Our first full week away and our first stop is Channel View Caravan Park in Brean. Check in was Covid safe and the wardens were both helpful and friendly. We were met with two days of rain Our pitch backed onto a farm with field full of cows (so cute!).
I can’t comment on the facilities as we didn’t use them due to being as covid safe as possible and using our own self contained facilities.
On day two during a sunny spell we ventured out and climbed up to Bream Down which had fantastic views of Weston Super Mare and beyond. Unfortunately the rain came with a vengeance so we had to run back to the van but not before getting absolutely soaked!
We waited for a break in the rain to go a walk to the beach which is a short stroll over the road and saw and endless seascape with a rocky coast line carved with intriguing caverns.
We took advantage of the shelter the caverns provided and did a spot of beachcombing. We discovered that this is a brilliant beach for seaglass finds and our haul grew very quickly.
Despite the rain we had a great time at Channel View Caravan Park. It’s ideal for days on the beach and getting some exercise on Brean Down. It has something for everyone of all ages. Within a one mile walk there are shops, pubs, takeaways etc so its a site you can pitch up and stay put.
A lovely campsite next to a stoney beach with stunning sunsets! The approach is a little tense and the lane into the site is both narrow and winding. Luckily no one came the other way or else there would have been issues.
The site owners were friendly and helpful, not that we had any problems. Our visit was shortly after the campsites in Wales had started opening so we were there to be self contained and enjoy a different view. The facilities were closed so we can’t comment on them.
On this day the last of our brood left primary school. Well his last day in school was in March but they managed to do a little walk through of the grounds to wave a goodbye to their teachers and fellow class mates. It was straight in the motorhome to travel to Caernarfon so when we got to site we presented a graduation certificate, card and gift to try to mark the occasion especially being in extraordinary times. It wasn’t quite a prom but we at least have more memories.
We headed for the beach and had a little wander to meet lots of cute dogs and say a distance hello to other campers.
This site offers beautiful scenery and we were more than happy to just sit outdoors and soak up the view after months of being in lockdown. We got creative with dinner and rustled up some of our old camping favourites.
Incase you haven’t made these before:
Ingredients:
Hotdogs (or veggie hotdogs in my case!) Cheese in small strips (mozzarella works really well) Puff Pastry Skewers egg (for brushing)
Simply put a skewer through the hotdog and cut in a spiral effect from top to bottom. Slot the cheese in the cuts. Wrap the party around the hotdog in a spiral. Brush with the egg.
If yo have an oven cook them until they are golden or if you’re using a BBQ, seal them in foil and cook on the BBQ until the pastry is cooked.
They’re very filling!
After our feast we sat and watched the sun set over the sea.
On the very day Boris Johnson announced Lockdown in the UK, we had arranged to collect our first ever motorhome. For three years we’d dreamt of owning our own travelling buddy on wheels since hiring a Swift Escape 686 for a summer family holiday in 2017. Suffice to say we really enjoyed our travels along the South coast of England and we were left feeling hungry for more.
With such a huge commitment, both financially and physically, it took us three years to finally be in a position to start looking for the perfect motorhome for us. The motorhome we hired really was superb and suited our family needs perfectly so we started our search with a Swift Escape 686. Three months later we couldn’t find ‘the one’ and we we’re at the end of the year.
With January comes thoughts of holidays and booking the best one we possibly can to look forward to in the summer. We had a little family meeting and discussed how we weren’t able to find the motorhome of our dreams and whether we should give up for another year and book a week in the sun.
(At this point we had no idea that February was going to bring floods and March was throwing a global pandemic into the mix)
Right there and then at that family meeting someone said ‘let fete decide!’ and we agreed to have one last online search for the ideal motorhome for us. Well, would you believe it, right there, in full colour, was a beautiful photograph of everything we’d been looking for. A quick call to the dealer secured a viewing for the coming Saturday morning.
Mr B started to have thoughts of being ‘pipped to the post’ and couldn’t rest knowing we could be too late if we wait until Saturday. We booked a day off work and travelled to Worcestershire a day ahead hoping to be the first to view. It worked, we were the first and on arrival were told the phone had been a hotline for that particular motorhome and the weekend was jam packed with viewings. Normally we’d be thinking ‘yeah right’ but if you’d been searching as long as we have you’d know that this motorhome was going to be snapped up!
In all honesty we set our sights on this motorhome so as long as there was no problems, we were going to buy it. We stepped inside and looked at each other and realised we would have to spend the next ten minutes keeping it cool in front of the salesperson.
Of course we bought it! We also knew his (yes his) name was going be Duggie because the number plate virtually spelt it.
So here we are, on the day we met
So back to the evening Boris announced Lockdown in the UK. As you can imagine after waiting three years sitting listening to this announcement, knowing were were leaving early in the morning to collect Duggie! Could we? Are we allowed? What is Lockdown? What does it mean? The dealer called us before we had a chance to call them and asked to to collect Duggie as soon as we could as they were closing down that morning and they didn’t know when they’d be open again.
Instead of the long anticipated excitement and day of celebration we had planned, it was a mad dash down the M5 and dash back before the roads started to close (which they didn’t in the end thankfully!)
Duggie sat on our drive for months without a single trip to anywhere. People were saying it was a shame we got our motorhome and then couldn’t use it. We had lots of trips booked which obviously were all cancelled. We had to find a new way of living and a new way of enjoying Duggie.
Enter Homeschool. Not just homeschool, we used Duggie for all the things we normally did outside of the house. Cinema, cafe, pub, restaurant, library, craft days, picnics, photography……..we found many uses for the motorhome that couldn’t go anywhere and enjoyed it all the same.
Despite the pandemic being a time of great change and anxiety, Duggie helped us to feel less isolated and kept our spirits high and we’ll always be grateful for our lives coming together at that time.
Duggies Adventures 