One Wedding and a Rugby Match

Just back from another weekend in the van.   This time the main event was the wedding of friends of ours down in Shaftsbury, Dorset.  We packed up the van on Saturday morning with the bare necessities - it was only an overnight stay so we hardly needed anything - our table, 2 camping boxes and the cooker.

We headed off to Shaftsbury and parked up at Blackmore Vale campsite, just off the A30.  The owner was a very friendly chap who showedus to the field that serves as the campsite and told us there was no rush to be off in the morning.  Excellent.   A mere £14.50 for two of us, the van and an electrical hook up was a very good price.

We parked up and popped the roof, unpacked the camp boxes and were set up in a little over 10 minutes.  Sweet.  Only us and a caravan on the whole field and we had loads of space to ourselves.  Plus the campsite kindly provides a safari bench with each electrical hook up so we made full use of the extra table and chairs.

This weekend we'd taken a full 240v electric kettle with us and it was a good move.   Easy tea within minutes can't be overestimated!

The weather was amazing this weekend - a complete opposite to our Easter camp and it reminded me just why camping is the best way to spend a weekend when the weather is good.  And as Mrs Blakey was getting ready for the wedding we realised another advantage of a black van with limo tinted windows - a bonus mirror for straightening your hair in!

The wedding was a great event and free champagne all night and a hog roast plus barn dance was a lot of fun.   We got back in the early hours and climbed up into the loft for a comfortable night's sleep.  It was cold again - Mrs Blakey got out in the middle of the night and there was a frost on the ground and on the sides of the van - testament to the quality insulation I think.

We rated the campsite about 6/10.  It was cheap and in a pretty spot, with some heavy road noise as it was just off the A30.  The facilities were old and knackered but at least they were clean and the price was very good.  Value for money was 9/10 and it was perfect for what we wanted - a cheap over night spot - but I'd not have wanted to stay there any longer than a weekend.

Sunday we chilled out in the sunshine with a leisurely breakfast and then packed up and headed off to Bristol for a Championship play off match between Bristol vs Bedford.   Bris won and are in the semi-finals, there were 11 tries in the game and we stood roasting in the sunshine for the whole game.  

Drove home down the M4/M25/M23 and even got a big thumbs up from a passing VW van on the M25, so all in all a top weekend.