After months of preperatuon and set backs we should finally be going away in the caravan this weekend. We will not be taking the awning on this time as it will be late Friday night. So we will save that joy for another time.
At last going to Hastings
- Thread starter tenpole
- Start date
Parksy
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Thanks for posting – have fun!
I hope you don't mind, but I've moved it from the new members section to a rather more appropriate part of the forum.
I hope you don't mind, but I've moved it from the new members section to a rather more appropriate part of the forum.
I was supposed to go to the Hastings Touring site last month but the L200 let me down two days before going. I still went to hastings for the day. I had vaguely remembered going there in 1981 where it rained most of the time. When I went to look at the site last month I realised that I had been there at an earlier time because the veiw across the valley with the streets and houses clicked a memory into place. I had been there in a summer with my parents and two other families Terry Swift, Ross Selen.
This would have been around 1978 as Boney M were popular chart toppers at the time. This was also the first time I had tried cream soda. I never had much fizzy pop as a youngster. Most of tje time I would rathet have squash.
This would have been around 1978 as Boney M were popular chart toppers at the time. This was also the first time I had tried cream soda. I never had much fizzy pop as a youngster. Most of tje time I would rathet have squash.
I thought the L200 would drag the caravan much easier than it did. Uphill the L200 seemed under powered. The expected hour and half journey became two hours so arrived at the Hastings Touring Park at 1900. The reception was apallingly dissorganized as my booking had not been entered on their system so they had to bodge a place for me and asked for more money.
Most of the evening was spent bickering with the wife over the disorganization of the caravan. The blade on the thetford casette had seized and no amount of wiggling would free it. This caused even more animosity between me and the wife as she would not use the site amenities. I had a can of wd40 so soaked the blade with a covering of the penetration fluid. Two hours later it was working so the wife could use the caravan toilet.
The kids slept fine in their bunk but the wife could not sleep being put out of routine. Our pitch was close to the toilet and she kept waking with everyone walking by.
In the morning she wanted to sell the caravan and give up with camping. After breakfast and a day in the town her attitude toward the caravan improved and the Omega may be safe. I hope she sleeps well tonight.
The site itself is a fair size. I think the siteneeds another toilet block to better cope with the volume of people using it. For me it was not a problem as at 0530 I had the shower block to myself. The shower was luke warm but not cold. The block does get cleaned well but then suffers from the volume of people using it.
A big attraction of the site is it is righy next to the Hastings county park, a lovely area with high cliffs and hidden valleys.
Most of the evening was spent bickering with the wife over the disorganization of the caravan. The blade on the thetford casette had seized and no amount of wiggling would free it. This caused even more animosity between me and the wife as she would not use the site amenities. I had a can of wd40 so soaked the blade with a covering of the penetration fluid. Two hours later it was working so the wife could use the caravan toilet.
The kids slept fine in their bunk but the wife could not sleep being put out of routine. Our pitch was close to the toilet and she kept waking with everyone walking by.
In the morning she wanted to sell the caravan and give up with camping. After breakfast and a day in the town her attitude toward the caravan improved and the Omega may be safe. I hope she sleeps well tonight.
The site itself is a fair size. I think the siteneeds another toilet block to better cope with the volume of people using it. For me it was not a problem as at 0530 I had the shower block to myself. The shower was luke warm but not cold. The block does get cleaned well but then suffers from the volume of people using it.
A big attraction of the site is it is righy next to the Hastings county park, a lovely area with high cliffs and hidden valleys.
After all your recent woes you sure your didnt leave the handbrake on, on the L200 
I wouldnt worry about the extra half hour, it always takes longer tugging the the tin box.
Did you have a booking receipt/confirmation........dont tell me you left it at home
Just cant understand why you had to pay extra, surely they had a record sonmewhere????????
Bickering with the wife........................normal
Blade on cassette .....................been there.............Oh I love caravanning
You will look back next week and you will both have a little giggle...........until the next time
I wouldnt worry about the extra half hour, it always takes longer tugging the the tin box.
Did you have a booking receipt/confirmation........dont tell me you left it at home
Just cant understand why you had to pay extra, surely they had a record sonmewhere????????
Bickering with the wife........................normal
Blade on cassette .....................been there.............Oh I love caravanning
You will look back next week and you will both have a little giggle...........until the next time
yeah I agree with Kev, par for the course I'm afraid, good news is it gets better :lol: there is nothing wrong with the tug it is the driver, you soon get used to towing the van it is wildly different from solo, you get to listen to the engine, it tells you when to change, when to put the foot down and more importantly when not to.
it takes more time to get anywhere so you plan the route better, leave sooner, and learn to relax, treat the journey as part of the holiday, take more breaks stop off at interesting places, and just enjoy the experience.
funny as it sounds you learn to treat adversity as a challenge to overcome, expect everyone else to be an idiot for what ever reason and take steps to avoid confusion book the site ask for confirmation in writing or e-mail so you can have a copy and if possible get a pitch number.
Bickering with the wife.........yeah...............normal and you haven't put the awning up yet :woohoo: but that's what the local pub is for innit, .
as for the toilet well you live and learn, next time you will check everything on the van is working before the off, "won't you" and vans can be funny things to sleep in, either the novelty kicks in and you sleep like a bomb, or the strange bed, outside noise, and outdoor living disrupts the sleep pattern a lot, good news is after a couple of days without sleep it all changes, all of a sudden like, :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:.
as for selling the van "tell her it's now only worth half what you paid for it" [probably true] this tends to get their attention.
and lastly you soon learn to choose sites that suit your needs, the ones near popular places or attractions get very busy, :woohoo: busy sites are noisy sites, :evil: have less choice on pitches :S and tend to be dearer. .
in all I think you have had a fair introduction to caravan life, great innit.
you soon get used to towing the van it is wildly different from solo, you get to listen to the engine, it tells you when to change, when to put the foot down and more importantly when not to.it takes more time to get anywhere so you plan the route better, leave sooner, and learn to relax, treat the journey as part of the holiday, take more breaks stop off at interesting places, and just enjoy the experience.
funny as it sounds you learn to treat adversity as a challenge to overcome, expect everyone else to be an idiot for what ever reason and take steps to avoid confusion book the site ask for confirmation in writing or e-mail so you can have a copy and if possible get a pitch number.
Bickering with the wife.........yeah...............normal
and you haven't put the awning up yet :woohoo: but that's what the local pub is for innit, .as for the toilet well you live and learn, next time you will check everything on the van is working before the off, "won't you" and vans can be funny things to sleep in, either the novelty kicks in and you sleep like a bomb, or the strange bed, outside noise, and outdoor living disrupts the sleep pattern a lot, good news is after a couple of days without sleep it all changes, all of a sudden like, :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:.
as for selling the van "tell her it's now only worth half what you paid for it" [probably true] this tends to get their attention.
and lastly you soon learn to choose sites that suit your needs, the ones near popular places or attractions get very busy, :woohoo: busy sites are noisy sites, :evil: have less choice on pitches :S and tend to be dearer.
.in all I think you have had a fair introduction to caravan life, great innit.
The L200 did pull the caravan fine but it was like pulling a trailer with full load. I was expecting the L200 to be able to throw it around like a child's rag doll. Maybe I need to remove that EGR.
I did book on line at first then had to rebook for the following month when the l200 broke down. next time i will pester for confirmation email.
Despite the arguments and upsets the wife has liked the caravan because it has been an adventure.
The whole experience this weekend was purely a learning experience to see how the caravan is under working conditions. I would like to replace all my household duvets with new ones so the caravan can inherit the old set so the caravan has its own set of bedding. When I am camping I have always preferred to have a sleeping bag to lay on and have a duvet as my blanket. The wife wanted to use bed sheets as she could not comprehend the idea of laying on a sleeping bag. I just find this easier.
I will not be using the Hasting Touring Site again because of the state of the ladies toilets. The mens were fine but the wife as well as other campers I overheard complained about the hygiene, cleanliness and stock of toilet roll. There was no toilet roll but with the cues for the ladies toilet I am not surprised.
In the evening there were some women entering the toilet block smoking and drinking alcohol. I would never want to enter a toilet block with anything I intend to eat or drink. I don't want my daughter exposed to cigarette fumes. How people think this is acceptable to smoke in the toilet blocks and flick there ash in the sinks is beyond me. I think this was BEFORE they even went down to the club house. Not impressed with the clientèle. Maybe I am being too snobbish as I am sure my neighbouring campers were frowning out the noise and arguments from my family.
The site rules of no noise after 23:00 was not strictly abided by. I am now considering joining a caravan club (prob C&CC) as I have heard that the wardens can be strict with enforcing site regulations.
I did book on line at first then had to rebook for the following month when the l200 broke down. next time i will pester for confirmation email.
Despite the arguments and upsets the wife has liked the caravan because it has been an adventure.
The whole experience this weekend was purely a learning experience to see how the caravan is under working conditions. I would like to replace all my household duvets with new ones so the caravan can inherit the old set so the caravan has its own set of bedding. When I am camping I have always preferred to have a sleeping bag to lay on and have a duvet as my blanket. The wife wanted to use bed sheets as she could not comprehend the idea of laying on a sleeping bag. I just find this easier.
I will not be using the Hasting Touring Site again because of the state of the ladies toilets. The mens were fine but the wife as well as other campers I overheard complained about the hygiene, cleanliness and stock of toilet roll. There was no toilet roll but with the cues for the ladies toilet I am not surprised.
In the evening there were some women entering the toilet block smoking and drinking alcohol. I would never want to enter a toilet block with anything I intend to eat or drink. I don't want my daughter exposed to cigarette fumes. How people think this is acceptable to smoke in the toilet blocks and flick there ash in the sinks is beyond me. I think this was BEFORE they even went down to the club house. Not impressed with the clientèle. Maybe I am being too snobbish as I am sure my neighbouring campers were frowning out the noise and arguments from my family.
The site rules of no noise after 23:00 was not strictly abided by. I am now considering joining a caravan club (prob C&CC) as I have heard that the wardens can be strict with enforcing site regulations.
Hi Tenpole.
Your experience of your short holiday will have taken many caravaners back in their minds to early outings. It certainly did with me. My first ever trip with a caravan on the back I used three quarters of a tank of fuel. I was trying to drive in the same way that I drove the car solo. Of course there would have been almost as much unburnt fuel going through the exhaust as actual fumes.
Speaking to a experienced guy on site after telling him of my fuel situation he explained that with the van i needed to allow the speed to build gently without too much throttle then the same in the next gear. It was one if the best bits of caravaning advice I have ever received. On our way back home I went a different and longer route but only used under half a tank of fuel.
The site you visited too be honest is not the type of site I use very often. I tend to use caravan club CL sites or the camping and caravan club CS sites.
Occasionally using the main sites of both clubs as well.
However I understand that your situation probably means that you need to use sites during school holiday times and consequently many sites can be very busy.
Club houses on sites are usually very good but there again they can throw up their own problems if people are not respectful of others when making their way back late at night. It's the same with toilet blocks like you I've witnessed people smoking whilst using the facilities and not just taking a few minutes to mop round after themselves. Unfortunately it just seems to be an occasional downside, the same site on the following week though could get brilliant reviews with a different set of people so don't let this last visit cloud your thinking too much.
The main club sites have in my opinion always maintained a very good standard, even the ones where the facilities are starting to get a bit long in the tooth they are always spotless. If your budget runs to it and you intend touring quite a bit I would recommend joining both clubs. The other advice I would give is to think we'll ahead and book the sites early. Bank holidays and school holiday weeks tend to get booked up quite quickly.
I'm sure you will find your way regarding the domestic arrangements my wife uses a sleeping bag but I always take a single duvet. It's all better than using sheets with blankets that we first started with.
Final bit of advice is like others have said is just "enjoy it" don't let the set backs get to you have a good laugh when things go wrong it all brings memories that if you are anything like us you will look back on fondly in time.
I've been caravaning about thirty five years, camping before that so have a bit of experience. However I did manage to flood the van by leaving the tap running whilst talking outside the last time I went :S
(Mind you it may take another 35 years for me to look back on that Fondly)
Best wishes Brian
Your experience of your short holiday will have taken many caravaners back in their minds to early outings. It certainly did with me. My first ever trip with a caravan on the back I used three quarters of a tank of fuel. I was trying to drive in the same way that I drove the car solo. Of course there would have been almost as much unburnt fuel going through the exhaust as actual fumes.
Speaking to a experienced guy on site after telling him of my fuel situation he explained that with the van i needed to allow the speed to build gently without too much throttle then the same in the next gear. It was one if the best bits of caravaning advice I have ever received. On our way back home I went a different and longer route but only used under half a tank of fuel.
The site you visited too be honest is not the type of site I use very often. I tend to use caravan club CL sites or the camping and caravan club CS sites.
Occasionally using the main sites of both clubs as well.
However I understand that your situation probably means that you need to use sites during school holiday times and consequently many sites can be very busy.
Club houses on sites are usually very good but there again they can throw up their own problems if people are not respectful of others when making their way back late at night. It's the same with toilet blocks like you I've witnessed people smoking whilst using the facilities and not just taking a few minutes to mop round after themselves. Unfortunately it just seems to be an occasional downside, the same site on the following week though could get brilliant reviews with a different set of people so don't let this last visit cloud your thinking too much.
The main club sites have in my opinion always maintained a very good standard, even the ones where the facilities are starting to get a bit long in the tooth they are always spotless. If your budget runs to it and you intend touring quite a bit I would recommend joining both clubs. The other advice I would give is to think we'll ahead and book the sites early. Bank holidays and school holiday weeks tend to get booked up quite quickly.
I'm sure you will find your way regarding the domestic arrangements my wife uses a sleeping bag but I always take a single duvet. It's all better than using sheets with blankets that we first started with.
Final bit of advice is like others have said is just "enjoy it" don't let the set backs get to you have a good laugh when things go wrong it all brings memories that if you are anything like us you will look back on fondly in time.
I've been caravaning about thirty five years, camping before that so have a bit of experience. However I did manage to flood the van by leaving the tap running whilst talking outside the last time I went :S
(Mind you it may take another 35 years for me to look back on that Fondly)
Best wishes Brian
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