Following the success (apart from the breakdown!) of last year’s big summer camping trip to Cornwall, this year we settled on the Isle of Wight and hoped for a repeat experience. We spent quite a while researching campsites in the IoW and found quite a few impressive looking places with gorgeous cliff-top views out over the sea. We were a little worried by some reports of high winds though so decided to hedge our bets and split our time between two different sites. Beaper Farm was the first site, and was selected because it’s close to Ryde and a little further inland than some of the other sites so we hoped it might be a little more sheltered if the weather turned against us.
We arrived at Heaven Farm on a sunny Friday afternoon in May, in need of some relaxation after a particularly bad week at work. Thankfully, we picked a site which allowed us to do just that!
It doesn’t sell itself as a campsite but as more of a tourist attraction. As we turned down the gravel drive, we could see it had it all – a lovely old farmhouse and barns (housing a farming museum!), a tea room, farm shop, garden shop, gift shop, a nature trail and a kangaroo enclosure - all set within 100 acres of rolling Sussex countryside.
First impressions count so when you drive through the gates at Hidden Spring and are greeted by a single lane track, tree lined on one side and with grape vines on the other you're off to a promising start. The track climbs up a gentle incline until at the brow the rows of vines on the left stop and the field opens up to reveal around 15 pitches, all with electric hookup. Through a gap in the hedgerow on the right there's another field which is home to the site's tipis and yurts.
Of the three sites that we stayed at during our first Cornwall Camping trip I'd say that Bay View was our favourite. It's small friendly sites in great locations like this that are what got us excited about owning a campervan in the first place. It didn't have the best on-site facilities, and in bad weather it could feel quite remote, but did I mention the view?
Grange Farm was the second campsite that we stayed in on the Isle of Wight. Before we set off on our holiday, we were looking forward to staying here, having looked at the website and seen the location and the views. Having already spent a few days being rained on and blown about by the British weather though, we were more than a little nervous about staying at the top of a cliff!
Our pitches
The Food, Drink and Leisure Festival was taking place at Mersea Vineyard on Mersea Island just east of Colchester over the last bank holiday weekend in May. We were a little late in deciding to attend and missed out on a pitch at Fen Farm where we’d stayed last year but managed to get a couple of pitches next to each other at Seaview Holiday Park for us and our fellow-Bongo camping companions. We weren’t able to book pitches on the touring field for our little campervans (perhaps because it was fully booked) so we ended up on hard standing and feeling dwarfed by the vast motorhomes on all sides. The hard standing pitches are bordered by a grass area for awnings, but some have larger grass patches than others and we only just managed to squeeze our awning in.
The Camper Van Cookbook
May 15
This year’s Christmas present cook book was “The Camper Van Cookbook” by Martin Dorey with recipes by Sarah Randell. The idea is that it features recipes that can be cooked on just two rings or using a barbecue, as well as showing you how to make the most of your campervanning trips. Like the Cool Camping Cookbook, this is the kind of book that you can flick through at any time, reading the informative sections and choosing the recipes that you will use on your next trip. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s always a slight feeling of apprehension when arriving at a campsite for the first time. You’d like to believe that you’ve done enough research by studying the site’s own website, you might have read a recommendation in a book, or a handful of reviews online, but as you pootle down the road in your campervan looking out for the little brown sign with the tent and caravan logo you’re bound to be hoping that it lives up to your expectations. First impressions count so when you drive through the gates at Hidden Spring and are greeted by a single lane track, tree lined on one side and with grape vines on the other you’re off to a promising start. The track climbs up a gentle incline until at the brow the rows of vines on the left stop and the field opens up to reveal around 15 pitches, all with electric hookup. Through a gap in the hedgerow on the right there’s another field which is home to the site’s tipis and yurts. Read the rest of this entry »
