This time last year Sam and I went to Wilderness Festival whilst I was 5 months pregnant. We had a wonderful time wandering around in the wilderness and decided that we just had to go back with our baby this year.
We have always wanted to do a motorhome holiday and figured that it would be the perfect occasion with our 8 month old baby, as it would make 'camping' so much easier. I started planning this trip at the beginning of the year and booked our festival tickets and hire of a motorhome.
I searched the internet for quite a long time, trying to find a suitable company to hire a motorhome from that had a pick up location close to Bristol. In the end I found Unbeatablehire.com. I've got to say that they have been brilliant from start to finish; from giving me a quote, to answering my many questions by email and finally collecting the Chaussen Flash 04 model from the pick up address on Junction 18 of the M4. The chap that showed us how to work the motorhome was great, professional, knowledgeable and above all, very nice.
The initial drive was slightly stressful as we both had to get used to being in a large vehicle driving down some very narrow country roads on the way to Sam's aunt's and uncle's house near Salisbury. Thankfully we had borrowed our friends sat nav - don't think we could have done the trip without it, it was such a blessing.
Sam, Hugh and Henry playing cricket at Wake House
I have heard a lot about the Vicarage, Wake House at Ebbesbourne Wake for many years from the Fergusson family and have always wanted to visit. Our trip to Canterbury gave us a great excuse and we had such a lovely time there with Sam's aunt Jane and uncle Hugh. Sam's cousin Tom's three kids were there for a few days seeing their grandparents, and we really enjoyed catching up with them all. Eve certainly had fun playing with Josephine. Josephine is three years old and is such a delight, she took us on a magical mystery tour of the gardens, which ended with us all jumping about like crazy on the trampoline. Sam also played cricket with Henry (age 5) and Hugh whilst Rosa (age 8) was over at a friends house for tea.
Josephine, Eve and Sam in the garden
Henry, Josephine, Jane, Hugh, Eve and Me
We loved having a proper catch up with the Pelly family. Sam's cousin Claire joined us in the evening and told us what her four brothers are currently up to. Jane cooked a very yummy roast chicken dinner for us adults and made up a lovely baby-friendly room for me, Sam and Eve to sleep in. Eve slept through the night in a beautiful old-fashioned cot next to our Dyson fan. This was fantastic as she had only just got back into her sleep routine, 2 weeks after we returned from Greece.
Our trusty Dyson fan works wonders, we take it everywhere that Eve is going to sleep. I cannot recommend it enough, it keeps her cool during warm summer nights and it was also really useful when she was a newborn. We decided last summer to buy a Dyson Hot+Cool AM05 which we could turn on to regulate the temperature in our bedroom where Eve slept in the early days, without having to turn the heating on in the rest of our flat. It was also a god-send during labour. As for most pregnant women I went through stages of being really hot or really cold. Instead of having to wait for the heating to come on Sam just turned on the Dyson to blast me with hot air, which really helped during contractions.
Dyson fans are expensive and we took a while to decide to buy it. I bought it straight from Dyson with a £70 discount which made it more worthwhile. At the time I thought maybe I shouldn't have bought it but now I'm so glad as we've used it so much. It's been incredibly useful. 10/10 for sure!
Daddy and Eve standing on the bridge over the river Arun, with Arundel castle in the background
The following morning off we went in the motorhome, the country roads towards Salisbury were slightly hair-raising but once we were on the main roads driving got a lot easier. Eve was great and fell asleep for the majority of the drive. The great thing about the motorhome was being able to pop into the back and feed Eve meals or give her milk or water whilst we were driving along. She was strapped into her car seat with a spare seat next to her so I could buckle myself in whilst taking care of her. It made driving so much easier than in a car.
We enjoyed wandering about Arundel castle. It was overly expensive as those kind of tourist places tend to be, but we were glad to have seen it. The Earl's gardens in particular really took our fancy - they were absolutely exquisite.
It was a hot day so we headed off to our first camping stop in the late afternoon - just a field a few miles away. Wild camping - no electric hook up. Just us in a field watching the sun setting behind a hill. Bliss!
Eve's new found love - the foil backing on our picnic blanket, she couldn't get enough of it
Eve's first sunset, drinking her milk before bedtime
After Sam gave Eve her breakfast the following morning we set off towards Canterbury, via Rye.
We have wanted to visit Rye for many years and felt that this was the perfect time to do it. The drive took us twice as long as the sat nav told us due to traffic and narrow roads, however, when we arrived we were so pleased. All the people that we spoke to were really friendly and helpful. Sam and Eve were both scared climbing up Rye's church tower - as the Vicar told us beforehand 'the climb up the tower is primitive!' - but the view from the top was stunning. We could see for miles, right out to sea. It gave us a real feel for Rye and the surrounding area.
Me at the top of Rye's church tower
Sam and Eve at the top of the tower
It was quite a fun drive from Rye over to Canterbury, the roads were really bendy like a touring car rally track with lots of livestock in the fields which were very flat.
We arrived at Canterbury touring park late afternoon to find my sister Claire, her boyfriend Jody and my mum waiting for us. Jody and Claire cooked up a storm on the bbq, and Eve enjoyed munching on her first corn-on-the-cob.
I cannot recommend Canterbury touring park enough - it was definitely our favourite place that we stayed at. They had a family room which had brand new baby bathing equipment in it. They gave me the key for the duration of our stay which made it so easy to look after Eve.
The happy couple - Jon and Liz
The reason for our trip to Canterbury was for my brother's wedding. He married his bride, Liz at a lovely outdoor ceremony at St Edmunds School.
My mum - aka Granny T with Eve
Me and Claire with our mum
Jon and Liz's wedding day was so lovely, the weather was good and it was so nice to catch up with family.
It was also really nice to chat with Jon's military pals.
It was a shame that we had to leave the wedding celebrations early, but it was already past Eve's bedtime. I guess these are the small sacrifices you have to make as a parent. We were so proud of her, she slept so well in the motorhome each night. A couple of nights she slept right through until 7am.
The next morning we had a short drive to Horam manor touring park, this was a good thing as Eve poked Daddy in the eye by mistake which made it a bit difficult for him to see for most of the day.
Making lunch at Horam manor touring park - as a parent you cannot be with a picnic blanket or two
It was so nice to breathe fresh country air, walk under the dark canopy of trees and then come out the other side of the woods into a beautiful meadow.
The last night we stayed at Stonehenge touring park. The drive was long and boring as we went on the M25 so we felt pretty knackered when we arrived.
We ordered a curry delivery - not probably the best re camping etiquette but so good not to have to cook.
Eve loves camping!
Tomorrow we are off to Wilderness Festival, it's going to be so much fun, we have two set of friends who are also coming along with their babies and I just can't wait to see our little ones having a good time together.....
http://www.wildernessfestival.com/
http://www.wildernessfestival.com/
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