Out of office on……

A week after buying the campervan and it was time to head out on our first holiday! On Tuesday 23 June we packed up The Cammy and headed down the east coast through Berwick-upon-Tweed to Walkmill campsite (a mile or so from the small village of Warkworth) which we had found on the ‘Cool Camping’ website. On the way to the campsite we stopped off at Amble to get some food supplies and pick up 2 camping chairs and portable BBQ that we’d pre-ordered from Tesco the day before  The campsite was lovely – a small site on the owner’s land (see the pics) and it obviously helped that it was lovely and sunny for the night we were there! That evening we hooked up to the electric, opened a bottle of wine and enjoyed our first BBQ of the year    The next day we took a 30 min walk to Warkworth which was a nice market town on the River Coquet with a castle a few shops and traditional pubs. After heading back to the campsite we set off in The Cammy for Robin Hood’s Bay where we had booked a pitch at Middlewood campsite for 3 nights. The campsite was on a working farm and was literally a 10 minute walk to the bay. On our first evening we took a wander down to RHB and enjoyed a pint before heading back to the campsite for our second BBQ of the trip!   Taking advantage of the nice weather, the next day we did a 7 mile circular walk starting from RHB and walking along a coastal footpath to Ravenscar which gave nice views back along the coast, and then returning via the beach route (more details here). Compared to yesterday evening, RHB was buzzing with tourists and walkers so I’m guessing it’s a bit more of a day-trip destination. Keeping to tradition we finished the day with yet another BBQ. The next day we drove through the Moors about an hour away to Malton, a typical North Yorkshire town with a good buzz about it and lots of nice shops. While in Malton we picked up some fruit and veg and game pie from the local butchers which gave us a night off the BBQ (we haven’t got a gas cylinder yet so can’t use the hobs just yet)!   The last morning in RHB was lovely and sunny so we had a leisurely morning packing up the van and sitting out in the sun...as it was now Saturday the campsite was pretty full compared to our first night when we were one of only 3 campers! Then we headed 5 miles back up the coast to Whitby which turned out to be our favourite spot on the trip....it’s a lovely seaside town with abbey ruins on a hill overlooking the town. The town has an old and new town section, and also a promenade on a hill opposite the abbey which had an outdoor swimming pool and crazy golf (which we enjoyed a round of!). Whitby was bustling with local and tourists, and kind of reminded us of a bigger version of Peel. We spent a good few hours walking around the town taking in the sights, and also enjoyed a fish and chip lunch at one of the many fish restaurants and cafes in the town. At about 4pm we left Whitby and drove 2 hours north back into Northumbria to Fallowfield Dene campsite, just a couple of miles away from Hexham. This site was the biggest we’d stayed on and had a mixture of tents and motorhomes but also a lot of long-term stay caravans (many of the caravans had benches and gardens outside). As it was our last night and we had 1 bag of charcoal left we enjoyed our last BBQ of the holiday (apart from Glenn trying to poison us by undercooking the turkey fillets) before hitting the sack.   We felt pretty confident about the van by this point in terms of how things worked however this was our first night without electric and soon after we’d parked the fridge stopped working. After doing a bit of research we’ve discovered that it only works on electric or when the motor engine is going. As we have no manuals or leaflets with the van I think we’ll have a few more trial and error episodes to learn everything but that’s part of the fun! Our last day started wet and cool however by the time we left the campsite (around 10.30am) it had started to clear and we had sunny, warm spells with the odd shower in the morning followed by a cloudy but hot afternoon. We made a brief stop at Hexham for a walk around the town (although all the independent shops were shut as it was Sunday) and then headed north driving for 2 hours back up to Edinburgh via the pretty town of Jedburgh. After unpacking the van we headed to the pub for a holiday debrief and celebratory pint marking the success of our first camper outing!