Our first trip in Camille, our Campervan

England & Wales 2014

England & Wales

Camille

Ok, so she may not bear any resemblance to the van in our logo, but Camille has the bohemian soul of the old combis (and heating and other things that can’t be sniffed at too!). We waited patiently as she was built (with love, I’m sure) in Hanover and finally signed the adoption papers in March.

Sunday 20th April 

After stopping off in St Abbs for a bite to eat and a short stroll along the impressive cliffs, we jump back in the van and head off to Northumberland. We want to have a look at Bamburgh Castle, which sits majestically on the coast and can be seen for miles. As we drive through the mist the silhouette of the impressive building can just be made out. The mist is most unwelcome and accompanied by a chilly breeze - we’re glad to have packed those woolly hats for our first English tourist attraction! Needless to say, our walk round the castle is brief and we are soon back in the warmth of Camille’s bosom, ready to track down campsite number one.

It is with much pride that we flash our newly-acquired Camping and Caravanning Club membership cards at reception when we arrive in Dunstan Hill campsite near Alnwick. We quickly set about making ourselves at home - the children are falling over themselves to help pitch the tent etc (no sarcasm here) and before we know it dinner time is upon us. Learning to cook in a California is quite an art - I’m more used to it now, but in the early days of the trip I kept thinking I was going to knock everything over or set my hair alight when leaning over to get something out of the cupboard. Small and smooth movements are required! But we have our first dinner and it is, of course, delicious. 

On his travels to the toilets Gabriel spots a beautiful T1. Serge just has to take a photo (and look extremely suspicious while he’s at it!).

Monday 21st April 2014

Someone must have heard us moaning about the English weather because the next morning we wake to glorious sunshine. Some of us (that’s you Jeanne) even take the brave step of  having breakfast outside!.

We get ready and set off for Alnwick Castle. This too is a beautiful place and we really enjoy our visit. All the Harry Potter aspects of the visit are great - the boys love reliving parts of the films and Jeanne makes a good stab at flying her broomstick. The jesters’ show is thoroughly entertaining too. 

After the castle we visit the poison garden. Again, our guide is entertaining and informative. I will never look at rhubarb in the same way again and will forever curse the Romans for bringing nettles to Britain!

Tuesday 22nd April 2014. 

Today more than one black cloud is hanging over us. Jeanne has hit it off with our neighbour and sadly the little girl is leaving. 

We get really adventurous and decide to visit the Holy Island (at our risk and peril). We make it though; Camille’s amphibious skills are not put to the test. Dotted along the causeway and elsewhere are posters warning of the dangers of defying the tides (a poor Landrover up to its neck in water). We have a very good lunch at a Lonely planet recommended restaurant. Serge and I do the “local delicacy thing” and opt for a very tasty crab sandwich. In the words of one famous food critic (Serge Garcia) “You cannot go to the Holy Island and do not eat crabs”.

Unfortunately, the black clouds have stayed with us during our visit and the rain finally appears, making the island look a tad miserable.

Despite dreary conditions we have a short stopover to take a look at the picturesque bay close to our camp site.

After a lovely dinner in our cosy house Jeanne retires to her bed upstairs (Camille has magically turned into a mansion) and Patrick watches a movie on Gabe's Ipod while the rest of us tune in to another thrilling episode of Dallas season 3.

23rd April 2014

Today we wake up in fog. The Northumbrian part of our trip is over - Oxford beckons. The sun manages to break through and we get on our way south. We arrive with the rain again around 5pm. 

It’s a race against the rain to pitch our tent and Serge wrestles frustratingly with the Cali Topper (Camille’s rainmac if you like). He manages to solve the problem. Fellow California owners a couple of pitches away are clearly concerned at our plight and venture out into the rain to help. They’re very kind and have many useful tips for us novice Californians. 

The dirty clothes are piling up so I buy some laundry tokens with my “Mickey Mouse” (that’s Scottish to you and me) money. I’m sure the campsite manager doesn’t mean anything by that remark…

Calamars courtesy of M&S on the menu tonight.

Serge has identified a problem with the waste water level and it’s started to niggle - need to find out what it is.

24th April 2014

We decide to try out Oxford buses. It’s a straightforward way into the town.  The weather is great today, we may even get to take our jackets off! 

Lunch is taken at Jamie’s Italian, which turns out to be a hot experience for Gabriel. He has his first experience of a Jalapeño pepper, something he won’t forget in a hurry! 

We wander round Oxford and find it to be a beautiful place. We discover the splendour of Christchurch College with its staircase and Great Hall (I don’t know who sets the table in there, but it’s not an enviable task). Parts of Oxford seem very unreal in a way - we see characters who make us wonder if the tourist board pays actors play to up to the stereotye Etonian. I mean, who smokes a pipe when he’s 18?

In the evening we make the most of the beautiful weather and have an “aperitif” with our Californian neighbours (and inaugurate the awning, just for good measure). 

And it’s movie night! We settle down on our cosy couches and watch “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, which proves to be quite a nice family film.

25th April

The rain is back…and it’s heavy! We take a while debating our options today. We then realise that staying in the van all day is out of the question if we want to stay sane, so we decide to venture out in the rain. Covered from head to toe in glamourous waterproofs, we return to Oxford.

We give in to the children and have a quick lunch at Mcdonald’s where we are surrounded by students in gowns munching on Big Macs. The Ashmoleum Museum provides our haven from the horrible weather this afternoon. Like so many museums it has the advantage of being free. There are great collections from Ancient Greece and Rome - Patrick acts as our guide, filling us in on important details (he’s been studying these subjects lately, so he is THE expert).

26th April

It is now time to bid farewell to Oxford and move southwards to Stonehenge. It’s a short drive. Stonehenge certainly doesn’t disappoint. It’s a fabulous site and the children are impressed. The wind, however, is close to galeforce and once again those woolly hats come in handy! Such is the force of the wind that the resident crows have great difficulty flying.

After our visit we check in to the next campsite on our list - Salisbury. After a laundry session we go for a walk along the river to the town centre. We take in the cathedral and the old parts of the town before caving in (again) and having dinner in Pizza Hut. We’re slightly lazy and take a taxi back to the campsite.

27th April.

Rain greets us again this morning. We’re off across another border - this time to Wales. We leave Salisbury campsite soaked after packing up in the rain. It’s character-building we tell ourselves.

Our journey takes us to the Brecon Beacons and is quite long. As all the official signage in Wales is in two languages, we get a chance to learn many Welsh words (especially those relating to traffic, so perhaps not the most useful). We start wondering if we’ll ever find our campsite. We are definitely off the beaten track, but with the help of a few local dogwalkers we finally find home for the night. The surrounding countryside is really pretty. So remotely located are we that there is no coverage for mobiles, 3G, etc. This is Digital Detox (and it doesn’t go down well with the younger members of the family!).

The local pub provides dinner tonight. We negotiate the tiny road back to the campsite by foot in the dark and ….you’ve guessed it…the rain. Serge has to put the Calitopper on - the van of course, not himself - which is not much fun in the rain. However, he has mastered it now and in no time he’s back inside.

28th April

Today our plan is to head over to the Pembrokeshire coast. As we leave the campsite we’re already thinking about the evening’s dinner; we stop off at the tiny village shop to buy some sausages produced by a farm next to the campsite. Serge is already imagining how good they will taste once they’ve had the barbecue treatment. After driving for a while we stop off at Carreg Cennan Castle, firstly to picnic in the carpark and then to visit the site. This requires a short hike up a hill to the ruins of the castle. There’s a great view.

Another breath-taking view is awaiting us at the Pembrokeshire campsite . From there we look directly out over the sea. We choose our pitch, settle in and light the bbq - the sausages from the farm exceed our expectations - yum! Serge plays rugby with the kids a little before we call it a day.

29th April

We wake up with the sun and a priceless view. It’s a shame to leave but time is pressing on and we still have Snowdonia to get under out belt, so to speak. We pack up and head northwards. Our lunch spot is Cardigan Bay.

After a while the road becomes more winding and the scenery much wilder. We are surrounded by mountains. The narrow, meandering road finally takes us to our destination, a picturesque village by the name of Beddgelert. We find our campsite and check in. It’s very wooded here and quite empty. We do have the distinct impression we are being watched though…The place is buzzing with rabbits, squirrels, bats, you name it. We are definitely in their territory but we manage to cohabit for a night with no problems.

30th  April

This morning we’re leaving our fluffy friends and heading up to the Lake District. We plan to stay here two nights on the shores of Lake Windemere, which is England’s largest lake. We find a small campsite in Bowness on Windemere, which is hooching! It’s a bit like the equivalent of Biarittz Beach in terms of busyness. 

The weather is fine, and looking out on the lake we feel almost like we could be in France somewhere. 

1st May

It is raining again and, wrecklessly, we decided not to put on the Cali-topper last night. The result is that the roof is a little wet. Well, we’ve learned our lesson I suppose…

As the weather’s not great the girls decide to visit the Beatrix Potter Centre while the boys  explore retail possibilities in the town of Windermere (apparently not abundant). Jeanne loves the museum which has a garden made to look just like the one belonging to Mr McGregor in the Peter Rabbit stories.

After a lunch in Camille we go for a walk to see a waterfall on the outskirts of Ambleside. We then drive round the lake and return to the campsite for a bit of a break!.

2nd May

Apart from it being Serge’s birthday it is also sadly the last day of our trip. We must go back to Aberdeen and leave our life as nomads for the time-being at least. The road ahead is long. This is especially true as our trusty sat-nav starts our journey on a very minor road! However, we’re grateful, as it means we’re treated to the most beautiful scenery. We wonder at the miles of dry-stone walls which run over the hills around us - what a lot of work!

As we cross the Dee coming into the Granite City we already feel better about having to end the roadtrip…we’ve already come up with the next trip - to the Secret Bunker and Edinburgh next weekend- hurrah!