Another great day for camping

Well I had decided yesterday that I would go camping and try out this little campsite just south of Chichester. Seemed like a fairly doable walk from the train station, so booked the pitch and the train. After work when I had leisure to check out the route to the site, it occurred to me that a section of this walk was gonna be on a country road with no pavement.

Having had a bad experience with rucksack and country road, I decided that I would see how much a hire car would be for the weekend. Long story short, expensive, but what the hell.

Picked up my Vauxhall Crosslander this afternoon and headed home to pack. Realising that weight is no longer an issue, I packed two solar panels, a 300wh power bank, a 12v fridge, two tents, and my usual sleeping kit. What I didn’t pack was hatchet for chopping wood, or bottle opener or the tripod grill I was intending to cook burgers on.

Traffic wasn’t too bad, although finding the place was near impossible as the w3w address they gave was actually for a back road, across a field, to a church. But finally got here, got set up and basically burned to death in the 30 degree heat.

When it cooled down to below the temperature of the surface of Venus, I made a fire and then chilled for the evening.

Also experimenting with having the head end of the tent open to the elements, might be cooler but also might be a nightmare. We will see.

See you in the morning.

Thinking of visiting Brownsea Island?

I couldn’t find much in the way of guidance for camping on the island when I was heading over there, so I thought I’d give a few handy things you might wanna know.

Expect a big queue for the ferry, but it also fits a lot of people, so don’t panic.
You will be given a map, it is pretty helpful, but doesn’t mention a campsite, in fact no signage anywhere points towards a campsite, you need to go to the ‘outdoor centre’.
When you arrive at the campsite, the staff are all super nice, but just like all the wildlife on the island, don’t be tempted to feed them.
So learn from my mistake here, you will be offered a cool box to keep food cool and fresh. Take them up on the offer, even if you have nothing that requires a cool box, as this is the best way to keep your food safe from the local fauna.
Mosquito repellant is probably a good idea if you aren’t a fan of scratching constantly, however, they are not a huge problem if you forget.

I will update these as I think of more, but the best advice I can give is, go visit Brownsea Island, it’s stunning.

If you have any questions, or anything you think I can answer, feel free to post a comment.

Back in the real world

So I had what is probably the best night sleep I have ever achieved whilst camping. Not a single sound all night, no rodents mugging me for biscuits, no military aircraft flying republican riflemen to Pennsylvania, just silence and sleep. It was a little rainy through the night and the morning, but did not stop me from getting up and making porridge. Got all packed up and managed to blag a lift across the island with my bags. Got some more peacock feathers, and a nice new bag from the national trust shop.

The ferry back was exceptionally weird, as I was the only passenger returning to the mainland. Journey home was fairly uneventful, but just for the sake of completeness, I will add a couple of pics so you get the idea.

Anyway, back to the real world, so until next time.

More varmint issues

So when I got up this morning to make breakfast, seems someone had been waiting for me.

This may not have been the dude from yesterday, although, they are all under suspicion for the nighttime mugging I experienced. Sooo, about 0100, I was awake and kept hearing some weird rustling noises from just outside the left tent door. I bashed the side of the tent, thinking that if it was an animal, that should just scare it off.

A little later it happened again. I got up and shine torch out there, to no avail. No movement, no sound of scampering away, I decide it must just be wind playing tricks on me. After an hour of this, the noise is unmistakable, so I’m up, torch in hand, and done bugger has got my ginger biccies out of my rucksack that I’d left outside the tent.

In the cold light of day, turns out he chewed the packet out of my bag. Anyway so I had to get up to dispose of biccies and topped up water bottle, but damn it was freaky.

One, some, or more of these pics may be replaced when I get home and can see them better, but it’s a quick photo summation of my day here. I’ve walked a lot, taken a few hundred photos, and now I’m in bed hoping to sleep until dawn.

Peacock problems

So, if only I realised that this would be the start of a problem.

Okay so obviously I realise that this looks hilarious. However this pearlescent nutter followed me to watch while I cooked, and then came and harassed me for half an hour until I managed to wolf down my nasi goreng, when he wandered off. I have now eaten 66% of my rations and it was not a peaceful meal. Fuck peacocks, they are bullies.

Brownsea Island

Well, I’m currently on an island that is way bigger than I thought, in my tent, with way less food than I need. I have packed very light, at least that’s what I thought. I have a front and back pack, so that I can wander around the island with some supplies without having to take a full pack. However, as it’s quite warm, being sandwiched between the two bags has been incredibly hot and uncomfortable.

Train journey was uneventful, and when alighting at Poole station, I tabbed to the dock to catch the ferry. There were a lot of people waiting. Decided that queuing was the best plan rather than going to buy supplies. Got onto boat, boat floated, boat arrived.

When I got to the island I dropped my big bag off to be taken across the island in a cart. I then started my walk to the campsite. Everything here is just stunning. So I meandered off course a few times until the campsite had to call me to check I hadn’t fallen off a cliff.

Got to campsite after ignoring their instructions and getting lost again. Picked a pitch, met Noisy Nigel, pictured below, and got settled.

I had food, one third of my supplies, so now chilling in my tent, listening to nothing but birdsong.

I will update later or tomorrow, peace all.

So much for updating on Sundays

I felt it was a very photogenic cherry, and it was the only one that survived the Blackfly onslaught. In other news, nothing has been achieved and nothing productive has taken place. Minecraft has been played, doggies have had bellies scratched, but otherwise, nothing.

I have prepped my bag for camping next week, as I can camp light without cooking stuff to weigh me down. Actually feels way too light, but I’m sure that will change once I start adding food and clothes.

Some stuff has grown but most has not. Still awaiting a tomato. Strawberries have run their race so seems that it’s just the possibility of a few toms that I’m waiting on.

The fatty pigeon was quite amusing, as he squatted in the flowerpot for a while not quite knowing what to do. You know I’ve run out of interesting stuff in my life if I’m posting noodles, so will update next week when I’m on an island somewhere.

Late again

Another week of doggies and work and not much else. The pups definitely get in the way of any camping expeditions, which is kinda sad. Had the excitement of a 48 hour heart monitor being strapped onto me on Tuesday, which gave me an unrivalled chance to travel. When I got home I checked Cheech, the smaller cherry tree, and he’s being ravaged by Blackfly again.

Returned heart monitor on Friday, amidst huge numbers of hassle, including trying to book a car to hire and a prick who tried to run into the side of the car on a roundabout. It’s been warm, so been nice walking the various doggies, but very tiring. Hope I can keep enough energy for camping in July. Got a new hard drive which is still installing, 2 days later. Otherwise, to be frank, there is actually nothing interesting to put here, except for overdoing Minecraft and continually spraying the garden for blackfly. Ooooh I have bought a load of nematodes to finish off the slugs, although I now feel the sun is probably doing that. Haven’t sprayed them yet, but will get around to it. As always I’ll add a few pics in lieu of anything interesting to say.

Now I added the pics I realise that there has been interesting stuff. Got a new shelving unit for the kitchen which is awesome. Put down an outdoor rug in the greenhouse from its previous home on the lawn. I am gonna let that area of lawn go to wild, which might be exciting. I have seed bombs arriving to spread there.

There seems to be a new couple of pigeons in town, they are braver, but not quite as bright. One of the newer calla lilies is starting to shoot up. And tomatoes are starting to flower.

Well whaddayaknow, seems I did have stuff to say after all.

I feel awful

It seems like I’ve kind of fallen off the wagon as far as posting to the blog is concerned, however there has not been a huge amount of activity over the last week

A lot of the previous fortnight has been mainly looking after other people’s doggoes, but as I don’t have their permission to post them here, that kinda rules out 90% of my photo album. Have started a new Minecraft world, and been messing with that in my spare time, when not being barked at. Have a visit to Brownsea Island in the planning stage, so quite excited by that, despite the extortionate expense. I will try to get back to getting these updates out on time, and will try to lead a more exciting life so it’s more interesting to read.

In positive news, tomato plants are starting to think about flowering, so looks like they will get to fruiting sometime soon. New rose is sprouting shoots too, even if it won’t flower this year, it definitely looks healthy. Anyway, I have some weird work hours this week, so will catch you soon.

A week of horizontality

Okay so I’m very much aware that I promised to update you in the morning, however, physical debilitation has prevented this, so I will make it up to you now.

The morning was pretty peaceful, after a fairly noisy night and that car right in front of the tent putting its headlights on every so often throughout the night. The tiny pillow was comfy and didn’t use big blue pillow at all. Got up and made a cuppa, but had forgotten to pack brekkie. Usual morning stuff, got myself sorted and packed up. Due to Uber train ticket bollocksing up my ticket, I had to get a train to Dorchester before then turning around and coming back towards home.

Made a friend with a random stranger on the train, who got off at Southampton, and I got back home by about 1300. Had a bit of a walk but back was kinda giving me a twinge. By Monday I was pretty much immobile.

Sooo as I have basically done nothing really since camping, due to spending the majority of my time laying on my back whilst I was 80% painkillers, I will just share those pics in the hope it seems like I’ve done something worth writing about, even though I patently haven’t.