Cheeky Stopover On Our Way Home

Having spent six and a half lovely days in Weymouth we weren't quite ready to go home so we stopped off at the Caravan Club site in Morn Hill on the way back just for one night.  We had been there before for one night without the kids but we wanted to see how the kids enjoyed it as this site has no playground and not much to do but the large open grassy areas and the peacefulness of the site has a certain appeal (we think).

The facilities are excellent and kept very clean and we found out that a fish and chip van comes every Friday (just a shame our visit this time fell on a Thursday!)

We were given a choice of three or four pitches as we were the first of the "one-nighters" to arrive and so we chose one right outside the reception/shop and made sure we were facing the right way to try and catch any sunshine that we could and fortunately it did come out for a little while!

We had a lovely BBQ for late lunch while the dogs did some sunbathing.

For dessert we treated the kids to some yummy New Forest ice creams that they sell in the shop onsite.

It wasn't an action packed stay at this sight but we find all the pitches to be nice and spacious and despite being near to a main road it is not as noisy as you would expect.

The kids enjoyed playing some games both inside the Cali and outside and the ice creams went down well.  When asked if they would like to go back to this site there was a resounding yes and I'm sure it won't be long before we are back.

Weekend in Bognor

Suitably impressed with the Caravan Club site we visited at Morn Hill, we wanted to try another one of their club sites and so we opted for the Bognor Regis site called Rowan Park.  

The campsite was lovely and very clean with nice facilities.  We booked a hardstanding pitch and once again we were able to choose between a few options available.  I much prefer being able to choose our own pitch, I find it frustrating that the Camping and Caravanning Club Sites don't allow this.

We didn't want to put all of the awning sides up but we needed some shelter as the weather forecast wasn't looking great so we went for this option:

It worked out very nicely and gave us just the right amount of shelter and storage area but it was still quite nice and light inside the van, where we unfortunately had to spend most of the weekend due to the weather.

We did venture into Bognor though for a bit of seaside walking - we went quite early on a Saturday morning and had the place to ourselves.  It was lovely and certainly exercised the dogs nicely!  To walk into the centre of Bognor from the campsite takes about half an hour and there is plenty to do there.  If only the weather had been nicer!

There is a retail park just opposite the entrance to the campsite with a Lidl, Home Bargains, McDonalds etc so food and supplies are never too far away.  We did find it quite noisy at night though with lots of 'boy racers' on the main road outside the campsite.

The people were all very nice and friendly on the campsite and we met lots of other dogs too.  We made good use of our new wi-fi gadget by watching the rugby and having a few beers in the van.

We would love to come back to this site in nicer weather so we could see a bit more of Bognor but we had a nice relaxing weekend so all was not lost.

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