A Tortoise, The Guzunder and A Trip to South America - to find dinosaurs.

Travelling in Hygge has taken us to so many wonderful places and we have met many different people along the way. There is such a huge caravanning and motor-home community out there and as a whole it’s a friendly and enjoyable way of life. It really has transformed our retirement and I can honestly say given us a new lease on life.

We have also started to realise, among other things, that campervanning calls on many skills, some of which we don’t seem to possess – yet. We are learning but we have had a few experiences in Hygge during our first two years. It’s definitely been a learning curve, but we are English and as such can laugh at ourselves and as it turns out we have needed to - quite a lot.

So we thought we would share some of our mishaps and more unusual experiences with you, perhaps you will see the funny side too.

Firstly, I will get this out of the way and hold my hands up to the most obvious faux pas of driving off with the pop-up roof still up and electric cable still attached, much to the shock of our neighbours. (Goodness knows what planet we were on at the time). In our defence it was early days and we were still honing our routine. That’s my excuse anyway. Luckily nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged apart from our egos.

We’ve also squashed a few flexi buckets driving off pitches too - Well I never said we were professionals.

It was after a few trips away we noticed the leisure battery wasn’t keeping its charge. So one morning with all the lights flashing amber, instead of the optimum green, we emptied the wardrobe to take a closer look. I held the torch (very important job) and Garry took a long hard look at the electrical ‘switchy’ box thing and after nodding a lot decided it might be better to ring Camperking. Ever patient the Camperking lady chatted for a while and Garry laughed a bit and in the end it turned out to be fairly simple. “There is a big orange button that you can’t miss,”she said. Obviously we had. “You need to press it”, she said. In a nutshell we hadn’t turned it on!

Spot the Orange Button

One of the things that has taken us by surprise are the number of different animals people take camping with them. Apart from dogs of every size, breed and temperament and sometimes with up to four in a caravan, we were intrigued one morning, to see a group of people talking animatedly around a small patch of grass enclosed by some border edging. With our interest piqued we ventured over and were surprised to be introduced to ‘Geoff - the tortoise’, who was having a wander. On chatting to his owner we discovered Geoff was a little wayward and had a tendancy to wander off when the mood took him, so they put up an enclosure, so he could enjoy the outdoors safely whilst they were holidaying in their van. Apparently Geoff was pretty nifty - for a tortoise and given free rein would quickly disappear into the nearest bush, which on a previous occasion had resulted in the formation of a full-on search party. At various other times we’ve been introduced to a rabbit (on a lead), numerous cats and a very fluffy guinea pig.

Bring it on Dude.

One holiday, after enjoying a lovely lunch in Hygge, we went off to explore. We got back and drove off, sounds pretty normal except in my eagerness to explore, I had forgotten to put the lunch things away. First time we braked everything shot off the side and flew in all directions. We still haven’t found the knife that disappeared down the back of the units and I am still picking dried bits of Tuna off the back of the seats. It’s amazing where food can stick when it’s travelling at speed.

Initially we hadn’t given much thought to toileting, but being of a certain age with bladders that appear to have a mind of their own, neither of us relished the thought of numerous treks (note the plural here) across the campsite during the night. So we are the proud owners of a Porta Potty, it even has its own cupboard under the bed. (Any of you old enough to remember the ‘Guzunder’?) I think most women will understand sharing a toilet in such a confined space is a challenge. Men never remember to put the seat down after they have finished and I have woken up on more than one occasion with my foot down the loo.

Talking about Pottys, one memorable night Garry managed to topple backwards over said Potty and I was woken up by a crash followed by groaning and all I could make out in the gloom was a bottom, a pair of legs and a hand holding a now unattached toilet seat lid. Hilarious - I still titter about that one.

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Harris our grandson has been fascinated with Hygge and even sat on the driveway our campervan is kept busy. We’ve been driven to South America, where we were chased by dinosaurs believe it or not and stuck in many a traffic jam. “Lights are on red again Nanny. What a nuisance”. (He is very polite). We’ve gone to bed in the roof and spied on dragons, this involved lots of opening and closing of window covers and shouting:- ‘Watch out! Fire!!’ Luckily we survived intact.

So we decided to make the most of his enthusiasm and take him and Benton ‘the Schnauzer’ away for a couple of days. What could go wrong?

Hygge was duly loaded up by our daughter with, as she put it; ‘Vital Harris stuff that he can’t do without’, which included; one case, a child seat, one large elephant pillow, one small soft elephant, one teddy bear, one monster bear, one snowy dog, a soft snake, a giraffe, a couple of dinosaurs (T Rex naturally and Brontasaurus), some lego and several books and not forgetting said grandchild. Not to mention Benton and all his paraphernalia, dog basket, dog food, dog towel, dog blanket, spray, leads and collars for every occasion. Garry and I just about managed to squeeze in, with a change of underwear.

Needless to say we didn’t sleep a wink that night - but what fun!

Benton sat in his bed on the passenger seat, as we jostled for space on the rock and roll bed. I could see he was mentally calculating where he was going to squeeze in after we had all dropped off to sleep and the coast was clear. (Schnauzers are like that - always calculating, always thinking). I then spent most of the night with a small foot resting somewhere between my chin and my ear and last time I spotted Garry he had a large elephant drooped over his chest, on which was balanced a dinosaur for good measure. At some point during the night I was woken by someone snoring and I don’t think it was Garry, the dog or me for that matter. By the morning Benton had managed to find his chosen spot on the bed and Harris’s foot, previously to be found under my chin had been replaced by a small hand, clutching monster bear.

As a result I couldn’t straighten my neck for much of the day and I noticed that Garry had developed a limp. Harris and Benton on the other hand both appeared none the worse for wear.

After breakfast, which seemed to take an inordinately long time, a rather bleary eyed and decidedly dishevelled Garry took a far too energetic Harris off to the swings – no dogs allowed naturally. Benton now aware he was being left behind with me started howling like his world had ended and no amount of tempting chicken pieces would placate him. This went on for what seemed like an age whilst I ran around in a sleep-deprived haze, trying to figure out what to do. When the curtains on the caravan next door started twitching and a face appeared at the window, I waited for a torrent of verbal abuse but the guy must have taken one look at a rather fraught, middle aged woman, with a crick in her neck running around and taken pity. He smiled and then made a point of putting on his headphones. So thinking I should quit whilst ahead, I slipped the lead on Benton and he immediately took off, with me in tow in the direction of the swings where the moment he caught sight of Harris the other side of the fence he stopped howling. That dog does love his Harris.

Forever Friends

Later in the day after a long walk to another playground and yet more howling, we gave Harris the option of another night in Hygge. Now it goes without saying we love Harris to bits and love spending time with him, but we weren’t too unhappy when he said he wanted to go home. I can’t think why.

We hope you’ve enjoyed part 1 of our mishaps and adventures, needless to say we’ve had a few more. So if you have had a giggle watch out for Part 2 - ‘Water, Guano and A Parrot’.

Thanks for taking five minutes to read our blog. Garry and Caroline.