If you've never been to Ghent, then I definitely recommend it as a mini-break destination. Those of you who are regular readers will know that we visited last weekend after winning a Facebook competition run by P&O Ferries and Visit Flanders (yes, people really do win those competitions!). And while winning anything is amazing in itself, this was extra nice because it led us to visit somewhere we'd not considered before. The Lonely Planet quote on a Ghent tourist board leaflet sums it up: 'the best European city you've never thought of visiting'. It's true - it hadn't really been on our radar before. Ghent's neighbour Bruges (with which it shares some rivalry, judging by some of the comments on our boat trip) attracts all the attention, but this is doing Ghent a major disservice. The two cities share many similarities - quaint medieval streets, canal network, impressive historical buildings - but Ghent is larger, with a more modern side in amongst its more historical appeal. It's safe to say it has something for everyone, particularly at Christmas, when it's transformed into a magical winter wonderland. And at only an hour and half's drive from Calais, it's perfect for a weekend break.
We stayed at the Novotel Gent Centrum, and couldn't fault it. It's about as central as you can get, situated right between the belfry and St Nicholas' Church, with a tram stop and St Bavo's Cathedral a couple of minutes' walk away. We stayed in a suite, which is perfect if you've got children. Regular readers will know my husband and I have spent many evenings sitting in the bathroom playing cards after the children have gone to bed - because where else can you go when you're all staying in one room?! Here, the children had their own room with bunk beds, while my husband and I got to relax in a comfortable bedroom with a choice of bed, sofa or armchairs to sit on - makes a pleasant change from the toilet seat!
One point to note about this hotel - and many others from the research we did - is that parking is a problem. The hotel does have a car park, but it charges a whopping 30 Euros a day - not only that, but there are far fewer spaces than rooms. Parking is not cheap anywhere in Ghent unless you use some of the park and rides on the outskirts of the city, most of which are free - however, we weren't overly comfortable about leaving our car there unattended for two nights. In the end, we parked at the Savaanstraat car park, which has security and cost around 26 Euros for the nearly-48 hours we were there. This is not the closest car park to the hotel, but the closer car parks are all far more expensive. However, it was still only a ten-minute walk - not a problem unless you come loaded with cases!
We arrived in Ghent at around 9pm on a Friday. It was fairly straightforward to find the hotel - what was less straightforward was finding somewhere for something to eat. At this late time, we didn't really want a sit-down meal, but this is what all the restaurants in the area seemed to cater for. The more 'snacky' places (Subway, Pizza Hut) were already closed. We finally found a pizza/pasta cafe near St Bavo's, where we were able to get something to eat (although the proprietor had clearly been hoping to close up!). We later discovered there was a McDonald's just around the corner from the hotel in the opposite direction - and while we normally prefer to eat somewhere more authentic, it would have been perfect on a Friday night when we just wanted to fill a gap!
Struggling to find somewhere to eat proved to be a bit of a recurring theme throughout our weekend. Ghent is packed to the rafters with restaurants, but most of these (apart from the aforementioned chains) are sit-down, three-course-meal-type places. And, much as I'd like to have two main meals a day (we're on holiday, right?!), prices in Ghent are pretty high and this just wasn't feasible. We finally found somewhere for lunch called Le Chat Noir - in fact, we liked it so much we came back the next day! Located at the Vrijdagmarkt, the interior is cosy, quirky and typically Belgian. The service was friendly, the drinks well presented (the kids were gutted when they saw the chocolate peanut and mini muffin that came with the hot drinks!) and I can wholeheartedly recommend the chicken and pineapple panini. (I later noticed it has fairly poor reviews on Trip Advisor - I have no idea why!) Dinner was a whole other issue. We spent much of Saturday keeping an eye out for the perfect restaurant for that evening - specifically, we were looking for somewhere child-friendly, not too extortionately priced and that served waterzooi (first tried in Brussels fifteen years ago and never forgotten!). We narrowed it down to a few choices and came back to our first choice at around 6.30 that evening - completely full, no reservations. Oh. We tried our second choice - same story. This continued as we walked our way around Ghent - everywhere was full. We soon stopped caring about child-friendliness, prices or waterzooi - we just wanted somewhere to sit down and eat dinner - but nowhere had space. We had been walking around for an hour and a half, ready to give up and go to McDonalds, when we finally found the Brasserie Borluut just around the corner from the hotel. In fact, it had so many empty tables, we thought we must have made a mistake - and then, when we were able to sit down and order, we worried everyone else must know something we didn't. We needn't have worried - it was friendly, reasonably priced (for Ghent!) and the food was delicious - they even had waterzooi! Anyway, the moral is, if you are planning to eat out in Ghent, book ahead!
As far as attractions go, there are plenty of things to see and do in Ghent, and we barely scratched the surface in a weekend. We spent Saturday morning visiting St Nicholas' Church and St Bavo's Cathedral, both well worth a visit and both free (although there is a charge to see the famous 'Adoration of the Mystic Lamb' painting by the Van Eyck brothers, which is situated at the cathedral).
We also went to the belfry, where the views from the top are amazing. Unusually for an old building, you can take a lift to the top if you fancy taking it easy - in fact, this is probably safer than using the spiral staircase, as this is very narrow and it is a tight squeeze when passing anyone going in the other direction.
In the afternoon, we went on a boat trip. It has to be said, even with the blankets they kindly provided, this was COLD in December - so cold, in fact, that we had to go back to the hotel to warm up afterwards. Temperature aside, this was a pleasant and informative way to see and learn a bit more about Ghent, and I'd recommend it - particularly in the summer!
On Sunday morning, we got the tram to the modern art museum (SMAK!) - this is a nice size, with enough to keep us and the children interested but not so much we got bored. It's also situated on the edge of a park, which made for a pleasant wander (even more so in the summer, I would assume).
In the afternoon, we visited the Castle of the Counts - sadly, our visit was somewhat rushed, as we had to leave to catch our ferry home, but the building is very impressive and the views from the top are beautiful.
As part of our competition prize, we got given free City Cards, which gave us free access to various museums and attractions, as well as free tram/bus transport and a free guided boat trip. If you are planning to visit more than a couple of attractions, I'd imagine these are well worth investing in - the only thing we had to pay for (other than parking!) was our food. However, children are free to most museums and attractions, so it would probably not be worthwhile purchasing City Cards for children. It must also be said that, while the tram was very handy for getting across to the other side of the city, Ghent is easily walkable - in fact, wandering around from place to place is one of the most enjoyable things you can do while in Ghent.
While there are probably a few attractions that are far nicer in the summer (the boat ride for one!), there is no more magical time to visit Ghent than at Christmas. Sadly, we arrived the weekend before the Christmas markets and festivities started, but they were setting up around us and we could see how magical it will be. With lights, stalls, rides, an ice rink and a huge big wheel, it really is the perfect Christmas destination. And now that we've discovered Ghent, it's safe to say we'll be coming back again one year when the Christmas markets are in full swing!
2016 has not been a brilliant year. For me personally it's not been great, for several of my friends and family it's been downright horrible, and even globally (dare I mention Brexit and Trump?!) it's been pretty depressing for many. Normally when I'm feeling down I like to book a holiday. Well, okay, that's not strictly true - I don't book a holiday every time I'm having a sad or stressed moment (I eat chocolate instead). But I do start planning ideas for holidays or looking at pictures of places we've already booked to go to. It's simple - I get my kicks from experiences rather than material things, and having something to look forward to cheers me up. 2013 was a particularly nasty year for me, and I made up for it by booking loads of amazing holidays for the following year. 2014 became known officially (by me) as The Year of the Holidays. It was bloody wonderful.
When we got back from our Tenerife holiday last month, several people asked me when the next holiday was booked for. I don't think they quite believed me when I replied 'October'. But it was true - the only holiday we had actually booked was for next October half term (booked in September because it was so cheap we couldn't not!). There are a number of reasons for not having anything else booked. Lee's holiday allowance is one; he gets a pretty decent allowance in his new job, but no particular time is guaranteed - he has to book the time off work before we can risk booking a holiday. And given that there are many 'crucial' times when he's not allowed leave, it's proving a little difficult. Another issue is my sister's engagement - she was looking at possible venues for next year but hadn't yet set a date, so we were trying to keep all holiday periods free to avoid clashing (this problem has now been solved by a provisional date for the year after). Another factor is my all-too-quickly approaching 40th birthday - I know Lee is planning something but I'm not sure what, where or when. And while I really love the idea of a surprise, the one downside is that you can't look forward to something you don't know about. And, of course, money is always a problem - with a credit card bill to pay off Tenerife looming, we can't really afford to book anything else just yet. Of course, I know we will be going on holiday somewhere earlier than October - we have several ideas in the pipeline - but unless I have definite dates and destinations, I can't really look forward to them. Not properly. And the bottom line of all the above is that, despite having felt pretty miserable lately, I haven't been able to think about holidays to cheer myself up.
November is always a particularly tough month for me, and last week I got home after a difficult morning feeling rather stressed and down in the dumps. My phone buzzed with a Facebook notification and I glanced briefly at it, assuming it was relatively unimportant. I then had to look again. This is what it said: 'P&O Ferries has replied to your comment on their post.' I instantly knew what post it was (funnily enough, I don't often comment on P&O Ferries' posts). The post was a competition to win a trip to the Christmas markets in Ghent. To enter, you had to comment on the post, describing your dream European Christmas holiday destination. As I often do when I see Facebook competitions, I entered, writing a sentence about wanting to visit Lapland, with a humorous aside (at least, I thought so) about visiting Ghent being a close second. And, as I often do when entering Facebook competitions, I then thought no more about it. Until, that is, I read the Facebook notification. It's usual to get a notification that the page has commented on their post - this is where they detail the winner(s). But why would they reply to my comment? Surely they hadn't got time to reply individually to everyone? I tried not to get too excited but, sure enough, when I opened up Facebook, I read 'Congratulations, you're our Christmas getaway winner and have won a magical trip to Ghent!' To say I was surprised would be an understatement!
So, just when I least expected it, and had given up on thinking about holidays until next year at the very earliest, here was one being handed to me on a plate. It put a huge smile on my face on a day and at a time when I really needed it. Not only did I have a little holiday to look forward to (and soon - it needed to be taken by 20 December!) but I'd actually won something!
Obviously, I felt very lucky - but not in some preordained way. I don't believe that everything happens for a reason - I don't believe in fate or that things were 'meant to be'. I think there is too much crap in the world for any of it to happen for any reason other than chance. However, I do believe that there is very often a silver lining to be found, even if it's only that the tough stuff makes you stronger or makes you appreciate what you do have. I also believe that things usually tend to balance out. Statistically you have a reasonable chance of having some good 'luck' after having bad. I won the competition firstly because I entered - which already put my odds way above those of anyone who didn't enter! I have also entered hundreds of competitions over the years that I haven't won - the odds were that one day I'd win something. So, although I don't believe that I was 'sent' this holiday to cheer me up, I certainly feel lucky that it came just when it did, and I intend to make the most of it. Life is short, and it's important to grab hold of chances when you can - so we're off to Ghent this weekend! And I'm also feeling just that little bit more positive about the chances of winning that I'm a Celebrity luxury trip to Australia competition that the kids made me enter...!
I never thought I'd be one of those people. The ones who
return to the same hotel year after year. The ones who make friends with the
entertainment staff and swap numbers. The ones who know the hotel like the back
of their hands and have the same room each time they stay. The ones who greet
the reception and restaurant staff like old friends and have to say goodbye to
everyone when they leave. I've always viewed such people with derision. Why on
earth would you keep returning to the same place when there are so many other
places out there to discover? What a waste of a holiday opportunity not to
experience something new! How sad such people are to spend their time stuck in
a rut, doing the same things in the same place with the same people. Now it
seems I'm on the cusp of becoming one of them myself...
Before we first went to the Bitacora in Tenerife (see my first blog on the hotel here), I
laughed at these very people on Trip Advisor. Every other review was from a
repeat visitor, some who'd been three times already in the past year, or who
had lost count of the number of times they'd stayed. And while I took comfort
in the fact that it was obviously a hotel people wanted to return to, I still
pitied them for not having the spirit to want to change things up a bit. It
took a while after arriving for me to get it. Sure, the hotel was nice. The room was
spacious, clean and comfortable. The food was great. We really liked the
location, close to the beach and shopping centres, perfectly located for an
evening stroll. But it was as we got to know the staff, particularly the
animation team, that we really started to understand the appeal of returning.
From waiters to bar staff, reception staff to cleaners,
everyone was great, but it was the entertainment staff (animation team) that
really made the difference. We saw how they looked after the kids (including
ours) in the mini and maxi clubs. We saw how they encouraged people to join in
activities without ever being pushy. We saw how talented they were when they
performed sometimes during the evening entertainment. Permanently enthusiastic and
never without a smile, they always took the time to talk when they saw you
around the hotel, and they quickly knew the children by name. It was clear that
they enjoyed their work - this was a vocation, not a job.
Near the end of the holiday, the boys made friends with twin girls, who were returning to the hotel the following year. 'Can we come back next year?' the boys asked plaintively. We were certainly tempted. Our mind was made up while we were chatting to two of the animation team while waiting for the coach on our last day. It made sense. We did enough exploring in the summer, and had no need to go somewhere new and different in October. All we wanted was a nice hotel where we could relax, and this was a no brainer. There was nothing we didn't like about the hotel, and the weather was a major added bonus - Tenerife was the first place we'd been to in October where it was hot enough to swim in the pool or the sea every day and sit out on the balcony every night (in short sleeves!). Most importantly, the kids loved it - we knew they'd be happy going off to the kids' club every day, giving us the time to relax by the pool and actually finish a book or two. Why go somewhere else when this hotel had it all?
As soon as we were home, we started looking at prices. It turned out much cheaper to book hotel and flights directly than to book a package with a tour operator - plus you get a free taxi transfer to and from the airport (plus a few other perks) if you book directly with the hotel. So we booked (Same old, same old) and a year later, we were back. There was no wondering what clothes to wear and what to pack. There was no nervous anticipation at the airport, wondering what the hotel would be like. When we arrived, we knew exactly where everything was, what time the entertainment happened, how the restaurant worked and which way to go to get to the beach/supermarket/mini-golf/etc. We were soon lying by the pool, the kids already in the kids' club, marvelling at the fact that we'd been on a plane less than two hours ago. The boys soon found their friends from the previous year and we barely saw them all holiday - they were so happy and independent, even eating dinner at their own table in the restaurant. The animation team remembered the boys from last year, and we just felt welcome from the moment we walked through the door. It was one of the most easy, relaxing holidays we'd ever had, and we really couldn't fault a single second. When the boys asked again if we could come back next year, it was an easy decision.
Roll on a year, and we were getting ready for our third visit. Sadly, the post-Brexit drop in value of the pound, along with general price increases, meant that we knew we'd struggle to afford the Bitacora for a fourth time. We decided it was probably time for a change and looked for some cheap deals, eventually booking a hotel in Menorca for October 2017 while it was still as much of a bargain as it was. But as we arrived at the Bitacora for the third time, I started having second thoughts about Menorca. Despite some renovations taking place in the reception area, it was just as I remembered it. I had asked for, and been given, the same room as last year - when we walked in and looked out at the pool from our balcony, it felt like coming home. Although several of the animation team had left since our last stay, there were still some old favourite faces, who remembered our children, and they soon got to know some new members, all of whom were just as enthusiastic and friendly. Yet again, all the staff made a massive effort for Halloween, and we were bowled over at the performances of the animation team. Sitting on the balcony on our last evening, I had mixed feelings. Although I was looking forward to Menorca next year and it would be nice to have a change, I felt desperately sad that we wouldn't be coming back to the Bitacora. I felt sad that we wouldn't be in the same room with the same view. I felt sad that we wouldn't be sitting by that same pool in the sun, with the boys enjoying themselves at the kids' club. I felt sad that we wouldn't be able to stroll out of those same doors and take a walk down by the beach. I felt sad that we wouldn't see all those familiar faces, many of whom were starting to feel like friends.
View from our balcony
Animation team on Halloween
Something soon became clear. We may not be returning to the Bitacora next October, but we will definitely return. It wasn't just a three-time fling - I consider us regular (if not exclusive). We will be those people who go back year after year. We will be those people who are on first-name terms with all the staff. We will be those people who start their Trip Advisor reviews with 'This was our twenty-eighth time at the hotel...' Now we just need to work on raising the money to make it happen! Until next time, Bitacora...
And if you're reading this, Sonya, Yaya, Javi, Frankie, Carlos, Anzar, Marta, Fabio and all the other brilliant staff - we think you're amazing!
As I sit on the plane to Tenerife, having recently listened to the safety announcements, I find myself reminded of an incident that happened a couple of years ago...
We were on our epic tour of Australia and Hong Kong, involving four international flights, six domestic flights and an awful lot of driving. We soon found that the internal flights were a whole lot less stressful than the international ones - later check-in time, fewer restrictions, shorter queues, and so on. Several airports even had these handy machines where you could print out your own luggage tags to attach to your cases (you know what it's like trying to reattach those sticky tags around a loaf of bread? Yeah, that) before placing them on a conveyor belt and waving them goodbye - so much quicker than queuing up at a check-in desk. We were at one such airport (can't remember where - maybe I've blocked it out) doing exactly that. We put our jackets in the front pockets of our cases (which suggests it was Melbourne, as we were obviously flying somewhere warmer), attached the tags with some difficulty, watched them disappear on the conveyor belt then headed towards security.
Sadly, even for domestic flights, you have to go through the whole security rigmarole. Luckily there were no restrictions on liquids, but we still had to pop everything through the X-ray machine and put phones, tablets, etc. through separately. This was the point at which Lee realised he'd lost his phone. We searched his hand luggage. We searched my hand luggage. We searched both the boys' hand luggage. We went through our movements - where could he have left it? Then he realised exactly where he'd left it - in his jacket pocket. The same jacket we'd just waved goodbye to along with our cases.
Relieved we knew where it was, we made our way through security and headed for the departure lounge. Then it hit us - the phone was still turned on, and it was NOT in flight mode. 'Do you think it really matters?' we asked ourselves. 'No, probably not,' we answered, trying to convince ourselves. 'Why don't you Google it?' I suggested. 'Why don't you?' replied Lee, 'as you're the only one with a phone.' Fair point. So I Googled it. And it didn't make for reassuring reading. The signals transmitted by phones can potentially interfere with the flight controls or something. There are a number of plane crashes that have been possibly put down to mobile phone use. Basically, it would probably be fine but it might not. Was that a risk we wanted to take?
Obviously the answer was 'of course not'. But the next question was 'what the hell do we do about it?' The phone was in the suitcase, and the suitcase was possibly even on the plane by now. How much hassle would we cause by trying to get the phone back? How much of a delay would we cause? How pissed off would people be at us? Probably not as pissed off as they would be if we crashed the plane, we figured. So off we went to the information desk.
'Excuse me,' we said, somewhat tentatively, 'but we accidentally left a phone switched on in our suitcase.' We expected her to tell us not to worry, that phones causing crashes was just an urban myth designed to make us pay full attention to the safety briefing. Instead, she looked horrified. 'Right, okay, that's got to come off,' she said. She asked for the flight details and the colour of the case ('pink' replied Lee, rather sheepishly) and then got on the phone to someone in baggage. The good news was the cases hadn't been loaded yet. The bad news was Lee had to go back through security to locate the case and remove the offending phone.
So off Lee went to retrieve the phone while the boys and I went through to departures, sat down and waited. And waited. And waited. After a while, I started to worry. Where was he? It's not like I could phone him to find out. It wasn't long till the plane was supposed to leave, and the screen showed we were due to board at any moment. The enormity of it hit me - I was on the other side of the world on my own with two boys and no way of contacting my husband. If everyone started boarding, what should we do? Get on the plane and hope Lee joined us before we took off? Wait in the departure lounge for him regardless? Get on and fly to the next destination without him because buying one new plane ticket was cheaper than four?! The time was moving on. We should have been boarding by now.
Then there was an announcement. 'We're sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen. This is due...' - I hung my head in shame and waited for the bit about the idiotic passenger who left his phone in his case - '...to the late arrival of the plane. We'll commence boarding in five minutes.' I lifted my head up in relief, glad to see our error wasn't being broadcast across the departure lounge, just in time to see Lee walk through security.
It was all fine. We made it on the plane in time. We didn't cause a catastrophic crash. Lee's case even made it on the plane. I'm thankful the plane was late in arriving in the first place, or there's a pretty good chance Lee's case may have already been loaded by the time we'd realised the problem - and that really would have made things difficult. The moral to this story, of course, is take very careful notice of your phone at all times when at the airport. And try very hard not to think about the potential consequences of all the other people who don't think airplane mode is that important...
A couple of friends have pointed out there are relatively few disaster stories in my blog. And when I say relative, I mean in comparison to the amount of disasters we actually have. It's a fair point. I've written reviews, I've written tips, I've written general musings, but apart from a few examples (Those without a strong stomach, look away now; The phone, the kayak and me; The time when The List didn't work; Sick of holidays?) I've not covered a fraction of the holiday disasters that we actually have. And we have many. To be clear - and without wanting to jinx myself - I'm not talking major disasters here. We haven't been caught up in a hurricane, our passports haven't been stolen, none of us has ended up in hospital (and it's really difficult to type with your fingers crossed). But we are somewhat renowned for having lots of mini, sort-of-funny-when-you-look-back-on-it disasters, to the point that when anything goes wrong on my friends' holidays, they tag me on Facebook and refer to it as a Sennett Holiday. So I thought maybe it was time to go back over a few such incidents...
It was August 2010. My eldest was four and my youngest still a baby. We were off to Spain for a fortnight in the sun. We had a hideously early flight the next morning so, as we often do, we'd checked into an airport hotel the night before. Now Thomson had recently started a new initiative where you could check in for your flight the night before - and I don't mean just an online check-in, where you get to choose your seats; you could physically check your luggage in at the airport. This seemed a great idea to us. How many times had we been stuck in the longest queue ever to check in our luggage, worrying about whether we'd have enough time to then get past security and catch our plane? It's pretty standard these days to check in online at home, but you still have to join a queue at the airport to get rid of your luggage. This was genius - we could check everything in the night before, knowing that in the morning, when our alarm went off at the ungodly hour of 4am, all we had to do was drag ourselves out of bed and straight to security. No extra queues, no suitcases to carry, no brainer. I used The List to ensure everything we'd need for overnight and the journey - toothbrushes, change of underwear, books, nappies, etc. - went into the hand luggage and everything else went into our suitcases ready to be checked in. So that's what we did. We checked into our hotel, walked across to the airport, checked in our cases and then went to find somewhere for dinner, baggage-free and boarding cards ready for the next day.
After dinner, while walking back through the airport to our hotel, it happened. 'I need a poo!' announced our four-year-old. 'Okay,' we said calmly, 'can you wait until we get to the hotel?' He shook his head. 'Okay,' we said, still calmly, 'we'll go and find some toilets.' 'I need a poo NOW!' he wailed, a look of terror on his face. Now realising the urgency, we had similar looks of terror on our faces as we ran aimlessly around the airport looking for a toilet sign. And as we found one, and I grabbed my son's hand and ran towards it, I turned to look at my husband and saw from his face that we were already too late.
I led my son into the toilets, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Once safely locked in a cubicle, I surveyed the damage. It was carnage. I stripped him off and used baby wipes to clean him up, thankful that we'd have a hotel bathroom to wash him properly in afterwards. I rinsed his jeans as thoroughly as I could in the sink, apologising to the lady who came in to clean and then thought better of it, and then tied them tightly in a nappy sack, wishing we didn't have to take them on holiday with us but refusing to throw away a perfectly good (if somewhat soiled) pair of jeans. I was less precious with his socks and pants, which went straight into the nappy bin in the toilet. 'But those were my favourite Buzz Lightyear pants!' he wailed. I'm sorry, but Buzz Lightyear was well past saving.
So there I was, stuck on my own in a toilet with a naked-from-the-waist-down four-year-old and a rather unpleasant nappy sack. I phoned my husband. 'Can you get him a change of clothes please?' There was silence, and it didn't take me long to realise why. We didn't have a change of clothes. All our clothes were in the suitcases. The ones we'd checked in just an hour or so earlier. We hadn't even packed pyjamas, as it was only for one night. 'Can you buy him a change of clothes, please?' I asked. And so I waited nervously in the toilet cubicle, trying to ignore the whimpers from my son and the conversation about the 'awful smell' between two women who'd just walked in. Finally I received a text. 'Everywhere's shut'.
What could I do? I could hardly walk through the airport with my son's backside (and frontside) on display for all to see. Suddenly I had a brainwave. I phoned my husband. 'Is Boots open?' I asked. 'If so, buy some pull-ups!' Five minutes later: 'Boots is open. No pull-ups.'
We had only one option left. Some minutes later, I emerged from the toilets with a four-year-old in trainers, a T-shirt and a nappy. And I don't mean a toddler-sized nappy - I mean a little nappy borrowed (well, okay, stolen) from his baby brother. It didn't fit. It looked wrong in every way. And have you ever tried putting a traditional, non-pull-up nappy on a child that's way too big to lie on a changing table? But at least it (just about) covered his dignity. We put him in the pushchair and carried his brother, hoping it would look slightly less weird. But as we walked through the airport, the enormity of it hit me - he wasn't just travelling through the airport and back to bed in the hotel wearing a nappy. He would also be queuing up and going through security in a nappy - if no shops were open in the evening, they sure as hell wouldn't be open at 4 in the morning. And if we didn't have time to find something in the departure lounge (where the shops surely would be open), he'd be potentially getting on the plane, going on a coach and arriving at the hotel wearing a nappy. He may only have been four, but he was old enough not to be happy about this situation - not to mention the fact that he was still inconsolable about the Buzz Lightyear pants.
Suddenly, as we neared the exit, salvation dawned. 'Monsoon!' I shrieked. 'And it's open!' I should point out at this point that I'm a Primark girl, and anything more than £7 or £8 for kids' clothes makes me cry. '£17?' cried my husband, in horror, as he picked up the only pair of shorts in the shop that would fit my son. 'You've got to be kidding!' I might add that this was six years ago, and £17 was even more then than it is now. But right at that moment, I would probably have paid £70. I grabbed them in delight, handed over my money and was soon back in the toilets making my son look decent again. To say I was relieved would be an understatement.
I should probably note that my son was long past the potty-training stage and was not in the habit of having accidents of either type - he clearly had a bug of some sort and was just unlucky. But still - you'd think we'd have been a bit more prepared and had at least one change of clothes for the kids, just for all eventualities. You'd also think we'd have learnt our lesson from this, and always carry spares with us, but we still didn't (and have been caught out since, if not quite as dramatically). We did, however, learn just how important your child's favourite Buzz Lightyear pants are - my son took most of the holiday to get over their loss. I too, was slightly traumatised for a while, if for different reasons. I at least now know to run the minute I hear 'I need a...'!
This summer was the first in many years that we had a 'normal'-length holiday. With Lee being a teacher and me being self-employed, in the past we've theoretically had six weeks in the summer to do with what we wanted - which was mostly go on holiday. This year, of course, with Lee now working in a non-teaching job, we found ourselves limited to two weeks like most people - a bit of a shock to the system!
Our love of long holidays first started back when the price of package holidays suddenly increased - or maybe it was just that our youngest turned two and suddenly we had to pay for him. Before that, our holidays had been more frequent than long - we'd have a two-week holiday in the summer, but then we'd probably take a few extra breaks as well, visiting friends and family, hiring a cottage or camping somewhere. But then we found ourselves looking at the cost for four flights as well as a hotel - astronomical. So we started looking at alternative methods of travel. We considered the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao, but that was pretty astronomical as well. Then we started thinking about driving... It would be a whopping drive to Spain, but it wouldn't be so bad if we broke it up - it's not as if we didn't have the time. Of course, if we then paid for hotels throughout France to break up our journey, we were still looking at an expensive holiday. That's when we hit on camping. So that's what we did - we drove slowly through France for a week, stopping at campsites on the way, we had a week in a hotel in Spain, and then we drove back up through France for another week, camping as we went. A three-week holiday for a fraction of the price of a two-week package. The long holiday was born.
The problem (or not) is that long holidays easily escalate. The following year, we did a similar thing, staying in a different Spanish hotel, but this time we decided to give ourselves a few more days to enjoy the campsites rather than just passing through. The next year, we decided to do away with hotels altogether - we could go on holiday for over four weeks if we didn't have the expense of a hotel! So we drove around France, camping all over the place, and we still managed to get our sun on the south coast. The year after that, we decided to make the most of the money we had at the time by visiting Australia and Hong Kong. Of course, if you're going to go all that way, there's no point in going for a fortnight - you spend half your time on the plane! So, making the most of the luxury of having six weeks off work, we went away for just over five of them, taking the opportunity to travel around Australia and to stop at Hong Kong to break up the journeys. The following year (last year), we were back to budgeting, but we didn't want to reduce the length of our holiday. So back camping round France we went (with a week in a campsite in Spain), for almost the entire duration of the summer holidays. Going for less time seemed almost incomprehensible - we'd got so used to spending our entire summer away.
Then this year it was all change. We no longer had six weeks - we had two. Of course, we squeezed as much as we could out of it - Lee took a half day on the Friday, leaving as soon as he'd finished work, and we came back on the Sunday evening. Technically, we had two weeks and two days, which you don't get to do when you book a package, but it was still three weeks shorter than what we were used to. I was concerned - I knew two weeks was logically a perfectly reasonable length for a holiday, and I knew we were lucky to be able to have anything at all, but it was so different, and I worried it would be gone in a flash. I remember halfway through previous holidays thinking I was glad we weren't only going for a fortnight as I was nowhere near ready to come home. This year, I'd be coming home whether I was ready or not.
So the summer dawned. We managed to get on an earlier ferry than booked, arriving at our overnight hotel in Abbeville early enough to have a wander, play at the park, eat at a restaurant, visit a funfair and watch fireworks before bed. Given that we'd only expected to roll up in time for a late dinner and then bed straight away, we already felt like we'd got an extra day out of our holiday. We moved on to our favourite campsite in Dinan the next day, where we wandered the town, ate a delicious lunch and relaxed around the pool. The following day we moved down to Carnac in the south of Brittany - close enough for us to have time to meet up with friends in Dinan before heading south. We spent a week camping in Carnac before heading east and spending two nights in a lovely (and cheap) campsite near Le Mans. Four more nights in Melun on the outskirts of Paris, including a trip to Fontainebleau, a day in Paris itself and a credit-card-punishing day in Disney, and it was time to head home. But here's the thing: it didn't seem short. By the end of the two weeks (and two days), I was ready to come home. Not in a had-enough way (it's rare that I've had enough). Just in an I've-had-a-lovely-holiday-but-now-it's-time-to-come-home kind of a way.
I was surprised. I was dreading the holiday being over too soon, but it actually felt like a nice break. Come to think of it, last year I had been more than ready to come home at the end of over five weeks, but that was mostly down to some unfortunate weather and a few mini-disasters - and I certainly wouldn't have been ready after two weeks.
I think part of it this year was down to not travelling too much. Last year, we must have stayed in at least ten campsites, but this year it was only four (plus a hotel). We didn't want to spend precious time in the car, so we made sure we didn't travel too far this year. We also made sure we stayed at least two nights everywhere (except the first night) - we wanted time to relax and didn't want to waste time putting up and taking down the tent. We fitted in lots of days out, but also made sure we had time to chill out by the pool or next to the tent - I got through nearly as many books in a fortnight as I normally do over the whole summer!
A huge part of it was also down to the change in our non-holiday lives. When Lee was teaching, he'd spend evenings and weekends working, so we needed every bit of holiday we could get. We cherished those weeks on holiday because it was virtually the only opportunity we got to spend real time together as a family - plus if we weren't physically away, Lee would have found himself catching up with work, and I'd have been working or doing jobs around the house. Now, life is different. We spend weekends together. We spend evenings together. Even though the holiday was only two weeks, we knew there were only five work days before we got to have a weekend off together again - it's a whole different world.
Largely, though, I think it was down to expectations. If you expect to be away for five weeks, of course you wouldn't be ready if you had to come home after only two. You plan your time and your mindset depending on how long you've got. I never feel disappointed when it's time to come home after a weekend break - I might think it would be nice to come back another time, but I only ever expect to be away for the weekend. In this case, I knew we only had two weeks, and we planned accordingly. It was long enough. It was fine. I now feel confident I can cope with normal-length holidays!
Of course, the one downside of our shorter holiday is that we didn't have time to travel very far south. And while I know that south isn't a guarantee of good weather (last year's week in Spain saw rain every day and highs of 22), it kind of helps. We were pretty lucky with the weather this year given that we didn't get further south than Brittany - only one afternoon of rain! - but we didn't really have the baking hot, lie-on-the-beach kind of weather that makes you feel like you've had a proper summer holiday. So next year we're thinking of hiring mobile homes in campsites, rather than putting up the tent, to give us time to travel just a little bit further south. Plus it helps to know I'll get my hot-weather fix in Tenerife in less than four weeks' time. Holiday-obssessed, moi?!
So here it nearly is again, the annual French camping holiday.
This year, we're only going for two weeks and two (all-important) days rather
then the usual five-ish weeks, but unfortunately it makes very little
difference to the amount we have to pack. We'll still need a tent, sleeping
bags and cooking equipment. We'll still need toothbrushes, swimsuits and
towels. On the plus side, we won't need quite so many books or
suncream/shower-gel refills. But on the downside, we could potentially end up
taking more clothes. I normally take enough for around ten days and do plenty
of washing while we're away. The idea of avoiding washing this holiday has a
definite appeal, but then I'd have to take at least sixteen changes of clothes
- and that doesn't allow for any weather-related clothing dilemmas. First-world
problems...
Anyway, this morning, my post about packing for Australia (How do you pack for five weeks?!) popped up in my Facebook memory feed and it made me think about packing for
camping. If, like us, you travel around when camping, there are various things
you can do to make it easier for yourselves - some ideas that we successfully adapted for
our trip to Oz. So here are a few of my tips for packing for a stress-free
camping holiday.
Pack light
Firstly, you really don't need to take that much - or, at least, not as much as you might think. Sometimes I look enviously at the shelves in Mountain Warehouse or Go Outdoors at the range of clever gadgets and expensive gear, but you'll be surprised at how little you actually need. So here are the camping essentials we do take:
Tent (obviously);
Gazebo - this is perfect for shelter from the rain or the sun while cooking, eating or when the kids have gone to bed and we don't want to sit inside the tent;
Mallet and spare tent pegs (you'll be surprised at how many you lose or get bent);
Gaffer tape and pliers - useful for lots of things;
Sleeping bags (Lee and I actually took duvets pre-kids but they take up lots of space, so sleeping bags are more practical!);
Camping pillows - these are little padded pillows (not inflatable ones) that roll up in a small bag, and they're as close to luxury as we get, but having tried no pillows and rolled up towels, they make a surprising amount of difference for a good night's sleep;
Air beds - again, this has been trial and error. Lee and I slept on sun lounger cushions pre-kids(!) but they take up even more space than duvets. We've tried the mats that other people swear by but found them too hard. We've never liked the look of camp beds (probably imagining them collapsing in the early hours). When they're not deflating (which sadly is a common problem), air beds are actually pretty comfy, plus they take up very little space;
Fold-up chairs;
Fold-up picnic table and benches* (just big enough for us all to sit at and it ensures the seats are the right height for the table);
A two-ring gas stove - you need at least two rings for easy cooking, although an extra stove would allow you to boil water for a cup of tea while you're cooking;
Coolbag;
Saucepans, plastic plates and cutlery, etc. - it's good to have enough plates and cutlery to get through breakfast and dinner without needing to do more than one trip to the sinks for washing up;
Lots of torches - you need a couple of bright torches to light up outside or inside the tent in the evenings, plus the boys have one each and we usually have at least one more for trips to the toilet or wherever. Spare batteries are also an essential;
Washing-up bowl, liquid, sponges and tea-towel;
Washing line and pegs;
Toilet roll (not always supplied by campsites, especially in France);
Black sacks and plastic bags - perfect for dirty clothes, rubbish, wet stuff, etc. (you really can't have too many);
Antibacterial handwash - don't expect to find soap in the toilets;
Antibacterial wipes (just because).
Things we don't take:
A mini fridge - we tried this once - it took up lots of space in the car and then when we arrived it didn't work. If the weather is hot, it would be a handy thing to have, but we've camped in Spain and the South of France without one and survived. A bit of clever planning with your food avoids needing one (see below), and a lot of campsites or resorts hire them out, leaving you more space in your car;
A camping carpet - sure, this probably makes your tent feel luxurious, but given the amount of mud, grass and water you end up tramping into the tent, I'm not sure it's worth it. We make sure no shoes or dirty/wet clothes get into the sleeping compartments, but the main area of the tent ends up dirty whatever you do. We've also seen incidents where people's camping carpets have got wet and flooded the tent... ;
Camping cupboards/shelves - I've seen all sorts of clever organisers for camping on sale, but if you're travelling around they're simply not worth it. Unpacking everything onto shelves just to pack them again a day or two later is time wasted - plus most tents have a few built-in pockets where you can put essentials;
Portable toilet - hey, if we had the space,it would be great, but the boys are old enough to take the night-time trip to the toilet now!
Thing we take but can live without;
Electrical hook-up - most campsites charge for this, so we usually don't bother, as the only thing we really use it for is charging phones/tablets/DVD players. If you want to do luxury camping and use lots of electrical equipment - particularly if you're staying in one place - then it's great, but it's really not an essential.
This is obviously not an exhaustive list, and I haven't included the usual holiday items like sunscreen, mozzie repellent, toothbrush, etc., but it should cover all the essentials you need for a camping trip of any length. I checked the items against last year's List, and we managed successfully for over five weeks!
Portable battery pack
This is the one thing I have left off the list above, because it is important enough to need a paragraph all of its own. It's basically a portable battery*, which is designed primarily for starting cars in the event of a flat battery. However, it can also be used for charging phones and tablets, for inflating the airbeds and as a light. This is one of the reasons we're not too worried about getting an electrical hook-up at campsites, and it can be charged up in the car when you're driving. Plus you know it's there in an emergency if you ever need to jump-start your car!
Luxury lifesavers
Here are a few more things we usually take - not essentials, but they do make life easier!
Portable DVD players - if you're travelling a lot or driving a long way to your destination, these make the journey so much more pleasant. No more 'Are we there yet?' In fact, my kids are usually a bit sad when we reach our destination and they have to get out of the car and stop watching. They also come in handy for those days when it's raining and we're not quite ready to leave the tent. Depending on the model, you may be able to pre-load it with films or stuff you've recorded from the TV to avoid taking loads of DVDs with you.
Tablets - as above. Useful for journeys, useful for rainy days, useful for occupying the kids while you're putting the tent up/taking the tent down, cooking dinner, still in bed, etc.
Walkie-talkies - we invested in these last year, as our children were getting a bit older and wanted a bit more independence. While the idea of sending them off to the park or to explore the campsite on their own is great in theory, especially if you're busy cooking or setting up, in a big campsite - particularly one where you don't speak the language - it doesn't always feel like a particularly safe or sensible idea. Walkie-talkies mean they can go off to explore or play but they can easily contact us if they need us and we can easily tell them it's time for bed/dinner/going out without having to tramp round the campsite to find them.
Pens and paper - okay, so not luxury, but really useful. Keeping score in games, writing lists, occupying the kids in a restaurant, copying directions - the list is endless.
Games - a fair amount of space in our car is taken up with games. We have games for Lee and I to play when the kids are in bed (Scrabble, cribbage, backgammon). We have games to play as a family (Uno is the current favourite). We have outdoor games (petanque and Molkky).
Foldable beach lounger* - this takes up virtually no space in the car but makes sitting/lying on the beach soooo much more comfy!
Shewee - yes, you read right, and yes, it is what you think it is. It's mainly useful for travelling - picnic stops don't always come with public toilets, and it's so much harder for us ladies. It may also have come in useful in the night when our tent was a particularly long way from the toilet block...!
Fuss-free food
If you haven't got a fridge, it rather limits you as to what you can cook. If your campsite has a shop on-site or nearby - or even if you do a big supermarket shop just before cooking - you can obviously cook meals with meat, dairy or other fresh ingredients. But for those times when that's not an option, it's a good idea to have some no-refrigeration-needed meal ideas ready. Vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes and onions keep well, so veggie curry, Bolognese and chilli are all options. There are plenty of tinned meat options too, such as tuna, corned beef, ham and chorizo. Favourite camping meals for us include tuna Bolognese, corned beef hash, ham and couscous (with salad if available, tinned sweetcorn if not) and a jambalaya-type rice dish with chorizo and veg. Tins and jars are your friends if you're camping and we always bring a selection with us, as well as store-cupboard essentials like pasta, rice, olive oil and herbs/spices. Of course, you can always shop while you're away (and we do - frequently), but it's handy to have a few staples with you to avoid having to go shopping straight away. UHT milk is another essential if you like cereal for breakfast (let's face it, toast would be difficult) or milk in your tea/coffee. No, it's not as nice as fresh milk, but actually it's nigh-on impossible to buy fresh milk if you're camping in France, so you may well be stuck with it anyway! You might also want to invest in some long-life desserts like rice pudding and pots of jelly if you're used to having pudding (although ideally, if you're in France, you'll be eating tarte aux pommes, clafoutis, tarte citron or some other gastronomic delight...). A final tip, and possibly my best one, is to start stocking up on sachets of salt, pepper, sugar, ketchup and other sauces whenever you end up taking a couple extra at restaurants, as well as the little cream/milk pots you can get for your coffee/tea. If you like a sprinkle of sugar over your cornflakes or a teaspoon in your tea, or you like salt on your dinner, these are perfect to save you having to take a big container with you. The cream pots are ideal if you don't want to open a whole carton of milk (which won't keep) for your coffee. And we discovered how perfect the ketchup sachets are the year we had to buy a whole bottle (which didn't keep) just to put it on our hotdogs one night (tinned frankfurters - another easy meal!)!
Packed lunches
Okay, so this isn't strictly speaking to do with packing, but it has the word 'pack' in it, right? If, like us, you travel around between campsites, you may find yourself driving at least four hours in a day. And unless you're really quick at packing up your tent before setting off, you'll probably find you need to stop for lunch on the way. On shorter journeys and/or if you don't mind arriving at your next destination late then it's great to find a nice town or village to stop at for a wander around and a relaxed lunch in a cafe. If, on the other hand, you're in a bit of a hurry, just going off-route to find a suitable town/village can take up too much time, let alone the time spent wandering around trying to find somewhere for lunch. On our first big camping trip, we found ourselves looking for supermarkets on our journeys to buy lunch and do a shop for the next couple of days' dinners. This took both time to find a supermarket and time going around the supermarket, and then we'd find ourselves eating lunch in the non-idyllic setting of the supermarket car park. It also meant we'd need to go shopping again if we ever wanted fresh food for dinner, so we found ourselves spending a lot of our holiday in supermarkets (and, while I confess to actually finding French supermarkets quite exciting, even I don't want to spend my whole holiday in one). We eventually found a routine that works for us, makes journeys easier and saves wasting too much time shopping. We shop the night before we leave a campsite to move on to the next destination. As well as something fresh for that night's dinner and stocking up on essentials (drink, chocolate, toilet rolls, important stuff), we buy enough to make sure we have at least one night's meal and one packed lunch. That way we can stop for lunch wherever we want (for however long we want) on our journey the next day and we know we can cook dinner at our destination without having to go shopping again. We tend to buy the little ready-wrapped brioche rolls for sandwiches, as they keep fresh longer than a loaf, skip butter and use honey, peanut butter or little tins of pate (our favourite) as fillings. Crisps and biscuits (not chocolate ones!) keep fine in the heat and fruit is usually okay if it was only bought the day before. It's not as exciting as stopping in a cafe, but it does save wasting time if you're short of it - plus, if you buy a lunch that keeps, you can always change your plans and have it another day if you find the perfect lunch-stop on the way!
Careful choice of clothes
I know it's a bit of a no-brainer, but it's worth carefully planning which clothes will be appropriate for camping. Crease-free is your buzz word - your clothes are going to spend a long time rolled or folded up in a bag/suitcase, so you want clothes that will be smooth enough to resemble the bum of a baby rather than an elephant. Jersey material is ideal. Similarly, if you're going to be washing clothes while you're away then you want stuff that is easy to wash (nothing delicate, and I've learnt not to bother bringing white clothes with me) and suitable for tumble drying (unless you have a large pitch, a lot of pegs and some sun). Summer dresses are fine if you're somewhere for a few days, but for those days when you're pitching or taking down the tent, shorts or trousers are more practical. Be prepared for all weather too. It might be hot during the day but you'd be surprised at how cold it might get in the evening when you're sitting outside the tent with a drink and a game of cards. I always bring both summer and winter pyjamas as the night-time temperatures vary so much. And you can't do without a waterproof jacket/cagoule - you can't afford to get too wet when you're camping, as you never really get the chance to dry off! As for shoes, some waterproof flip-flops are essential for showers, as well as being able to slip them on and off easily as you come in and out of the tent.
Compartmentalising
I now use this method whenever I'm on a holiday that involves living out of a suitcase (travelling around or staying with friends/family where you don't get to unpack), but I got the inspiration from packing for camping holidays. If you're only planning to go to one campsite, packing isn't a problem, other than ensuring you have everything with you and trying to fit it all in the car. But if you're moving around, you want everything to be easily accessible, easy to pack up and easy to find. This is why I take a variety of bags and boxes, each with its own 'category' - it makes life so much easier. Firstly all the 'camping' essentials go in the roof box - these are all the things that will need to come out first whenever we set up camp, such as air beds, sleeping bags, chairs, etc. The tent sadly doesn't fit, so this is always the last thing to be loaded into the car, as it's always the first thing we'll need. Then we have the Overnight Case. This is very important. It holds everything we need for the night - PJs, toothbrushes, shower gel (at least two bottles so more than one person can shower at once!), books, etc. - and it means if we arrive somewhere late, we don't have to rummage in the car for all the things we need, as they're all in one place. I then have a separate bag for 'stuff' - games, batteries, books (other than the ones we're in the middle of reading), etc. - and another for medicines, suncream (although we always have a bottle handy in the car), spare shower gel, etc. We each have a bag/case for our clothes, all rolled up to avoid creases and to make them easier to get in and out, and we have a black sack or two for dirty clothes, ready to take to the launderette when we can. We have a big bag of shoes (why would you want to put them in with clothes?!) and another bag for beach/swimming stuff so that it's all ready whenever we need it. Finally, we have plastic under-the-bed boxes for food and for cooking/eating/washing-up utensils. It sounds a bit anal but it makes packing and unpacking at campsites so much easier and you always know where to find things. It also makes packing at home before you go away that little bit easier - no more trying to work out how best to fit things in a case, just throw everything in the relevant bag/box and you're done!
I think I've covered most of the tips we use when packing for camping, but if you have any more fail-safe ideas or tried-and-tested methods, please feel free to add them in the comment box - I'm always very open to finding out new ways to make life easier!
*Disclaimer: I've included a few Amazon links so you can see what I'm talking about. The starred links are not the exact items we have, nor am I endorsing those products or brands - they're simply there as an example!
After saying last year that we rarely return to the same
holiday destination, this year seems to be a year for doing exactly that. We'll
be returning to the Bitacora (Spring Hotel Bitacora, Tenerife) for the third(!) time in October. Our
(substantially shorter) camping trip this summer sees us returning to two
old-favourite campsites (one for the fourth time - maybe we're more creatures
of habit than I think!) and to a new
campsite in an old-favourite destination. We're even considering fitting in a visit
to Disney for the sixth(!) time. And earlier this month we returned to another
favourite holiday destination - although this time it was at least new to the
rest of my family.
The first time I visited Wroxham was as part of an
unforgettable hen weekend (What happens on the hen-weekend...) last year. The weekend was a huge success, due
largely to the fabulous group of women that attended and the impeccable
organisational skills of Hen's Sister, but also due in no small part to the
destination, the accommodation and the (boating) activity. We stayed in Waterside, part of the Boathouse accommodation offered by Barnes Brinkcraft, in Wroxham on the Norfolk Broads. The apartment sleeps eight, with four bedrooms downstairs - two twin, two double and all en-suite - and the living area upstairs, and it also comes with free use of a dayboat in all but the summer months. We spent daytimes cruising the Broads on the boat, with stops for the all-important pub lunches, and evenings chilling out together in the apartment (when we weren't doing karaoke in Norwich with the infamous Graham). It was the perfect choice for a hen weekend - and all kudos to Hen's Sister, as it was something I'd never thought of doing before. But in the back of my head, I kept thinking what a perfect family holiday it would make too. This is the curse of the parent - you spend half your life dreaming of an adult holiday away from the kids and then, when you get it, you keep thinking about them and how much they'd be enjoying it if they were there. Luckily I wasn't the only one feeling this way - one friend (to whom I guess I will have to continue to refer as Little Miss Clumsy - or perhaps LMC for short) was thinking along similar lines, and so it was that we found ourselves going on a joint family holiday to the Norfolk Broads and back to Waterside.
It wasn't the first time we'd holidayed together. We met up in Spain a few years back, after independently booking holidays in the same area, and three years ago we spent Easter at Butlins together. That was a very successful holiday and we had a great time - apart from the weather. It was so cold that it snowed - yes, in April. Perhaps we should have taken it as a sign, because the weather was the only thing that dampened our holiday in Norfolk - quite literally. This was the beginning of June - it should have been dry, sunny and warm. Or, given this is England after all, it should at least have been mostly dry, sometimes sunny and not cold. We couldn't even manage that. We had torrential rain on our journey up (enough to create a ford-sized puddle across one of the roads) and the rest of the time the weather was drizzly, grey and cold. Given that I hadn't even been needing a jacket in the month before we went, I wasn't expecting to suddenly need a winter coat. But my light waterproof jacket wasn't sufficient, and neither were the spring-appropriate clothes I'd packed. In fact, by the end of the holiday I'd had to pop to good old Roys to purchase some socks, new shoes and a jumper (and I kind of wished I'd bought gloves and a hat too...).
Weather aside, we actually had a great time. The children kept each other entertained while at the apartment, at the pub (ahem) and on the boat, meaning far fewer 'Are we there yet?' and 'He just hit me' refrains. We brought a multitude of games and the evenings (once the kids were in bed) were spent playing Taboo, Balderdash and Cards Against Humanity (if you haven't played this, look it up - it was hysterical, if not very [okay, not at all] politically correct!). I would definitely recommend a joint holiday if the people you go with have broadly similar views to you on things like discipline, bedtimes (the children's!) and the things you like doing. Family holidays are usually spent catering for, and dealing with, the children, often leaving you feeling like you haven't had a holiday at all, but this holiday didn't feel like it was all about the kids. They probably enjoyed it more because they had friends to bounce off, while the adults actually managed some grown-up conversation and didn't have to spend their time separating the kids. On top of this, it also meant we had two men to berth and unberth (I'm well aware that this isn't a real word) the boat whenever we stopped (not that LMC and I just sat there like princesses, ahem).
Of course, given that I'm infamous among those who know me for having holiday disasters, and given LMC's propensity to be, well, clumsy - not to mention the fact that this attribute has been passed down to LMC's children - you wouldn't expect a joint holiday to pass without incident. To be fair, such incidents were actually few and far between. No one fell overboard. To the best of my memory, LMC didn't fall over, drop anything or break anything. LMC's daughter (LMC2?) did fall over once outside a church in Norwich, giving her knee a resounding crack and reminding me of that awful age where you suddenly realise you're too old to cry, even though it REALLY hurts. My Dylan was actually the clumsiest of all, managing to step off the boardwalk at the nature reserve, resulting in a rather wet foot, and managing to fall in a water feature at the crazy golf, resulting in a change of clothes. He also managed to get himself lost in Norwich city centre for ten minutes, nearly giving the adults a heart attack. There was also a minor 'incident' with a swan, which clearly had no intention of letting us off the boat. But the main holiday 'disaster' was the boat breaking down. Yup, it had to happen.
We first took the boat out the evening we arrived, thinking we'd do a quick test run. It took about ten minutes to start and then promptly kept stalling, leaving us floating around the boatyard while we kept trying to get it started again. We finally managed to get it to start - and stay - running properly, and took the boat for an hour-long trip along the Broad and back. We figured the earlier problems were down to it needing to warm up. It stalled again when we tried to berth it back at the apartment, but we put this down to user-error. It struggled to start again the next morning, but we assumed again that the engine was cold. It started quicker this time at least, and off we set, with the intention of arriving at the Swan Inn in Horning for lunch. It stalled several times on the way, whenever we slowed down, and we started to think maybe there really was a problem. As we finally neared the pub, we had to slow down again to let some other boats past before we could moor. This was boat-suicide. We stalled again - and this time we couldn't get the boat started. We tried really hard to drift towards the pub, but it didn't work. We spent approximately twenty minutes drifting around, getting in people's way, before we were finally close enough to land to be able to jump out and safely moor the boat. Unfortunately, this was on the other side of the river to the pub - on an island, in fact - and in a private mooring. Still, it was better than floating around helplessly. We phoned Barnes Brinkcraft to ask for a rescue. 'I'll drive down,' said the engineer. 'Can't you get to the other side?' How we wished we could. Being stranded at a pub didn't sound like a bad situation to be in. Being stranded on an island was not so good, especially when we were all hungry and needed the loo. The situation was made worse by the owner of the private mooring turning up. 'Excuse me, you do realise this is private?' she said, looking none too pleased. We tried to explain the situation but she didn't look very happy with our answer. Luckily at this point, the engineer arrived, having waved at us from the other side of the water and then cadged a lift from some Broads superhero with a motorboat; like Boatman and Robin, they pulled up next to us and the private-moorings lady left us alone. The engineer explained there was water in the fuel, perhaps after the previous day's torrential rain, and he proceeded to drain it as best he could. After a while, he started the boat again - it sounded much healthier - and steered us over to the pub, where he returned to his car and we went for a much-needed late lunch. We were a little wary of getting back in the boat afterwards, but it started like a dream. 'Shall we stop at the nature trail on the way back?' we wondered. Five minutes later, the boat stalled.
We did at least get it started again easily this time. We carried on, thinking the nature trail might not be such a good idea. Half-an-hour later, we stalled again, and this time it took ten minutes to get it restarted . All thoughts of nature trails were abandoned - all we wanted to do by this point was get back to Wroxham asap, so we didn't end up spending the night on the boat. We got back without further incident, thank goodness. While we were getting out of the boat, Lee noticed a small silver lid on the roof of the boat - it was the fuel cap. No wonder we had water in the fuel tank... Luckily we had arrived back before the BB office closed, and they sent an engineer round early the next morning to fully drain the tank. We had no more problems after that, thank goodness, although every time we started the boat we were on tenterhooks. The moral of this is that actually the boats normally work very well, without any problems, so if you do experience any, ask for advice straightaway, rather than putting it down to a cold engine or bad handling!
So, for those interested in a holiday to Wroxham, what is there to do? Well, obviously, the boat makes up the majority of the entertainment. It was good fun going out on the boat (when we weren't stalling), and would have been even nicer if the weather had been better. (Luckily there is at least a canopy you can use, so you don't get wet if it rains.) The kids had great fun taking it in turns to steer (under supervision!), and there is plenty of room to move about or even play travel games - although the boat can only take eight, it could probably seat twelve or more. And of course, the views are beautiful, especially if you travel north-west towards Coltishall, a particularly unspoilt stretch of the Broads. We had been planning to travel a lot further, but we only made it as far as The Rising Sun at Coltishall in one direction (the 'end of the line', to be fair) and the Swan Inn in Horning in the other. We did eventually make it to Hoveton Great Broad nature trail, where we spent a pleasant forty minutes wandering around the trail, and we also stopped at Salhouse Broad for a picnic, a wander and some outdoor games. On the last day of our holiday, having checked out of the apartment and said goodbye to the boat, we headed off to Wroxham Barns for some (vital) fudge-purchasing and a (slightly wet) game of crazy golf, before spending a couple of hours in Norwich - a beautiful historic city, which is now on my weekend-break list.
Wroxham itself is the perfect base for a holiday. On a grey day it can feel a little industrial, due to all the boatyards, but on a sunny day it has the feel of a seaside town (without the sea). It's a good size, with a multitude of shops - most owned by Roy, of course - and plenty of food options if you want a takeaway: Thai (which I'd recommend), Indian, fish and chips, pizza, kebab and, of course, McDonalds. There are two pubs in the town, the Kings Head and Hotel Wroxham. We only visited the Kings Head - once for lunch, once for dinner and once for a pub quiz, which I'm pleased to say we won, paying for half our pub dinner the next night! (For reference, the quiz is held every Thursday, starts at 7pm and is family-friendly).
As for Waterside and Barnes Brinkcraft, I really can't recommend them highly enough. The apartment was a perfect size for two families. With four en-suite shower rooms and a further bathroom (with bath) upstairs, there was no queue for the shower in the morning. There was plenty of space both on and around the sofas in the living area, and the dining table could seat up to ten. The kitchen was well-equipped with a dishwasher (although I'd recommend bringing a slow cooker if you're planning to cook - you can put the dinner on before you go out in the morning and it's ready when you come home!), there was a large TV in the lounge plus one in each bedroom, and there was also a CD player, a washing machine and various games and books. There's also a little balcony around the outside - sadly, we didn't have the weather to be able to take advantage of this. You can see a little tour of the apartment below, taken during my first stay at Waterside - apologies for the unmade bed and the towels in the shower! The apartment is already well-equipped, with towels, sheets and toiletries included (you'll need to top up the toilet rolls, though!), as well as washing-up liquid, tea-towels and a little welcome bag with tea, coffee, milk and sugar. Even better, though, if you are a returning guest, you get a loyalty hamper - it really is a very impressive hamper, with sausages, eggs, bacon, bread, olives, cheese, chocolate brownies and much more, and it provided us with a delicious cooked breakfast one morning! Another advantage of being a returning customer is that you get a discount on your booking. And although the stay isn't cheap, it's actually pretty good value, especially when you bear in mind that the dayboat is usually included in the price. A little tip - it's the same price to stay in Waterside for three nights over the weekend as it is to stay four nights in the week, so if you can afford the time off work, you get more for your money if you go in the week!
So if you fancy a break on the Broads, with lots of laughs and relaxation, in comfy accommodation and with plenty to do, you won't go wrong if you book Waterside. (But if you fancy good weather to boot, I wouldn't recommend bringing me with you - I don't have the best track record in that respect.)
