Gloucs & Worcs (June ‘19) - Day 1

Trip 2 started with the first non-wet June day for a couple of weeks. Kim went off to earn some money for the morning leaving me to get everything packed in the car. That task was completed relatively easily which lulled me into a false sense of security for downloading some viewing material - my Mac wasn’t having any of it so I packed the Sopranos full box set and a box set of Cohen Brothers films -about 6 weeks of viewing for a 9 day trip!

We got to Brunnehilda at about 2.15 and were on the road before 2.45. I was particularly proud of the fact I didn’t use the mover to get her hitched. Quiyte sad really but a fair reflection of my current reversing confidence! The Volvo’s reversing camera was particularly useful though. All went off without a problem until we noticed after a few hundred yards that we were mirror less! Easily fixed and back on our way.

An uneventful 2 hour journey down the Fosse Way arriving at Cirencester Park Caravan Club https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/england/cotswolds/gloucestershire/cirencester-park-caravan-club-site/site just before 5. The lady who signed us in was particularly smiley and helpful. Stopped at the Motorhome station to fill up with water - no aqua roll lugging for Brunnehilda. 60 mins later and we were  all set up - except the awning! We put that off until the morning. I did feel a bit of a caravan newbie though. Partly because Kim was stopping everyone that was walking by and telling them we were first timers but mainly because I used the mover for the most simple of backing moves - the plots are very big and easy to access so I really should have left the mover controller in the glove box!

  

It was a gorgeous evening so we walked into Cirencester. We had a very adequate Indian at a place called Sultans https://www.sultancirencester.com/#/. It was top of the Trip Advisor list but the Peshwari Nast was the only thing that I had that justified such a high score - IMHO! A trip to Waitrose on the way home to stock up for tomorrow mornng’s breakfast.

Time for an early night. Isabella awaits us in the morning and I think she is going to be quite a demanding lady?!

The First Journey

It was certainly a “high noon” at Blackmore Vale Leisure! We headed out at 12 o’clock after I had expertly followed the clear instructions to de-rig. I do love a well written  process so all went well and I was like a pig in s***.

Then Mark turned up to help us motor move Brunnehilda into place. I know we can put a man on the moon and make cars that drive themselves but to see her turn on a sixpence like a remote control car was still jaw dropping! I was very paranoid about Brunnehilda’s nose weight - not sure why- but the BMV guys calmed my nerves and told me all would be ok!

As you would expect with our flaming British June, it rained most of the way home. No real incident apart from me going wrong and heading through the centre of Warminster. As it turns out, it was a good day to lose my caravan touring virginity - dual carriageway nearly all the way and very few lorries! The Volvo XC60 found Brunnehilda’s weight to its liking and, apart from an 10mpg drop in consumption, she hardly raised a sweat.

We arrived back in Northamptonshire at 5 and rocked up at a beautiful little site at Kilsby (about 5 miles from home) - bookings@shireviewkilsby.co.uk
The fabulous view was due to it being on the side of a hill which meant the van needed to be very high at the front and low at the back. The motor mover earned its crust again and I had a first go at driving up a ramp on one wheel to even Brunnehilda up. Apart from tripping over a Dutch couples tent guy ropes and breaking my key in a lock ( and the lock!) all went well.

We picked up Bobby (our youngest son) and the 3 grandchildren and took them to meet Brunnehilda. A walk and a cup of coffee later and Bobby headed home. The Twinnies and Charlie watched a DVD and settled down to bed - 5 of us in a 3/4 berth? But to be fair, two of them are only little.

This could be a long night ?!