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

Saturday May 4th 2013 - Anglesey, first time this year

I've been asked many times why, when I'm going camping, I leave home at times which seem ridiculously early. Well there are two main reasons - firstly, by setting out early I can avoid a lot of traffic, especially on a bank holiday weekend, and secondly the earlier I get to a site the sooner I can get the tent sent up and I still have lots of time to enjoy my first day, which makes the weekend last longer. And when I'm going to the Anglesey site where ehu points are limited then it makes sense to get there early as I have a better chance of finding one available. So at 5.45am I put Sophie and Sugar in the back of the van and set off; in the early morning sunshine it was a very pleasant journey and with very little traffic on the road I made good time and arrived at the site just before 8am.

It was too early for reception to be open so I pulled into the parking area and was just about to go for a walk round to find an available hook-up when the warden, looking like she'd just tumbled out of bed, came out of her nearby caravan and gave me a barrier pass, telling me to pitch up and pay her later once I was sorted. I could have taken my tent and walked to a pitch but being able to drive there was much better; I headed for my favourite small enclosure, and though there were a few campers already there I found a vacant ehu point in a large space between two seasonal caravans and with a good view over the hedge in front. That would do for me, in fact the caravans may even offer a bit of shelter from the wind, so I parked the van sideways on and set about erecting my tent and turning it into a home for the next three nights. Once everything was sorted out I took the dogs for a walk round the site then finally managed to sit down with a brew and some toast.


After an hour or so's chill-out time, and with the dogs back in the van, I set out for the car boot sale just up the hill from the village. There were plenty of stalls and I took my time browsing but I didn't see anything of particular interest and there were no mouse ornaments to add to my collection so I didn't spend any money. Next on the agenda was the purchase of a new bulb for my lamp as I'd forgotten to get one the previous day, but what I thought would be a simple task turned into something along the lines of a 'hunt the thimble' game.

Parking in the main car park in the village my first call was the nearby Tesco supermarket but there wasn't a single light bulb to be found anywhere. Next was the hardware/fishing tackle/camping shop but no bulbs there; this was followed by a visit to the Spar supermarket (no bulbs) then the Co-op supermarket - again, no bulbs. This was ridiculous - all supermarkets sell light bulbs so what was so different about this lot?? I eventually ended up at a hardware/electrical/diy shop on the way out of the village, where I finally found what I wanted and bought two for good measure.

Back at the site I decided that while the dogs were still in the back of the van and out of the way I would put up my recently-purchased sun canopy over the tent door. It wasn't a big canopy and only had two poles so it didn't take many minutes to set it up, however when I tried to position it over the door I found there was one major problem - it didn't fit properly. Far from keeping any rain off the door, which it was supposed to do, there was a two inch gap between the canopy and the top of the tent which made the whole thing totally useless. I'd been advised by an assistant in the camping store where I bought it that it would be suitable for my tent and I'd been looking forward to using it, so I was rather disappointed and a little bit miffed that the thing wouldn't fit. So down it came and it was folded and rolled and put back in its bag to be returned to the store once I got back from the weekend.

By the time I'd put the canopy-that-never-was back in the van out of the way I'd had enough of messing about - it was time to chill out, and for the rest of the day and evening that's exactly what I did. When the time started creeping up towards 11pm I took the dogs for a final walk round the site then made a mug of hot chocolate and snuggled into my bed. Although it was windy the day had been lovely and sunny and the weather forecast was for more of the same - if that was true then I was really looking forward to the rest of the weekend.

2 comments:

  1. One of the things I enjoy most about your posts is the description of the area and the activities. I have been away from reading and posting with dental work so it was fun to come back today and enjoy the setting up of the tent to the last cup of hot chocolate. I'm sorry your canopy didn't work out. I remember the post you shared when you bought it.





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  2. Thanks Ann. Dental work sounds painful, I hope you are okay now.

    I was really disappointed that the canopy didn't fit, especially as I'd been told specifically by the guy in the camping store that it would be suitable. I did take it back however, and though I would have normally only been entitled to an exchange or a credit note for that amount as it was a sale item the store manager authorised a full refund as I'd been wrongly advised by one of his staff. I could get a full canopy for that particular tent but they cost almost as much as the tent did so that's not an option at the moment. Looks like I might have to revert to using a builder's tarp and a few lengths of washing line to make one! lol

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