Weeknight Unplanned Getaway

Sometimes things don't quite go to plan and so when I couldn't drive my car home from work one night  (while waiting for a new tyre) my husband came up with the best idea, he suggested we book a pitch at a nearby campsite and he would come up with the van, collect me from work and off we would go.

He arrived to collect me after work and we went off to Chertsey (again) for the night.  The dogs were already in the van and we were really excited to be having a sort of midweek adventure/holiday.

The great thing about staying at Chertsey is the facilities and pitches.  The campsite itself is not a particularly muddy one and it was quite strange to see it so quiet.  We happened to be staying there on that weird weather day in April when the sun was shining but it was also snowing with some torrential rain showers in between.  Not ideal but with the aux heater being so good in the campervan we are never worried about being cold.

The great thing about last minute midweek camping breaks is that there is no set up required.  I don't think we even bothered to turn the front seats around.

We went to the pub with the dogs for dinner (yes, our usual favourite, The Kingfisher) and tucked ourselves in nice and early.  On our way back we noticed two other Calis at the campsite, this was the first time we had spotted another Cali on a campsite (apart from the VW Cali Club meet up of course!)

Getting up early and getting ready for work was not as strange as I thought it would be and I wasn't the only one!  I could get used to this. 

Our highlights of midweek camping:

• Sense of freedom
• No setting up or packing up
• Great excuse to go to the pub for dinner
• Quieter campsite
• More exciting week

Back to Chertsey

We hadn't been away with the kids in the Cali since Henley so we decided to keep it simple and re-visit Chertsey Camping and Caravanning Club Site.  Not too far to drive, everyone is familiar with it and if we're lucky we'll have some nice weather and get a few good walks in.

On our way to the site we stopped off at the nearby Sainsburys and purchased our food for the weekend.  It was great to have the kids with us when doing this as they can pick out the food they want to eat rather than us guessing what they might like.  Also, this is where the size of the Cali comes in quite handy - you can still get into most supermarket car parks and park quite comfortably.

When we arrived at the site there was a fish and chip / breakfast van serving food on Friday and Saturdays - this wasn't there before so must be something new for the summer season.  The kids went off to play pool or air hockey or whatever they fancied in the clubhouse while we did our usual setting up chores.  The only thing we were missing on this trip was our thermal windscreen - we had noticed a tear in it the week before and so we had to send it back to be either repaired or replaced.

The weather wasn't great on arrival and we were all pretty tired but we got our act together and marched off to The Kingfisher over the bridge for drinks and dinner.  This is probably the third time we have eaten in this pub now and the food never disappoints.  The dogs are always well behaved in there too!

We woke up at the crack of dawn due to the amount of light flooding into the van.  This was because we didn't have the thermal windscreen with us and we were instead using the internal "curtains" that come with the van.  Sometimes when you don't have something, you realise how much you rely on it.

It had rained quite a bit through the night and into the morning so we were not too sure about going on our planned walk along the towpath to Shepperton and eating sandwiches by the river but we haven't let the weather stop us yet.  We all donned our waterproof gear and set off.  The weather by some miracle cleared up during the walk and it was dry enough for us all to sit on a nice bench by the river eating our sandwiches for lunch.  Well, it was nice until a goose decided to come and investigate what we were eating.  Time to get up and move on.

We went to that nice pub we had visited on one of our previous visits called The Thames Court for a couple of pints for us and a soft drink or two for the kids.  My husband bought the kids some chips as a treat and we all enjoyed laughing and chatting for a little while.  When we spied the sun shining through the window we packed our waterproofs into my bag and walked back to the campsite in some lovely weather.

We all headed over to the clubhouse to play some pool and air hockey as a bjt of family fun. The evening turned out to be wonderful and so we got the Cadac out and started making some food for dinner.



The kids had hot dogs and then settled down to watch some TV while we started making our dinner.  



On Sunday morning we discovered the kids favourite not-so-good-for-them camping breakfast.  Pot noodles.  I'm fairly sure that they would choose them over bacon rolls.  We all laughed about it and let them enjoy them as a treat.  Thinking about it though, why didn't we have things like pot noodles in our storage cupboard in the van all the time?  They're great for when you want to go away at late notice and don't want to worry about bringing food or cooking on site.

As the weather was so much better we made the most of it and walked along the towpath to the Three Horseshoes in Laleham for a bite to eat.  This is in the opposite direction from Shepperton and also a lovely walk.  Lunch was fantastic, we brought the dogs with us and sat in the garden.  

On the way back we stopped off at Laleham Park so the kids could have a run around and then strolled off back to the campsite.

We were thinking that maybe next time we come to Chertsey, we should stay from Friday night until Monday morning so that we get to enjoy the whole of Sunday there.  Maybe next time.

Keeping Warm and Cooking Pizzas

We liked the Chertsey campsite so much that we decided to go back there but this time with the kids.  We thought they would enjoy the onsite playground, clubhouse and riverside location and we were right. The first thing they did when we arrived was rush to the playground while we were setting everything up.  We needed to learn how to fit our newly ordered bits and pieces from Comfortz Leisure onto the van so were grateful for the peace and quiet.

The first new item was a Cali topper - this goes over the top of the pop-up roof to provide an extra layer of protection from the wind and rain plus it helps to keep the heat in.  Being 5'2" I was not able to offer much help with this as you need open the roof about 30 cm and sort of throw it over the top and then arrange it so that all the corners are nicely lined up before opening the roof fully.  We found that opening the driver and passenger doors and sort of balancing on the steps made it a bit easier but it was still a bit of a mission.  It is worth the extra hassle though as it makes a huge difference, especially with protection from the rain.

The second new item was a thermal windscreen which fits around the windscreen and front windows and is held in place by the driver and passenger doors.  We felt that this would also be a big help when it came to keeping the heat in as well as keeping the light out in the morning.  We didn't find it hard to fit this on but we did learn that you can't do it before you swivel the front seats otherwise you have to take the whole thing off and start again.

The final item to fit was the awning side panels.  These zip onto the existing awning frame and have two windows and a door to let some light in and allow for easy access.  We were surprised at how easy they were to fit but we were a bit confused as to the correct way to peg it all down as there seemed to be various options.  We decided to peg it outwards so that the rainwater would flow off the sides nicely.

In less than an hour we were fully set up, ready for the weekend and really happy with our new purchases.  

This time, not only were we brave enough to cook dinner on the Cadac but we decided to try out the pizza stone.  We had bought four Pizza Express pizzas from the supermarket and decided that we were going to have pizza night at the campsite.  It was amazing, the pizzas turned out really well and we all very much enjoyed eating them!  I'm not sure that you could effectively cook a thick crust pizza using this though.

Even though the weather wasn't that great for this visit and it rained quite a lot we still managed to wake up to this beautiful sunrise on our first morning:

See what I mean about the campsite being right on the river?  

We hadn't tried the pub just across the bridge on our previous visit so we thought that this time was the perfect time to try it out as it is not far to walk when the weather is rubbish. The pub was called The Kingfisher and we spent a lovely few hours there enjoying the beautiful food, sampling the beer and wine (and the nicest sparking apple juice ever according to the kids), hiding from the rain and enjoying life.

On the way back we stopped off in the Spar at the petrol station, purchased some sweets and treats and headed back to the camper van to play Monopoly.

When it came to packing up we found the Cali topper, thermal windscreen and awning side panels really easy to take off and fold away and we were fully packed up and ready to go in less than an hour.

All-in-all we had a lovely weekend and felt really comfortable and at ease with the camper van.  We are definitely getting used to it and our new additions really did help to keep the heat in and the rain out.