One of my fondest memories of last year’s camping
expeditions was our weekend spent in Watlington at White Mark Farm http://www.whitemarkfarm.co.uk/. This was our third camp site visited in one
week (after Hill Cottage Farm and Sandford Holiday Park) so we were rapidly
running out of energy and desperately needed some rest and relaxation.
We set off with the addition of our dog (who had been on a holiday of his own!) We didn't have an electric hook-up at this
site, which wasn't a problem. We made sure to pack extra batteries for the radio and take along
our portable battery charger for our gadgets. We
were also careful to make sure that the cooler was plugged into the car to keep
our refrigerated items cold for as long as possible before we had to revert to
is more traditional use as a cool box.
We were applauding ourselves on our careful planning and
organisational skills, despite our exhaustion, and nothing was going to stand in
our way of a lovely weekend. About 45
minutes into the journey (when we were nearly there) and after trying to shake off the
feeling that I had forgotten something, I realised to my horror that I had left
a few important bags at home. I could actually see
them in my mind’s eye waiting for me just inside the front door. After the 90 minute round
trip back home to collect said forgotten items I eventually arrived at
the camp site. It was just as I had expected it to be, if not
better! The tent was already up when I arrived (my husband still thinks that I forget things on purpose to avoid putting the tent up) and after some swift unpacking we were settled
in.
The weather was absolutely glorious with a very hot weekend
forecast so we decided to go exploring.
The camp site itself was wonderful with lovely clean facilities. The washing up area had complimentary washing
up liquid and scourers which I thought was a lovely touch. Watlington itself is a lovely town with a
nice pub down the road from the camp site and an abundance of restaurants and
shops all within easy walking distance. We couldn't have asked for anything better.
We awoke the following morning to the birds chirping,
the sun shining and feeling wonderfully refreshed. There are plenty of red kites flying around
that are easily visible from the camp site and a curious white mark up on the
hill overlooking the camp site. We
enjoyed some breakfast while taking in our lovely surroundings. I remember my husband running back to the tent, after what seemed like only a few minutes away
walking the dog, with an excited look on his face. He told us all to put our hiking clothes on
as he had just found a great place for us to explore. We hurriedly got dressed and set off on our
adventure.
We climbed the hill towards
the white mark and beyond until we felt like we were on top of the world. The views were incredible and we were all
amazed at how far we could see.
When we eventually returned to the camp site it was time to
prepare for the arrival of our guests – Nana and Papa. We started to prepare a
feast for lunch. Unfortunately our cool box had not held up so well in the 30 degree heat and we had to pop out to
the local shop to replace a few things but it wasn't much of an inconvenience and
certainly didn't make the day any less enjoyable. The sunshine did become very strong so in the
absence of a parasol we had to make use of our spare awning and create a bit of
shelter.
We all talked and laughed into the afternoon and strolled over to the
local pub for a bit of exercise and a nice pint (or two) before waving goodbye to our
guests.
We were so sad to be packing up the next morning and wished
we could spend more time at White Mark Farm.
Not only was our lovely weekend coming to an end but also our week of
adventures had come to an end. Our
spirits were low as we packed everything up, the only plus side was that we had
managed to do it all before the rain came along.
Congratulating ourselves once again on our good planning and
organisation we set off towards home. It
was all going so well until I looked over at my step-daughter and realised that she wasn't wearing her glasses. A quick phone call to my husband confirmed
that my step-son was also missing his glasses. Uh-oh, we were going to have to pitch the tent up in the garden at home in the rain to find the glasses that I had obviously left
inside and hope that they weren't broken.
In one final stroke of luck, the rain stopped
for just long enough to allow us to quickly lay the tent out on the grass, climb in and retrieve the glasses (all perfectly fine inside their cases) …phew!
