New Years Eve.... Muddy Fields, Cow Pat, Fireworks and Sealions

Last year for New Years Eve, as we had recently moved to the coast we went to the ball on the Pier, it was great but this year we wanted something different......

So as 2015 we became first time motorhomers we decided it would only be fitting to see in the New Year in Wurtlefkey at Longleat.



Nanook of the North

I can honestly say there is no better way to see in the New Year than wrapped up like "Nanook of the North" standing in a field littered with cow-pats, completely boggy with mud watching an awesome firework display set to a great sound track and then walking around the amazing Festival of Lights before retiring to the warmth of the motorhome to watch Big Ben chime midnight on the television!



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As if all that wasn't enough waking up to the sounds of Sealions barking their early morning call for fish was the perfect (if not unusual) start to 2016.

It was a much needed lazy New Years day, we mostly took the time to sit and relax in the motorhome and I got caught up on some more coloring. 

We watched a repeat of the firework display again (Nanook and cowpat included along with a little rain) before deciding we were not ready to go home in the morning, so we booked in for an additional night........starting 2016 the way we mean to carry on....... with lots of travels, adventures, new experiences but most importantly full of love and fun

Festival of Lights at Longleat...........

....and another adventure with Giraffe!

Being a member of the "Caravan Club" we decided to use our membership to stay at the campsite actually located within the grounds of Longleat.  A few weeks ago, we did a trial run and stayed there for a weekend to see what it was like - absolutely amazing!

After our last adventure with Giraffe she was hooked on "motorhoming" and had fallen in love with Longleat so we took her along with us to see the Festival of Lights.    Now more acquainted with motorhoming, she was a great help with the chores of motorhoming life and always willing to help out with whatever needed to be done. She was as always great company and a pleasure to have as a travelling buddy.

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The pictures of the festival speak for themselves, its an amazing sight to see them during daylight and then to watch everything get switched on as dusk arrives.  They are so intricate and detailed in their design, one of the displays was made up of 220,000 tiny blue or clear glass bottles, the big construction at the centre of it all was made entirely of china plates, bowls, and spoons.  There was a 150ft long boat actually floating on the lake, and the whole area was covered in these light constructions made from silk, there were even "lights in the trees" (a little inside joke)... it really is an amazing sight and one that never fails to amaze us every time we go.

Halloween with a Giraffe at Longleat

This weekend we took Turtle's Neice out on a motorhome adventure with us.  The first point to note is that since seeing her a couple of weeks ago she has grown at least another 12 inches, and that is mostly her legs....

... hence the name "Giraffe".... and there was some uncertainty as to whether or not she would actually fit those long giraffe like legs in to our little motorhome!

Friday night we arrived and stayed at the campsite around the corner from the house, just incase she didn't take to the "motor homing life".... we didn't need to worry, she LOVED it every part of it and quickly became a part of our "crew" - washing up, cleaning, emptying waste water, toilets etc.

Saturday we headed out toward Longleat - stopping briefly to check in at the Brokerswood Country Park Campsite.  We had a great journey - Giraffe and Turtle took turns being "co-pilot" and deploying the "motorhome wave" - we collected 10 waves in total. 

Longleat was great, we had gone specifically for the fireworks in the evening, but the beauty of a motorhome is that you can get there early and sit in the warmth and comfort of your own home whilst everyone is standing around freezing their feet off - we had enough time for a quick whizz around the maze, and a trip to Costa before heading back to the motorhome for face painting and a change into some warmer clothes

To coin a phrase from Giraffe, "the fireworks were FANTASTIC!!!!"

We had had such a great time at Longleat that Giraffe wanted to go back again, so on Sunday morning, we unpitched and headed back to Longleat to spend some more time there, on the boat, the train, visiting the Lorikeets, Monkeys and Penguins

 

Eight and a half hours later than we were supposed to have returned Giraffe back to her Mother, we sheepishly pulled up on the driveway with a worn out but excited girl ready to tell everyone about her adventures and show them where the Lorikeet had "poo'd on her"!!!

 

It was honestly the most enjoyable weekend, it was a real pleasure to have Giraffe for company on another one of our adventures, and it is such a joy and privilege to see what an amazing young lady she is growing in to.

 

So this weekend saw us staying at another new campsite, and one we will definitely go back to, and taking the Motorhome to Longleat was also a new experience, but one that we will most definitely repeat, it is the best way to go to any kind of event.  We are still absolutely loving the many benefits of not only owning a motorhome, but one that is compact and versatile enough to go most places with relative ease allowing us to the be the Travelling Beach Bums that we love to be!

Pumpkin carving with the boys....

At the end of last year I had introduced Wolf and Monkey to the American tradition of making a Gingerbread House for Christmas.  I duly baked the gingerbread, cut it out, glued it together and hours later presented them with a house, icing and candy decorations with which to decorate aforementioned house - this was the end result...........

 

So you can imagine that it was with some trepidation that I suggested pumpkin carving.  However I can honestly say it was a lot of fun.......

 

 



 

 

...... AND I think you will agree the end result was really quite impressive!

 

 

 

 

 

Pentewan Sands and Football Golf

Wurtlefkey - we had the whole field to ourselves
This was the view from the top of the hill!!!

This weekend as we had an extra day we decided to venture a little further south and visit a new campsite - Pentewan Sands.  What a great location.. it had on site an American style burger bar that had really good vegetarian options, two pools, a pub, chip shop and if that wasn't enough it has its own beautiful sandy private beach!  That all being said, I'm glad we went in October as the pitches themselves are pretty small so although we had a whole field to ourselves, I can imagine in the summer months this place is rammed and you are packed in like sardines!

 

On our way back down the hill

So we rocked up on Saturday, pitched up and settled in.  We discovered a a great American style burger bar onsite and noticed they had some surprisingly good vegetarian options, so it would have been rude not to stop.  One halloumi burger, 2 giant onion rings, cheesey fries and huge malted milk shake later, we left feeling quite guilty about all the calories we had just shoved down our necks, so went for a walk to explore the area and ended up walking up what I think it the steepest hill I have ever walked up - that was enough to make me eat healthily for the rest of our trip!!!

We woke up on Sunday morning to absolutely glorious sunshine, seriously for the beginning of November, the weather was amazing.  We had found a place online that does "football golf" so we took off and went in to St Austell to play a round of football golf.....




In total it took about 4 hours and it is literally as it sounds.  Instead of a ball and club, you get a football.  You have to kick the ball up the fairway, invariably there is some kind of obstacle to go over/under/around and then you kick it in to the hole which definitely sounds a whole lot easier than it actually is.

I thought for sure I would at least stand a fighting chance of winning, but sadly not so - I was worse at this than anything!  BUT I did have a moment of glory when I putted the football from about a mile away... I had embraced the technique of going down the green in a zig zag fashion, that way my ball was always in the rough and not running down the slope of some monstrous hill with me running along trying to catch it - I kicked the ball in another sideways direction and somehow it amazingly hit the slope in the right spot on the fairway and rolled all the way down the hill in to the hole....nobody was more amazed than me and so I deployed another of my celebratory dances .......

 ..... before going on to lose my second game of the day!


But it was an absolutely awesome day, lots of fun and always good to try something new.  We headed back to the campsite and settled in for the night to nurse some aching legs (and a sore toe from kicking the ball)

A little coloring was the perfect end to the day, so while Wolf played some poker, I got my coloring books out and finished the two designs I had been working on. 

 


It was so nice to tag an extra day on to our weekend, gave us the opportunity to travel a little farther afield and it gave us the time to relax and unwind in a beautiful location.  We will definitely go back to visit Pentewan Sands again next year.




Pride comes before a fall......

Oh how true that is! 

 

We returned to Woolacombe this weekend for the Golf Challenge... Wolf played absolutely out of his skin, potting the ball off of a chip, potting the longest of putts, he had an amazing game... which means as pleased as I was for him......I lost!  To coin one of my favourite Wolf phrases, I "couldn't have hit a barn door with a shovel" on Saturday I was that bad!  And I couldn't leave it at that..  Sunday morning we got up early and pitched up at the parking lot by the beach, after breakfast at "The Captains Table" I thought I would fare better with crazy golf, so we headed over to the Pirate Adventureland..... I was wrong!  Still the words "barn door" and "Shovel" come to mind!

 

 

 

 

A slight glimmer of hope shone through when Wolf agreed to a rematch of the golf challenge........ I did play a much better game and actually managed to hit the ball, but still to no avail ...  So the outcome of the weekend was....  Wolf 3... Turtle 0 

One of the things I love about spending the weekends away in Wurtlefkey is that it allows us some downtime to read, play games, watch movies or as I have recently invested in the latest trend of adult coloring books, coloring.  Its a hobby that satisfies my creative streak without being too taxing on the brain, I can sit for hours on end coloring it is therapeutic and relaxing, so I am super happy that every book shop you go in to there is a plethora of coloring books, markers and pencils to choose from.

This is my creation from the weekend, not entirely finished, but over half way done.  This was a book I bought a while ago (oddly enough in Sainsburys), its a 60's Flower Power book, I was previously using pencils but this design needed more bold color so I invested in some new markers which I think gave the desired effect, although did limit my color choices.

Sadly the weather is turning now (Sunday morning was cold enough to get our woolly hats out) and the sites in Woolacombe all close at the end of October, so this was our last visit to Woolacombe this year. 

 

We have always had such a great time here, and can't wait to return when they re-open in March 2016. 

 

FAREWELL WOOLACOMBE...

......until next time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



And finally....Victory is MINE!!!!!

Another weekend in sunny Woolacombe. We have recently been so lucky with the weather, after a dismal week we go prepared with enough movies to watch should the weather give us cause to stay inside all weekend, but we have yet to watch any movies as the weather has been glorious.  Damage Barton is the campsite we have returned to most weekends for the last couple of months, it almost feels like a second home.  I can't speak highly enough of this place, the people are friendly, its a quiet campsite with a very relaxed, chilled out atmosphere.  There is a great little shop on site, and they even bake fresh pasties to order.  The views are amazing, you are at the top of a hill so get a great view of the ocean.  It is also a working farm so is surrounded by countryside full of livestock. 
 
This last week they must have moved the cows around as we were awoken to the dulcet tones of a rather large cow, complete with equally large horns, "moo'ing" at the top of its lungs.  I did at one point think it was outside the motorhome, so had to climb out of bed to check, but we were just VERY close to the field next door.

We took our usual Saturday morning walk down to Woolacombe via Mortehoe (we call it Moordor) its probably about 3 miles and is down some pretty steep hills, but its a beautiful walk through the country and then down along the coastal road all the way to the beach.  Of course no visit to Woolacombe is complete without the "Golf Challenge"..... not much to say about it really....Wolf had an outstanding game and won again so the chore of making cups of tea all day and cooking dinner in the evening fell on my shoulders.

Sunday we decided to do something a little different, it was a lovely day and so instead of packing up and going home, we decided to pack up early and head to the beach, if you get there early you can get a spot big enough for a motorhome and then use that as your base for the day - what a great day we had!  Having gotten up so early and down to an empty parking lot we were able to have our pick of spaces, so we parked up and then went to the Captains Table (my favourite restaurant there) for a full Veggie Breakfast, after our fill of breakfast we then headed over for an additional "Golf Challenge"  and I have a LOT more to say about that!!! FINALLY..... VICTORY IS MINE!!!!!  I WON!!!!!!

OH THE JOY!!!!!! For weeks I have persevered with this challenge blindly hoping that one day, whether it be sheer determination, a stroke of luck or any other freak event, I would win!  How I LOVED having that first cup of tea when we got back to the motorhome, and every other cup of tea after that.  Victory is indeed sweet!!!!!  As was the victory dance I did "football style" running around the golf course with my shirt over my head.

The rest of the day was spent in a giddy euphoric state (I know its only golf, but this was a long time coming)... after all that excitement so early in the morning we headed back to Wurtlefkey to take a mid-morning nap, and then took a 6 mile walk along the beach to Putsborough and back - it was the perfect end to a fantastic weekend.