Touring

Another early morning start and we were heading North. Chewing the Autoroutes up we finally arrived in Calais and booked in at Bien Assise. This is a super campsite literally on the doorstep of the Eurotunnel. We were shown to our pitch and duly swung the caravan in and made haste to set her up – now we are in the North, the sun has gone and the rain has begun! After setting up we took to our beds and made short fo the night. The following morning the weather had cleared a little so we were able to explore the site a little. Again we had: swimming pool, bar, restaurant, shop, table tennis & outdoor recreational facilities. The town of Guines is only a short walk away from the site, so we decided to venture in and see what was there. As it happens, a fair was being prepared so many roads were being closed and diverted. I also noted that the exit route I had chosen back to the tunnel was also closed! Hmm, some Google Map planning with the sat-nav was in order if we were to get to the tunnel without any unexpected diversions/delays.

Out time here was soon up and once again the Summer Holiday was at an end. Time to hitch up and make good the last leg of the journey. The tunnel from Bien Assist is only about 20 minutes away. With the new route planned in the sat-nav, we were soon on the way and arrived at the queues. Some long queues! Needless to say something wasn’t quite right as the delay put us past our scheduled train, but eventually we all got through and were put on trains accordingly. The Channel journey was again soon over and once again we were back in England. Back on the left, back on some heavily congested roads. Road works ahead, no caravan friendly places to stop for a while – miss the French system big style, but great to be back home! Bring on 2012 – France, we will be back!

• Date: 4th August 2011
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: M2
• GPS: 50.865680, 1.856597

Château de Fonrives was our second destination, in the Dordogne region of France. This was going to be an 8 hour journey, so an early start was required. Staying with the Autoroutes, the journey was straight forward, with a few stops at the Aires for refreshments and toilet breaks! We duly arrived at the campsite and were shown to our pitch. The pitches were hedge delimited with a few trees providing part shade. The pitching was a little tight, but the motor mover again made short work of this. With the caravan ready, we soon got into relaxation mode – armed with a Lafumer, the sun beckoned us to soak it up!

We were planning on using the awning, but due to the fantastic weather we decided it would save for another day. So chairs and a table it was, which to be honest is all we needed. The campsite had all the usual facilities: two swimming pools, restaurant, bar, take-away, tennis, boules, table tennis, mini-golf, football and a shop. Just a short car journey away is the small provincial town of Villereal. This provided access to a supermarket just on the outskirts, along with other shops and a market within the town itself. All absolutely beautiful and a million miles away from North East England!

Other excursions in the car took us to the town of Monpazier, another stunning picturesque town. And also Castillonnes, which wasn’t quite up to the expectations as set by Monpazier, but interesting non-the-less. The sat-nav once again routed us perfectly on all of excursions. This coupled with the brilliant French roads makes these little excursions a real pleasure rather than a bind – so different to England. Following nine days of relaxation, the time had come again to depart to our third destination, on the return leg of the journey back home. The campsite in question? Bien Assise in Calais, a mere 10 hours away!

• Date: 26th July 2011
• Nights: 9
• Pitch #: 93
• GPS: 44.657442, 0.727754

This year’s trip to France was going to be a little different in a few respects. Firstly, we were going to be towing something considerably larger than the camping trailer of last year. Our crossing this time would see us using the Channel Tunnel rather than the ferry. And last but not least, we would be touring France visiting three sites rather than just one. Thank goodness for the sat-nav!

We ventured South on the Friday evening, scheduled to catch the train at 11:20pm. The journey took us on familiar roads by now, along with rest breaks at our usual places. Before long we were on the M20 on the approach to the tunnel. Never having used the tunnel before, this was going to be a learning experience and of course all in the dark just to make it that bit more challenging!

We pulled up at the booths which successfully scanned our registration and confirmed our booking. We were then guided to a check point whereupon our gas was checked, all good so far. Next we were given our lane number and waited until our time to board was given. Unfortunately we were first in line and so had to navigate to the correct platform for the first time in the dark with nobody else to follow! The route was a little narrow in places, or it felt so at least! Not sure where exactly we were going, we quickly spotted a green arrow pointing down towards one of the platforms, the rest were on red, so we took it be the platform for us. Down we went and arrived at the train. Headlights off, we boarded the train. Plenty of room to get on to my relief and we were soon snuggled up inside our carriage with our handbrake on and first gear engaged. The train duly began its journey and before we knew it, we were in France. Well, okay, 35 minutes later after a couple of sandwiches and a drink! Departing the train was just as simple, leading straight onto the A26, where our tour would begin! From now on it’s the tunnel every time for us, much better than the ferry.

The first leg of our tour was des 4 vents near Paris. This would only be a three to four hour drive, so after making suitable progress we decided to pull into an air and rest until the morning. The remainder of the journey to 4 Vents was fairly straight forward. I had made sure the route taken kept us on the outskirts of Paris, so as to avoid those busy French drivers! The final approach to 4 Vents was straight forward enough and early doors on the Saturday, we had arrived at our first French campsite with our caravan.

The site looked very nice, with the shop and dining facilities at the entrance with lots of spacious pitches separated by hedges. Not too many trees about so the site had a nice open feel about it. We were shown to our pitch by a young lady on a bike and soon had the caravan where we wanted and the set-up began. Conveniently there was a water tap just beside us by the electric bollard. We soon had everything connected and set about looking around the site. The wash block was next to the open air swimming pool, accompanied by the games room. All very nice and welcoming, especially in this heat!

Our main reason for coming to 4 Vents was to use it as a base for visiting Paris. The campsite was not far from Tournan-en-Brie where there was a train station, so we could catch a train directly into Paris. This we did in the early afternoon and soon we were on the train heading into Paris. The trains are very comfortable, with double decks. It was a great way to see some of the surrounding area, before we went underground to the main stations in Paris. We exited at Haussmann-St-Lazare where we were greeted by some wonderful architecture. Not knowing where we were going, we set off and explored the area in the general direction of the shops, eventually heading towards the Eiffel Tower. There were some fantastic sites to see along the way, the walks by the river were truly beautiful, along with many parks, cafes and fun fair amusements. We duly arrived at the tower and were quite amused by the size of the queues of people waiting to go up into the tower. Not wanting to spend all of today queuing, we decided that we would ‘do the tower’ tomorrow and use the rest of today for generally looking around and absorbing everything that Paris has to offer. This we did and then made our way back to the campsite via return train journey. We made use of the local ATAC supermarket in Tournan, on Rue de la Liberation, in order to stock up on supplies on the way back to the site in the car. That evening we made use of the take-away at the campsite and soon fell into the first night of our own tour de France!

Unbeknown to us, our second journey into Paris the next day actually saw is in the centre of the actual end leg of the Tour de France. The streets were lined with supporters, carnival displays and trucks paraded up and down the street with their horns blaring. In order to actually cross the street we had to use a metro station! We finally made it back to the tower and the wait began! I decided to hang around whilst the tower trip took place, not being one for heights! It was amusing to casually sit around and watch the street traders dotting about, laying their goods on the floor, setting the small ornament towers up, only to be up heaved a few minutes later by the presence of the police! It was also amusing watching people of all nationalities taking their humorous photographs of poses with the tower, relying on perspective to play tricks with the outcome. A trip to the Disney store saw the purchase of a Lilo & Stitch mug! All the famous fashion labels have a presence here in Paris, keeping many a teenage girl in dream land!

We were going to take in the sites of the Notre Dam Cathedral and the Arc de Triumph, but some train line closures put pay to that. We did manage to start using the metro system after finally fathoming it out. So after many metro and train rides, we decided to say farewell to Paris, as we headed back to the site where our final day we would spend relaxing, before we began the second leg of the tour.

• Date: 23rd July 2011
• Nights: 3
• Pitch #: Unknown
• GPS: 48.751715, 2.896084

Lower bed locker door, no joy, apparently other parts have to be ordered.

Front chest lower drawer, wrong part has been sent by Lunar? Will need to re-order and fit at another time.

Not a very successful service, let’s see what awaits us in the next instalment.

The very popular Rowntree Park Caravan Club Site in York was our agenda for this trip. It is sited right in the centre of York, so you can literally walk from the site into the town centre along the river Ouse within a matter of minutes. So Sat Nav programmed and we were off! Well nearly, the suggested route to the site takes you around the ring road and up the A19, which is fine for a Southern approach, but seems a bit of a detour approaching from the North. I decided therefore to take the A59 directly into York from the A1. We have a new piece of equipment with us this time, namely the Waeco TropiCool TC21FL fridge. Perfect for keeping those food essentials cool whilst doing the towing. It’s main use will be when we tour France later this year, but it’s still very handy for the shorter UK journeys.

So with caravan in tow we headed South. The A59 approach worked out absolutely fine and before we knew it, we were on the final approach down Clementhorpe where we greeted by parked cars and an apposing skip. Needless to say it was a tight fit to get through, a very tight fit! After inching our way through we were finally greeted by Terry Avenue along the banks of the Ouse and swiftly turned into Rowntree Park. As we had made good time and left quite early, we arrived before noon, where the site’s strict policy of ‘no arrivals before noon’ was soon enforced. After a quick lap of the site we were faced with the prospect of hanging around somewhere to kill the extra hour. Now York is not blessed with an abundance of space, finding somewhere to turn around would be quite a challenge. A wrong turn could quickly have you travelling down some very narrow streets. So we decided that we would head back on the A59 for a while and find an appropriate space to let time pass where we could also turn around easily enough. This was duly found by way of a garden centre just on the outskirts of York itself.

Returning to the site (after noon) we were welcomed by the friendly owners and given the option of pitching on the main site (Parkside) or Riverside, which is a smaller separate section of the site accessed just before the main entrance. We chose to pitch in the more secluded Riverside section, namely pitch 101. Pitch size was adequate, not the biggest but good enough for our short visit. The toilet block is located back on the main site and is accessed via keys rather than keypad. Again perfectly fine, no complaints there. Water and waste management was located just by the entrance, so that was very convenient for us. With the caravan set, it was time to explore York!

Our next outing was scheduled to quench our thirst for West End musicals. Now that we had our caravan, we could camp near London and take in the shows and sights at leisure without being strapped for time as we often were with the usual excursions!

So a quick trawl through campsites in or near London and I soon found a site which seemed to be highly recommended for what we wanted. Our criteria is simple, a good quality site with good transport access into the centre of London. Abbey Wood Caravan Site ticked all the boxes, so Sat Nav programmed and we were off.

As our caravan is in storage with no real opportunity to bring it home, our fridge can’t be charged ready for the journey. We’ve started to realise this is a bit of a drawback as we packed the food supplies, so on the agenda next is to purchase some form of cooler box which we can put in the car to keep the goods chilled until we pitch where the fridge can run on full from the EHU.

It was an early start as the journey time was going to be around 6 hours and we wanted to hit the site between 12 and 1pm. The journey itself was simple and fairly quiet with it being a bank holiday Monday. On the M11 a toilet break was ordered, so the eyes were peeled for the next service station. Luckily this was Birchanger Green which is a large Welcome Break services. As we pulled in I was pleased to see a sign for caravans pointing me in the correct direction. This we duly followed and then as if by magic, no more further signs! As we passed the coach park we pulled in there thinking this could be the place for us. But just as we were ready to stop we caught sign of another caravan sign. Hooray, out we went basically heading for the exit where upon we came across the dedicated caravan bays. Very nice, shame it just wasn’t signed better. We were making good time so we decided to stay for a while, whilst we tried to eat a few melted chocolate sweets washed down with warm pop. Thoughts turn to the cooler …

M25, not too busy, bustling with road works however, but all perfectly manageable. Over the bridge and time to cough up. I was expecting to pay more with us towing a caravan, but no we got through with just a car charge. Now it was time for the Sat Nav to earn its keep! I had keyed in the route I wanted to take to the site, so now it was just a case of following the instructions the Garmin lady served at every junction. I have to say that if feels as though you are in the centre of London itself and you start to doubt that you are in the correct place. But sure enough, one left turn off a typical residential street and we were presented with Abbey Wood Caravan Site.

First impressions were good. A very well presented and maintained site. We reported in and were greeted by two very friendly owners who gave us a map of the site and told us to find a pitch and report back when we had done so. As there are a couple of options as you drive around the one way system, we were informed as to the best places for the sun and not to worry if we went around a few times. Apparently the

leader in this event holds a healthy score of 5 laps!

We circled the site once and then decided the inner circle was for us. So we headed for that and found our plot, number 9. A quick unhitch, a quick deployment of the Mammut and we were pitched, ready to relax and take in London. Oh yes, things are getting easier, experience is starting to show as I confidently took on the water management duties, with a single hand no less this time!

We were blessed with good weather and so began with a walk into Abbey Wood  in order to find somewhere to eat. Low and behold right before us as we entered Abbey Wood was the Abbey Wood Café. A great café with a good selection of meals to chose from with friendly staff. Food was great and we were soon no longer hungry. We returned to the caravan for the night. One thing that we did differently this trip was to not make the front bed up, but leave it as two singles and use a sleeping bag as a cover. This actually worked quite well as the Alde heating ensured we were plenty warm enough. For time constrained holidays we might continue doing this. Of course for longer holidays and indeed in France we would make the bed and probably leave it, as we’ll have awning space as well. It’s all interesting, just got to find the way that ‘works’ for us best I suppose.

The next day we were heading into London to see a show, so we set off in the morning and headed for the train station in Abbey Wood. We were greeted by a very bubbly character who duly sorted our tickets out coupled with some friendly banter, we also were pleased to discover that being off-peak we were due some discount! And before we knew it, we were riding the South Eastern on our way to Charing Cross (If you’re not from the area, that’s ‘Charring’ as in ‘Char’ from ‘Charity’ and ‘ing’ as in, well just ‘ing’, sorted).

Following a brief walk around Trafalgar Square we headed for Leicester Square, firstly to eat and then to the TKTS booth to decide upon which musical would be our first this afternoon. With some good seats and tickets at half price, it was off to Her Majesty’s Theatre for a viewing of Phantom of the Opera, brilliant! The weather was extremely good, so upon return to the caravan, we sat outside and soaked up some of the sunshine. The site has some regulars who are not of the white box on wheels variety, namely squirrels and foxes. We saw them in abundance, especially the squirrels who seemed undaunted by the presence of us humans with their contraptions. Reception very kindly warned us no to leave anything outside of the van, especially at night, as our furry friends here were well known for taking such things!

Toilet blocks are immaculate, as is the rest of the site. There is a useful information room next to the reception. Pitches are well spaced and well maintained. I have to say that out of all the sites we have stayed at so far (3 and counting!) this is our favourite. Maybe the CC sites are for us? Well we’ve got a few more booked so we’ll soon see!

Wednesday was claimed as a shopping day by the daughter! So we headed for Oxford Street and pounded the streets. Underestimating just how long this street is we were soon eager to find a café, plenty about so no problems there. Thursday we were off to see Shrek the Musical. Again an easy walk from Charing Cross, we soon found ourselves at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane following a walk around Buckingham Palace and back along the Thames. Amanda Holden wasn’t performing this particular week, but non-the-less the show was very good and the lady playing Fiona was superb. Back at the caravan and before we knew it, it was the last night of the holiday yet again!

Friday morning and the pack up began. I’d made a check list for preparing the caravan for journey and storage, this was proving a useful tool as it made the whole procedure stress free and would eliminate that one time when I would no doubt forgot to do something, causing damage, causing stress and further outlay of money I’m sure. Hitched up, we were ready to tackle the motorways yet again.

The return journey was fairly plain sailing bar the toilet stop request which beckoned early whilst on the A1. Peterborough looked a likely target, but this place was no where near as big as Birchanger Green. The caravans were sign posted to the same section as all of the other cars. There looked to be only a few caravan spaces, but all were taken and the car park was swarming with cars like bees on a busy day. It soon became clear that we weren’t going to get parked up here, so I made for the exit, which included negotiating some tight turns whilst patiently avoiding the cars which wouldn’t give you an inch to budge in their bullish determination to reach their destination. Boy was I relieved to get out of their unscathed! With a firm voice I declared the next stop would be in Ferry Bridge, just a l-i-t-t-le further up the motorway! Knowing that the A1 was pretty much all non-motorway from here until then, I didn’t want to risk another exposure to a service area unsuitable for the towing fraternity. I was starting to think now about the benefits of having the caravan toilet charged and ready to go. We could pull into any lay-by to use it and not have to fight our way around the useless caravan unfriendly services we have in the UK. It is said that fluids shouldn’t be stored whilst in transit, but surely only a little fluid is required for one or two uses and that may not be too detrimental to the towing stability, especially with ATC and a stabiliser. More research into this topic is required!

Back at storage we duly unhitched and before I could put the tow ball cover on, our caravan was pulled back into its bay single handled by the storage owner. To say he makes it look easy is an understatement. I’m still hanging on to the front whilst he pulls it back normally. I need to let it go, I know – it’s just difficult, after all it is our brand new baby!

• Date: 30th May 2011
• Nights: 4
• Pitch #: 9
• GPS: 51.485615, 0.120038

Following much deliberation over which awning to purchase, we have finally purchased our desired awning, namely the ‘Bradcot Olympian’.

We chose this awning for the following reasons:

• We wanted a full awning
• Versatile window arrangements
• Fibre Poles
• Colour

We will only be using the awning mainly on longer holidays, so therefore we don’t mind the slightly longer set-up time. Being of the full type, no window problems occur with down poles. Visitors can also use it to stay with us. So weighing the criteria up, we decided that this would be the best option. We looked at the Isabel awnings, as they are the Rolls Royce, but decided that they weren’t quite right for us, namely on colour/looks and also on the cost, for what we were going to use it for.

As previously mentioned, the only fault we could initially find with our Lunar Clubman ES was the nearside bed locker, which wasn’t closing properly. This had duly been noted by Catterick Caravans and a new locker door ordered. I was notified when this arrived and we agreed on a mutually agreeable time to take the caravan in to have this repair carried out. As it was near the time of our Fallowfield Dene trip, I decided to book it in on our return journey.

We arrived at Catterick Caravans around 12:30pm and booked ourselves in. We were told the procedure of where to leave the caravan and told that we would be notified as soon as it was ready. We also notified them of a couple of other faults which we had discovered during out last outing, namely the side dinette table, which was working slightly loose from the wall and also the lower drawer of the front chest which had some minor scuff marks.

We decided to take this opportunity to take a spot of lunch at their cafe, which has a good range of meals at reasonable cost. This we did, followed by a walk around their accessory store, where we picked up a couple of things, as you do! We were then notified that the caravan was ready but that the bed locker hadn’t been fixed as it required another part, along with the need to order a new drawer for the front chest. So we will need to return again once the parts are available, well hopefully we can tie that in with another outing!

Hopefully this post will not be ongoing! We have been very happy with the caravan so far, the faults are only superficial, yes they shouldn’t be there in the first place, but as long as they are sorted quickly and efficiently we can live with it. Catterick Caravans have provided a first class service so far, so I hope to report the same in the future with closure to this.

Our second outing in the caravan and we’re off to Fallowfield Dene Caravan and Camping Park in Hexham, Northumberland. With it being Easter, a lot of the sites were already fully booked, but we managed to get a pitch on this site luckily. It’s set near the village of Acomb which is a 5 minute drive away from Hexham, just off the A69.

The day began with the collection of our caravan from storage. Now with it being Easter, it was the big get-away! We had to be quick, efficient and professional in getting the van out, hitching up and getting out of there! The staff are always on hand to give you a hand and with a quick push from the back, the site owner had pulled the caravan out and brought it to the car, before I had even managed to remove the tow bar cover! It seems to me that manoeuvring a caravan on solid ground isn’t too bad. Previously, I thought that to move the caravan it was car or mover, but it seems there is a third option! Hitched-up, green markers showing on hitch and stabiliser, ATC glowing green, we were ready to depart and hit the roads again!

Armed with the Sat Nav, I selected the pre-programmed route to take us to Fallowfield. This I duly followed, along the A69 and then through the village of Acomb, until we were on the final approach to the site itself and what a final approach it is! The site is set back off the main country road by way of a single track lane. Needless to say, second time out with a 24ft caravan and you’re faced with a single track lane, prayers began that we would not meet an oncoming outfit! There are two ‘passing places’ along the track, but that didn’t seem enough somehow. Just as we made it to the end, thinking we were home safe and dry, we were faced with a little wooden bridge following by a sharp left turn into the site. Would this bridge take the caravan, it doesn’t look wide enough? Silence fell in the car as I edged very slowly across the bridge. Furious mirror checking later, we started to breath again as we cleared the bridge. Following by a wide swing to take the corner and finally, we had made it to the site. I knew we’d have to face some tight manoeuvring at some stage, but please, on our second outing?

Entry is via an electronic barrier. So we reported into reception and picked up our barrier card. The site is divided up into sections denoted by Roman names. Three of these sections are used for touring whilst the remaining six are for static tourer use. We were assigned to plot 47 in ‘Caesar’. The site is enclosed by trees pretty much everywhere, so the one way road through the site is again tight in quite a few places. Our pitch was right next to the toilet block and was not the easiest of pitches to get onto. Opposite us was an open field containing most of the pitches for Caesar, but no, we had a shaded pitch in a tight corner! You win some, you lose some I guess. Having ruled out reversing because of the tight nature of the bend and coupled with the fact that there was a seating area right in front of our pitch, I decided rather swiftly that this was a job for the Mammut!

We pulled up at the corner of the bend and unhitched the caravan. Remote in hand I proceeded to pair it with the mover. This I had a little trouble with on the previous outing. The procedure goes that you switch on the remote, wait for self diagnostics and then proceed to pair the remote by holding down the drive engage buttons whilst holding it over the magnetic switch on the A-frame. This I did a few times but it seemed to take quite a while before I got them to pair up? Following a more systematic approach, I finally discovered the ‘knack’ to pairing them up. It seems you have to press the drive engage buttons away from the magnetic switch, then whilst still holding them down place the top lower surface of the remote directly on the magnetic switch, hold it there for a couple of seconds and hey presto, they pair up and the mover begins to engage. As an 80’s child, I am very much used to joystick control, what with Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Atari CX-2600 console and my beloved Commodore 64. But, I never thought that one day I’d be using a joystick to control a 1.5 tonne white box on wheels! I have to say this mover is brilliant, I may have already said that in a previous post but there you go, it is! I had parked the caravan up with ease. With no mover fitted, it would have been a very difficult reversing manoeuvre. Without reversing, it would have been a difficult push into place on the gravel surface. We’re on holiday to enjoy it, and the Mammut is welcome every time!

Time to set the caravan up. Levelling first, we’re pretty much level side to side, but we’re on a slope towards the back. I dropped the jockey wheel as much as I could which got us nearly there, but we were still inclined a little, we could live with it though! Steadies down, EHU mains connected, gas switched on, heating fired up, water management sorted, time to relax with a nice cup of tea. Alcoholic beverages will have to wait, as I still need to work the first few days, the joys of being self-employed!

Further acquisitions for the caravan this time saw the inclusion of a new television and a Playstation One! We didn’t want to lug the TV from the bedroom every time we were away, so we decided to purchase a TV dedicated for the caravan. There are two ways you can go with this, you can either purchase a dedicated caravan TV with 12v connection, wide viewing angles, easy set-up and high price tag or pick up a supermarket TV. We decided to go with the latter and pick up a 22″ Technika with integrated DVD player from Tesco’s. It doesn’t have a 12v connection, but we’ll be on EHU pitches most of trhe time and if on the odd occasion we weren’t, we can live without it or use an inverter. Viewing angles are fine, set-up is really easy and at half the price of a dedicated caravan TV, it was a no brainer really. What’s with the Playstation One? We have one at home and we love playing some of the older classics. And as you can pick these consoles up from eBay from as little as £4, along with games from 99p, it will make a great addition to the caravan when it comes to entertainment on a rainy day!

Time for a little background music, so on goes the radio. Well at least I pushed the on button, but no power? It was working fine on our last trip to Doe Park, but now suddenly no power? The electrics are hooked up, 230v is switched on, therefore we have a wiring problem or a fuse issue. Wiring I can’t check as the radio is very much integrated into the furnishings of the caravan. The fuse I can however. This was easily located and checked with the multimeter, fuse was fine. Back in it goes, scratching head, tried radio again and voilà, it sprang into life. Conclusion, the fuse wasn’t fully seated and had worked loose. Time to check the other fuses, sure enough a few near the bottom weren’t fully seated either, so all fuses were given a firm push to ensure no more quirky power failings!

After we were settled and relaxing, I thought it was time to trial the AL-KO wheel lock. I had already thought ahead on this one and positioned the caravan so that the receiver was mid-way between the wheel apertures, thanks Mammut again! It’s then just a case of bolting the insert to the wheel and then inserting the lock, job done. Very simple to do and provides another inconvenient hurdle to anyone who has eyes for your ‘van!

Time to explore the site. As was mentioned earlier, our pitch was right next to the toilet/wash block, which is kept to a high standard I’m pleased to say. No queuing for the showers, even on this busy bank holiday weekend. Dish washing and laundry facilities are provided at the rear of the block. Water point, grey water disposal and chemical disposal point  are all provided in one convenient area just by the toilet block, along with bins. Reception doubles as a shop and stocks the usual essentials, along with good information on the surrounding area. Staff are very friendly and pleasant. The site is geared towards static tourers, as they dominate the majority of pitches. Of the three touring pitches, one also accommodates tents, although there were only a couple there during our stay. Trees are everywhere and can block a lot of the sunshine out, it also creates an enclosed feel to the site. There is no park for children and no ball games are allowed either, so maybe not the best site for youngsters, although there were quite a few there enjoying their bikes and water pistols!

The following day we donned our walking boots and headed on a 1.5 mile trek to Fallowfield. This was a pleasant walk, along a stream, eventually bringing us out behind a farm house. From here we continued walking down into Acomb itself. A very small and quiet village with a couple of pubs. The return journey involves quite a steep walk back up to the campsite. There is a more direct route from Acomb to the campsite, but we didn’t know where this was so we just stuck to the main road.

Hexham is a 10 minute drive from the campsite. Here you will find a Waitrose and a Tesco’s, so stocking up on all of your essentials is easy. Car parking charges are also reasonable, you can spend the whole day in Hexham and only pay a couple of pounds. The abbey is worth a visit (free), Rob’s department store also serves a mean and inexpensive breakfast. Plenty of shops to be perused and the walk down by the river is simply stunning.

Back at the caravan, it was time to fill the Aquaroll. With the caravan being on a slope, the Ultraflow connection point was very close to the ground, as it is near the front of the caravan on the Clubman ES. This was causing the pump assembly to bend rather tightly, so I decided in order to give more headroom, I’d lay the Aquaroll on its side and use the centre hole, normally used for the mains connection kit. This worked well, I made sure the Aquaroll was well seated in the gravel so that it wouldn’t roll anywhere unexpectedly! The pump assembly was nowhere near as tight now, success!

It was observed whilst on site that the handle on your Aquaroll should be detached and re-attached with only one hand! What was this? No mention of this skill requirement in the manual? I had been signalling to the rest of the caravanning fraternity that I was a newbie, by attaching the handle with two hands! This was an oversight I would have to correct. In  order to compete in the ‘Caravan Olympics’, I would need to master this event. Practise at home would be required! Which other events could I participate in? Well there’s the main event of ‘Reversing’, something which will take a little longer to perfect I feel. ‘Discrete Neighbour Observation’ is an event best left to the wife and daughter. I thought we were all watching TV, reading books, playing cards, but no it seems! Eyes were being cast far beyond the immediate focus of these pastimes and reaching into the lives of our fellow caravanners, where tails of activities, equipment purchases, lifestyle choices and attitudes were all being scrutinised! But, the ‘One Hand Aquaroll’ event was within my grasp, it would be perfected before our next outing and I’d take gold, by consuming a beverage at the same time in the other hand!

Visitors need to park in the car park situated just before the barrier. There’s not a lot of room here for such a big site and on busy occasions such as this one, cars spill out onto the approach road, making access even more difficult. The wardens recommend parking in the hotel grounds, found just along the single track lane.

Before we knew it, it was Wednesday morning and time to pack-up and leave. On our last trip, I had made a mental note to create a check list for prepping the caravan, for journeys and also when left in storage. Leaving it to memory was too much of a risk, damage could easily be done just by forgetting to do one simple task. So armed with this new check list, we duly went through it stage by stage until the ‘van was travel ready! The Mammut swung the caravan out and up to the car and we were hitched and ready to go in no time at all. I think I have mentioned on this post that the site is a little tight in space, to say the least. Following the one way system around the bend at the far end of the site is another ‘hold your breath’ encounter. I’m sure the two neatly parted parallel trees, following a tight bend cornered off by a tree stump, which then leads into a bollard were not all placed there for fun. Unless the warden has a camera there and uses footage for ‘You’ve Been Framed’? But let’s just say I took it slowly and even winced a couple of times to myself as the caravan neatly passed the stump whilst I needed to swing out right to avoid the bollard! Back on the single track lane leaving the site, the bridge didn’t seem as bad this time around! And the single track lane itself was a breeze, now that I had been up and down it a few times in the car, knowing where the passing places are. But prayers were answered once again and we didn’t meet an oncoming outfit, just a horse and rider, which is a lot easier to let past!

From here we would normally head for storage, but some warranty work needed to be undertaken on the van, our ‘not closing properly’ bed locker. So we’re off to Catterick Caravans as agreed to have this fixed!

• Date: 22nd April 2011
• Nights: 5
• Pitch #: 47
• GPS: 55.002111, -2.099690

Well our first holiday in the caravan is here and we’re off to Doe Park in Barnard Castle, County Durham. The site came recommended to us by one of the Lunar staff, when we were at the NEC last October. It’s a good choice of site as it’s also very near to Catterick Caravans, should anything go wrong!

Just before we hitched up, we put the Pro Plates on the steadies, so that they were ready to drop as soon as we got to the site. Make sure you’ve got a mallet at hand for this job, as the locking pins were quite stiff to push into place.

Hitched up, lights checked, ATC on green, mirrors on, before we knew it we were cruising down the A1, on holiday with our caravan. After all of that preparation, it’s finally happening!

Sat Nav loaded with the caravan friendly route, the journey to the site was a breeze. A few narrow roads in Barnard Castle itself, but all managed successfully! A couple of narrow gates on the site itself, but a careful check in the mirrors ensured we weren’t going to scrape the side!

OK, now to park the 24 foot monster! I’ve been through the reversing procedure a hundred times in my head, but now to put the theory into practise! I drove past the pitch so that the caravan axle was about 6 foot or so past where I wanted to be and started to reverse. All was going well but I soon realised that the turning circle was greater than I thought and started to overshoot the pitch. A quick pull forward and started again, closer, once again nearly there. After a couple more turns managed to get it very close! A quick unhitch and a push put it right on the spot! Not bad for a first attempt.

Handbrake on, steadies down, we were finally ready to check the caravan out and find out how everything works! First job was to connect the mains EHU, bingo, we had power. Next I thought I’d get the gas flowing, so connected the adaptor onto the bottle with the pigtail already attached and connected this onto the regulator. Flip the lever on the valve and we should have gas! One way to check, let’s see if the hob burner works. Bingo, we have gas. Fridge next on list, a simple press of the power button and we have a working fridge. Heating next on the agenda. Checked the fluid level, 1cm above the minimum level marker as it should be. Went to the control panel and switched on the 2kw heater and the gas heater and set the temperature to 30. Fingers crossed, we should start getting some heat! A quick check in the bathroom where the expansion tank is and I could hear a murmer, so something is happening at least.

Next was the water, out came the Aquaroll and off to the water point we went. Having filled it we returned to the van and looked for the pump. Nowhere to be seen. Now I know we have it as the dealer pointed it out during the PDI. We turned the caravan upside down looking for it, we looked in every cavity possible, apart from the kitchen sink, which is where it was! Having found it we then connected it. A quick trip under the front seat and flicked the drain valve to close. Pump switched on at the control panel, opened the tap and .. water, hooray! The shower was also on, unbeknown to us. We quickly shut it off before any water leaked anywhere! Note to self: Check taps before switching on the pump! Next was the Wastemaster, this was quickly connected with the RapiDrain and left to fulfil its duties, by collecting our test waste water!

So with the water connected and functional, the only thing left to do was to connect the TV! Back inside the caravan, warmth, the heating works! Now to the aerial. The Clubman is fitted with a Status 530 directional aerial, so it was time to ensure the booster was on and lift and point the aerial. This is done by unscrewing the support clamp and lifting the pole up and rotating it until you see a picture. This was achieved quite easily, Harry Hill soon appeared on the TV, so it was time to clamp the aerial up.

Blinds checked, lights checked, microwave clock set, we were happy we were ready to start the holiday! We’re only here 2 nights and the first night is upon us already. Never mind, we should be able to relax a little more tomorrow. Now, how to make the beds? A quick pull of the bed slats from the front chest of drawers, support cushions placed in the middle and we were ready, well ready to make the bed with the bed sheet, duvet and pillows we had bought! Sleeping that night looking out of the Heiki at the stars in the sky, bliss!

Next morning I decided to charge and make ready the toilet. I filled the jarrycan with water, placed the correct dosage of ‘pink’ into the flush tank, followed by the water until I could see the tank was full. Next job was to prepare the waste tank. I removed the tank and unscrewed the cap on the emptying spout. This has levels marked on it in order to aid in adding the correct amount of ‘blue’. This was duly done followed by a couple of litres of water. Clicked back into place, the toilet was ready to be used! I checked the flush was working, checked the blade was operating, all was looking good. Time to explain to the family now on how to use the toilet!

Later on we managed to get into Barnard Castle itself and had a very pleasant walk about. Picked up some essentials from the local Co-op and headed back to the site. There’s nothing on the site as such apart from reception, although they do sell basic essentials. But it is a very relaxed, well spaced, quiet site. Very friendly staff, excellent toilet/wash block, we don’t need anything else! Phone reception is a little patchy, but you can certainly get a signal. I managed to get the MIFI up and running, by placing it on top of the blind of the Heiki, so we had Internet access. The day came to a close and we found ourselves back in bed, this time facing the dreaded ‘end of a holiday’ and the packing up involved!

So the morning came and the task of preparing the van for it’s return trip to storage began. First on the list was the toilet. The flush tank needs to be emptied whilst in transit, this is initially done by flushing the tank into the waste tank. This empties most of the water but not all. The remaining water is drained by way of a little pipe found in the flush filling point. It pulls out and is bunged at the end. Simply remove the bung and the tank fully empties, no problems there. Next was the waste tank. This is removed and taken to the chemical disposal point, where it is emptied by removing the cap on the emptying spout, pointed and tilted down towards the drain and pressing the vent button to aid the flow of the conents! A rinse with water then follows to ensure all the contents are removed. I then charged the tank back up with ‘blue’ and 2 litres of water, so it was ready for the next time. Not sure if this is the best practise, or to leave it completely empty, but we’ll see.

Aquaroll and Wastemaster were next, simple enough. Both emptied at the grey water disposal point and returned to their respective covers. At this point I opened the drain valve to empty the heater and water pipes. The aerial came next, this was unclamped and returned to it’s lowered position. On the aerial shaft there is a red dot, which denotes where the ‘pointy’ side of the aerial is. This dot needs to point to the rear of the caravan when in transit, so that the pointy side of the aerial is facing rearwards. This aids in aerodynamics and prevents an uplift possibly forcing the aerial away from the caravan. This is what the instructions say at least. When the van was delivered, it was pointing the ‘wrong’ way. And also during the PDI, I was told to point it forwards during transit, hmm! Mains EHU and gas were disconnected and once everything was packed, the steadies were rasied. For the first time I decided to use the mover to bring the caravan to the hitch point on the car. Remote switched on, the Mammut came alive, indicated by the novel mammoth cry it makes once the test procedure is complete. With the mover engage buttons depressed I moved the remote over the magnetic switch on the A-Frame and waited for the lights to stop flashing. Still flashing I tried it again, nothing. Switched the handset off and back on and did the same thing, this time with success, the mover engaged to the wheels. Handbrake off I then manouvered the caravan to the car very easily. I have to say the mover is excellent. Very easy to control and because the Mammut is designed by AL-KO, it fits the chassis perfectly with no loss of ground clearance. Electrics connected, lights tested, mirros on, we were off again!

Back at storage, I used the Mammut to put the van into it’s bay. Steadies down, hitch lock on and a final check on the contents inside the van. We closed all the blinds to keep the sunlight from fading the interior. This is fine in the Clubman as the blinds don’t use springs, but on blinds which use spring tensioners, it’s best to leave them open. Taps were opened in their midway position, shouldn’t be getting any frost now but seems like good practise anyhow. Fridge door was put in the airing position and with 2 chirps from the alarm, we drove away, counting the days until Easter, when our next adventure would begin!

• Date: 26th March 2011
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #:
• GPS: 54.577390, -1.993150