Skipsea Bank Holiday Camping

I took the afternoon off work so we could get to the camp site early, but typically I got dragged into meetings and didn't leave work while 2:30pm. We jumped in the can and set off across West Yorkshire, just beating the rush hour traffic on the M62. Within a couple of hours we were at Skipsea Sands Camp site. We were meeting up with several friends and everyone had already arrived. Thankfully we were all pitches together, we got the kids bikes off the van and had a beer or two!

BBQ in the evening

 It was great to relax amongst friends and we had a cracking evening sat outside chatting and joking, good fun. The kids were happy playing together and looked after each other the whole weekend.

The weather was kind to us and we spent the whole weekend outside. The barbecue was heavily used, bacon sandwiches in the morning and burgers and sausages in the evening. 

On Saturday we went down onto the beach and I was amazed at the erosion, mud cliffs as far as the eye can see in both directions falling into the sea. The kids went for a paddle and quickly got wet through, Andrea conned me into having a 'paddle' I stripped off to my underpants and charged into the sea, Andrew one of my mates did the same and we spent 20 minutes swimming around, it wasn't freezing and as long as you stayed in the water it was bearable. Andrea and the other girls nicked our clothes and tool them back to the camp site. We had to walk back onto the site wearing only wet underwear, lots of pointing and laughing!

In the evening the kids hit the arcade, Finlay was determined to will a crab toy on the 2p shove. He sat all night loading 2p's into the machine and won the damn crab which cost a fortune!

Paul with his big fish!

Paul is a keen angler and bought a weekend license for the lake on the camp site. Finlay had been sat with Paul and had been eating maggots, his attitude was that if the fish thought they were okay it was worth try it out. All the girls thought this discussing, but all the blokes laughed at it, considering Finlay doesn't like veg and struggles to eat his tea to eat maggots was pretty good!  We were all sat talking when the kids came running over excitedly, Paul had a big fish on the line and we should come quickly! After a bit of fight Paul landed a nice sized carp, everyone was crowding around looking at quite a big fish, amazing!

We had another barbecue in the evening, it was a testosterone team effort to do the cooking. The girls sat back drinking wine while the blokes took it in turns to flip the burgers!

After dark we lit a small fire in an old barbecue, the kids used this to toast marshmallows.

On our last day we headed for a nearby car boot sale and market at Skirlington. Finlay was on the lookout for a small penknife, he soon found a suitcase and routed out an old knife, a bargain at £1.

Finlay spent the rest of the holiday whittling branches. He was only allowed to play with the knife while under strict supervision!

All too soon it was time to go home, Steve and his kids decided to stay on for a few days but everyone else was busy packing up. It was a quite run home, another great weekend, to say that there was 8 kids and 8 adults we'd all got on great. 

Bradford Kids Saturday Bike Club - Go Ride Games

Go Finlay!

Looked on the East Bradford Cycling Club web site and noticed that there was an open day 'Go-Ride Games' at Richard Dunn sports centre so I loaded the kids bikes into the car and off we went!

Since doing the Bradford Sky ride we've been trying to start doing the Saturday Morning club with the kids, but with holidays and other commitments we've not managed it.

It was a really good day, from 10:30am through to about 3:00pm the kids were kept busy doing all the activities. There were kids of all abilities and ages. Jack and Finlay were in their element, both got stuck in and were enthusiastic about all the events.

Jack insisted on taking the racer.

One of the coaches had brought an Olympic torch and all the kids got to run with it as part of one of the events, this was really well appreciated by my boys.

At the end of the games everyone got a goody bag and a certificate. Jack came second in one of the events so he was well chuffed. As always Finlay was happy and content to be joining in with all the activities.

The kids still have not joined the club, as today wasn't a regular Saturday club, but we'll try again soon!!

Summer Holiday - Near Cherbourg

Finlay Digging.

We headed further north and towards Cherbourg, only one night at Le Grange Large Camp site near to Les Pieux. We arrived mid afternoon and quickly set up camp. The site was adjacent to the beach so we headed straight down to play in the sand. Finlay started making sand castles and digging holes. Me and Jack played bat and ball for a while, as the sum went down we went back to the camp site and got some tea from the take away.

When it came dark there was a fireworks display, a fitting end to our last night away. Early set off in the morning and we headed to Cherbourg for our crossing on the Catamaran. The motor home in 2.95M high and there's a 3.0M height restriction on the ferry so it was good fun getting onto the boat.

Jack in action.

The crossing only took 3 and a half hours and we also gained an hour with the clocks changing. We got off the ferry at Poole mid afternoon and headed straight up country and arrived home at 6pm. All safe.

It had been a great two weeks away, we'd bean to some ace places and had great weather. We did 2,500 miles! Great holiday!!!

Summer Holiday - Quinquis / Brittany

Swing!!

The longest days drive to get to our next destination. Steve, Liz and their daughter Laura moved out to Brittany last year. They have bought a house and some land that they are in the process of renovating. It's the first time we've seen them since last September and we were made very welcome. Finding the place was good fun , the Sat Nav took us all over the place and we ended up using some maps that I'd printed out before we set off.

Jack in Finlay had been told to be on best behaviour  it was Lauras' 6th birthday, I think our kids were happy to see someone English who they could play with and were as good as gold. Steve had made a tree swing which Finlay tested to the limit. There was also a small swimming pool which was great to cool off in. 

Wally the Dog!

We caught up and spent a couple of evenings barbecuing, drinking and laughing about past adventures. Steve took me for a ride on his BMW bike into Carnoet showing me some of the places that they hang out.

It was pretty emotional saying goodbye, but we had to move on, heading nearer home. I'm sure we'll be seeing Steve, Liz, Laura and Wally again, maybe next year!

Summer Holiday - Murol / Auvergne

The Castle and Church at Murol

We were glad to be leaving the Cote D'azur, it had been red hot and none of us had much 'get up and go' with the heat. Ironically the day we left it rained and the weather was cloudy and wet, so it was just as well that we were hitting the Peage. We retraced our way along the south coast and headed in land, we were heading for a village called Murol in Auverge, Camping L'Europe.

The kids had spent all day in the van and wanted to go for a swim in the pool, it was pretty funny watching both Jack and Finlay get into trouble for running or going down the slide backwards. They couldn't understand what the lady was saying to them and just looked surprised to be in trouble!

Over night it came very cold, this was a relief after the heat of the Med. I checked to see how high above sea level we were and was surprised when I found out were were over 2800 feet up!

Finlay!

Next day we walked down into the Murol and found the streets filled with a second and market, we pottered about looking at all the stalls and took some cool photos of the imposing castle above the village. The kids would't go for a look around the castle and both were adamant that they were NOT going into the castle!!!

Andrea went for a run after tea, she's got a club run when we get back to Britain, so needed to at least go for the odd run!!

We headed back to the camp site and chilled out for the rest of the day. In the evening there were several hot air balloons overhead, the views were pretty good from the ground so it must have been spectacular from the air.

Out on a bike ride!

We decided to go for a bike ride in the morning and set off with a rucksack full of drinks. The cycle tracks around the village were perfect for the kids, most of the trails were away from the roads and the lanes were very quite. We did several miles, Finlay moaned about a couple of the hills, but the kids did okay considering how hot it was.

We spent more time in the village, this time the market was even bigger. Please must come from miles around, both stall holders and shoppers, the car parks were full and cars parked on all the grass verges leading into the village.

We all spent more time in the pool, sorry that we'd be moving on again in the morning.

Summer Holiday - Cannes / Monte Carlo

Jack and Finlay with a Bugatti Veyron

Moving on and we headed down to the med, Cannes was our next stopping place. Four days to chill out on the Cote D'zure. Camping Bellevue about 1km away from the beach was our destination. Jack was chuffed to find a Lambougini service centre next to the camp site and was excited every time we walked past, he 3 or 4 cars and told us all about them, endlessly!

We spent a fair amount of time walking either down to the beach, along the front and into to Cannes. Finlay lover running along the beach playing in the surf as we walked long the promenade. We looked at the boats in the marina, how many millionaires are there in the world these days?

The big reason why we came here was to take a trip onto Monaco so Jack could have a look at the F1 track and do some car spotting. We got the train from the local station, an air conditioned double decker, made British trains look prehistoric. It took just over an hour to get along the coast.

 We spent the day walking around. Both kids really enjoyed it, Andrea wasn't too keen and kept wanting to do a bus your, but we just kept trudging along. We walked the track backwards, going from the mariner through the tunnel, Jack pointed out the spot (Portiers) where Ayrton Senna crashed while leading the 1988 F1 race.

A Koenigsegg

Up at the casino there was large numbers of exotic cars, I took photos of Ferraris, Porsches, Bugattis and Koenigseggs! Jack and Finlay were reminded to look and not touch. If I owned one of these cars I'd want it parked somewhere out of the way, not out front being crowded out by holiday makers!

Next we headed back to the marina and looked at some of the boats there made the one in Cannes look tame, who owns these exotic boats, they are way too big for a family, but we're absolute luxury! Several of them were registered in Douglas Isle of Man.

The Casio in Monte Carlo

Next walked up the hill to the Palace. Finlay was very hot and had took off his tee-shirt, as we entered the courtyard at the top of the hill the royal guard quickly stopped us in our tracks and made Finlay put his shirt back on, respect for the royal family. We walked around the gardens and looked out at some of the views over the bays.

Walking back into town and we headed to the front, Jack and Finlay had a go on a climbing route that had been setup and we took some photos of the kids with the Fangio bronze statue at Rascasse. It was getting late so we headed back to the station. Dad knows best (or does he!!) we got on what looked like the right train only to go flying through our station and ended up taking ages to get a train back to our station. The kids were both tired and got upset that we had missed our stop!!

On our last day in Cannes we lazed around, using the swimming pool on site and had a walk down to the front for one last time. It had been red hot and we were glad to be moving back north!

Summer Holiday - Ardeche

The kids loved the stream. 

Another day driving south and the weather has been getting hotter and hotter, by mid afternoon we had cleared the Peage and headed towards a Supermarket to stock up food / drink. We then headed up a steep sided valley to a little place called Coux. Quickly found the camp site Le Moulin d'Claire and a nice shady pitch. The kids went straight for a swim in the pool and I got the barbecue out ready for everyone returning from the pool.

After food me and the kids went for a look walk in he stream that runs below the camp site, it was good fun trying to head down stream without getting wet, however Finlay didn't care and waded, sometimes up to his waist in water. The kids really enjoyed this mini adventure!

Finlay out on an expedition

Had a great few days with super weather, during the day it was hot, but during the night it became cold and let us all sleep easily. The church in Coux rang its bell every hour, but unusually it rang twice on the hour with a 2 minute gap. I guess if you missed the first chime you got a second chance, quite a good idea.

We spent a couple of days in the swimming pool, playing in the stream, walking both up and down the water course, all good fun. There was a cool bridge above the camp site the straddled the valley and enabled access to Coux, Jack and me went for a walk one evening, but it was hard going in the heat. 

Jack posing!

Finlay loved it down by the stream and was quite happy to tootle off on his own to either make dams or catch small fish with a net.

There were no English on the site, just French, Dutch and Belgiums. No one spoke English, so we made do with broken French and pointing!