Having visited the site and seen the caravan the week before, it was time to commit.
We knew where the caravan was going to be and we knew what it looked like but we hadn't seen it on it's pitch.
We'd invited some close friends down to check it out with us and have a day on the beach so were all Very excited...and nervous.
Straight to the Till
We were met by Dawn who kindly ushered us through the one-way clubhouse to the toilets. On returning we swiftly settled the outstanding amount on the caravan.
The walk through the club house was interesting. This was day-2 of re-opening so staff looked a little nervous but the place was spotless and you could see how it would work with more people.
Entertainment Hallf with one-way system tape
Our caravan seating area
The Pool with New Lounging Area
The Kitchen and Dining Space
Welcome Meeting
Justin hosted our welcome meeting where the paper-work was explained and completed.
I'm making this sound like we were just taken awy in the flow of thigs but there were a lot of questions throughout the process which Dawn and Justin fielded openly.
Sizing up the Deck
I must admit to be a little dissapointed to find that the decking included with the caravan was just 12 x 10ft. We measured it out on the grass and marked it with some spades and it soon became obvious that it wouldn't really be suitable for more than a table for two plus barbecue and gate.
We are very much an outdoor family so sent Dawn off to get a quote for the ideal which we measured as 20 x 10ft. This would run three-quarters of the caravan length and offer ample space.
It came back at over £3k so we asked them to quote for 14 x 10 and 15 x 10ft.
After a lot of pondering and likely frustration for Dawn we decided to go for the 15 x 10ft. This should be plenty for a table which seats 6 - 8 people plus the barbeque and potentially a couple of bikes.
Off to the Beach
George headed back to settle up the new fee for the decking and we headed off in the car to the public car park which looks over Highcliffe Beach.
This was Anna's idea but turned out to be a complete waste of rime and parking money as we could easily have parked in the Hoburne car park and walked down.
It was a fairly windy day and even without wetsuits the children had a fantastic time.
We started with building a swimming pool, which got everyone, including the dad's, warmed up before the children started braving the water.
The children also took the time to slace the rocks and watch as surfers tried their luck with the waves. This really looks like a great beach for learning to surf.
Barbecue Back at Base
It was a little windy for the planned barbecue on the beach so we headed back up to the caravan for dinner.
We weren't allowd back in to the caravan without staff as it required a deep clean before handing over the keys.
While the coal barbecue was being prepped we had a crazy pannicked search for the car keys which George had managed to leave IN HER POCKET! This was literally 45 minutes of increasisingly desperate searching which passed the time while we also became more and more hungry.
After dinner we all headed home suffering a litle sun burn but excited about the fact we'd had such a great time without even being able to use the caravan or any of the club house facilities due to covid.