After a long search for somewhere I can go camping at short notice in a semi-wild location where I can make my Outdoor Vlogger videos I have finally found somewhere just about perfect. Sure, it’s not a glamorous all singing and dancing venue – I didn’t want that for one moment anyway, it is a free spirited place where there is a mixture of open camp areas and a little bit of woodland. Absolutely spot on!
After meeting up with the owner previous to this first camp I discussed the possibilities of last minute camps and what was allowed and what was not – to be honest Libby was lovely and basically I could do as I please as long as I’m not an idiot! I can have an open fire, I can turn up almost anytime I want confirmed via text message and I also sorted out a pre-payment plan where I can simply top up my account from my phone and use the place at will.
For the first camp at this amazing site I took along my wife Lee and Hector the Mighty Hound so that we could test my new Eurohike Teepee (just £75) which I thought would be ideal for fair weather camping and great because I can stand up in it. Lee stayed for 2 nights whilst me and the dog stayed an extra night. We also set up a tarp shelter where we could cook and get ourselves out of the sun as we were really lucky with the weather as it hit 30c although we also had a bit of rain too so the shelter worked very well.
As it was all three of us for a couple of nights I did bring along our Jackery power station (1kW) and a couple of solar panels to keep our beer and steaks cold so it was a little extravagant and not exactly ‘wild camping’ but it did keep the fridge and all our gadgets charged up for the duration because I still had to work whilst we were there.
On the first night I decided to cook some prawns, spicy noodles, peppers and onions infused with Guinness on one of my brand new stoves (I’ll do a review of that in another blog/video.) Although it was a mish mash of ingredients it tasted fantastic if I do say so myself and not at all bad for a camp meal! I filmed it too for The Outdoor Vlogger YouTube channel which I have linked below.
The following day was quite eventful. First we had a flying ant infestation and then the rain came down quite unexpectently. As the Jackery and solar panels were out I quickly reached for my other tarp to cover them up but then Lee did something brilliant – she strapped it to the tarp shelter at one end making a secondary snow plough type extension which worked really well so we left it up for the rest of our stay. That’s probably how I will now erect a tarp shelter from now on.
Once the rain subdued it was time to deal with the flying ants as they were all over the teepee! A stick pounding the tent panels saw them off in the end and none of them actually got inside the tent which was a relief! See the photo below – quite amazing!
Tonights meal was some beautiful sirlion steaks cooked in the cast iron skillet with some mushrooms, potatoes, peppers and onions and let me tell you, it was a major success. I’m really getting the hang of these camp meals now and am loving cooking with the skillet. There is something really special about caring for cast iron cooking pots and skillets, I know many could not be bothered with the seasoning of them but done correctly these cooking pans will last a lifetime. Yes they are heavy so not really practicle for hikers and wild campers but I don’t claim to be one of those and I do like my home comforts and gadgets.
Overnight we had some more rain and stupidly we had just left the mesh door of our tent closed so the tent got a tad wet inside. Conversely the tent itself did not leak at all which was pleasing but as I want to use the teepee on a regular basis I am going to seam seal it and treat the panels with extra waterproofing as a precaution. I hope nobody at the marina whines about my teepee erection whilst I carry that out… yes a few do like a moan over nothing.
The following day it was time for Lee to leave myself and Hector the Mighty Hound to our own devices after we had some lunch. It was a really hot day so the pair of us spent some time in the little wooded area which I was not actually aware of until we did this first camp. It’s a great little spot for hammock camping so I will certainly be doing that in the future.
This evenings dinner was a simple one. A can of beef curry with some fried coconut rice, a proper ‘man alone’ meal. After a few beers and contemplating the world myself and Hector decided to settle in for the night. Of course before I was even back in the teepee Hector had stolen my sleeping bag as you can see from the photo below – he really is a cheeky dog and spent most of the night down at my feet inside my mummy sleeping bag!
I had a fantastic nights sleep although I was up to see the sunrise which is rare for me. I sat under the tarp shelter for an hour or so just watching the world go by and thinking about our next adventure here. I had intended to do lots of little videos on some of the new gear I have accumulated over the past few months but to be honest, I was just happy to chill out and not worry about my YouTube channels, I can do those next time as there will most definitely be many visits to this amazing place. I have already topped up my credit for a further 5 nights!
Hector the Mighty Hound had a fantastic time as because of the amount of space we had he was off the lead the whole time. He took himself off to the wooded area to look for mice and rats, had fun chasing pigeons (he does not like pigeons at all) and ran around without a care in the world. I think he was dreaming about his ball too when we were settled in for the nights.
Of course all things come to an end and it was time to pack all the gear away and hope to God it all goes back in my little car (Lee had brought some of it in her car when we arrived). I took the teepee down first and almost got it back in its bag lol. The final act was to take down the tarp shelter and I have discovered an amazing way of folding it shown in the short video below.
I did just about manage to get everything back into my little Mini Cooper S but I could not have got much more in! I also learned quite a lot from this little trip regarding what I am calling my ‘Last Munute Camping Essentials’ which is basically a box of stuff that is the minimum I need for a last minute camping trip on my own (of course with Hector too).
Finally for this blog post, I did actually do another video for my other channel called The Vlog Couple UK so if you want to watch a comprehensive video of the whole trip (along with a couple of rants which are a feature of that channel) then watch the video below – it’s a good one!
One last thing – don’t forget to like and subscribe to both channels for more of this kind of thing!