Littlehampton and a Trundle to Arundel
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Our midweek weekend again and the sun is shining, it's a lovely 18 degrees as we set off for Littlehampton Caravan Club site. This is the first time we will have used our newly adapted bed. Having an end dinette that we leave made up as a huge bed, which we have been finding a bit uncomfortable, we decided to turn it into a fixed unit. Leaving the main structure and adding bed slats to a frame that lifts for easy access to the storage space underneath. Still using the seat cushions on this trip as we eagerly await delivery of our new mattress and gas struts so on this trip I'm not expecting miracles.
50 or so miles later and we are pulling into the site entrance. Greeted by a rather jovial warden we set off in search of a pitch. A small herb garden by the warden's office still showed the last of the summer's crops.
Relatively busy for October we headed towards the hard standing area. Grass pitches are now off limits. They also have fully serviced pitches for an extra cost. We chose a pitch and started to reverse, it was then we noticed a row of about half a dozen Horse Chestnut trees lining the fence behind the pitch. All around lay an abundance of some of the biggest conkers I've ever seen. Decision made to find another pitch, last thing we want is dints in the caravan roof as they hail down for the next 2 days.
Blue jobs and pink jobs done, the switch on the kettle is flicked on. Time for the midweek weekend to begin.
A wander around the site, not a very big site only 108 pitches with just 60 in use at the moment. A lovely and warm toilet block stands centrally on the site with a small children play area with a designated dog walking area to one side of the site and to keep me happy they have wifi. I love to wander on site as dusk settles and lights start to go on, sneaking a peek into caravans, like a small snapshot of people's lives.
The following morning I awoke with a bad back. The cushions that serve as a mattress really are so firm I get out of bed walking like my grandma used to. Really can't wait for the new mattress to arrive.
To straighten and ease my back the Boss decides a little light exercise is what I need. A small walk. Butties made, walking boots on and a chance to try out our new rucksack that we won in a raffle 'five!!' years ago. This rucksack has more zips than a punk rockers trousers, we are still finding them, but most importantly, has detailed instructions on the inner lining to summon assistance worldwide including the appropriate arm and body signals for helicopter pilots to land or not in an emergency, with this information to hand we felt it safe enough to venture off site. Heading off site we pay a quick visit to the on site tourist information hut. They have a few A4 sheets with typed directions for local walks. The Boss quickly grabs one and off we trot.
Following the directions we plod through fields of angry looking cows. I try to tell him that cows have stampeded and killed people in the past. He tells me the cows are angry because of the attention the bull in the corner has been giving them. Maybe they've had enough of his company. Not interested in hanging around my pace soon speeds up when they start to move. The walk brings us out at Arundel train station. We can see Arundel Castle, surely it would be a crime to walk all this way and get so close and not visit Arundel itself. A quick mooch about and a packed lunch eaten by the side of the river. Listening to a class of primary school children being given a history lesson we discovered that people born in Arundel are known as mullets.
Still not satisfied that we had walked enough off marches the Boss along the River Arun with promises of a pint at a pub on the banks. My feet are starting to hurt now, as are my hips. Apparently if I put as much energy into walking as I do complaining I'll get there faster. The pub is further away than he thought and my moaning just continues. I've got to walk all that way back.
Out of the reeds emerges the most beautiful riverside pub, The Black Rabbit, just as a helicopter appears and circles twice around our position, surely we didn't activate the rucksack helicopter 'red button' as we retrieved our Beef & Onion butties earlier, we resisted the chance to deploy our newly learned arm signals as they would have assumed us drunkards. Aches and pains forgotten, I eagerly await my pint of Badger 'Glorious Game' ale after all this walking a half wouldn't be reward enough surely. A quick visit to the loo before we left revealed very plush decoration with old film stars on the back of each door. Much better than the usual adverts for incontinence pads and underwear.
On returning to the caravan we were more than happy to get our boots off. My Fitbit is telling me that we've walked 9 miles. A quick sit down in the late afternoon sunshine then realising we were starving we retreated indoors to put the tea on.
A couple of cheeky vimtos and I slept like a log, until 5.30am when the guy opposite decided he was packing up to ho home. Having observed our neighbours over the last couple of days we thought maybe he was working in the local area whilst staying on site. Banging around emptying his loo, waste water etc. Engine running whilst he hitched up I quietly prayed that the gates were locked until a more decent hour. Sadly they must've opened for him as he didn't return.
Having picked up some Blue Diamond Eco Friendly toilet paper for this trip we had hoped to have used the loo more to be able to compare it to our regular choice of toilet paper. Unfortunately we've used the toilet block and are only going to be going to the chemical disposal once on this trip so can't really give a verdict on our preference.
Blue jobs and pink jobs done, time for us to hitch the Volvo up to the Pursuit. Having used the motor mover on Tuesday when we set up we now needed the remote control as the mover mechanism was not retracted from the wheels, dooh!, we were going nowhere until the wheels were freed. The remote control appeared to be playing a naughty game of hide and seek. Caravan and car were turned upside down, twice. The remote was proving to have found a good hiding place. As tempers started to give way the Boss spotted it on the car between the windscreen and bonnet. It must've been there since Tuesday. Good job it hadn't rained. I tried to hide my joy that the Boss was the last one to touch it, I will lodge the incident in memory as a credit in case I do similar next trip.
