Over this past week our campsite has taken a step closer to what we think of as normality... The sign that was put out at the entrance to the site at the start of the lockdown announcing that the touring section of the site was closed has now been removed....
The site is now open to all and for most of the past week every pitch has been taken.....
We have had people visit us from Liverpool...London... West Sussex and even someone from just six miles down the road who wanted a slight change of scenery after being stuck indoors for the past three months....
The very first caravan to arrive was an Eriba Troll similar to our Eva that was our touring home for the past five years.......
The site here as I have said before is only a small site. .. it is more like a CS in lots of ways as the touring section can only accommodate about seven units.... The longer term/seasonal section holds about fourteen units..... I am saying 'about' as when people come and go the numbers can vary.
The site never feels busy even when all pitches are filled .... Some of the pitches are more secluded than others with some being enclosed by mature hedges and others being more open...... Our pitch is surrounded by hedges and being a corner pitch is very secluded and private....
We don't have such a good view over the Tamar Valley as some of the more open pitches but for a seasonal pitch I would place privacy over the view every time.
At the same time that the site opened again another large box arrived at the site for us.....
It was a box from Kampa Dometic.... It contained an all season annexe for our awning.... Something else for me to put to the all season test....
As with all things in camping it's always a good thing if everything you have has multiple uses.... The annexe is a useful extra space that can be used when we have visitors in bad weather..... It can also be used to accommodate my bikes....
(I recently had to drive up to Bournemouth for a hospital appointment and while I was there I was able to pick up my best bike the Felt and so currently I have two bikes here..)
It can also be used as an additional sleeping area as an inner bedroom tent was also supplied with the annexe ....
This has the potential of being a really multi use bit of kit for us and I will be putting it to the test very closely over the coming months.....
What I can say is that the annexe was an easy fit to the awning and is made from the same heavy duty all season fabric....
It has just one air pole that takes just 20 pushes of the pump to inflate it to the 9psi that is recommended for both awning and annexe.... The spacing on the pegging points is similar to the awning and it has a two part metal pole that is used to create a very stable ridge along the length of the structure....
As with the awning I will let you know how it all performs in the various weather conditions that can be expected over a multi season pitching......
We have had people visit us from Liverpool...London... West Sussex and even someone from just six miles down the road who wanted a slight change of scenery after being stuck indoors for the past three months....
The very first caravan to arrive was an Eriba Troll similar to our Eva that was our touring home for the past five years.......
The site here as I have said before is only a small site. .. it is more like a CS in lots of ways as the touring section can only accommodate about seven units.... The longer term/seasonal section holds about fourteen units..... I am saying 'about' as when people come and go the numbers can vary.
The site never feels busy even when all pitches are filled .... Some of the pitches are more secluded than others with some being enclosed by mature hedges and others being more open...... Our pitch is surrounded by hedges and being a corner pitch is very secluded and private....
We don't have such a good view over the Tamar Valley as some of the more open pitches but for a seasonal pitch I would place privacy over the view every time.
At the same time that the site opened again another large box arrived at the site for us.....
As with all things in camping it's always a good thing if everything you have has multiple uses.... The annexe is a useful extra space that can be used when we have visitors in bad weather..... It can also be used to accommodate my bikes....
(I recently had to drive up to Bournemouth for a hospital appointment and while I was there I was able to pick up my best bike the Felt and so currently I have two bikes here..)
It can also be used as an additional sleeping area as an inner bedroom tent was also supplied with the annexe ....
It has just one air pole that takes just 20 pushes of the pump to inflate it to the 9psi that is recommended for both awning and annexe.... The spacing on the pegging points is similar to the awning and it has a two part metal pole that is used to create a very stable ridge along the length of the structure....
As with the awning I will let you know how it all performs in the various weather conditions that can be expected over a multi season pitching......
4 comments:
Thats impressive and it gives you so much room. I've not used an air poled tent or awning but they are very popular. Are the air poles made of stronger fabric to avoid puncturing and is just mended like an inner tube. Also as its only 9psi that helps with the repair kit.
We are going to Cornwall next week, away for the first time this year. It's only for 4 days just to see how it goes.
@Dave
The air tube itself is enclosed within a protective tube which itself is enclosed in another tube that forms part of the structure of the awning. This outer tube is made of the same fabric as the awning and is reinforced where the air pole touches the ground with an additional vinyl protective tube. Individual sections of the air tube can be isolated and removed for repair similar to a bikes inner tube... ...I hope that you have an enjoyable visit to Cornwall next week... Looking at the forecast for next week you could well be lucky with some nice weather.
So, do you guys actually live out on the road? Some reason I just thought you cycled different places and blogged about bike trips. This is your life, camping in different places? I thought you had a house and just traveled some. Now reading more, I'm thinking different. Would be interesting I guess.
@ Mr Beanz
Yes... we have been full-time touring for the past five years... Unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic has caused that to grind to a halt so we are currently on a seasonal pitch on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon.
Back in 2015 we sold up....got rid of a lot of our possessions and downsized in quite a dramatic way and have not looked back since. After a lifetime of backpacking, cycletouring and general camping it seemed a logical way to spend Our retirement......
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