Touring

Saturday:
A modestly early start at 6am and we were off, heading North this year not South! Weather was good, despite being awful for the past few days. We ate our way through the A1, stopping at the border for a brief break and then headed for Kinross services, where we stopped for a bacon buttie and coffee. Following this, we arrived in Stonehaven and found our way to the site. The site was packed, indeed the ‘site full’ sign was up and on display. Despite this, we found a pitch which suited us and began the set-up routine. We were soon relaxing for the evening and enjoying our first UK big summer holiday in the caravan!

Sunday:
Father’s Day – and I wasn’t driving in France all day! I could actually relax and enjoy the day. Weather still not bad. We made a short journey the the local Coop to stock up on a few things, but apart from this, we just enjoyed the day on site.

Monday:
Stayed on site all day due to rain showers.

Tuesday:
Windy but dry and bright, so following breakfast we headed off to Dunnottar Castle. This is a very picturesque place to visit, stunning view of the coastline and wildlife. The castle itself is well presented and informative, you really got a good sense of the life of the people that would have worked and lived here, very spiritual in a way. The car park was full when we got there, but there are parking opportunites by the side of the road. It’s £7 for an adult to access, which is reasonable. Be warned though, there are a lot of steps! Following this, we made a short stop at the Coop again and then returned back to base.

Wednesday:
With good weather again, we took a walk to ‘The Chapel of St Mary and St Nathalan’ located just up the coast in Cowie. The path to the chapel site is located just by the golf course and descends down to the site. Like most things in the area, you get stunning views and some history about the site by way of an information board. Following a tour around the site we headed back to the site. Feeling a little hungry however, we stopped at the infamous ‘Bay Fish & Chips’ on the way back and enjoyed some chips sat on the beach steps, simply stunning, a moment to cherish. Returned back to caravan for the rest of the day.

Thursday:
A quick trip to the dentist was in order, as Cath was suffering some toothache. This was an 8.30am appointment, so didn’t impact too much on our day. Following this, it was another fine day, so the task today was to visit the War Memorial. This is located between the harbour and the Castle, so a climb up the hill was in order! We parked in the harbour to ease the length of the walk and then commenced upward. It isn’t far to be honest and again the views are breathtaking! Following this and descending back down to the harbour, we visited the ‘Tolbooth Museum’ there, which is housed in a late 16th century stone building. It’s free to enter and offers a som great information and artifacts about the area in general. Back to base after this for the rest of the day.

Friday:
The last day, so a stay on site day. Weather very good again!

• Date: 15th June 2019
• Nights: 7
• Pitch #: 20
• GPS: 56.970973, -2.203582

• Date: 1st June 2019
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 36
• GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499

Our post Easter break would be a little longer this year, we’ve opted for another week away rather than just a weekend. So for this year, we’ve chosen Strathclyde just outside of Glasgow, looks like we’ll be doing a lot of Scotland this year!

Saturday:
We packed Friday night and were ready to go first thing on Saturday, apart from the internet being down at home, which needed sorting, otherwise the daughter would not be happy! We had a good journey along the A69 and then had a pit stop at Gretna Green services, a first for us. Astonishingly, there is a dedicated caravan parking area which we duly pulled into. There are about 8 spaces, big enough for the largest of rigs, drive in, drive out. Looking for some breakfast, we enjoyed some bacon butties from Harry Ramsden’s, for the bargain price of £15 including drinks :O

Following this it was a straight run to the site. We booked in and found our pitch. A bit of a tight reverse, a few shunts and then we were set. Weather good, usual routines followed, Saturday came and went.

Sunday:
Glorious weather, we sat outside first thing and enjoyed a cup of tea and the sunshine. It was on the cards today to walk around the Loch just down the road, so this we did! The walk is approx 3.5 miles around the Loch, very pleasant with a cafe available at the boathouse, we didn’t try this but on reflection, we wish we had. There is a funfair here as well, along with a playground for the kids. There was also a ‘It’s a Knockout’ competition taking place, great place for the family. We completed the walk and returned to the site. After a brief break, we then went to the Toby Carvery for Sunday lunch. This again is accessed from just outside of the site, so perfect for us caravanners! Weather stayed perfect for the rest of the day, so much so that we were reading 35 degrees inside the ‘van!

Monday:
Weather still glorious, we decided to head into Glasgow following breakfast. I booked the tickets online for collection at the station and then we headed off after washing up. Bellshill station is just up the A725, 10 minutes away. It has a good parking for vehicles and makes it the perfect solution for getting to Glasgow, rather than driving there. We parked up and collected our tickets from the machine. The trains are very frequent, so although we missed our train by seconds, another one was along in 10 minutes. The journey to Glasgow takes approx 20 minutes, and once at Glasgow Central station, you’re in the centre of all of the action. Well the action being shops, shops and more shops, with plenty of eating opportunities. We opted for a coffee and then headed for the river via a couple of shopping complexes. We returned back to the station following this and headed back to Bellshill. We stopped by Tesco’s in Bellshill on the way back to pick up a couple of items, and then back at the site, we enjoyed more sunshine!

Tuesday:
A trip to the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway was on the cards. We had a good run to the site, weather still glorious. We parked up and caught the train straight away, good timing! We enjoyed the journey through to Manuel and back. The museum is also well stocked and informative. There are expansion plans afoot, so it’s good to see heritage railways still proving popular. Back at site, we enjoyed the weather, I cleaned the ‘van and then relaxed.

Wednesday:
Nothing planned, a day to relax – weather still unbelievable.

Thursday:
Nothing planned, another day to relax, after all – that’s what it’s all about!

Friday:
Departure day, everything went smoothly. I think we are there in terms of storage, what the car carries and general organisation. A few routines have changed, I now carry leg winder, blocks, levellers and water hoses in the car, in the lower shelf, so that we can set the caravan up without needing to rush with taking off the cover to access the locker etc. The boot organisation is now there, food has its place along with caravan security, fridge, awning and then clothes, they have found their home at last, it’s working well! The new car, well it’s brilliant, I cannot stress how much easier it is to tow with an automatic, makes reversing far easier as well.

• Date: 11th May 2019
• Nights: 6
• Pitch #: 79
• GPS: 55.803690, -4.048265

So with the new rig, we’re once again resuming longer weekend journeys, something we used to do in the early days of caravanning. This weekend, we’re off to York (again!) but this time to a new site, namely York Beechwood Grange CAMC.

We picked up the ‘van and departed on Saturday morning. The journey is straight forward, but with the A19/Coast Road junction finished and all the A1 roadworks completed, the journey was as smooth as you could wish for. I’ve fitted the Sat Nav and dashcam back into the car, so we’re back to normality there. We’ve got Android Drive operating in the car, so we’ve got access to music, playlists, text messaging and everything else that it brings, we’re gradually getting there, step by step. The car does come with a Sat Nav built in, but I prefer a dedicated unit which won’t suddenly disappear should another service require the display. Plus I prefer creating the routes in the house in front of the computer, with a cuppa, rather than being stuck in the car, so the Garmin stays. I’ll leave the media display for all other things car related.

We arrived bang on time at the site and duly had a drive around looking for the perfect pitch! We finally settled on 98 and began setting up. We’re getting quicker, gradually, but there are still some things that need sorting. Each trip throws up something that needs sorting, routines are slightly different, but everything has to evolve. We stayed on site all day, as the weather was poor, storm Hannah was showing some muscle! Sunday, we had a trip to Monks Cross Shopping Park and then a stroll around the site, as the weather was notably better. We even managed a spell outside, as the sun broke through. Sunday came and went and then Monday morning, time to pack up! Pack up time was an extra 30 minutes over the norm, but as this included taking down the awning, quite respectable actually. A good drive home and back at storage.

• 109 Pitches
• 16A EHU
• Hardstanding pitches, a few grass
• Washblock very high standard
• Information hut
• Book swap telephone booth!
• Plenty of service points
• Late night arrival area
• Good TV reception
• Playground for kids
• Dog walk and play areas
• Reception sells useful items
• Good access to York
• Easy access from A64

• Date: 27th April 2019
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 98
• GPS: 53.995806, -1.027584

Our cheeky weekend site is now becoming very familiar, namely Durham Grange CAMC. With the rig being so large now, we’re not opting for the smaller CL sites, so this site will see us as regulars. We had a pleasant journey down to the site, noting that the Silverlink A19/Coast road junction was now open and on time, should make negotiating the junction there a lot quicker now without the A19 flow of traffic. With good weather we arrived at the site just at opening time!

We chose the same pitch as last time, as it’s a good size and was vacant, probably due to the fact that you’ve got to reverse into it from the site road, especially with a twin axle. We began set-up routines and I also put the awning up again, a little straighter this time, now knowing how it fits. We were soon enjoying the day, although we still hunted for items in their new places, time will sort this! We did a little more sorting and organizing, we’re gradually getting there, although I still reckon on another 3 or 4 trips to get familiar with everything.

Sunday, church in the morning and then back to camp. A relaxing day, noting a few items we would need to complete our requirements. Everything still working fine, the awning is ideal now, simple to put up and take down – and provides the space we wanted for coats, bin, shoes etc. With good summer weather, it will still be fine, as we can open the canopy at the front and use it as an awning rather than just storage. We find it far more practical than the bigger awnings, especially as we do so many weekend getaways.

Monday arrived and we headed home. All was well apart from the front locker, lock. One had decided to jam. I managed to free it a couple of days later and lube it up well. Just another one of those new ‘van snags that have to be dealt with.

• Date: 6th April 2019
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 36
• GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499

Saturday:
Our maiden voyage with the new rig and it was snowing! With numb fingers we put the towing cover on, new mirrors and hitched up. Pleased to say everything went to plan, and we eventually left the storage yard with the heated seats on. Next spanner in the works was that access to the Tyne Tunnel was closed from the A19, so a wee diversion was in order to get back on track. Following this we had a good journey down to our first pit stop. The wind was rather strong and gave us a good buffering on occasion, but I’m please to say the car pulled the ‘van like a train, she didn’t bat an eyelid. The towing cover decided to drop a little en-route, probably due to it being heavy with the rain, plus we didn’t fit it properly as the weather was so adverse at the yard. A couple of stops along the way kept it in-place however, and then we arrived at the campsite.

We quickly booked in and found our pitch. Access was a bit tight for reversing, so we resorted to the mover. Now this was a bit different again, a twin axle does not manoeuvre as well as a single, so a few attempts were required to get it just so, another learning curve! We then began setting up, again not as quick as usual as we were still finding places for ‘things’. We settled in for the night and enjoyed the luxury of the ‘van with its fixed bed yet once again.

Sunday:
Nothing planned for today other than to finish off setting up and finding homes for everything. I put the new awning up, which went up very easily and provides just the space we require, namely for shoes, bin and a dry access into the ‘van. The satellite also went up, as TV signal is not the best on the site. This again went well, the stand is much better and simpler to install. With the EasyFind LNB I also found the Astra birds without any hassle at all. Food, wine and TV later, Sunday came and went.

Monday:
Weather not so great, so a simple relax day inside the ‘van – nothing wrong with that!

Tuesday:
A trip to Chesterfield was in order today. We first went to Ravenside Retail Park, to pick up a few bits ‘n’ bobs. From here we headed to the town centre, to view St Mary’s Church with its infamous crooked spire. There are numerous markets here on various days, we had just missed one being late afternoon. We returned back to the site to have a wander about as the weather was fairly pleasant.

Wednesday:
Glorious weather and a trip to the nature park was in order. This is a well kept area complete with children’s playgound, cafe and plenty of benches to sit and rest on. The walk around the lake is a modest one, so should be suitable for most people. We completed our little trek and then returned back to the ‘van and sat outside, fist time this year! Spent some time reprogramming the Avtex TV to have a meaningful satellite channel list, much better now.

Thursday:
Another relaxing day with just a short trip out to the local Morrison’s, in order to fuel up ready for our return trip on Saturday.

Friday:
Feeling a little under the weather, we stayed on site all day and relaxed, after all it is our final day!

Saturday:
Awning down and everything packed away. We had a good journey home, with just an accident on the A1 to contend with. However I must say, crawling traffic is a lot easier with an automatic!

Site Report:
– 86 Pitches
– 16A EHU
– Hardstanding pitches, some fully serviced
– Washblock usual high standard
– Piped music in the washblock
– Information hut
– Plenty of service points
– Easy access from M1

• Date: 16th March 2019
• Nights: 7
• Pitch #: 5
• GPS: 53.257928, -1.352245

So with our new caravan, being a twin axle over 8m long and with an MPTLM of 1800kg – our current Santa Fe was going to be at the limits of its towing capacity. Time to replace the tug!

The usual culprits that we thought of were: Santa Fe, Sorento, Dicovery and a Rexton.

The new Santa Fe we duly test drove and didn’t like, I felt it was trying to become a fashionable SUV rather than a modest 4×4 workhorse. We weren’t going to gain much by the newer version, other than some more horsies under the hood, so we discounted it.

The Sorento, to be honest I felt it much the same as the Santa Fe, we weren’t gaining much and I just didn’t get to love it – a personal thing I know.

A Discovery, well at the prices they command we didn’t venture much further. Plus the latest model is a design we don’t like, so we discounted this pretty much straight away.

The Rexton, well that was interesting to pursue. It would gain us more kerbweight, more horsies and more noseweight. It wasn’t too dissimilar to our current Santa Fe in terms of looks, apart from being a bit bulkier with a more commercial feel to it, be I could live with that. Pricing seemed acceptable, as Ssangyong are trying to break further into the UK market, so pricing is similar to the bargains had by Hyundai and Kia purchases of years gone by. We test drove one, albeit a manual ELX model and quite liked it.

So following all of this, which took 4 months from last Christmas, we decided to plumb for a Ssangyong Rexton ELX 5 seater auto. We duly ordered one and then were told that there were no 5 seater ELX’s available, only 7. Not wanting to lug around 7 seats and the extra space that they would demand, we upgraded the order to an Ultimate, which only comes with 5 seats and auto box. A bit more cash was required, but at the end of the day, this is what we work for!

So today I picked up the ‘tug’. All I can say is wow – this car is simply stunning. It has more features than you can shake a stick at, and it will tow any caravan you can throw on the back of – quite simply impressed. If you’re looking for a new tug, a beefy one – the Rexton should be on your shortlist.

After just picking up our new caravan yesterday, we decided a weekend away was a must to try it out, just a local one as I have to work on Sunday, plus the car is on the limits for towing the new ‘van, so nothing too challenging!

We’ve been to Durham Grange many times before, it’s a great site for a quick local getaway for us. We duly signed in and then were given the choice of 2 pitches, due to some tree work being done, which closed a few pitches off, so this one or that one. The one we chose was in the cul-de-sac section of the site, we’ve been here before. With all other pitches in here being taken, the only way in is backwards really, so a reverse from the main track down to the pitch was in order, but I have to say, a twin axle is very comfortable to manoeuvre.

Now we’d normally be set-up within 30 minutes, but this trip was going to take longer, a lot longer, as most caravanner’s know: when changing caravans – there’s a ‘lot of stuff to move and find new homes for’. We eventually got there a few hours later, most things had found their new home, but some were still a work in progress. The essentials had been taken care of, so we relaxed for the rest of the weekend, knowing that our week away in a fortnight would sort the rest out. It’s quite funny seeing how a change of caravan throws so many little routines that you’re used to out of the window! Our main one was where to store the tea/coffee jars, keys and phones – as our little table between the dinette and sofa was now gone!

Pleased to report that the ‘van seems fine, so hopefully our 6 week service won’t be required, for any niggles found. The extra width of the ‘van is superb. The stability of a double axle, both when travelling and on site is noticeably better than a single. Okay, here we go – the bed is brilliant, it changed the morning and night routine immensely to a positive. We’re happy with our new choice, we’ve enjoyed our first weekend away, although it was more work than relax!

Monday, despite some high winds, we made it back to storage – the tug has done it’s last job though for us, it will retire tomorrow…

• Date: 2nd March 2019
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 36
• GPS: 54.795747, -1.530499

We said we’d never buy a fixed bed caravan, what a waste of space – but our thoughts slowly changed as we perused some new 8 feet wide twin axles. Our current Clubman ES is the perfect layout for us, we chose very well back 9 years ago! But, it would be even more perfect if we had a bed as well, to ease ‘that routine’ you face without one. Some new layouts came to our attention which fitted the bill, so we headed for the NEC last October to further pursue this idea. After much trailing around, we finally stumbled upon our perfect caravan, a dealer special based on the Compass Casita 840. This had it all: big lounge, side dinette, rear bedroom and a decor which we thought was just us. The dealer special, namely the Kensington 840 also had numerous other upgrades to the standard model, which made it an easy action to sign on the dotted line. There, the deal was done. We had upgraded our perfect caravan to one which was the same, but with a bed!

Today it was time to pick up the next touring stage of our lives. We had a great handover from the staff at Kimberley’s and were soon heading home with our new baby, albeit a much bigger and heavier one!

A deviation from our traditional run up to the ‘Railway Inn’ this year, as said campsite wasn’t opening until Easter this year for some reason? I’m sure we’ll find out in due course when we return there later in the year.

So for the first weekend of 2019 and Cath’s birthday, we returned to ‘White Water Park’ CAMC Site. We first came here back in 2011, so 8 years later we’re back again! It’s a straight forward sight to reach from the A19 and has plenty of hardstanding pitches, some of which are fully serviced. We booked in and selected our pitch, and duly began setting up. Weather was cold, but dry, so perfectly fine for some Winter Caravanning! Once camp was set, we headed out for a brief walk along by the Tees Barrage and the railway bridge. You could carry on a little further from here and do some shopping at the Teesside Retail Park, but shopping wasn’t on the agenda this weekend. Returning to the ‘van, we had tea and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, still a cold dry day. Following breakfast, we headed to Kimberley’s Caravans, now that’s the kind of shopping we like! We eyed up the ‘van we had bought and took some measurements for the awning and bedding etc. We’re getting quite excited for the new ‘van and car this year. Back at base we went to the Beefeater for some Sunday lunch, this is just at the entrance of the campsite, so it’s an easy walk. Sunday came and went and then Monday morning, time to pack up and return back to storage.

Site Report:
– 97 Pitches
– 16A EHU
– Hardstanding pitches, some fully serviced
– Washblock usual high standard
– Information hut
– Games room
– Children’s playground
– Plenty of service points
– Good non vehicular access to Beefeater and retail park
– Friendly wardens
– Easy access from A19

• Date: 19th January 2019
• Nights: 2
• Pitch #: 23
• GPS: 54.568506, -1.286260

As this was the last trip with the Lunar Clubman ES, total number of holidays were:

• 115