Aren't campsites god forsaken places

[chaser]

Shock horror - we use campsite showers if they're available and decent. AND we have our own shower in the van. I know, bring back the birch!

Why? Well, further shock horror, I have *children*. Not everyone in a motorhome is a grumpy old retired couple (only about 50% ! And another 45% who aren't grumpy! )

5 people showering generates a lot of fresh water to fetch, and grey water to get rid of. The shower has to emptied first of towels, laundry bags etc etc. It's wet afterwards so they can't go back in straight away and clutter the van up. Far easier to use the campsite showers at quiet times, and have a nice long shower to boot.

We do use our shower but usually only when on aires.

Some campsites are nice, some are awful. With a bit of care it's easy to avoid ones we know we won't like.

When we no longer have the kids with us, are getting old and probably increasingly grumpy then I can see us using aires and wildcamping a lot more.

Not a kid on here

 

[TDub49]

I was not knocking vws ,we only have a whoosh bang ourselves but we don't have to wander about in dressing gowns with towels under our arms.
A bloke just this second walked past with three towels.

OMG! Three towels? Unbelievable

 

[Feltwell]

Not scowling mate far from it ,it's better than the chuckle brothers here.
To me, to you.

Do you reckon there's a forum somewhere where they are saying "I'm just here with the kids and there's some old bloke near me with a van so yellow we don't need the lights on at night, and he finds it hilarious every time Kylie or Chantelle or Dwayne needs a pee".

Edit - just seen the "no kids" reply. Ahh, that's that theory out the window then.....

 

[Northernraider]

Not heard you talk of kids before.
Come on, how many, what flavour ?

Well they ain't kids anymore , and I unfortunately haven't seen them in 6 years hence I don't mention them much.

But I've a son at 24 and twin daughters at 21, and a grandchild I've never met sadly.

But I'd really rather not discuss it.

My dogs are my family nowadays , less chance of them disappearing .

 

[Figaro]

That's a shame to lose contact with children and grandchildren, but it is a tangled web we weave.

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[L' Hobo]

A bloke just this second walked past with three towels.

He's German and he wants a choice of deckchairs in the morning not knowing which one will have the sun on it!

 

[Tonks]

I was not knocking vws ,we only have a whoosh bang ourselves but we don't have to wander about in dressing gowns with towels under our arms.
A bloke just this second walked past with three towels.

I have a small whoosh bang VW, and in 8 years of ownership have so far never walked across a site in a dressing gown, or in the middle of the night. I have been known to carry a towel! I also am not a fan of 'Oodies/Dryrobes' or Crocs. But some of my friends are. We're still friends!

 

[Feltwell]

Worst campsite I've ever stopped on was one where I didn't check first and it turned out to be 99% seasonal pitches for elderly tuggers. It was a curtain twitcher's paradise - each caravan was in an arms race as to who could have the "best" seasonal setup, they had little white plastic picket fences outside, garden gnomes, pot plants, fairy lights, the works.

The only source of entertainment for the geriatric inmates seemed to be about complaining about how Doris & Dave never clean their awning properly, about how Albert & Aggie have put their white picket fence 3" too far out, how Gordon at the end got in a huff and kicked Mervyn's gnome over one day, etc etc. As a new arrival we were their "victim" to share all this essential information to.

I couldn't get out fast enough!

 

[Northernraider]

That's a shame to lose contact with children and grandchildren, but it is a tangled web we weave.

Aye it was never my choice . But ex wives can be very vindictive. Anyway I never realised what thread this was on so that's the end of that lol.

 

[chaser]

I have a small whoosh bang VW, and in 8 years of ownership have so far never walked across a site in a dressing gown, or in the middle of the night. I have been known to carry a towel! I also am not a fan of 'Oodies/Dryrobes' or Crocs. But some of my friends are. We're still friends!

I wasn't knocking anyone or what they want to do just the whole concept of site life.

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[chaser]

Isn't that exactly what campsites are for lol. Folk Park up , put up awnings , windbreaks chairs out make a house and garden on their bit of rented land , sit outside and drink watching and complaining about everyone else lol .

The men are generally bored and desperate for something to do like fetch water ,empty the toilet , polish the van anything at all really. The women have the bra straps rolled down ,the knees out ,sitting in the sun reading the people's friend .

Those with kids have no idea where they are ( usually in the toilets making a mess)

Or at least that's how they were last time I was on one.

Spot on.

 

[chaser]

I know it's different for different folks but we live in the country where we can do all this eating outside and stuff in our own backyard without someone sitting 6 foot away and carting stuff up and down, and nothing to look at but another van right outside ours, and they are still walking up and down with saucepans, I'm totally gobsmacked , I really am.

 

[chaser]

They have started now walking up to the stinking toilets where hundreds more have been on, before going to bed, they will be going again later.
Crazy.

 

[Swifter]

I know it's different for different folks but we live in the country where we can do all this eating outside and stuff in our own backyard without someone sitting 6 foot away and carting stuff up and down, and nothing to look at but another van right outside ours, and they are still walking up and down with saucepans, I'm totally gobsmacked , I really am.

I’ve certainly found the running commentary very amusing

 

[gus-lopez]

It’s all just typical campsite life/occurrences which happen every day. Showers chocka on a morning, kids playing, washing up areas busy at mealtimes.
It’s perfectly normal what you are seeing.

Just the thought of it means i'll be having trouble sleeping tonight. I try never to stay anywhere I might find people.

Someone just gone past with a whole kitchen full of plates and pots, what's happening?

used to tents. what's a 'plate' paper don't wash?

Should they be washing in the sea then?

You can't get any lather with soap in the sea.

i have a sliding door & whilst staying at the daughters & doing work for them I found that many days I was opening/shutting it between 30 & 50 times. Even I was fed up with it.look on the bright side re; whoosh bang doors that most ,unlike mine, don't have electric locks & are connected to the alarm system so that if you close the door quietly from the inside or outside & the lock hasn't made contact correctly then instead of the whoosh bang of the door as soon as you lock it the horn sound s twice, meaning the door has to be opened & shut again, & again & again Until the alarm doesn't go off.

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[gus-lopez]

They have started now walking up to the stinking toilets where hundreds more have been on, before going to bed, they will be going again later.
Crazy.

Yep happiness is a cold toilet seat.

 

[chaser]

Just the thought of it means i'll be having trouble sleeping tonight. I try never to stay anywhere I might find people.

used to tents. what's a 'plate' paper don't wash?

You can't get any lather with soap in the sea.

i have a sliding door & whilst staying at the daughters & doing work for them I found that many days I was opening/shutting it between 30 & 50 times. Even I was fed up with it.look on the bright side re; whoosh bang doors that most ,unlike mine, don't have electric locks & are connected to the alarm system so that if you close the door quietly from the inside or outside & the lock hasn't made contact correctly then instead of the whoosh bang of the door as soon as you lock it the horn sound s twice, meaning the door has to be opened & shut again, & again & again Until the alarm doesn't go off.

Been there done that

 

[Northernraider]

Just the thought of it means i'll be having trouble sleeping tonight. I try never to stay anywhere I might find people.

So I've no tae visit then

 

[Nedge68]

Someone just gone past with a whole kitchen full of plates and pots, what's happening?

It seems sensible to me to wash up outside the van. Our sink is barely big enough for a mug and knife. So we either wash up at a table outside the van or avail ourselves of the communal
Washing up space if there is one. I don’t understand why people mind this behaviour?

 

[Spriddler]

........ we live in the country where we can do all this eating outside and stuff in our own backyard without someone sitting 6 foot away

Well chaser I bet they're all highly amused by your converted shooting brake, wellies, the hessian sack around your waste on a bit of baler twine and the straw sticking out from under your hat.



Your indignant observations remind me of a Hancock's Half Hour script.

(Keep on reporting the sightings. )

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[Gaston aires]

Have you stayed at Gruisson Plage?

I have many times. The port aire and beach aire. If you catch their carnival weekend it’s amazing.
Phil

 

[billym]

No we have just been looking at it, is it ok?

Years ago we made Gruissan Plage our ' home' for the summer.
We spent countless hours watching the two large ' gens du voyage ' groups arguing, shouting and threatening each other. It got a bit tasty when one lad pulled out a gun from his mum's/ grandma's handbag and got a good hiding.
Happy days!

 

[gus-lopez]

Our sink is barely big enough for a mug and knife.

same as ours & why we only have knife ,fork or spoon to wash as the rest goes in the rubbish.

 

[Swifter]

No updates for a while now chaser?
Any more action ? Has mr 3 towels been back to the shower again ?

 

[Mr porky]

I feel we miss out, as we wash up in our van and use our own shower so we don't get the communal inclusion.
Oh well we shall just carry on.
We shall just have to meet new friends in the pub.

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[Rogerwyn]

I can think of nothing I want less that an outlook of lots of other campers/caravans and the sight and sound of kids whizzing round and round on their bikes, or listening to other people television, arguments etc, or tripping along to amenity blocks to sh.. shower and shave. Give me an aire, a pubstogp or a small CL any day

an aire were you’ve arrived at midday and by early evening some camper has reversed into the small gap between you and the next Motorhome, yes there are good aires out there, if they are near somwear I need to be the ok but I’d rather pay the £18 and get a camp site

 

[John Barrett]

Worst campsite I've ever stopped on was one where I didn't check first and it turned out to be 99% seasonal pitches for elderly tuggers. It was a curtain twitcher's paradise - each caravan was in an arms race as to who could have the "best" seasonal setup, they had little white plastic picket fences outside, garden gnomes, pot plants, fairy lights, the works.

The only source of entertainment for the geriatric inmates seemed to be about complaining about how Doris & Dave never clean their awning properly, about how Albert & Aggie have put their white picket fence 3" too far out, how Gordon at the end got in a huff and kicked Mervyn's gnome over one day, etc etc. As a new arrival we were their "victim" to share all this essential information to.

I couldn't get out fast enough!

You are referring to Camping Raco, of course!

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

I feel we miss out, as we wash up in our van and use our own shower so we don't get the communal inclusion.

thought it was just us!!

 

[125BEER]

I can remember mum & dad packing the car up and saying we're off to the Loire camping
......I thought wheres the bloody tent

"Canvas Holidays".....had great times....

Cheers

 

[philann]

If you are on an Aire do you always eat inside in the evening, as I understand it you can’t put chairs and tables out. We enjoy sitting outside chilling out or reading a book or quietly listening to the radio.
We use sites with ACSI and so far this trip have averaged under 16euros per night and every site has had a nice swimming pool so we can get our daily swim in. We tend to move on every 2 or 3 days and enjoy the way we use our Woosh-bang PVC very much! Each to his own!

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