics of the caravanners trying to park their vans on the pitches next to us. Some of them were absolutely shocking. The campsite guy was trying to tell one particular woman how to manoeuvre but she just couldn't get it. In the end, he jumped in the car and did it for her in about two seconds. Please caravan owners, get some instruction before you set out with your caravan!
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| Kendal Campsite |
4th July 2009
Davina came with her boyfriend in the morning. He seems like a nice lad and we chatted for an hour or so and then they left. We packed up and headed for The Lake District which is our next stop.
We arrived at the Kendal Caravanning & Camping Club site and located a pitch on the far side of the camp. The pitches were not huge, but big enough for us. The showers were okay but they were a long walk away and it had started raining and the ground was very wet. We decided we’d move on in the morning and try and find a better site. We had dinner and watched TV for a while and turned in early, as we were both tired.
We arrived at the Kendal Caravanning & Camping Club site and located a pitch on the far side of the camp. The pitches were not huge, but big enough for us. The showers were okay but they were a long walk away and it had started raining and the ground was very wet. We decided we’d move on in the morning and try and find a better site. We had dinner and watched TV for a while and turned in early, as we were both tired.
3rd July 2009
We left Malvern and headed towards Northwich, taking all the minor roads and staying off the motorways. We are determined not to use motorways and toll roads but I have to say that travelling times are an awful lot longer. We went up through Kidderminster and Bridgnorth and through to Whitchurch and finally to Northwich, which took most of the day. We then located Lambs Cottage Campsite which is a non-club private site and was very nice indeed. It's only for adults, no children under 16 allowed, so was bliss after some of the campsites we’ve been on. It has individual shower cubicles so Paul and I could share one.
Davina came over and we had dinner together and chatted. It was nice to see her. I gave her the presents we’d bought her and she liked them. We also had an uninvited guest as you can see from the photo below.
We do seem to attract cats wherever we go. They must know if you are a cat person, this one wasn't interested in food, just wanted the company and a nice place to sleep ha ha!
Davina said she’d bring her boyfriend David to meet us tomorrow and left quite early.
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| Lamb's cottage private campsite Northwich |
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| Another uninvited guest! |
Davina said she’d bring her boyfriend David to meet us tomorrow and left quite early.
2nd July 2009
Another hot and sunny day we are lucky. We spent some time tidying up the van, took the carpets out and cleaned them, I cleaned the inside of the van and Paul washed the outside.
We spent the afternoon sitting in the sun, I made cards and Paul read. In the evening we invited the couple opposite to have a drink, Barry and Delia. They were really nice, funny, and we've swapped email addresses. I was meant to play MK with Lisa but I couldn't as Barry and Delia stayed most of the evening. Davina texted to say she would come and visit us tomorrow when we arrive in Northwich.
We spent the afternoon sitting in the sun, I made cards and Paul read. In the evening we invited the couple opposite to have a drink, Barry and Delia. They were really nice, funny, and we've swapped email addresses. I was meant to play MK with Lisa but I couldn't as Barry and Delia stayed most of the evening. Davina texted to say she would come and visit us tomorrow when we arrive in Northwich.
1st July 2009
We left Oxford and started to work our way up north. We were aiming for a campsite near Malvern. We now had our Internet dongle so Paul could book campsites online, and we more or less planned a week or so in advance. Although it’s now summer, the weather in the UK hasn’t been good and the sites weren’t as busy as they might have been, so we can nearly always get a pitch on the site we want.
We stopped at Tesco in Cheltenham to stock up on provisions, and then at a caravan dealers to try and get some side screens for our awning but they didn't have anything in stock. We then drove to an Argos to try and find a sun bed, but no luck.
We arrived at the Blackmore Campsite on the edge of Malvern, another Camping & Caravanning Club site. Nice large hard stand pitches, but we haven’t seen the showers yet! It's really hot today, but apparently the weather is changing for tomorrow, thunderstorms coming. Another quiet night, watched TV and had a drink with the couple in a caravan on the pitch opposite us.
We stopped at Tesco in Cheltenham to stock up on provisions, and then at a caravan dealers to try and get some side screens for our awning but they didn't have anything in stock. We then drove to an Argos to try and find a sun bed, but no luck.
We arrived at the Blackmore Campsite on the edge of Malvern, another Camping & Caravanning Club site. Nice large hard stand pitches, but we haven’t seen the showers yet! It's really hot today, but apparently the weather is changing for tomorrow, thunderstorms coming. Another quiet night, watched TV and had a drink with the couple in a caravan on the pitch opposite us.
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| Blackmore Camping & Caravanning Club site Malvern |
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