June (half) camping
Posted by: Nik in Photoblog, Weblog, tags: camping, Outwell, Shell Island, tent, Vango, Wales, windHad my first camping of the year just over a week ago. Nicola’s first one ever so we decided on a week at Shell Island. Well that was the plan.
Arrived nice and early on the Friday (well about 10.30am but we did travel through rush hour, no major problems luckily). Gorgeous day, warm, slight breeze, fairly quiet on site. Set up the pitch and had a lovely day generally (apart from big group of lads being noisy and singing a song about Scuba Diving at 2am next morning, oh well you get them everywhere). Saturday was a bit more cloudier, breezier and wetter so not as good but still enjoyed it. Sunday morning we were woken about (just after midnight by noisy lads singing that horrible Scuba Diver song again, at least I also heard a warden tell them off, and then woken again at) 4am with the walls of our Vango Venture 500 tent boinging about making sleeping uncomfortable.
Seeing as we were awake and the wind was getting stronger still we went and sat in the car. Looking round many other people were up, and some tents were really taking a battering. Some people were sleeping through it all I think. Eventually we made the decision to put our gear in the car for safe keeping, then disassemble the tent til it calmed down a bit. But a pole was snapped so we made the decision to come home. Tent might have been OK but not risking it if the winds remained up. By 7.30 we were leaving the site, and some 100 or so people had done so already I think I heard. Man on the gate said 60-70 mph winds were reported up the Welsh coast.
So although the trip was spoiled, Nicola was not put off and at least we got a little trip and will have to go back sometime. Here’s a pretty picture.
At least I have my other tent (Vango Omega 450) from last year, so I can use that until we can afford an Outwell Montana 6 or something equally roomy and stable.
I wanna be a scuba diver…
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I have never been to camping before too. Looks like fun.
oooh fun. Glad you made it.
You wanna be a sucba diver?. What an instructor or just scuba all day?
I’m glad Nicola wasn’t put off camping, it’s a great way to have a holiday. You might be able to get a replacement pole for your tent, check with the manufacturers or a camping shop. If you go to a camping shop take the old pole so they know how long the replacement needs to be.
Voilet it’s great, you should really give it a shot if you get chance. It’s a great feeling living a simple life for a few days.
Fab, ‘I wanna be a scuba diver’ is the start to the very rude song those lads have planted into my head, very annoying!
Cha0tic, I chucked the tent away I was a little stressed lol, it was only cheap and made packing up easier in the 5am wind. Many people threw theirs away too that morning.
Hey Nik! Great picture! For great camping you need to get yourselves up here to Scotland and go to Glencoe - fantastic!
At least with all that wind there weren’t any midges!
BTW my partner and I got an Outwell Montana 5 this year - it’s stood up to high winds and torrential rain so far. All par for the course for July in the west of Scotland…
There were a few midges when it was nice but those I can handle generally. Nice to hear good feedback on that range of tents, looking at reviews they seem very well lasting. Probably be next year now when next go (unless we have a nice mild September) probably get a new tent then, might even be a new model out (or old model cheaper!) at that time.