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

Wednesday September 13th 2017 - Another day in the van

After being disturbed a couple of times during the night by the sound of prolonged and heavy rain on the van roof I woke just before 6am to a leaden sky and a gale force wind battering the tent so hard I was surprised it was still intact. At least it was fine so I took advantage of the fact and took Sophie and Poppie for a slightly-earlier-than-usual morning walk. As I came back along the beach the sun was trying to push its way through the clouds and the sky was clearing to the north so I hoped the day would turn out nice in spite of the wind; that hope was short-lived however as I'd just got back in the van when the rain hit again.

It was during a fine spell mid morning that I went to get something from the tent and when I unzipped the door I was greeted by a scene of devastation. Everything in there had been up-ended by the wind and scattered all over, and the bedroom facing the field had a huge puddle in the middle of the floor from the rain having blown in under the tent itself. Fortunately my bag containing my clothes and personal stuff hadn't been affected, nor had the bedroom facing the back fence, so once I'd picked everything up off the floor I transferred it all into that bedroom and kept my fingers crossed that it would remain dry for the rest of the holiday.


After several bouts of heavy rain it was mid afternoon before the sky began to brighten out to sea, and knowing that it was high tide I went down the path to the beach just to see how far up it was. It was higher than high - the beach where I'd walked only a few hours before was completely invisible, with the sea battering the rocks and surging halfway up the steps.

As a dog walk down there was now impossible I decided to go the other way and walk through a nearby chalet site and up to the general store, however that proved to be a big mistake. It was quite a distance to walk and I'd only got halfway there when the sky went black and the heavens opened; I sheltered under the canopy of the local hair salon for a while but there was no sign of the downpour stopping and no point going any further so I had no choice but to make my way back to the van.

 Needless to say, by the time I got back there I was literally soaked right through to the skin and shivering, and the dogs looked like two little drowned rats - and that was when, for the first time ever, I really felt like giving up and coming home early. If I could have got a refund on my pitch fee I would have done, but having paid more than I'd expected in the first place I decided to stick it out and stay. After a good towelling down the dogs soon dried out and fortunately I'd packed my hair dryer, so with a change of clothes, the fan heater on and my hair dry again I felt a bit more human and I settled into the van for the rest of the day and evening, only going out again once during a brief fine spell for a quick pre-bedtime dog walk.

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12 comments:

  1. Jules24 September 2017 at 20:58

    Oh my! I am in awe. I would have been going home early. Thank goodness your clothes and personal items were OK. X

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  2. Tigermouse24 September 2017 at 21:10

    I've camped in some rough weather on several previous occasions but that day was just about the worst, and certainly bad enough to make many people give up. So that makes me either (a) a glutton for punishment, (b) totally insane or (c) not a quitter - or maybe all three :)

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  3. nashvillecats225 September 2017 at 06:50

    What horrendous weather you experienced Tigermouse. I think I would have given up.

    Yvonne.

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    1. Tigermouse25 September 2017 at 10:33

      I almost did, but then thought that the day was so bad it could (hopefully) only get better from then on.

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  4. Eileen H25 September 2017 at 08:10

    Oh dear Eunice how awful for you, that was Storm Aileen, the first named storm of of the season. I would have been gone from there too. Thank heavens you, Sophie and Poppie and your belongings were OK. In reply to your comment to Jules, I think you are very determined and will overcome whatever comes your way.

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    1. Tigermouse25 September 2017 at 10:46

      Other than getting thoroughly wet the dogs and I were fine. I was more concerned about the tent but it was well pegged down and also tied to the concrete fence post behind it; the worst that could have happened was for some of the poles to snap and they could be replaced so it wouldn't have been too much of an issue. Mind you, I'm hoping that by the start of next season I'll have a new tent with a fully integrated groundsheet so I won't need to use that one again.

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  5. sarahsop25 September 2017 at 08:28

    nothing worse than getting soaked and cold when you are camping. Thank goodness you had a heater and a hair dryer!

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  6. Tigermouse25 September 2017 at 10:47

    I ALWAYS take my hair dryer and fan heater when I go camping as I never know when I might need them - and that day just proved how invaluable they are :)

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  7. Anabel Marsh25 September 2017 at 21:25

    Awesome skies in those first few photos. Beyond that I can’t think of anything positive to say about your experience other than you are a hardy soul!

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  8. Tigermouse25 September 2017 at 21:30

    Either that or I'm totally mad :) I think after experiencing that weather there's only a full-on tsunami which would make me give up :)

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  9. Bag End Gardener3 October 2017 at 12:00

    Awful conditions, thank goodness for EHU and your heater & hairdryer.

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  10. Tigermouse3 October 2017 at 15:04

    Blimey! I go out to work for a couple of hours and come back to a whole host of comment from you :) I haven't published your other two on my previous post by the way :)

    The early morning was the best part of that day, once it started raining again it was truly awful but at least I could get warm and dry after I'd got caught in it.

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I really appreciate good comments - who doesn't? - but due to a recent tide of spam from anonymous readers all comments will now be moderated, and only those with a direct bearing on this blog will be published. I'm sure my regular blog readers/commenters will understand the need for this - and to anyone whose comment isn't published, you know why.

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