Last weekend, we ignored the forecasted rain the weatherman had predicted and booked into Dunallan CL, just out Drymen.
It's just a 20 minute drive away but it was lovely to chill out in the sunshine. The girls played happily (we were the only ones there!) and Tommy and I soaked up the sun. It didn't rain once. On Saturday, we packed up for one of the last times for this holiday and set off for the M6 and home. We were booked into Laylands Farm CS (a CS is a Certificated Site, the Camping and Caravan Club equivalent of a CL) near Manchester and we made excellent time up the road. The site was nothing spectacular but did the job for the night for £15. The owner was very friendly too.
Sunday dawned soon enough and we had another good travelling day. Part of me was quite sad when we pulled into our street but another part was itching to get the washing machine on! Hans had done us proud and deserved a good rest. You would too, after a trip like this. There was mucho excitement when we arrived at our final destination of our tour - Longleat Caravan Club Site. For just over £25 a night, we were within the grounds of the famous safari park - we could even hear the sea lions on Half Mile Lake.
The site is a really good one, with a play park, family games area, games room and even a 'village green' for ball games and outside fun. The TTs inmediately disappeared off on the treasure hunt while we set up the pitch (number 16, right beside the games area). We then enforced an early night for the girls so they could get maximum enjoyment from the next day. Easier said than done! The next morning (after the 'escaped lion warning siren' had been tested!), we took a left out the site gates and within a few minutes were right in the heart of the park itself. It couldn't be any closer! We headed straight to Guest Services, where I showed our e-ticket and booked us into the Safari Bus for £5 each. Even if we'd had the car, rather than Hans, we would still have booked onto the bus - the Longleat monkeys are legendary! And since our visit was costing us nothing (another Tesco Clubcard freebie - that shopping adds up!) we were quite happy to pay the extra £20. Within half an hour, we were seated in the double decker bus (downstairs, to get closer to the action), the doors were firmly bolted shut (eep) and off we set. There was running commentary from the driver and he had an assistant who spotted animals for him. We learned much more than if we'd driven ourselves. And when the African cattle scraped their horns down the side of the bus, we were glad the paintwork wasn't us. Never mind the monkey poo left on roofs (after they've sucked the washer fluid from your wipers). Quite frankly, it was one of the best days out we've had as a family. We loved the safari (TT2 is massive giraffe fan) but all the other aspects are brilliant too, from the boat ride in Half Mile Lake right down to the King Arthur Mirror Maze. Not forgetting the train, the dinosaurs, the meerkats, the baby anteater (possibly the cutest thing ever), the penguins, the parrot show and the castle play park. We didn't even get inside the house as we ran out of time. Anyway, enough talking and on with the photos! Thursday was another travel day for us, so we decided to enjoy ourselves as much as possible and took a short detour to Lyme Regis.
We parked at the top of the town, where you can stay all day for just £2. There's even dedicated motorhome parking in the far corner, although you're not allowed to stay over night. From the car park, there's a bit of a climb down the new stairs to the new sea defences that also make a fantastic promenade along to the town. As we packed up at Tencreek, the rain poured down but thankfully as we hit the open road, the weather cleared a bit.
We were heading over the Tamar Bridge towards Putts Corner, east of Exeter. We stopped off for a diesel refuel and food shop in Plymouth (getting 18p off a litre with our Tesco Fuel Save points) then headed to Saltram House for a lunch pit stop. Saltram House sits in a huge country park just outside Plymouth. It's a National Trust property, so we used our NTS cards and had a good look round before having our sandwiches. After visiting Fowey, we weren't far away from our final stop of the day - Tencreek Holiday Park outside Looe. On a childhood holiday of mine, we spent a fair bit of time in Looe so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me.
Tencreek wouldn't have been our first choice but we booked it purely for the location - it's a 25 minute walk into Looe. The site was crowded and not really set up for motorhome - the pitches were very close together and the roads were narrow, making manoeuvring quite tricky. There was also no suitable tap for our hose to fill up our water tank, so we ended up having to reverse into the owner's driveway and use their garden tap! The reaction from reception was that they had never encountered this problem before, however I spotted at least one other motorhome having the same problem while we were there. Anyway, we were soon pitched up and ready for a walk into Looe. We decided to take the scooters, which were great for the first half of the journey. The rest was a very steep hill that took some serious negotiating even on foot! Many moons ago, before we had the Tornado Twins, Tommy was in a band called The Grim Northern Social. They recorded their second album at Sawmill Studios, a secluded studio accessed only by boat on the river Fowey. Tommy spent much of his downtime exploring the village of Fowey and it's somewhere he really loves.
We took the girls for the first time, parking at Readymoney car park (yes, really!) and walking along the Esplande to the village. It's a very pretty Cornush village, with narrow streets and lovely shops to browse. It's worth a stop, even when it's busy. Just don't even think about driving through the streets! And watch out for the gulls, TT1 lost her ice cream to a very large herring gull! Our next stop of our trip took us to the Eden Project! There was much excitement about this as it promised to be a highlight.
We were staying at Croft Farm Holiday Park, for £26 a night. It was lovely and quiet when we arrived and stayed that way during our two night stay. After leaving Dove Meadows campsite at Marazion, we had a relatively short journey to our next stop near the Eden Project. So we took the advice of some local Hymer owners on the Classic Hymer FB page and headed to Praa Sands for some beach time.
We parked in Maggies Patch, a parking area just behind the restaurants and shops and were greeted by Maggie herself. What a fabulous lady she is! We were made very welcome and secured a day's parking for £3. We could have even stayed overnight for an additional £5, which is a total bargain. There's public toilets and access to water just across the road, making it perfect for motorhome owners. After the drama of our afternoon, we were very pleased to arrive in Marazion and our campsite, Dove Meadows. It's a nice quiet site that cost us £26 a night, and it's situated just a few minutes walk from the shore and the town. We wasted no time in making camp before heading into the town on our scooters for some well earned fish and chips. The Tornados played in the seafront play park while Tommy and I enjoyed the spectacular view of St Michael's Mount.
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