About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Thursday April 28th 2011 - Just call me Gypsy

Only two days after arriving home from Filey I was off on my travels again - this time it was my first visit of the season to Anglesey. I had left everything packed in the van after my Filey trip so all I needed to add was my clothes and food and I was on the road by 7am. The previous day my next-door neighbour had asked if I was changing my name to Gypsy -  I may as well, as I don't seem to be home much! Come to think of it, sometimes a simple life on the road and staying for a few days at various sites around the country seems very appealing - maybe if I can ever afford to give up work I'll give it a try.

The sun was shining and the journey was good with very little traffic on the road, and just before 9.30am I was pulling into the entrance of my favourite Anglesey site. I have never had a pitch on that site with electric before as the hook-up points are limited and on a first-come-first-served basis, but as I had my hook-up cable with me anyway I asked if one was available - there was, in fact I could actually have a choice of ten. Brilliant! The warden just told me to drive round the site and pick which one I wanted, and after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing I eventually chose a spot in a small quiet field with a view over the hedge in front of me of the bay and the mainland in the distance. There was only one motorhome in the far corner, other than that the field was empty - though how long it would stay like that was anybody's guess. The following day was royal wedding day and the start of another long bank holiday weekend, so I expected to have some neighbours before long.

It was a couple of hours before I'd finally got the awning up and pegged down and everything set out inside, and by the time I'd finished I was more than ready for a brew and a half hour or so relaxing in the sunshine. Then it was time to take the dogs for a walk, so grabbing my camera I took a photo of the view from my pitch then set off on a tour of the site and a walk to the beach via the path leading round the headland from the bottom of the site.


The tide was a good distance out from the shore, and as the dog ban didn't come into force for another couple of days I was able to take Sophie and Sugar right across the main beach to the water's edge, where we walked along a good way towards Red Wharf Bay before turning round and retracing our steps.


Back at the site I spent the rest of the afternoon and the early evening sitting in the sun outside the awning, then when things started to cool down I retreated inside, put the fan heater on low, and settled down to watch a bit of tv. By 9.30pm though my early morning start was beginning to take its toll, so after taking the dogs for a final brief walk round the site I settled them on their beds in the awning and retreated to mine in the van. The day's weather had been glorious, and if it continued the same way over the next few days I could see I was in for a lovely break.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Tigermouse, Victoria here (ukcs)...anyway you mentioned living in the van full time and here's someone who does - and writes a blog about it!

    http://ourlifeinacaravan.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Victoria, the blog you mentioned is actually one I enjoy reading quite regularly. I don't think I could be doing with all the faff of putting up and taking down a full caravan awning on a regular basis though, my drive-away is enough for me!

    ReplyDelete

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