Fun on the Cornish Coast

Hols, Mark, Sam and the dogs started the journey a little earlier than us but we all managed to find each other in the pub right next to the campsite where we had a few beers and ate some monster munch. Hols had found a very conveniently located campsite in Poole – Beacon Hill Touring Park that was quiet and had charming little pitches hidden in the woods. Unfortunately it’s far from charming guests weren’t too pleased the next morning to find the dogs off leads, barking at The Hornet and jumping in the pond. We didn’t stay long. 

Off to Cornwall we went. An unfortunate spillage of red wine in Waky required a good clean up job in Corinne’s garden rather than the jaunt to Mark’s grandparents. So we left the others to it and amused ourselves after the cleanup with pints in the sunshine and a quick stint at the owl sanctuary! Owlly was very excited.

That night Thai was on the menu. Corinne found us a great place to eat in Truro where we joined up with her sister. I drove us home via a huge supersomething where we picked up wine and Crabbies and lots of chocolates. Unfortunately Timbo wasn’t very well but an early retirement to Waky did the trick.

The next morning we pottered around Corinne’s beautiful cottage before heading out to sample breakfast at a beach hut where Mark used to work. 

An exquisite veggie breakfast gave us the energy to surf sinkholes, jump rock pools, and once again tease the muts with The Hornet. After some dozing with Corona in the sunshine we headed to one of Mark’s old locals which had a bouncy castle in the car park and Mark even got recognised by a few old faces.

And this was where we departed. The others decided to hold on for another day or so, but we needed to head back for work the next day. We tried so hard to find a place to eat with some evening sunshine on the A303 and then as luck would have it, we found our very own American diner in the heart of Devon that had just about everything you could imagine on the menu and came complete with milkshakes, stacks of onion rings, iconic American wall hangings and amazingly sticky ribs! How we can’t wait to head that way again.

New Forest Autumn camping party

We had arranged to meet Sam & JC at Hurst view campsite after work on the Friday. A rainy start had us all huddled up together in Waky, making use of max seating arrangements with 2 on the backseat, 2 on the buddy bench and the table full up with the delights of wine, dairy milk goodies and after a while, some of the more desirable spirits. This was our first time altogether in Waky!

In the morning we cycled to Lymington along the sea wall, where we climbed around in the viewing dens and made friends with local wildlife before finding a pub that served scampi! In order to make full use of all available sun, we picked a table at the front and drank beer in the sunshine.













On the way back to camp we cycled via Waitrose where we bought a gift for each other and treats for the night’s dinner. Unfortunately I drunkenly mistook the barrel of King Edwards potatoes for sweet potatoes which did fox me and JC a little later that night, when our potatoes were taking just as long to cook as the others and never changed from white!



Being autumn we had to try our hand at finding a few mushrooms before we left, and on the way back to Lyndhurst we got lucky with some very nice looking pradjeviks which we sneaked into Waky and back home.

Rainy East Grinstead

We really wanted to get away in Waky for the weekend but with a forecast of rain all Saturday, the idea of sitting in a field unable to make a fire or play outside didn’t really appeal. But then we found a campsite that claimed it was within walking distance of a pub that guess what? Had a pool table! Hooray. Problem solved. We could play pool for the afternoon and then head back to Waky to make dinner in the evening.

However, by the time we actually got to the campsite, the skies were starting to clear and bit of blue could be seen through the cloud. We thought we might be able to make a fire at this rate. The campsite was in East Grinstead and was simply a field with a view. The facilities were fine though and you could buy eggs from the farm across the road. It was simple but had all we needed. There were quite a few other camps of people already set up, and we looked for our perfect spot. This took us a while and I think we did a circuit of the field about 3 times before settling on the spot we first chose, pretty much in the middle of the field. 

We then realised if we were going to stay put and chance the fire, we needed to stock up on beer. So we did a quick trip back to the petrol station to buy beer and fuel for the campfire including an ‘i’ paper which itself fuelled conversations around politics and other world goings on but which then became more centred around how great it would be to one day run a campsite together – and that’s where the dream was born!

Oh, and we made friends with a bug!

The next day, after a leisurely breakfast we headed up the road to a camping shop where we searched, to no avail, for fun plates but we did walk away with a brand new foldaway table – a great new Waky essential!

From Glasto to Cheddar

Glastonbury had been so much fun last time that we decided to head there for a summer adventure. This time, we attempted things in reverse and tackled the Tor before anything else. And tackle was the right word as it was hard to not be totally stormed on from a summer system that was in full swing by the time we started the climb. In fact, the rain was so torrential that we had to take cover with a bunch of people under the some trees at one point. It made for some cool skies though.





On arrival at our faithful campsite we were a little saddened to find out that we weren’t allowed to use our fire pit. That meant no jacket potatoes! And even worse, no lovely warming fire to jibber around as it grew dark. We didn’t really know what to do. We had already paid for our pitch for 2 nights. Disappointment stopped us from settling in or popping the roof and as we sat there in the early evening sunshine we decided we had to make an alternative plan. So we got on the case of trying to find another campsite that might be free during peak season and got lucky with Petruth Paddocks.

Petruth Paddocks is an awesome campsite with such a fun festival feel. There was a wedding being held there but there was still plenty of space. The owner, who appeared to be in fancy dress, but I think they were actually just his normal clothes, turned up on a mini tractor as we arrived, pulling a trailer full of firepits and beer that he had been delivering to some of the guests. He commented on how wonderful Waky was and welcomed us to his campsite. He was obviously very proud of their set up (originally started by his wife’s parents, Peter & Ruth) and so he should have been. The facilities were great, location was great and the view of the Mendips (with or without clouds) was awesome. We had a really fun evening and for the first night since we had Waky, managed to sit outside most of the evening with the firepit, making use of our camping chairs, cooking jacket potatoes and drinking beer. Such a good place to be.









In the morning, we woke a bit too late to make use of the Sunday market a short walk away, but we made a scrummy breakfast and did have time to take the scenic route back home through the incredible backdrop of Cheddar Gorge. It would be great to head down that way again and explore more. We also stopped at a town called Wells where we charity shopped for a few more fun Waky treasures.



At one point, we stopped in a pub where time appeared to be moving forward and backwards simultaneously. But due to this confusing sense of timescale, I can’t remember exactly when it was!

Easter eggs and donkeys on the Isle of Wight

Easter time usually involves a trip over to The Island, where Dad lives, but this time around we thought the 6 of us could road trip it – both of us, Hols & Mark, Baz & Dex. Waky even managed to find a friend on our way to the ferry.





After a scenic, yet slightly argumentative drive across the island (courtesy of said passengers) we arrived in Shanklin on the south cost of the Island. The problem of the forgotten daffodils had been solved by a quick drive by pick on route. We introduced Waky to the rest of the family and some other island dwellers who, according to Dad, couldn’t wait to check him out, but which amounted to more of a vague look in his general direction whilst telling us about their cars.



After a feast of Easter delights, egg fights and copious amounts of head-smashed chocolate, we retired to Waky for the night, who had been chilling on the driveway, having spent most of the evening looking out to sea, probably praying for a northerly wind so as not to get covered in sea salty air.

Dad woke us in the morning with a cuppa and after more food we headed off to visit Scott & Oliver, Dad & Eve’s adopted donkeys from the Sanctuary. The donkeys were so cute and all wanted to make friends but Dexie was far from impressed. After the sanctuary, it was time to cross the water and head back to Godalming, armed with enough chocolate to last until next Easter!

Bedgebury Forest

I so wasn’t looking forward to the day we went to Bedgebury. But that’s because the day wasn’t meant to pan out like this. What had been on the cards was a nasty trip to the hospital in the morning for some not very nice treatment followed by a day working at Allianz. I rolled over in bed, turned to face Tim and so wished the day didn’t have to start. Recognising this Tim suggested an alternative plan where he and Waky take me to the hospital, wait for me outside and then rather than going to work, sack work off and go on an adventure together for the day. This plan was so much better!

We packed a few things and headed off. We wanted to find some big trees. Whilst I dealt with the hospital drama, Tim looked up potential places for us to go and once all the horrid stuff was over, we headed to a forest in Kent called Bedgebury, famed for its amazing gardens and age old trees.

On arrival we made friends with another pair of campers who had converted a taxi into a little motor home. They were really friendly and took great pride in showing us how they’d created their conversion. We chilled in the car park for a while, ate some haribo and sorted out our cameras.

We started in the visitor centre sharing a huge chocolate muffin and made friends with some ducks before heading into the park where we walked for a couple of hours, found some enormous trees, friendly wildlife, some really fun paths though loads of different species of plants and spotted some great tracks that would be awesome fun on the bikes at another time.











When we got back to Waky we found a note from the other campervan people and a book they’d left on cool places to camp around the UK. It was so sweet of them. And if we thought things couldn’t get any better, we then found a pub that sold scampi!

We spent the night in Arundel, having found a campsite near an old pub and dock yard. We grabbed a few pints in the pub before retiring to Waky for a statutory baked bean dinner. The next morning, we explored our surroundings a little more, the old dock yard and even managed to make some horse friends. Thanks to Waky and Timbo for turning one of my potentially worst days into one of my best.

Glastonbury Revisited

With a 3 month warranty to make use of, the more we could take Waky out and test out all his mechanical parts, the better, so off to Glastonbury we went!

We decided to stay at the Isle of Avalon campsite, somewhere we had camped together before I went to university 4 years previous. However, back then we only had a tent and it was so cold that we woke up to frost on our roof and all around us. This time we had the comfort of Waky, and a heater!

The place hadn’t changed and was still run by the same slightly crotchety woman, although it’s since transpired she does have a nice side, it just depends on your luck on the day. We found a pitch in between the residing caravans, some that housed permanent Glastonian residents and others which seemed to be for occasional use only. Waky was definitely noticed and we drove round to our pitch with smiles and waves from all the folks that saw him.





On the Saturday we went to the town of Street and bought Waky gifts of a fun bin in the same design as Lemon Jelly’s KY album, some stumpy wine glasses, a cushion and numerous other trinkets that we’d thought of over a beer at The Bear Inn.



Another reason to visit Glastonbury at this time is to chance a sight of the starling murmuration at Ham Wall. And lucky we were. At dusk literally thousands of starlings flocked to the area. We wandered along the canal and took some photos before finding a local pub where we checked out our photos over a beer and some snacks.







When back at the campsite we made use of all the fun stuff we’d bought that day in Street and made more beans for dinner. That night, I remember walking back from the loos thinking how great Waky looked all lit up with fairy lights twinkling in the cab and his roof glowing purest green in the dark. We retired reviewing the RMetS photo competition entries, which after a while descended to ‘fireplace face’, an awesome game, invented in the moment which is as simple as Google imaging the word ‘fireplace’ and then racing to point out the funniest face you can see whilst shouting ‘face’!





The next day we did as you do in Glastonbury and climbed the Tor, bought a crystal and headed to The Blue Note Cafe where we treated ourselves to falafel platters with wedges and beans. A nostalgic weekend away for us and Waky’s first taste of Glastonbury magic.