So we had all day Saturday and Sunday morning to ourselves to fully relax in.  We had been feeling pretty stressed again, particularly Martin and a grabbed afternoon in the pub the previous Saturday had only highlighted to us that we had moved away from the ideas of including plenty of idleness in our lives and were heading towards manic over business and ineffective activity yet again.

So when we got into the car to head out on Saturday morning and the track playing in the car was Needed A Day Like This by the lovely Paul Bell we really felt we were doing the right thing.

No alarms today
No phones to ring I’m just…
Waking up with the sun and my love
No work today
No bills to pay
It’s just you and me my love.
And today, the world just melts away

I needed a day like this
I needed a day like this

No demands
And no firm plans
We’ve got all the time in the world my love
No plots to hatch
No trains to catch
It’s just you and me my love
And today, the world just melts away
And today, the world just melts away

We had lunch at the always tasty Chale Green Stores  and then headed out towards Sandown and our hotel.  We were passing the Botanic gardens and decided to stop there for an afternoon walk.

There were brilliant colours and amazing textures and we relaxed, chatted and took photos.

We headed to the hotel (Melville Hall)  where there were two unexpected bonuses – a four poster bed in the room and much more impressively an outdoor hot tub. We nipped straight into the hot tub (it was closing shortly) and lay in the hot water watching the stars gradually come out and feeling very very relaxed! We didn’t feel in need of a restaurant meal and it was a nice evening so despite the time of year we headed out to eat fish and chips on the beach.  Back to the bar for a drink and a couple of games of crib (only a couple we won one each and weren’t going to risk marital disharmony by playing another).

We were very impressed that the hotel room also had proper wine glasses and more importantly a tea pot!

We headed down to Quarr Abbey for morning tea and cake and after an exceptioanlly long wait got a very attractive set of drinks and a somewhat disappointing slice of shortbread.  Nerissa assures me that their cakes are lovely though so we’lll have to go back and try again another day!

So we were happily relaxed when we got back to the kids and determined to make sure we had some time each month when we spent at least an afternoon to ourselves just relaxing with no agenda.

First stop was Ikea for breakfast.  I still get a (cheap) thrill out of breakfast and drinks all round for well under a tenner.  A quick visit to Go-Outdoors to lighten the wallet then on to one of my favourite places in the whole world, the Cider Barn at Middle Farm in Firle.  The place is a cider-lover’s delight, with barrel after barrel of tasty ciders and perries from all over the country.  You can taste them all (if your not driving and have a constitution that allows standing after this endeavour) and then fill up empty milk-bottles with your choice.  We stocked up with enough for the trip and a little taste for when we got home.

Next stop was our first campsite in Seaford.  Brighton is not awash with campsites so we picked one on a railway line nearby called Buckle Holiday Park.  You can read our review of Buckle here.  Much struggling with awning+high wind taught us fairly swiftly that this was not an equation which would ever equal success, so we did what all the stoutest campers don’t.  Gave up.  Only on the awning though, which meant all 5 of us in the van.  This was a useful experiment which demonstrated it is possible, but also showed the girl’s that the awning was a nicer prospect than they may have imagined.

After our first night we headed off on the train into Brighton, where we had a pleasant day meandering.  Certain parties appeared to have a magnet-like draw to food outlets….

The wonderful many-roomed Guitar Amp & Keyboard Centre provided a fun diversion for the guitarists in the family, one of whom left empty handed before credit-card temptation kicked in too strongly, whilst the other made a sensible purchase and left.  A handful of picks was all Rebekah’s finances ran to.   More wandering and taking of tacky seaside pics and it was time to head back to the site, where we successfully pitched the awning, making for a more spacious night.

The following day we trotted off to the Wildfowl and Wetland Centre at Arundel where we enjoyed a boat ride among the ducks and a gander at the geese.  Then on to what appears to be the only campsite in Arundel – see our review of Maynards Campsite.  Next day saw us wander round Arundel.  A nice town to wander round, but it must be awful to live in, as all you can buy is antiques, expensive kitchen-wares, and the world’s most expensive pies.  Still, we enjoyed a stroll around, and along the beautiful avenue that runs alongside the river.  Back at the campsite some time chilling, drinking cider and playing cards.  Ahhhhh.

All in all a successful first trip, hopefully the first of many great breaks with Brian.

A stack of pancakes with home-made apple jelly and topped with the squirty cream we’d bought to top off our warming hot chocolates.

Rebekah made scones – they were lovely – only missing the clotted cream.

On the evening it rained we decided to treat ourselves to a Chinese takeaway, we very rarely get a take away so this was a big treat for us.  They delivered from the nearby village to the local boat yard – but it was raining so hard I got soaked even collecting it from this point about 3 mins walk away.  it was worth it though.

There was some fantastic food that we are that was so good we didn’t even manage to take photos of it and that was teh wonderful tarts and pasties from the wonderful little deli in Horning.  It was so good that I am thinking about taking a 100 mile detour to go back to it when we head up to Lincoln next year.  So if you are in Norfolk do go to Horning and visit the wonderful deli there.

The last day on the boat arrived and we had to set off early – we realised we had forgotten to eat the jelly that I had made the day before so we had jelly and sugar puff for breakfast!

The campsite at Appuldurcombe has a number of advantages over the other sites – showers, washing up room, flushing toilets and above all a swimming pool.  This was our last camp of the year and we loved the fact that we were just relaxing with a couple of friends and just chilling out!

At the swimming pool this year:

And then here are some photos from the same campsite last time we were there (at Little camp) in 2005:

We managed to camp right by the lovely tree that the children had sheltered under when we were last there.

And here is Jonathan under the same tree 5 years ago.

Martin cooking and warming himself on the BBQ 2010

And here he is long ago BBQing with Russell.

General camping shots now:

Ruth and Livvy being sociable as usual:

Elaine and Nick’s lovely tent (with the tree behind) which outed us all as potential home educators – some HErs from the mainland were camped beside us (with another bell tent!!)

Becca munching brownies

And here are a few shots from 2005

Rebekah celebrating her birthday

And Bran

Think this is Livvy and Freya teaching us the amazing bumble bee song (sang around camp fires ever since).

General sitting about

And I even found one pic from the 2004 camp – not very flattering but it has Jonathan in our beloved sling so i’ll pop it in any way.

So this seems to be another Greenbelt tradition, selling off the Divine chocolate very very cheaply – it’s not all ours honestly!

I made pancakes for everyone – not my best pancakes but they still seemed to be well received especially with chocolate spread!

Looks like Jamie Might be getting anointed here, well it is a Christian arts festival!

Boys looking sad

Boys looking happy

And this one is specially for Church on the Roundabout regulars “Hi you’ve caught me queueing for the chemi-loos at Greenbelt – and heeeeere’s this weeks notices!”

We really enjoyed spending an afternoon sitting in the the very chilled out space that was the Performance Cafe, drinking elderflower cordial (thanks Mick).  It was just what we needed after being very busy.  Jonathan sat and drew  quite happily while we listened to amongst others Ellie Williams.

Not sure who is leading who astray here.

We really wanted to get another chance to see Jude Simpson and so went to the musical comedy showcase.  We went and queued nearly and hour and a half before hand – luckily the lovely Sally and Tony had volunteered to have Jonathan and the girls were also queueing but not right next to us.  We had got wise by Monday evening and had taken our little stools to sit on and a notebook and pens and book.  It turned out that the venue wasn’t full anyway but we all got our favourite places to sit in – the kids downstairs on the floor at the front and us old fogeys in the balcony with seats!

Not only did we once again see Jude Simpson (and I’m delighted to say that the kids loved her too) but we got to see Folk On (Folk Off) who the kids had highly recommended and we thought they were brilliant and we are very sad that we can’t find anything at all about them online!

Then it was Tuesday Morning and time to go home

The long walk to the proper flushing loos

the empty site

And Dave finally gets into the festival spirit

This is what we all looked like heading off to watch the London Community Gospel Choir, please bear in mind that it is August, not February!

When we finally got to the mainstage, wrapped up for a winter’s evening we then had to do the other Greenbelt tradition and queue for the loos

Dancing while waiting

Tony doesn't think queueing for chemical loos is the done thing

Hanging around and watching LCGC.

The area in front of the mainstage got too busy for the kids to be able to see over everyone’s heads so we moved over to the side where they had lots of space for dancing.

As well as the events to go to (mostly music and comedy in our case and sometimes both together – did I mention already the fantastic Jude Simpson) there are loads of displays and activities going on around the site.

Christian Aid had a tent all about tax and the cost that tax avoidance by major companies has for the whole world.

And lots of art works around the site.

On Sunday Morning Martin decided to chill out at the tent and the rest of us went to the main communion at the main stage.  With the theme of looking sideways continued we had some unusual visual images.  We looked though a mirror to see the mirror writing in our service handouts and also to see it on stage.  It took me quite sometime to be able to see it in the mirror but eventually I got there.

We also put three different types of service sheet together to produce a word.

We used the red napkins in a responsive reading and had lots of confetti blown all over us and then shared communion together.

Usually at churches when they “share the peace”  I look for an excuse to be somewhere else – I really hate doing the big phoney smile and hug or handshake thing.   Small children are good for this as they can often be encouraged to start crying or need a nappy change at an opportune moment unfortunately mine are now to big for this and fortunately we don’t do this at our church.  However even I enjoyed sharing the peace sat in a field surrounded by good friends some of whom seemed to be doing Rimmer impressions with the little mirrors – part of the looking sideways thing!

We spent a night on Percy’s Island.  We thought it was quite apt that we should find an Island, though it was rather smaller than the Isle of Wight, being about 30 metres long and 3 metres wide.  We were only here because the Moorings at Horning were all full.  It was a strange feeling of isolation - once darkness fell we couldn’t leave – yet we were able to see and here the village of Horning.  Our location afforded a beautiful sunset and dusk view, along with that smug feeling of an exclusive location.

Key to the success of the holiday was that we failed to sink the boat.  In fact we managed to achieve a state of some averageness in mooring the boat, with one or two attempts almost being good.  I was entrusted with most of the “driving” though we did discover that if someone else

had to take over, Jonathan (age eight) would be the logical choice.  He had a natural flair for it, the ability to make small course corrections and trust that they would take effect in time.  A steady course requires a certain patience, and a faith that in time your small actions will pay off.  I feel there may be a moral in there somewhere….

So, if you want a low cost, low stress, low pace holiday, we highly recommend a boat on the broads.  We booked direct with Richardson’s and booked their cheapest boat we could (just) fit in.  A week in May cost around £300 which is probably no more than hiring a caravan.  In fact, we liked it so much we are going back in October.

On our recent holiday to the Broads we arrived at the boatyard two hours early, so thought we would pootle off somewhere for a couple of hours, have some lunch and then return.  We ended up at the Hickling Broad Nature reserve where we bought some books but decided against going in as it was a bit pricey for all of us for just a fleeting visit.  So we jumped back in the car, only to find it wouldn’t start.  After numerous attempts we phoned the breakdown company (we always have breakdown cover, over the years we must have saved a fortune!) and Susan took the kids into the reserve while I waited.

As we were in the middle of nowhere it took a while for help to reach us, and when it did the news was not good.  The car would need recovering.  Fortunately the firm that had come out went out of their way to help.  They towed us back to the boatyard, helped us unload our stuff and carry it to the boat (def. above and beyond the call of duty) and then recovered the car back to their garage for repair, promising to phone us as soon as they had investigated the exact nature of the fault.

Now, when a garage says they will call me back I don’t hold my breath.  I made a mental note to call them after a couple of days had passed.  Much to my surprise I had a voicemail the next day, and on phoning back I had the diagnosis explained, the cost set out in detail, and was asked if I wanted to go ahead.  I agreed and they advised they had already ordered the part to avoid delay and it should be with them in a couple of days.  The next day I had another call to say the work was complete and that I should ring them when back at the boat yard.  At the end of our week I did this (mid morning on a Sunday) and they promptly delivered the car back to the yard – and at no extra cost.  Oh, and they had washed the car too – which is more than I ever do!

I have used many garages in my time, some good, some bad.  All I can say is they service from Aitchison Vehicle Logistics was exemplary.  Absolutely top draw.  So, if you ever break down in Norfolk, give Aitchison a call on 01493 700222.  I would like to their website but I can’t find one.

We had left the other two at the grandparents and so after her exam we headed into Oxford for a little strolling about and some light shopping.  Top priorities were Millies Cookies (we had a special offer voucher), Primark (for play costume bits), Whitards (for instant fruit tea and as it happens some gingerbread syrup) and Hawkins Bazaar.  We also managed a lovely fairtrade shop, fudge shop and a little Italian deli counter where we bought wonderful ciabattas.

This was Friday, her next exam was not until Tuesday so we had some time to kill and decided to stay at the grandparents rather spend the extortionate amount on two lots of ferries.  We decided we’d try and do a few of the things on the mainland that we didn’t usually have time to do.  So Saturday we were off to the Historic Dockyard courtesy of Blue Peter badges and friends left behind entrance cards.  Now obviously things couldn’t be that straightforward for us, Rebekah had a singing exam in Ryde to go to on the Saturday morning wso we dropped her off at the hover to head over there.

We did some of the Action Stations part of the Historic Dockyard:

Jonathan helps Martin destroy ships, planes and submarines.

Ruth manages all by herself.

Coordinated climbing from Ruth and Jonathan, Ruth wouldn’t do it herself even though she wanted to and had to persuade Jonathan to have a go even though he didn’t really want to.  He really struggled with it last time we were here but this time did really well and very much enjoyed it.  So evidence of progression there then (or possibly just evidence that his legs have grown longer).

We hadn’t tried this before – you have to kick or punch the lights on the punch bag things as they came on, Jonathan had to hit really really hard because he is so light!  He was going really fast as the blur in the picture testifies.

As half the Action Stations was shut we onlt spent about an hour there – a quick dash to the shops so Ruth could look in Hawkins and Primark (can you detect a theme here).  can there be anything worse than Primark on a Saturday morning – it was dreadful.

Then back to the hover to pick up Rebekah and on to the Devil’s punchbowl.  We have been wanting to walk here for ages but are always driving straight past on our way to London.  We started off by delving off the beaten paths and down into the depths of the bowl on a route I would never have managed without my walking poles (far too steep and downwards for me).  It was like autumn under the trees, all the dry brown leaves covering the forest floor crinkly as we stepped and slid over them.  Only Rebekah managed to get muddy near the bottom.  We made our way eventually back to a path and carried on in the blissfully cool shade.  Unfortunately once we turned to go back to the start we ended up in full sunshine and it was definitely not very pleasant although the views were fantastic, we regretted only bringing one water bottle but at least I had sweeties!

Rebekah sunbathes at the end of the walk.

After that we headed back to Chichester and watched the final of Over the Rainbow.  We don’t tend to watch that sort of thing very much but thoroughly enjoyed watching this last episode.  The one we wanted to win did so that was even better.  We even managed to watch Doctor Who as well.

Sunday was blissful – girls went off to church with grandma and Jonathan slept in.  Martin and I sat outside in the sunshine with a very unhealthy breakfast of  Millies cookies, fudge and coffee.

Our unhealthy but very very yummy breakfast

This is the most expensive fudge in the world (well in my world), it cost £5 a slice - even more than the IoW fudge but actually amazingly loads and loads creamier.

Martin demonstrates just how much he enjoys the fudge

When they got back we meandered to the shop to buy a Sunday paper – an unusual treat worthy of blogging about. We then chilled out in the sunshine (well I was under a shady tree) until Grandpa got back from the post service handshaking required of a minister on a Sunday morning.  then we had a very very yummy BBQ even if I do say so myself – my highlight was the yummy lime and tomato salsa.

I even had time to admire my green toe nails

We had a great day on Monday too at the wetland and wildfowl centre but I think that calls for a separate blog post to follow shortly.