carry on camping

I’m back after 4 nights of camping in Pevensey Bay with Perry.

The morning of our departure could easily have turned into a disaster when Perry announced that he hadn’t booked us in as agreed, asserting that it would be fine as it was only a field. I gently explained that all campsites are only fields and that the UK is in the middle of a heat wave so we had better ring to check availability. I’ve been going camping since I was a toddler and the first thing that my mammy would say when dad would suggest camping was “I’m not going anywhere unless it’s booked” and the words rang in my ears as I once again accepted that we all turn into our mothers eventually.

On ringing the site we discovered that it was full. There was only a minute wobble on hearing this and we both tried hard to stay calm and immediately got to work by getting on-line and ringing around sites in the area. We were thrilled when the first site that we got through to could fit us in. Success and so with only a 20 minute delay and a slight change in destination we set off in the blazing sun for Eastbourne saddled with heavy back packs and tents that catered for just about everything. The site was great and our pitch was huge. It was further away from the castle, pubs and shops but with a campsite shop and the beach only 50 metres away there’s really no reason to complain about anything and we settled in easily. We agreed that we would save evening pub visits for times when it might rain and a routine of waking, walking to the pub for lunch and coming back with food and lager was ideal for relaxing in the sunshine.

On the first evening we got some sausages and a miniature bar-b-que and raided a skip near the tent for inventions that would stop us scorching the grass, an unforgivable camping sin that all too many people ignore. We settled on a bit of wood with a drinks crate underneath and thought that we were really very clever. All was going to plan until the direction of the wind changed and was pretty quickly blowing with some force. A storm was definitely on the way. We had steeled ourselves for the possibility of rain and laughed it off as an excuse for an early visit to the pub. However we soon turned glum when the fast wind cremated the sausages and set fire to the wood and ultimately to the plastic crate underneath it. I quickly moved the wood and bar-b-que with my Leatherman and Perry threw a bottle of water onto the crate and extinguished the flames. After all the precautions we had taken in order to be good campers it was a horrible feeling staring at the burnt grass. Luckily the burnt bits were easily scraped away with my tool and after a couple of days of watering the patch it was better than new. Phew.

Somehow we went on to eat the charcoal sausages and determined to forget the days 2 calamities as everything was now peachy. The incoming thunder and lightning were nothing compared to the excitement of the whole day and we wondered off to stare at the sea in the rain and returned to camp just in time to see an amazing sunset before walking to the harbour so Perry could have a cold beer. We had hoped to go to The Star but luckily bumped into the site lady on the way who informed us that it was miles away. We became used to hearing that response when enquiring about directions during our stay. Sometimes it was true and sometimes it wasn’t. It’s always like that in the country.

The walk to the harbour was fun but arduous in it’s own way as we got unlucky with crossing the water in the same way that people get caught in traffic lights. On seeing a neon Harvester sign we ran to it and revelled in cold drinks, seats and a bingo machine. We ignored the carpet and the fact that we were in a Harvester and had a lot of fun before returning to camp to get our things to sit on the beach and watch the spectacle of far away thunder and lightning for what seemed like hours. Somehow I managed to convince Perry that to take away the slight chill in our bodies what we needed was a lovely hot shower. It felt very refreshing and we settled down to lantern lit cards before stumbling into bed very late.

The first thing that I realised on waking was that we had managed to drink a litre bottle of vodka, plus 4 cans of lager and drinks in the pub. We were on holiday after all. It was a couple of hours before I felt human and we ambled off to the Crown Inn for a hearty pub lunch and a calamity free day of cards in camp. I made a very unadventurous soup and bread for tea but I gained points by improvising Perry’s stand up parasol umbrella from home into a very effective wind shelter. We were truly set up by then and had a cool bag / rented ice block system that ensured Perry had ice-cold beers throughout the day. We played cards for hours simply adapting from lantern light to candle light when we got through the batteries in 2 lamps. We gazed again at the sunset and as the sun went down we glimpsed a section of a halo on the cirrostratus cloud. It was magical. As the clouds cleared we were able to see the mighty Milky Way. I was truly happy.

The next day began majestically and we hit the beach straight away and were refreshed by our early dip. After basking in the breaking waves we made plans for the day. We decided to get rid of our tee-shirt tans with a nice walk to Pevensey Castle and a pub lunch in the Smugglers Inn. I had been cashless for the whole day and feeling fairly impotent we were walking to Pevensey Bay for an ATM when yet another calamity hit us. It seemed that whoever had booked us in had been a complete idiot as the site had been completely full every weekend from Easter until the end of the summer season. By this time we knew the area quite well and knew of another site very near us but we were still hoping to get the booking checked and some sort of customer care to resolve the situation as we marched back to site in silence staring at the ground. It soon became very clear that we had to move and the gentle but persistent pleas of “check our booking” and “this will ruin our holiday” met with a repeated “we all fully booked. There is nothing we can do’. Seeing there was no way out of the situation I retorted “yes, well maybe you will have some vacancies when people realise that they are next to a building site”. For we had been as the area is going through huge development. We hadn’t really minded and only noticed a stone grinder every now and just then it felt good to chuck that in her snooty face. It was a small comfort when to add insult to injury we discovered that someone had nicked Perry’s brolly.

We quietly packed up and walked to the new site and erected our tents again. I tried to see the good in the situation and determined to put my tent up in showroom condition. You have to find fun where you can. The new site was quieter and a bit more open and we were fine apart from food and lager less. There was no camp shop as it had been forced to close by the local Asda and we ran off there for supplies before stopping at the very hard to find in the daylight Harvester for a cold beer. This time, relatively sober, it was an ordeal with Asda being no more fun so when we found out the food we had bought was useless as there was no disposable bar-b-ques Perry showed no hesitation in spending a tenner on a cheap one. We got a cab back to site and chilled and dined on a hearty feast. Perry cooked. I could barely move after a day walking in the sun plus I hate bar-b-qued food. Luckily Perry knows this and didn’t burn anything. Yummy ribs and salad under the Milky Way. The night was cooler and a layer of dew gave Perry ice-cold beers. I found a big cardboard box and invented a table/stroke windbreaker. I was very happy: well fed, well vodkaed and my tea shirt tan area was covered by a layer of pink colour. But after a long day of not letting things get to us and walking in the hot sun, sometimes with our gear, I was knocked out. The first game of cards seemed to last at least an hour and I crumbled and topped up with water and turned into my lovely cosy sleeping bag at Midnight for a staggering 10 ½ hour sleep.

Saturday was another scorcher and we sat in the sun an hour before I realised that my back had gone red and I was dangerously close to burning. I did a quick scan of the area and found 2 spare poles and manufactured them in a canopy and basked under it in a steady breeze until hunger called us. Saturday was the day that Friday should have been as we walked to the pub for lunch and chilled on the beach until we remembered that we were leaving that day and had to pack. The last day of a holiday is always a bit weird as one struggles with wanting to stay, begin to mentally prepare for work and have to pack and get on the train. I was fairly quiet as we travelled home back who can blame me? I had a lovely time and my berry coloured skin is tanning fast.