A Campsite by the Sea

After much checking of the weather forecast, we headed off to the South Coast for the second weekend of half-term. The drive down was fairly uneventful - both children fell asleep before we'd gone more than a few, very slow, miles through the London traffic - but then were both awake again well before we'd cleared the M25. This dual power-nap meant a lot of noise, over-excitement and bashing each other over the head with the pillows which we'd had to stack between them on the back seat due to the fact the car boot was stuffed full to bursting with camping gear. Not the best of driving conditions then, but four hours after setting off, we pulled into the campsite. And, once the tent was up, we could settle down with a glass of wine, fire up the camping stove and enjoy the view.

Over the next three days we had a great time. We spent a day on the beach in Weymouth enjoying traditional 'seaside' activities such as donkey rides, fun fairs and eating fish and chips by the sea. We spent a day in Lyme Regis enjoying the beach (and, in the case of my very hardy 7 year old, the freezing cold sea) and then hunting for fossils at Charmouth. And, on the way back to London, we made the Little Princess' dreams come true with a long-awaited trip to meet her beloved Peppa Pig at Peppa Pig World (another post to come on that).

This was our first camping trip on our own. We camped last year with friends who have a bit more 'experience' of camping than we do, so it was a bit of a learning curve. We all thoroughly enjoyed the three nights we spent at East Fleet Farm, just outside Weymouth, and would definitely go back again in future.

The best bits: The sunshine, being so close to the beach, the fantastic playground where the kids could hang out and make friends, sitting outside with a glass of wine watching the sun go down. And, despite the fact I'm addicted to the internet, not having the unlimited access to technology that we're used to was great... I could use my phone, but having to conserve the battery life was a positive as it meant we switched off and talked instead.

What we learned...
A camping stove takes a long time to bring a big pan of potatoes to the boil, which is annoying when you have two hungry children waiting for their dinner.
And, even if the forecast doesn't include rain, it would be a good idea to take wellies - the area outside our tent was really boggy for the first couple of days. Luckily most of the mud on our (not very sensible) shoes came out in the wash!