Anglesey Club 80-90 meet June 26-28 2009

We went along to Courgette Collette's club meet at Benllech Anglesey. It was a relaxed and friendly meet and it was great to meet a few more club members. Great weather on friday and Sunday and a bit of a washout on Saturday so we went to Bangor for a look and wished we hadn't bothered!

Wicker Man Week, May 16th - 23rd 09 Part 1

About blooming time too - Our first trip away in the camper in 2009 was to Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. We are big fans of the original Wicker Man film with edward Woodward and Christopher Lee, so while we were up there we visited some of the film locations.

Hoddom Castle

First stop was Hoddom Castle near Lockerbie. It was a lovely spot near the river Annan, nice walks through the grounds and a bar and restaurant in the castle itself. We only stayed for 1 night to break up our journey but we were impressed.

Kircudbright

For the next 2 nights we stayed at Kircudbright, where alot of the Wicker Man was filmed. Unfortunately the weather was rubbish, cold and grey. The good thing was there was lots to see, and the campsite was good too. It was a council owned one, just above the town.

Rachel outside Maclennan Castle at Kircudbright

Gordon outside one of the buildings used in the Wicker Man

Alleyways that Edward Woodward was chased down in Kircudbright

Brightly coloured artists houses

They served a nice glass of wine at the Gordon House Hotel !

Wicker Man Week, May 16th - 23rd 09 Part 2

Garlieston

Next we travelled west and moved on to the Caravan Cub camp site at Garlieston for 3 nights. I felt like we had one of the best pitches on the site, right next to the sea wall.

Our pitch, blues skies and sunshine...

The view of the village - Garlieston

Gordon showing his superpowers on the beach


Us on the beach in front of the campsite

Rachel on a walk to Galloway House gardens

Rachel at Galloway House gardens

Gordon and a friends down the woods

Wicker Man Week, May 16th - 23rd 09 Part 3

When we were staying at Garlieston we took a drive out to Portpatrick on the Rhinns of Galloway, then down to the Logan Botanical Gardens which is where they filmed the scenes in Lord Summerisle's garden in the Wicker Man. On the way back to the campsite we detoured round the Isle of Whithorn where they filmed the scenes in the Library. A beautiful sunny day out with empty roads.

Fairy Lights!!!

York, 28th - 30th November

Christmas(y) Shop Window

Hooray it is November and we went on our annual trip to York. This is the first time we have ever been there in the camper. Goodness me it was cold, thank god for thermo mats otherwise we might have been frozen solid. We were frozen in on Sunday morning and had to aim the fan heater at the locks before we could get out. Here's a picture of what we found when we escaped the van...

We stayed at Manor Farm Caravan Site, by the racecourse. It was so convenient for the city centre, and there was a bus every 30 mins into the centre and back again until 11pm.

Misty York Minster on Friday night

Christmas lights and a ghost tour...

On Friday night we spent some of my birthday money at a Turkish restaurant called Kapadokya - Dolma, sigora borek, mussaka, salad, baklava and a bottle of wine later we were stuffed.

Here I am looking very happy in the candle light....

And here is Gordon looking happy on Saturday night in the very sparkley Vudu Lounge with a cocktail, which was followed by a fab steak to end the night at Wildes on Grape Lane. Roll on next November!!!

Chester weekend 25th/26th October

We visited Netherwood Caravan Site from Friday night to Sunday morning. It only took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get there and was a great find. It was right next to the tow path and you could either walk along there to the town centre or catch a bus. Near to the site were a couple of pubs so we walked to the nearest (the Cheshire Cat) and had a meal - which was a bit rubbish - such a shame as the surroundings were lovely. Next time we go we will book in the Plough which is the other direction up the tow path as it has just won a best gastropub in cheshire award. Chester is a perfect weekend destination, history, town walls, nice shops and lots of places to eat. We had a lovely meal on the Saturday at Brasserie Chez Gerard. Only problem we had was that I forgot my camera so I don't have any proper pictures from the weekend - here's one of the rows from someone else's website!

Mari and the rocking reindeer!

Run to the Hills 22nd - 24th August

We went to our first proper VW event near Matlock called Run to the Hills. We camped with Club 80-90. Thanks to the members that made us feel welcome, and Matt for organizing everything. It was great to be with so many other T25s and meet other club members I've talked online too. Gordon and I went after work on the friday night, and we were joined by Sarah and Jon and Lauren and Matt on Saturday morning and Charlie and Donna on Saturday evening.