Last year we visited the New Forest twice in our tent. The first time was to Ashurst and it rained a lot and the second time was to Hill Cottage Farm nr Fordingbridge and it was very cold at night. I was feeling rather anxious about my first visit to the New Forest in the campervan for Valentine's weekend. What would the weather have in store for us this time?
Well, there was rain and it was a bit chilly but the camper van is so wonderfully warm (thanks to the magical aux heater) that it didn't seem to cause us too much bother. It was an added bonus that we found a lovely campsite in Marchwood (near Southampton) called Tanglewood. It is a small site with only 6 hardstanding gravel pitches all complete with electric hook-up and picnic benches and it felt very open and airy.
We hadn't booked electric hook-up as we thought we would give it a go without and see how the batteries hold up. We soon gave in when we realised that we wouldn't be able to use our mains plug. Why on earth did it not cross our minds that the mains plug would only work if we were plugged into the mains? Feeling like a pair of idiots we approached the campsite owner who was very helpful and quickly sorted us out with an electricity card, showed us how to work the meter and after a very reasonable £3.00 later we were up and running. Now, you may think that we were being silly and should have just got on with it but when you are trying to keep your new campervan all new and shiny and have two wet dogs to worry about, the benefits of being able to plug in a hairdryer and dry them off far outweigh anything else.
The facilities at the campsite were lovely and clean and even had their own cleaning products inside with a friendly notice to request the campers to leave them as they found them. There were two unisex toilets, each of which had two showers which I thought was a good idea especially if you are camping together as a family.
There is a pub within a short walk in one direction (with a fun looking kids playground) and another pub a little bit further afield in the other direction. We really enjoyed walking around the country lanes and had a lovely pub lunch at The Pilgrim Inn (the slightly further away pub) with the dogs.
We started to relax a bit more during this visit and felt like we were learning more about how everything worked and what worked best for us but we still had a long way to go.
We had purchased a roof bungee which basically ties around the roof and ensures that it goes up and down without the worry of parts of the canvas getting stuck in the mechanism. We found that this takes the 'what if' anxiety out of the equation, especially if the weather is windy. We were still not brave enough to wind out the awning as we were worried about how it would hold up in the rainy/windy weather.
The weekend went far too quickly as they always do and, typically, the weather was lovely just as we were packing up to leave.
Things we learned from this adventure:
1. We still need to pack less stuff.
2. A hi-vis jacket/vest wouldn't go amiss for walking around country lanes.
3. The New Forest is a lovely place to visit to enjoy the peaceful and beautiful surroundings.
4. We need to stop taking buffet/picnic food with us and start cooking.
5. We need to be a bit braver with using and trying things in the van (like the awning.)
The facilities at the campsite were lovely and clean and even had their own cleaning products inside with a friendly notice to request the campers to leave them as they found them. There were two unisex toilets, each of which had two showers which I thought was a good idea especially if you are camping together as a family.
There is a pub within a short walk in one direction (with a fun looking kids playground) and another pub a little bit further afield in the other direction. We really enjoyed walking around the country lanes and had a lovely pub lunch at The Pilgrim Inn (the slightly further away pub) with the dogs.
We started to relax a bit more during this visit and felt like we were learning more about how everything worked and what worked best for us but we still had a long way to go.
We had purchased a roof bungee which basically ties around the roof and ensures that it goes up and down without the worry of parts of the canvas getting stuck in the mechanism. We found that this takes the 'what if' anxiety out of the equation, especially if the weather is windy. We were still not brave enough to wind out the awning as we were worried about how it would hold up in the rainy/windy weather.
The weekend went far too quickly as they always do and, typically, the weather was lovely just as we were packing up to leave.
Things we learned from this adventure:
1. We still need to pack less stuff.
2. A hi-vis jacket/vest wouldn't go amiss for walking around country lanes.
3. The New Forest is a lovely place to visit to enjoy the peaceful and beautiful surroundings.
4. We need to stop taking buffet/picnic food with us and start cooking.
5. We need to be a bit braver with using and trying things in the van (like the awning.)
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