plumbers wife said:
Parksy - We have joined the C&CC and would like to join a rally next weekend, but I have tried phoning the person organising the meet 3 times and also phoned the C&CC booking line but to no avail.
Can we really just turn up unannounce, and do we have to comply with the coffe mornings and things- or can we just do our own thing.?
Apologies for my late reply Mrs Plumber, we were on a rally over the weekend.............
No need to telephone anybody in advance, have a look to see if there is a specified time when the rally is open (often mid Friday afternoon) and just turn up - completely and absolutely 100% unnanounced!
( Caravan Club rallies usually need to be pre booked, usually C&CC rallies require no pre booking unless otherwise stated in the Out and About magazine feature)
If you are rallying for the very first time look for the little printed (or sometimes written) road signs which will show the entrance to the rally field and the stewards caravan will be close to the site entrance, so pull up outside the stewards caravan.
Have your C&CC membership card ready so that the steward can copy the number, your car reg. number and the number of campers ( including dogs, cats & gerbills) This formality breaks the ice but it's simply for insurance purposes, and the rally steward is usually pleased to see you because there's nothing worse than being a steward if nobody turns up
The rally steward is normally a friendly pleasant type and if you mention that you are on your very first rally the steward will let you know where to fill your aqaroll, where to empty tho casette toilet and anything else that you ought to know so that you can enjoy the rally. When you've been a few times these things seem to drop into place but if in doubt just ask somebody, they will always be happy to help.
Don't worry about 'coffee mornings and things', take time to find out whether or not rallying might be for you because there is absolutely no compunction whatsoever to attend coffee mornings, local walks, kids disco's, quiz nights, evening entertainment in a village hall or to whether to have a go on the raffle....your weekend, you decide.
On your first couple of rallies no one knows you and of couse no one will talk about you if you swerve the coffee morning and no one will try to persuade you to 'take part' in anything, it's up to you and no one will bother you.
Obviously, as you get to know people and they get to know you, you and your family might enjoy spending more time with them, you don't need to be an extrovert or a joiner in, just be yourselves, and give it a go to see what you think......