Camping and caravaning

Had our annual winter camp last weekend. There's nothing quite like having to snap the ice on the tent door before you can open it in the morning.
The camp fires help with the cold in the evening. When you get it to the point you can just chuck whole pallets on, it's about the right size :D
 
I love camping! Having been in Scouts since I was 5 or 6 means I've spent nearly as much time sleeping in tents as I have in houses!
Nothing beats opening the tent door early in the morning to fresh, cold air, dew on the grass and a stunning view of some countryside as the sun comes up.
 
After more than 25 years as a Cub/Scout/leader/Commisioner, I never want to see another tent as long as I live! (now retired!)
 
In answer to the original question, used to with my parents as a child, they had a CI Sprite and later an Alpine. Rain hammering on the roof, awnings that wont dry out, chemical toilets, four people trying to sleep in a space smaller than a my bedroom. Never again.

Same goes for tents. I will stay in a hotel or stay at home.

u8myufo said:
Well I do enjoy camping out, caravaners imo should be banned from the roads between the hours of 0500hrs - 2200hrs :D
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Are you going to include me in that as I tow a trailer the same sort of size and weight as a caravan? It would be a bit harsh having to get to race circuits with my competition car before 5am and not being able to leave until after 10pm.

I'm also generally slower than many caravans as my tow vehicle can only manage 65mph flat out without the trailer attached. Towing 950kg up hill on the motorway and I'm down into third gear doing about 40 watching the artics overtake me ...
 
Burningflan said:
Nothing beats opening the tent door early in the morning to fresh, cold air, dew on the grass and a stunning view of some countryside as the sun comes up.
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Oh yes there is! Waking up in the camper and reaching over to press the electronic ignition under the already full kettle and making that first cup of coffee without even having to get out of bed (and being nice and warm and dry ;))
 
BouncyMelons said:
Oh yes there is! Waking up in the camper and reaching over to press the electronic ignition under the already full kettle and making that first cup of coffee without even having to get out of bed (and being nice and warm and dry ;))
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And people say us southerners are pansies :p :lol:
 
There was an article on tv recently, that came to the conclusion that Northerners in most countries were the friendliest of folk!
 
BouncyMelons said:
Oh yes there is! Waking up in the camper and reaching over to press the electronic ignition under the already full kettle and making that first cup of coffee without even having to get out of bed (and being nice and warm and dry ;))
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Or waking up in your static caravan & turning on the teasmade whilst listening to the rain bouncing off the roof at Burnham on Sea!
 
I do lots of camping and walking. Nothing better than sitting round a fire having a few ales and a bit of chat..
 
Used to camp a couple of times a years at various car shows, great fun especially as there would always be a large amount of people camping around that you knew so chores would be shared...

Monster bbq's and giggles a plenty :)
 
Well I will hopefully be out this summer if I get it finished, I couldn't buy what I wanted so I built it :) http://www.flickr.com/photos/47177303@N08/
Unfortunatey I had to move them from my flickr account and uploaded them to a different flickr account and they are no longer in the right order.
 
wow thats amazing you are so clever will it alter your insurance for the car ?
 
Looks good but that is a helluva lot of work ... :eek:


This is for sale where we store our caravan and i do keep looking at it...... me want ... :love:

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neilmac said:
That is VERY impressive scraggs :clap:

Quite an achievement, you are going to be one proud man when that's finished.
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Thanks
I hope I will be but it has to take a bit of a back shelf for a while now as I need to get the bungalow roof done :(

Rob_W said:
Looks good but that is a helluva lot of work ... :eek:


This is for sale where we store our caravan and i do keep looking at it...... me want ... :love:

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Thanks it has been a bit of a task to build.
If you are serious about this get it's measurements and make sure its legal to tow it in the UK, there are a whole bunch of issue's regarding width, length and braking system, at one stage most were actually illegal to tow on UK roads, I think some groups were trying to get changes to these restrictions recently, but from reading the DFT website nothing much has changed, basicly most are over 2.3 m wide over 7m long and they have an electronic brake system which was not legal over here, I found this lot out when I was looking into importing them, oh and also they gross over 3500kg so officially need plating.
They are really a legal minefield, and the best place to find out about them is your local police traffic dept legal dept. (and even they had to look it up) :)
All that said I would still love to try one :)
 
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Used to camp when my five were little, five kids, dalmation and a great dane - Cornwall twice. Took kids to France camping (how did I get five kids and camping gear in a Mondeo lol). Dorset was out last camp. Sold all my gear, took a few caravan holidays, took a villa holiday two years back in Portugal, daughter had twins last year ...bought another dalmation ... re-bought camping gear all over again, but not sure if I want to keep it all or not.
Our best holidays (other than Portugal Villa) were camping ones, loved the freedom and the low costs.
 
My wife and I went from camping to a motorhome about 7 years ago, but still do some camping, particularly in the canoe. Just got some hammocks to try on our next canoe-camping trip.

Spend as much time as work will allow away in the mh, all through the year. Bought a new one last year with better insulation, much warmer in the winter months.
 
bobsbabes said:
how do you camp in a canoe ???
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Very carefully i would imagine ... :lol:

scraggs said:
If you are serious about this get it's measurements and make sure its legal to tow it in the UK, there are a whole bunch of issue's regarding width, length and braking system.
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Yeah, i've been lookin at the legalities of them and it is a minefield. I know that
from the van we have at the moment which is about as big as you can legally
tow in the Uk without using a commercial vehicle over 3500kg.

Its still very tempting though....


.
 
Excepting in the bath or under the shower, this is the WETTEST place we've ever been!
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Mt Cygnus, Western Tasmania.

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Rob_W said:
Luxury !! ... :lol:
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LOL!!! In such situations we would ask each other if we were having fun -
indeed, on our honeymoon we went for a 7 day extended bushwalk and it rained so heavily one night
that the tent floor was 3 inches under water - the only dry place in the tent was on top of her!
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mark greenhill said:

LOL!!! In such situations we would ask each other if we were having fun -
indeed, on our honeymoon we went for a 7 day extended bushwalk and it rained so heavily one night
that the tent floor was 3 inches under water - the only dry place in the tent was on top of her!
wetnite.jpg

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Erm if that was the driest place, you were'nt doing it right :nuts::eek:
:love:
 
LOL! The fact was that we pitched the tent in a hollow just beside the river overlooking a lovely waterfall - so romantic ...:hug: but we didn't expect the "heavens to open up" in quite the way it did! :love:
 
Nearly that Time of year again anyone got plans to get out and about ????
 
I'm waiting for the mother in law to finish the upholstery, the camper finally made it's first trip out in november without any major hastles, a bit compact but it does the job so really looking forward to getting out and using it this year. First trip will probably be somewhere around cromer in norfolk as soon as I get the upholstery covers.
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scraggs said:
I'm waiting for the mother in law to finish the upholstery, the camper finally made it's first trip out in november without any major hastles, a bit compact but it does the job so really looking forward to getting out and using it this year. First trip will probably be somewhere around cromer in norfolk as soon as I get the upholstery covers.
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Looks good Keith :thumbs: I'll say hello if I see it out and about.
 
This is our tent which we use when we go flying and backpacking abroad. Very small, basic, light as a feather and easy to put up.

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This is our baby caravan which we use when going by car. It's the same width as the car and so easy to drive that my hubby keeps complaining about people tailgating us:D We love it because it goes up mountain roads, doesn't hold up traffic behind us, it's lovely and warm and best of all, all the windows have midge blinds.
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Was a cub, scout and Venture scout, and so spent a stupid amount of nighs under canvas. Used to love cooking on an open fire for a week in all weathers, makes it a nice challenge in the wet to get dry wood etc etc. and keep cooking. Gas is useful if your hiking, but nothing like a proper fire!
 
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