Aaron's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘caravan’

We were intending to go camping for Ben’s 12th birthday weekend this year but the weather forecast wasn’t very good at all so we managed to change that until the May Bank Holiday weekend next year so instead we managed to book a last minute caravan at Devon Cliffs.  We had only been here a few weeks ago at the end of August but enjoyed it so much, we thought that we would book it again, but in a cheaper caravan this time.  As October is out of season, prices were cheaper anyway but we did manage to get a really nice caravan that was only a few minutes walk from the beach at a much lower cost.  So we were pleased with that!

We travelled up on the Friday after school and had a Burger King takeaway when we arrived as they onsite BK delivers onsite as well.  We managed to get there just in time as there was an accident on the road on the way so we were later than we hoped.  We did still manage a quick walk on the beach that evening as well, which was nice during dusk.

We spent the Saturday in the beach with the boys playing in the sea and went to the restaurant for tea.  Aaron ended up, somehow, leaving his tablet on the table so Kelly had to go back in and luckily it had been handed in!  Lucky Aaron!  We then went back to the caravan and played some card games until bedtime.

On the Sunday, we couldn’t sleep at all, so we ended up all getting up for a walk on the beach at 6am.  It was lovely and we were surprised with the number of people that were up and about at that time of day!  We had a nice long walk along the beach and then went back to the caravan and had a cooked breakfast.  We then had a walk around the complex and ended up in the arcade to use up the last of our pennies.  We were meant to get some sandwiches for lunch but we ended up going to the other restaurant and having a nice meal.  We then had to go back to the caravan and start packing our stuff up as we had to drive home that evening.  We had considered staying overnight and leaving really early the next morning but we decided against that.

Once again, we had had a really nice time at Devon Cliffs and it was a perfect weekend for Ben’s birthday.  It is such a lovely place to stay, what with the beach, arcade and other facilities onsite.  I don’t think this will be the last time that we will stay! 🙂

During the August Bank Holiday weekend, we booked to stay at a caravan at Devon Cliffs Haven in Exmouth.  We hadn’t been there before but we loved it there!

The holiday park was brilliant and had it’s own beach, restaurants, takeaways, arcade, swimming pool and other activities to do.  Because of Covid-19 though, restrictions were in place so we couldn’t enjoy the facilities as we would have had normally, i.e. the swimming pool wasn’t open and we had to wear a mask in any indoor areas (such as the arcade) and to get to our table in the restaurants.  Anyhow, it was still great and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We spent a couple of days on the beach as the weather was pretty good and went to both of the restaurants, which were also really nice.  In a way, having the restrictions made things better as the restaurants were nice and quiet and nicely spread out so we could relax more.  I think we spent most of our time in the arcade though and must have spent a bit of money in there!  It was great fun and the boys had won enough tickets at the end of the weekend to get some sweets each.

The caravan that we stayed in was nice as well, although we had to contact the owner as we found items from the previous occupants in there.  Obviously, the cleaners hadn’t done a very good job so the owner got them in again.  We wouldn’t have worried too much but with Covid-19, everything was meant to be thoroughly cleaned down between visitors.  Anyway, the owner was apologetic and we left the cleaners to it on the Saturday morning whilst we went to the beach.

The beach was nice and big as well although there were loads of wasps!!  The water was freezing but it was nice and calm each day, so it was nice and safe for the boys to play in with their bodyboards.  We had a couple of beach BBQs, which was nice, and generally had a nice time.

It was a lovely weekend at Devon Cliffs and we will definitely be going back again although we will probably try and get a caravan closer to the beach so we could just walk the distance next time.

The weekend after my birthday, we went down to a caravan at Newquay, at the Trenance Caravan Park. The caravan was owned by one of our neighbours so we knew it was going to be in a good state as we had stayed in one of his before in St Merryn. We didn’t tell the boys until the night before, which obviously got them very excited! We didn’t go down until late on the Friday evening as Aaron had a Halloween Party at Beavers which Kelly was also helping at, so we didn’t get there until past 9pm. It was a nice drive down though and the caravan site was very quiet. Coby was so tired that he fell asleep on the sofa in the caravan and we had to practically carry him to his bed asleep! As the caravan was only a 6 berth one, Aaron and Coby had a small bed in a little room, Ben had a double bed in his own room and Kelly and I slept on our camping air bed in the lounge area. We could have slept on a pull out bed but we decided that we would probably be more comfy on our airbed. We had a decent night’s sleep anyway!

On the Saturday, we had a nice cooked breakfast to start us off before we headed to Mawgan Porth for the rest of the day. The weather was stunning with not a cloud in the sky for most part, but we did go dressed up nice and warm, as it was the middle of October! As the day went on, we got hotter and hotter until we were paddling in the sea when the tide was fully in, as it was boiling! The tide was mostly out when we arrived but was on its way back in, so we managed to go as far into the rockpools as we could before the tide started creeping up on us. As usual when we go there, the boys got wet! Every now and again, a wave would come in and come in much further than usual, which caught us out, but one of the boys always ended up a bit slow and either walked into a deep rockpool, and got water all in the boots, or tried to stand in the small wave, with it ending up going in their wellies. All three of them got soaked to the point that when they took their wellies off, they could pour water out of them! It was funny watching them though! As the tide came in, we gradually started walking back in whilst making sand castles, rock pooling, playing football and making pictures in the sand with the fishing nets. It was good fun, apart from having to dodge the occasional lump of dog poo! Disgusting! Eventually, when the tide was fully in, it was so hot that we had taken our wellies and coats and jumpers off and were paddling. We also got sun burnt as well as didn’t even think to take any sun cream! Doh! We were all tired out by the time we had decided to leave, which was past 4pm, and the beach was still busy with people. But we drove back to the caravan, washed and had some food for tea. We then relaxed in the caravan for the remainder of the evening and played some card games. It had been a brilliant day at the beach and a lovely day in general!

On Sunday, we went in to Newquay to look around. We parked up in the normal car park in the centre of town and then walked from one end to the other, stopping in shops on the way. The weather was amazing again! We had dinner in Wetherspoons, which was lovely and tasty, and also spent some time, and pennies, in the arcade.  The boys earned enough tickets to get a goody bag to share between them which had a selection of sweets and some little toys, so they were happy. We also had an ice cream as well and sat overlooking Towan whilst eating it. We then went back to the caravan late in the afternoon as we had to pack, clean up and then go home. Our neighbour had said that we could stay until 7pm, which was great, as it gave us plenty of time to have a nice day out and then be able to pack without having to rush around too much. Typically though, a family had arrived next to us and their boys asked Ben, Aaron and Coby to play with them just as we were getting ready to go. They did go and play with them whilst we were finishing off but it wasn’t for too long.

We had had a really excellent weekend in the caravan in an amazing location and the weather was awesome. We were very lucky with that! We will definitely be going back to this caravan again in the future.

During the first weekend of half term, we went and stayed in a caravan at Tencreek in Looe. We were originally going to camp there but a huge storm was meant to hit us over the first part of the weekend (and it did!) so we decided to upgrade to a caravan, which was a very wise move!

The caravan was very basic as we only wanted the cheapest one but it was fine for us.  The only problem was that it was a little small really, as Kelly and I had to sleep on our airbed in the main lounge area and it got really cold there overnight! We did take out little camping heater, but it was too small for the caravan so it didn’t make much of a difference. Aaron and Coby had a single bed each in a little room and Ben had a double bed to himself and another room, so they were fine!

We couldn’t hardly sleep during the first night as Storm Brian hit, so the caravan was shaking and the wind was gusting around outside making loud noises. I think Kelly and I had about 2 hours sleep in the end but Ben and Aaron slept fine (though Aaron did fall out of his bed at one point) and Coby ended up coming into our airbed half way through the night. This meant that I ended up on the sofa trying to sleep which was actually more comfy than the airbed! It was even colder for me there though, as there was an awful drought coming through the window right behind me, so I had my trousers and hoody on as well, trying to keep warm! There was a gas fire in the lounge but our bed was too close to it and would have caught alight. We survived the night anyway and all slept much better on the second night.

Each evening there, we went to the clubhouse and met Kelly’s friend Bridgette and her family there, as they were staying for the weekend as well. We ate there on the Friday and Sunday for tea and the food was actually quite nice and not too expensive. There was then a children’s disco at 7pm, followed by Bingo and then either Karaoke, or a band playing or something else depending on the day. There was also an arcade there, so the boys spent some time in there whilst we were around and enjoyed it.  We took part in Bingo on the Saturday and Sunday night’s but didn’t win, which was a shame as the jackpot was £130 on both nights! We stayed to listen to the Karaoke as well and to a Welsh band playing cover songs on a couple of the nights, which was interesting!

There was also a swimming pool on site, so we took the boys swimming a couple of times, and they all did very well. Ben showed off what he could do now and he is very confident in the pool. Aaron was less confident but we managed to get him to swim from one side of the pool to the other, which was the furthest he had ever swam in one go. Coby was jumping in as well into the inflatable ring and had his other inflatables on as well, and he wasn’t too scared really, which bodes well for swimming lessons in the future. The pool was only a basic thing, but it was good enough for us, though it would have been nice to have had a couple of slides in there.

On the Sunday afternoon, we ventured into Looe to have a walk.  It was surprisingly busy there with lots of people walking around.  We stopped in the arcade and the boys went on the 2p machines and won a few prizes, before we walked out to the beach and into the RNLI centre, which had an open day.  We managed to go into the locker room of the coastguards and the guy there showed us all of their uniform and Ben even tried on one of their helmets. It was very good really. We stopped in a few shops and had a look, but there wasn’t really anything to buy, apart from our usual fudge! It was a nice bit of fresh air though.

We had booked the caravan until the Monday morning, when we had to be out by 10am, but due to the lack of sleep that we had had, we decided to pack up and go home on the Sunday evening.  It was a very late decision as we only decided this at 22:15! So we packed up and were home again by midnight.  The boys were sleeping in the car, so it didn’t make too much of a difference to them.  We asked Bridgette to hand out key in on the Monday morning, which she did, so all was OK.

Overall, we had had a fun time in the caravan. It was just a shame the weather was so bad as we were all looking forward to camping really, as it would have made things a lot cheaper. We would definitely go there again though as the facilities were pretty good, as were the prices for everything.

Over the Easter weekend (from the Thursday evening until the Monday afternoon), we stayed in a caravan at St Merryn, near Padstow.  We rented it from a guy just down the road from us who Kelly knows due to his children being at School with Ben and Aaron. The caravan had 3 bedrooms, 2 toilets, a nice kitchen and large dining room/lounge area. It was a lovely caravan, however the weather decided to be an absolute nightmare for the entire time we were there!  There were gale force winds, heavy driving rain and it was freezing in the caravan due to there being no central heating, only electric heaters and a gas fire in the lounge area. The wind was so bad on one of the nights that I actually though we were going to take off and end up in Oz.  It was quite scary as the caravan was rocking from side to side, although it only seemed to be me that was bothered by this!

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The first night that we got there, we didn’t actually know where the caravan was on the site! It was also heaving it down with rain, very windy and pitch black, so poor Kelly had to go outside with a wind up torch, on the wet grass, walking around the caravans to try and find ours. Typically, after she asked in the cafe that was open, we found that we were in the wrong bit entirely! I also nearly had the car stuck on the grass whilst driving to find the caravan, and only just managed to reverse off it! It was a very interesting start to the holiday, but we eventually unpacked and settled in for the weekend. 😉

Friday was the nicest day of the weekend as it was a lovely day, and quite warm as well! It was the only proper nice day when we were down there, so we decided to go to Paradise Park in Hayle for the day. We had a lovely time there and saw lots of birds and a couple of bird shows. Ben, Aaron and Coby enjoyed it very much, although Coby was naughty when we were trying to eat our bought dinner there, as he wouldn’t sit down and eat but had to get up and run around! All three of the boys especially liked the large indoor soft play area with a big slide. Even Coby was going down it on his own to the amazement of us both! He has no fear that one!  We finished the day by going and parking up overlooking St Michaels Mount at Marazion and getting some fish and chips to eat in the car, although everyone seemed quite full up still from dinner, apart from me!  I thought they were delicious! It was extremely windy down there but it meant we could sit in the car and watch lots of wind surfers on the sea. It was lovely there but just a shame it was so windy otherwise we would have had a quick walk along the beach.  We then drove through Penzance and back to the caravan, after having a lovely day.

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Saturday was a bit of a wash-out, so we stayed in the caravan and relaxed all morning and had some lovely home made pasties for dinner, before we set out for a ride and ended up at Ann’s Cottage at St Columb Major, before heading into Newquay for an Ice Cream Sundae. By this time, the weather had picked up and the constant rain had stopped, so we took a drive down to Perranporth and parked up overlooking the sea. We had brought some sandwiches with us, so we had that in the car whilst watching the tide coming in. It was a lovely evening and watching the waves was very relaxing.

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The next day was Easter Sunday, and the boys woke up to find that the Easter bunny had been overnight. Ben and Aaron had been worried that the Easter bunny wouldn’t have been able to find us in the caravan, but a pile of Easter eggs on the kitchen table showed otherwise! Ben even thought the Easter bunny came into his and Aaron’s room during the night and tucked him in. Maybe he did! We had decided to go to St Ives for the day, but unfortunately, when we got there at about mid-morning, St Ives was literally full up.  There were no parking spaces anywhere to be found, so we ended up driving along the coast to Lands End. When we had parked up there, a torrential hail storm hit! We were quite lucky really that we hadn’t got out of the car at that point, so we stayed in until the storm had passed.  Afterwards, we had a lovely walk along the cliff path and saw massive waves crashing against the coastline. It was still really windy so we were all wrapped up in jumpers, coats and hats! The boys enjoyed looking in the shop and spent some of their Easter money and then played in the small play area back at the main complex. As it was getting late, we headed back to the car and to find somewhere to eat. On the way, we took a small diversion to the Minack Theatre which was a nightmare to get to as there were stacks of people walking around and cars everywhere. It was too late to go in and have a look so we ended up turning around and driving back to the services at Hayle and went in a Brewers Fayre for tea.  We were lucky there as we had the last table! Phew! The food was OK but took a long time to get to us due to how busy it was! In fact, we got there just before 6pm and the Carvery meat had already gone! That’s how busy it was! Crazy! By the time we got back to the caravan, we were all completely shattered.

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Monday was our last day, so we went to Padstow for the morning to look around. It was a lovely morning there and was quiet when we first arrived, as we made sure we got there a decent time, but by the time we left at about midday, it was heaving! We then had to pack our stuff up again, tidy the caravan back to how it was when we arrived and leave to come home. We all had a great, fun time though and would definitely think about going there again – maybe for my birthday in October! 😉

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