Smart Air Smug

Outwell, I salute you, your smart air tents are simply amazing.  We arrived at Ashurst Campsite (http://www.campingintheforest.co.uk/england/new-forest/ashurst-campsite) in the torrential rain but, thanks to the smart air technology, we were pitched up, unpacked and drying off with a cold beer within 2 hours of arriving.  

It wasn't long before it dawned on us that we didn't have anything to cook under in the rain (error) so we set off across the field to the nearby pub for some comfort food and few glasses of vino.

We woke the next morning to the feeling of warm sunshine, the sound of the birds chirping and, more importantly, NO RAIN.  It was time to get up and start the day but only after opening all of the air vents as the tent was heating up fast!  We were suitably impressed with the comfort of our double camp bed and our Outwell Contour Lux double sleeping bag. We both agreed that it was the best night's sleep we had experienced in a long time.

The shower and toilet facilities were clean with minimal queues and we were soon freshened up and dressed with the kettle boiling and the bacon sizzling away.  Unfortunately it was still rather windy and we couldn't put our windscreen up as the ground was simply too hard to be able to peg it down, so we resorted to using the small metal cooking windscreen around the hob and that seemed to do the job.   

Fully fuelled up and ready for the day we decided to do some exploring and walked around the beautiful surrounding forest.  We even spotted a pony or two.

There was a very convenient Welcome shop nearby (part of the Co-Op group) and several pubs, restaurants and take-aways all within easy walking distance.  We eventually settled in back at the tent for the afternoon and had a barbeque in the sunshine.  Time seemed to fly by and it was time to "bed in" again but not before enjoying a nice cold buffet spread in the comfort of our tent while playing cards, drinking wine and listening to the radio - bliss!

I could happily spend a week at Ashurst but they do not allow dogs and have no electric hook-ups which I imagine could deter some people.  However, I can highly recommend it for couples and families alike, the atmosphere is relaxed, peaceful and friendly.

Items we were thankful for taking with us:

• Rock pegs
• Good quality cool box
• Portable DAB radio
• Playing cards

Items we realised we needed:

• More rock pegs!
• Something to cook under in the rain
• Extra blankets (for the cold nights)

I can't wait for my next adventure.

All the gear...some idea?

A momentous day has arrived, it’s time for my first ever camping adventure. The weather, in true British fashion, is awful with the rain starting to come down thick and fast and the winds picking up. I’m quite nervous about the weather, especially after reading the weather warnings, but also very much looking forward to the experience. 

My husband, on the other hand, is quite an experienced camper so he is providing me with some comfort in the knowledge that at least somebody knows what they are doing. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately considering our love of shopping, he didn’t retain any of his previous camping equipment so that meant we had to go out and purchase everything…from scratch. 

Finding the right tent was an arduous process with lots of research on the internet trawling through various camping websites and forums and watching many, many pitching videos on YouTube. We asked for as much advice as possible from as many people as possible and ended up with this beauty:

That's right, it is the Outwell Hornet XL from the smart air polyester tent collection and it is everything we wanted in a tent: spacious, practical, easy to put up and pack away and good quality.  We have a groundsheet and a carpet for it as well as all the other accessories we are going to need to make our camping experiences enjoyable and unforgettable.

We stumbled across a fantastic shop to purchase the tent and many of our accessories from called The Family Tent Shop http://www.thefamilytentshop.com/ they have showrooms in Guildford and Shepperton. We went to their Guildford showroom and found them to be extremely helpful , knowledgeable and quite reasonable.

So far I have only experienced the tent in our back garden and I fell in love with it so I can't wait to experience it on the camp site this weekend...