Cali is three today!

Cali is three today and is celebrating her birthday sitting in the car park at home.  Over the last year we've driven 6,110 miles, had several day trips, spent 62 nights in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Northumberland, West Midlands, Wiltshire and Worcestershire, as well as journeys to visit friends and family.

Our last trip was to Dorset in March, a week or so before sites closed because of Covid-19.  Most sites are closed until the end of June, with further reviews so who knows when we'll be away in Cali again.   The only time she leaves the car park is when Steve drives her to work once a week.

This year we also made the decision to buy Cali 2 - a Hymer Ayres Rock.  We placed our order in January for an estimated delivery of mid-May.  We've no idea whether she's in Italy (for the base vehicle build) or Germany (for the conversion) but as the dealer is closed we're not expecting delivery for a while.  We're anticipating delivery in the Autumn when hopefully sites will be open again.

Who knows what the next year will bring!

19 April 2020

Cali has been to Poole

The forecast didn't look too bad for the weekend so we made a last minute decision to go away for the weekend.  A friend had recommended South Lytchett Manor near Poole, so we made a booking for two nights.

The site is well laid out and has lovely facilities.  Pitches are allocated depending on size of the unit but are all spacious.

Pitch 33 South Lytchett Manor

As the surrounding footpaths were very muddy due to the heavy rain over the past few weeks, we caught the bus to Poole on Saturday morning.  The bus stop is outside the site (buses between Poole and Swanage) so we didn't have to take Cali off site.

Poole towards Bournemough

We walked along the front at Poole towards Bournemouth, turning back when it started to rain.  We went back to the Quay and had lunch at the Portsmouth Hoy before a mooch around the town and catching the bus back to the site.

Sunday started dry, but it soon began to rain so we decided to head home after breakfast.  This is a lovely site and one we will return to in the future.

13-15 March 2020

Cali has been to Wareham

We had planned on going to the Camping and Caravan Show at the NEC but as we've already ordered Cali 2 we had a change of plan.  We've been keeping an eye on the weather forecast to see where the best weather was likely to be and opted to stop at Hunter's Moon Caravan Club Site at Wareham.

Pitch 64 Hunter's Moon

We had just finished pitching on Thursday afternoon when it started to rain heavy and then rained on and off all night.  Luckily our pitch was near to the amenities block, so we didn't get too wet.  As strong winds were also forecast, we didn't raise the roof for the weekend.

On Friday we woke to a windy but dry morning and decided to go walking for the day.  The only downside to the site is there is no bus service nearby, so we drove Cali off site and went to Swanage.  We walked to Durlston Country Park in the morning, into Swanage for lunch at the Love Cake cafe and then a walk along the seafront in the afternoon.  By late afternoon it had started to cloud over so we returned to site.

Old Harry Rocks & Swanage Pier

Friday night was very windy - even with the roof down we could feel the wind blowing Cali.  Neither of us had much sleep.  On Saturday we woke to a damp, drizzly morning so drove to the National Trust car park at Studland Bay.  By the time we had read the paper and had a coffee, the rain had stopped and the sun came out. 

Studland Beach

We walked along the beach to the Shell Bay Bistro for lunch and then back to Cali returning to the site late afternoon.

Saturday was another wet and windy night.  Sunday morning was also wet so after breakfast we decided to head home.  Despite the weather it was a lovely weekend and we made the best of the dry spells to go walking.

20-23 February 2020

Cali 2 - Confirmation of Order

After several emails between us, Highbridge Motorhomes and Hymer in Germany, it's now all arranged that Highbridge can change one of their existing stock orders to our specification.  This means we should have delivery mid-May rather than mid-July if they had placed a new order.

Mid-May works well for us as we'll be able to have a few weekends away before we travel to Kent at the end of June.

12 February 2020

Cali 2 is on order!

Well, we've done it - we've placed an order for Cali 2!  Our new campervan will be a Hymer Ayres Rock.  We'll both be sad to sell Cali, but the new campervan is full height, has a fixed bed and shower/toilet and is only half a metre longer than Cali.  The compromise is that it has a smaller living area, but that's fine for us.

We're buying Cali 2 from Highbridge who were at the Motorhome Show at Westpoint this weekend, so we got a free pass from the dealer to attend the show and place our order.  He's got to check on delivery time, but we expect it to arrive around May or June

25 January 2020

Cali has been to Bath Chew

On Saturday we went to Paignton and viewed a Knaus Boxstar and then travelled to Highbridge to see a Hymer Ayres Rock.  We've narrowed our choice down to these two vehicles so also obtained prices from the dealers.  

As the forecast for the weekend was good we had booked Saturday night at Bath Chew Caravan Park.  We'd visited the site many years ago when we had our caravan, but couldn't remember how much walking we would be able to do from the site.  We had booked a standard hardstanding pitch but as the site was fairly quiet they upgraded us to a Fully Serviced Pitch, at no extra cost.  

It was getting dark when we arrived so after showers we had our meal and settled down for the evening.  Thankfully we had taken our thermal covers as we woke to a heavy frost.  The temperature inside Cali was 2 degrees, but I had left the heater remote control by the bed so I could turn it on for a while before we got up.

Pitch 41 Bath Chew

The site was lovely and just how we remembered it, it's like camping in a large garden.  The site has individual shower/toilet rooms, which is a nice idea but mops would have been good so the floor could be dried as they soon got very wet and muddy.  

We left the site on Sunday morning and visited another dealer to look at a Boxstar and then returned to Highbridge to refresh our memory on the Ayres Rock.  Which one will it be?

18 January 2020 

Cali has been to Wareham and Hayling Island

It's been over two months since we camped in Cali and have really missed our time away, so were itching to get away again. The weather forecast was slightly better this weekend so we booked two nights at Hunters Moon Caravan Club Site at Wareham as we wanted to visit Hayling Island to view some campervans.  

We arrived on site late afternoon on Friday and set up on a pitch near the facilities as it was very windy and starting to rain - again!  As we were heading off early the next morning we hadn't taken the thermal pop-up cover so left the roof down overnight.  

It didn't take long to get on the road on Saturday and we drove across to Hayling Island.  We saw several VanTourer campervans and have now crossed them off our list as we felt the living area was cramped.  After leaving the dealer we headed to the seafront and had lunch at the Inn on the Beach.  It was very windy and bitterly cold, so we only had a short walk along the beach - looking across to Portsmouth.

Hayling Island Seafront towards Portsmouth

We had a short drive around Hayling Island and decided we'll return one day to camp and have a walk around the island.  It was dark when we got back to site but we still got pitched in about ten minutes.  There was another awful storm overnight with very strong winds and torrential rain, so it was a lovely surprise to wake on Sunday to blue sky and sun.

Pitch 62 Hunter's Moon

After breakfast we packed up and drove to Lyme Regis for a walk along the seafront.  The day was glorious and we walked several miles around the Cobb and the Langmoor Gardens.

Langmoor Gardens towards Charmouth

We had a lovely weekend and realise how much we have missed going away.  Hopefully the weather will start to improve so we can get away for more weekends.

10-12 January 2020