Zebedee has been to Slimbridge and Cirencester

We should have gone to Slimbridge in February, on our way to visit families and the NEC, but cancelled our booking due to Storm Eunice.  The site were very helpful and allowed us to move our booking to a new date and we also added a few extra days to make a week long 'adventure'.

On Tuesday we set off to Tudor Caravan Park - we like the area where we have previously pitched so paid an extra fee to choose our pitch.  After setting up on site we had a short walk along the canal before returning to the Tudor Arms for a drink.

Pitch 23 Tudor Caravan Park

We had a cool start to the day on Wednesday and decided to walk along the canal beyond Saul Junction.  By mid morning the sun was out and we had a lovely sunny day, although it was probably too hot for a 12 mile walk in our thicker clothes.  We also stopped at The Stables Cafe for a pot of tea on our return to the site.

On Thursday we spent the day at Slimbridge Wetlands Centre, which is a short walk from the site.  There was an Easter duck hunt for the children which, of course, we had to join in and found all 14 ducks!

Steve and Easter Duck

On Friday we left Slimbridge and travelled to Cirencester Park Caravan Club Site.  We set up on site and walked into the town for a potter around the shops and tea and cake at Heather's Cafe.

Pitch 130 Cirencester Park

We had a lazy start to the day on Saturday morning and then walked into town to buy a newspaper and have a coffee before returning to the site for lunch.  In the afternoon we walked the 'Field and Woodland' walk around the Bathurst Estate.

Sunday was another lovely hot, sunny day and we decided to walk through the park to Sapperton.  There were signs for a motorcycle competition which was being held along the paths through the woods so in places we had to walk along the adjacent track.  Although it was a bit noisy, it was interesting to watch and also interesting when we had to wait for a gap in the motorcyclists to cross the race track.

Bathurst Estate

We decided to spend the day in town on Monday.  We walked the Whereat Trail which took us out to the Roman Amphitheatre and Querns Wood - parts of the town we've not previously visited.

Tuesday was our day to travel home.  After unpacking Zeb and giving him a quick clean we took him back to storage for a week before our next adventure.

19-26 April 2022

Zebedee has been to Arlington, Dorchester, Fareham and Wareham

We had planned a few days in Zeb on sites in North Devon and Exmoor before we had a change of plan. 

We left home on Friday for our first site at Hallsdown Farm a private site near Arlington.  We had seen the site advertised in Campervan magazine and liked the look of it - it was an adults only site with no dogs allowed as it was on a sheep farm.  We set off late morning and arrived on site in glorious sunshine.  After setting up we walked up the lane to the Farm Shop before returning to the site to enjoy the sun.

Pitch 8 Hallsdown Farm

On Saturday we walked a couple of miles to Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum, We spent the day walking around the grounds and visiting the carriage museum before returning to site to enjoy more glorious sunshine.

We walked to Wistlandpound Reservoir on Sunday and followed the trails around the reservoir before returning to Arlington Court for a cup of tea and a slice of cake.  The weather was still glorious so we returned to the site to sit in the sun again.

Wistlandpound Reservoir

We had originally planned on going to Woolacombe for a few days, but decided to head across to Southdown Motorhomes at Portsmouth to discuss our new campervan.  Steve had been speaking to the sales advisor over the phone, but we decided it would be good to meet and discuss everything.  As the next two sites we had booked were C&MC sites we were able to cancel the bookings and transfer to new sites.  So on Monday we left Devon to head over to Portsmouth - as it was a long journey we stopped at Crossways Caravan Club Site near Dorchester.  The site is set in woodland which was full of deer and unusually they didn't run off when spotted - instead they stood at the side of the road and watched us walk past them!

Pitch 78 Crossways

Most of the pitches were grass but we found a lovely hardstanding pitch in the centre of the site.  After walking around the site in the afternoon we went to the nearby Frampton Arms for a meal before returning to the site early evening.

Neither of us slept well on Monday night as we had heavy rain overnight and as our pitch was under trees the noise of the rain on the roof lights kept us awake.  We set off late morning on Tuesday to drive to Rookesbury Park Caravan Club Site near Fareham and set up on site quickly as it was still raining.  We stayed on site all afternoon, walking around the site when the rain eased late afternoon.

Pitch 30 Rookesbury Park

On Wednesday we drove to Southdown Motorhomes to discuss our new campervan and completed our order.  We returned to the site in the afternoon and walked to Wickham where we had a walk around the village and a couple of celebratory drinks at the King's Head before returning to site.

The following day we drove to Hunter's Moon Caravan Club Site.  The weather had totally changed from the warm sunny days at the start of our trip and it was now bitterly cold.  After setting up we had a walk around the site, had early showers and settled down for the evening.

Pitch 72 Hunter's Moon

On Friday we woke to a cold frosty start to the day.  We walked the Sika Trail through Wareham Forest and although we enjoyed the walk it was very windy and bitterly cold all day so we returned to site mid afternoon.

We had another frosty start to the day on Saturday and walked to Wareham.  By mid morning the sun was out and although it was still very cold it was a lovely sunny day.  We pottered around the town and had a pot of tea before walking back to the site through the forest in a hail storm.  After returning to the site we had early showers to warm us up and spent the evening tucked up in Zeb.

Sunday was also a cold frosty day and we walked back to Wareham through the forest.  When the sun came out late morning it was a lovely day and we sat by the river for our lunch before having a pot of tea and returning to the site. 

Morden Bog, Wareham Forest

We returned home on Monday to get ready for a busy week at home and plan for our next 'adventure'.

We enjoyed our trip, even though it wasn't the one we had originally planned.  Hallsdown Farm was a lovely site and one of our favourite sites we've ever visited - we'll definitely return.  Crossways was another lovely site and I'm sure we'll return there again.  Rookesbury Park is convenient for visiting Southdown Motorhomes although it closes in the autumn so we won't be able to stay there when we collect our new campervan late 2022/early 2023.  Hunter's Moon is one of our regular sites, especially for out of season breaks as it's open all year.

25 March-3 April 2022

Zebedee has been to Birmingham, Malvern and Minehead

After far too long we've had another adventure in Zeb.  We had planned on starting our journey on Friday with two days at Slimbridge, but cancelled our booking due to Storm Eunice.  Our intention was to go to a CL at Stafford on Sunday so we could see my niece and her family, but the site cancelled our booking as they were flooded.  We had already booked two nights at Chapel Lane Caravan Club Site after the Stafford site so we could visit the Camping, Caravan and Motorhome Show at the NEC, and managed to get another couple of nights at Chapel Lane.

We travelled to Birmingham on Sunday and after a blustery journey we arrived on site to hear that the Met Office had now named this weather front Storm Franklin.  We managed to find a fairly sheltered pitch and stayed on site for the rest of the day and Monday morning whilst the storm passed.  The weather was a little calmer on Monday afternoon so we had a short walk to Beckett's Farm Shop.

Pitch 47 Chapel Lane

We should have visited my mother and sister on Monday, but delayed our visit until Tuesday after the storm had passed.  We drove to Rugeley and spent the day with them before heading back to the site mid afternoon.

On Wednesday we went to the NEC and had a good day at the show.  We were both surprised at how busy it was at the show - there were no ticket sales on the door and we were told that 19,000 tickets had been sold for the day.  Even though it was busy most people were keeping their distance and masks were worn inside the vehicles.

On Thursday we left Chapel Lane to visit Steve's parents in Gornall.  After spending the day with them we drove to Blackmore Camping and Caravan Site near Malvern.  We arrived late afternoon and set up quickly on a lovely pitch near to the facilities block.  It had been a bitterly cold day, so after hot showers we settled down for the evening and went to bed early as Steve wasn't feeling too good due to the cold weather.

Pitch 6 Blackmore

We had only booked one night at Malvern so on Friday we drove to Minehead Caravan Club Site for the weekend.  After setting up on site we walked to Minehead and had a drink at The Quay Inn before returning to site.

Pitch 36 Minehead

Saturday was a cold, but sunny day so we walked from site to the coast path and then to Dunster beach.  We sat for a short while whilst having lunch, but it was too cold to stay long so we walked back to Minehead harbour and then to the site.

On Sunday we walked to Dunster village and Dunster Castle and Watermill.  We spent the day walking around the Castle and grounds and admiring the stunning views from the Castle grounds.  We returned to Dunster beach and walked back to Minehead along the coast path so we could have a circular walk.

Dunster Castle Keep towards Coast

We would have liked to stay longer at Minehead, but as we'd got a busy week at home we headed back on Monday.  After cleaning and emptying Zeb we took him back to the storage site on Tuesday afternoon.

Chapel Lane is a lovely site and perfect for visits to the NEC.  It was our first visit to Blackmore but we liked the site and I'm sure will return again.  Minehead is one of our favourite sites as there is so much walking from the site and it's not too far from home - the site is also open all year.

20-28 February 2022

Zebedee has been to Slimbridge, Cannock Chase and Wolverley

We had planned to visit our families in October, but had to postpone our trip due to Steve's heart attack.  Although he's making a very good recovery he gets very tired so we extended our trip to include rest days.

On Tuesday we travelled to Slimbridge to visit the Wetlands Centre.  It was a cold, dull day but we still enjoyed spending a few hours at the Centre before going to Tudor Caravan Park to stay overnight.  

Pitch 25 Tudor Caravan Park

The following day we packed up and travelled to Cannock Chase Camping and Caravanning Site.  We had a lovely pitch on the edge of the site and after setting up enjoyed a short walk on the paths around the site.    

Pitch 13 Cannock Chase

On Thursday we walked from the site to Marquis Drive Visitor Centre and along the side of Fair Oak Pools to the Birches Valley Visitor Centre before returning to the site late afternoon.

Fair Oak Pools

On Friday we drove from the site to visit my mother and sister, returning to the site late afternoon to set up before it was too dark.  

Saturday was our travel day and we moved to Wolverley Camping and Caravanning Site as this site isn't too far from Steve's parents.  After setting up we went for a walk along the canal before having a hot chocolate at a nearby café and returning to the site for the evening.

Pitch 43 Wolverley

On Sunday we visited Steve's parents and, again, returned to site late afternoon to set up before it went too dark.

We had planned an extra day at Wolverley before travelling home so walked along the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to Kidderminster.  There wasn't too much to see in the town so we walked a little further along the canal to the Watermill Pub for lunch.  It was a cold but sunny day - perfect for a canal walk.

Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal

Monday was our day to return home.

We've stayed at Tudor Caravan Park before and weren't too keen on the site, but it was definitely better out of season and we will return again when visiting Slimbridge.  We loved the Cannock Chase site.  It's a small site set on the outskirts of the Forest with lots of walking nearby - it's also only about a 15 minute drive to my mother's house.  The Wolverley site is okay, not as friendly as the Cannock Chase site but, again, it's handy for visiting Steve's family.  

17-23 November

Zeb has been to Woodbury

We've been planning to have a new kitchen and bathroom once Steve retired.  The company we've used said they would prefer to do them at the same time and as we didn't want to stay at home whilst it was being done we've booked a couple of weeks at nearby campsites.

The first week we booked at Castle Brake having got a very good 'Over 60s Off Peak' deal.  Our first impressions of the site weren't too good as the tarmac road stopped just after reception and turned into a rubble, potholed track.  Our pitch was at the bottom of the site and we were the only ones down there during the week although the site got busier over the weekend.  

Orchard 22 Castle Brake

We had initially tried to book another week at Castle Brake for the second week of the refit, but they were unable to offer us the same deal so we moved a short distance up the road to Webber's Park (although as it happened, one week at Castle Brake was more than enough!).  We were allocated a lovely pitch at the top of the site with fabulous views towards Exeter.  We only booked five days as the site was closing at the end of the month, however we left after four nights as we decided to return to our flat on the Friday evening.  

Pitch 14 Webber's Farm

It's our first time on both of these sites.  Castle Brake was convenient, but the facilities block was grubby and I can imagine that it would get very busy when all the seasonal pitches were being used.  We wouldn't return and wouldn't recommend the site either.  We preferred Webber's Farm as the facilities block was spotlessly clean, and the pitches were well maintained.  There are lots of walks over Woodbury Common from the site so it may be one for us to use again.

18-29 October 2021

Zeb has been to Blenheim, Grafham Water, Cambridge, Sandringham, Norfolk Broads, West Runton, Wells-next-the Sea and Leamington Spa

This has been our longest adventure with Zeb, we have previously spent three weeks away in Cornwall but this time have booked sites for almost a month.

Our first site was Bladon Chains Caravan Club Site which is on the Blenheim Palace Estate.  We've wanted to visit this site for a while, but sadly the Estate have terminated the Club's lease and the site closes on 6 September so this was our last chance to visit the site.

We arrived on Bank Holiday Monday and chose a hardstanding pitch on the quieter side of the site.  There was an air of neglect on the site, but that's understandable as the site was closing the following week.  After setting up we had a look around the site before having a lazy evening after our long journey.

Pitch 74 Bladon Chains

On Tuesday we walked to Blenheim Palace and toured the Palace and fountain gardens.  Thankfully we had a discounted ticket with the C&MC as tickets were expensive.  We were able to convert these to Annual Passes so we could visit the next day to finish our tour of the gardens and parklands.  The Palace was interesting, although there weren't a lot of rooms to see as the bedrooms and servant's quarters were bookable separately at an extra cost.

We returned to Blenheim Palace on Wednesday intending to walk around the Formal Gardens and Lake Walks.  We were disappointed to see that these were closed due to arrangements for the Salon Prive - this wasn't mentioned the previous day.  A member of staff suggested we walk around the parklands, but most of the walk was along a busy Estate road and we had to keep stepping onto the verge to allow vehicles to pass.  

Queen's Pool and Vanburgh Bridge towards Blenheim Palace

On Thursday we went back to Blenheim to see if we could find any more walks around the parklands, but every gap in the trees or footpath had large 'Private Property' notices so we returned to the site to get ready for our move the next day.

On Friday we moved to our second site, the Grafham Water Caravan Club Site.  We had a long and busy journey but arrived on site to a warm welcome.  We chose a sunny corner pitch and walked to the Grafham Water Visitor Centre in the afternoon for a coffee and to collect a walk leaflet.  

Pitch 37 Grafham Water

The reason for visiting this site was to walk around Grafham Water - the third largest reservoir in England.  We walked anticlockwise around the water but didn't enjoy the first part of the walk as it wasn't near the water - the path went through fields and zig zagged underneath large electric pylons.  The second part was nearer the reservoir and was more scenic.

Grafham Water

We decided to have just two nights at this site so moved to Cambridge Camping and Caravan Club Site on Sunday. The site was very busy and we were allocated a pitch on the perimeter of the site.  It was another very hot day so we just had a short walk from the site to find the bus stop to Cambridge ahead of our visit the following day.  

Pitch 27 Cambridge

On Monday we caught the bus to Cambridge and did a self-guided tour around some of the Colleges and tourist spots before having lunch at Las Iguanas at a table overlooking the river.  In the afternoon we walked around some of the city's side streets, along The Backs and River Cam.  The heat became unbearable in the afternoon so we caught the bus back to site and sat in the shade.

River Cam

We returned to Cambridge on Tuesday, intending to visit the University Botanic Garden in the morning and a couple of museums in the afternoon.  We enjoyed the Garden so much we decided to stay for the day and the museums can wait until our next visit.  It was another very hot day, but at least there was some shade in the garden.  We had lunch at the Garden Cafe and returned to Zeb late afternoon.

On Wednesday is was time to move to Sandringham Camping and Caravan Club Site.  We left the site early to visit WWT Welney and walked the Heritage Trail but found it was far too hot as there was no shade, so we returned to Zeb to head off to the Sandringham site.  We were originally shown a sloping pitch under trees but were able to change it, although we probably had one of the worst hardstanding pitches we've ever been on as it was rubble on top of sandy ash.  After setting up we had a short walk around the site and found the footpath to Sandringham for the following day.

Pitch 103 Sandringham

We had a lazy start to the day on Thursday and walked from the site to Sandringham.  We had a look around the Visitor Centre and a coffee before returning to site for lunch.  In the afternoon we returned to the Sandringham Cafe to meet Sue (of Sue's RAK Group) who I've known online for years but never met.  After a lovely couple of hours chatting it was time for Sue to go home and me to return to site.

Rain was forecast on Friday so we had a short walk around the parklands near the site so we weren't too far away from Zeb when it started to rain.  As forecast we had heavy rain on and off all afternoon but managed to have a few short walks when it was dry.

On Saturday we walked back to Sandringham and paid to enter the gardens.  As you would expect, these were beautifully maintained and there were so many paths to walk around the lawned areas and shrubbery - our favourite area was around Queen Alexandra's Nest   On leaving the gardens we visited the beautiful St Mary Magdalene Church.

Towards Sandringham House and Queen Alexandra's Nest

We were glad to leave the Sandringham site on Sunday and travel to our next site - the Norfolk Broads Caravan Club Site.  The site was very busy when we arrived, but our first impressions of the site were good and we found a large sunny pitch.  Poor old Zeb was so dirty after the last site that we spent a couple of hours cleaning all the dust and dirt from both the inside and outside as well as washing all of our walking clothes.  

Pitch 106 Norfolk Broads

On Monday we had a short walk to Ludham Bridge and then a walk along the river before returning to site stopping for a beer at the King's Arms on the way back.  We stayed on site all afternoon to sit in the sun.

Heavy rain was forecast on Tuesday afternoon so we went for a short walk in the morning to St Benet's Abbey.  We would have liked to spend more time around the Abbey and river, but were mindful of the forecast.  We were caught in a light shower on our way back but luckily were in Zeb before the torrential rain started.

St Benet's Abbey

On Wednesday it was time to move to West Runton Camping and Caravan Club Site.  After the horror of the Sandringham site we were apprehensive about this site.  We were allocated a corner pitch which was sunny and fairly flat.  After setting up we realised we'd forgotten the map for this area so went for a walk to East Runton to try and buy one.  There was nowhere to buy a map but on our way back to the site we took a wrong turn and found ourselves at the C&MC site and bought one from their site office.  We then headed back to site for showers and an early night.

Pitch 30 West Runton

We had a cool start to the day on Thursday and walked from the site to Cromer.  We found the town too busy for us so we walked along the coast path to Overstrand before walking back to the site late afternoon.

After a misty start to the day on Friday we walked to Sheringham along the coast path.  We pottered around the town for a while before returning to the site.

On Saturday we walked to Sheringham via Beacon Hill - the highest point in Norfolk at 105m high.  We walked a National Trust trail through Roman Camp to Stone Hill viewpoint, walking back to the site along the coast path.  It was another very hot day so we were able to site outside Zeb until it got cool in the evening.

From Stone Hill Viewpoint

On Sunday we left the West Runton site and visited Felbrigg Hall for a coffee.  We didn't stay too long as heavy rain was forecast so we headed to Pinewoods, a private site at Wells-next-the-Sea.  We managed to set up before the torrential rain started and stayed in Zeb for the rest of the day whilst the thunder rumbled around.

Pitch 106 Pinewoods

After heavy rain overnight we had a damp start to the day on Monday but finished setting up by laying our groundsheet outside the door to try and prevent some mud coming into Zeb.  We walked around the town and down to the beach before heading back to Zeb for lunch.  In the afternoon we walked to Wells harbour and also bought a small mat to try and keep some of the mud from out of Zeb.  

On Tuesday we had a lovely sunny morning and went to Holkham Hall to spend the day walking around the parklands.  It was another very hot day but we managed to find a lot of shelter on our walk. The parklands were lovely and there were many paths - our favourite area was the Deer Field.  We returned to Zeb mid afternoon to take advantage of a sunny afternoon and sat out until late.

Holkham Hall Deer Field

Wednesday was our final day in Norfolk.  We walked from the site along the coast path to Burnham Overy Staite and and sat by the harbour to have our lunch.  We had a beer at The Hero before walking back to site.  It had been another very hot day so we enjoyed sitting outside Zeb until early evening.

On Thursday we travelled to our final site - Harbury Fields Touring Caravan Park at Leamington Spa.  We had visited this site earlier in the year so we could get our new walking boots at Lockwoods and thought we would return to get fitted for new walking shoes.  We had a horrendous journey so were glad to get to the site and ourselves up on a sunny corner pitch.  In the afternoon we walked to the bus stop to see how long it would take us for the following day and then returned to Zeb to sit out in the afternoon sun.

On Friday we caught the bus into Leamington Spa and visited Lockwoods.  They didn't have any shoes that we liked (like so many things, supplies are low at the moment) so we had lunch at Las Iguanas and a walk around Jephson Park before catching the bus back to site.

Pitch 41 Harbury Fields

Saturday saw the end of our adventure.  We loved being away for so long and spent a lot of time planning future trips - it's our intention to be 'half-timers' spending six months of the year at home and six months of the year travelling.  

We've visited eight sites during our trip, seven were new sites and we had a mix of very good and awful.  The Bladon Chains site was okay, slightly neglected but that's understandable as the site was closing the following week.  We loved the Grafham Water site but having walked around the reservoir we're not sure that we would ever visit that area again.  The Cambridge site was very good, but next time we'll probably try the C&MC site which isn't too far away.  The worst site of our trip was the Sandringham site, it was crowded and dirty - in hindsight we should have booked the nearby C&MC site.  The Norfolk Broads site is lovely and we will definitely stay there again on our next Norfolk adventure as there is far more walking from site than we had expected.  The West Runton site was okay but very crowded - if we visit again we would use the nearby C&MC site.  Pinewoods was a disappointment, it looked like a scruffy campsite rather than an expensive five star caravan park and we wouldn't visit again.  We've previously stayed at Harbury Fields and although there's not a lot of walking in the area, it's convenient for visiting Leamington Spa.

30 August-25 September 2021

We've had Zeb for one year

It's now a year since we collected Zeb.  Almost five months of the year have been spent in lockdown with campsites closed, so we've made up for lost time since Steve retired in June.  

Over the last year we've driven 3,252 miles and have spent 92 nights at sites in Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Huntingdonshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, South Wales, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.  We've also been away for longer periods - we had three weeks in Cornwall and are currently at Grafham Water as part of our four week 'adventure'.

Although we loved Cali we're so pleased we bought Zeb, especially as we are now going away for longer periods.  Having a fixed bed, toilet and hot water are real luxuries! 

4 September 2021