Maiden Voyage of the Good Van Dorothy

When Kim towed Dorothy out of the storage yard (I was out of the car shutting the gate - I hate that bloody gate, I always get my fingers trapped trying to slide the bar across) I could hear the most terrible rattling and banging coming from her innards. Being me, I feared the worst - ruptured chassis at least. So I made Kim get out of the car to listen while I towed her across the yard. It turned out to be pans rattling about in the oven. That's OK then.

For our first trip we went to a Camping and Caravanning Club site at Ainsdale. Very nice and terribly civilised and tidy: Dorothy had to be lined up alongside the gravel edge, awning this side, car the other side. Deviate at your peril! I was most impressed that Kim was able to reverse her into place. Reversing! I haven't got the hang of it yet and doubt I ever will. My brain won't cope with it.

What a good job we weren't in the back of beyond because it turned out we didn't have a waste water pipe. So into the car to drive to Southport to buy one. The people in the office gave us the address or we could have been a long time searching. Everything to do with caravans is half the size and twice the price of normal household stuff.

Well, we got it fixed and installed ourselves very nicely with the awning up and everything put away.

Willowbank Holiday Park
Coastal Road
Ainsdale, Southport PR8 3ST
01704 571566

This is a nice clean site, well laid out, but no view as it's in the middle of a residential area. Half a mile down the road you hit the sand dunes, miles of them. We used to picnic here when I was a kid, we came on the train from Liverpool. The last time I was there was on the back of Rod the Sod's motorbike in the 60s, wearing my can-can petticoats and no crash helmet. Ah, the immortality of youth! Southport is the nearest town. It's a gracious seaside town with lovely Victorian buildings, but don't expect to see much of the sea as the tide goes out for miles. Good shopping if that's your thing. Plenty of eating places and great fish and chips.

We stayed at Willowbank for 2 nights. The second day we were there, our friends Bunty and Stan, who live nearby, visited for lunch and a long afternoon of nattering. Most pleasant. We sat in the awning in the Spring sunshine and the men got very drunk. Bunty was driving so had to stick with cups of tea. I might have had a glass or two of wine.

Introducing Dorothy

This is a blog about travelling with our newly acquired caravan. We’ve named her Dorothy because of Yellow Brick Road connotations. We’re not expecting to come across phoney wizards – but you never know, anything’s possible.

Anyway, for those remotely interested, she’s an Abbey Caprice, twenty-one feet long and about twelve years old. She sleeps two so there’s no room for stowaways. We bought her because she has a proper bathroom with a walk in shower, so we don’t need to stay at campsites with shower block.

We started this camping lark in 2008, with a large tent. We loved it but I didn’t enjoy traipsing across dark fields in the night when I needed to go to the toilet. (I had a bucket for widdles, but big jobbies really require a flush loo!) And it wasn’t much fun in wet conditions. We woke up one morning, after a thunderstorm and torrential rain all night, to find ducks swimming in the large puddles outside.

So we progressed to a folding camper with toilet and cooker. Luxury! But it wasn’t much warmer than the tent – we used it in September and it was mighty chilly at night. So we started to lust after a caravan in order to extend our camping season. I know, much wants more! So we sold the camper to a very nice young family who’ll have a lot of fun with it.

And now we have Dorothy. None of us are in the first flush of youth but when did that stop our gallop?