1st time caravaning
We took the plung and got ours selfs a a bailey unicorn cabrera our 1st stay was at hawes club site and the staff there are so nice and helpful couldn't do more to help and advice us and a chap from Wales oppisite use gave us advice and help.
Our trip here was eventful as the satnav took us via kettlewell on a very narrow road so I had to turn the van around on a country road and was chuffed with my 1st attempt at revesrsing.
I would recommend the hawes site to anyone and we are definitely coming back again looking forward to many and holiday in the caravan now.
Comments
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Great to hear you had a good time, best to ignore savannas when towing towards the end of your journey and use the club's own directions which are tried and tested.
If its any consolation I had to perform a multi point turn with our caravan in a Sainburys' car park when we once followed the satnav direction to get to the Warwick site, and yes it was a full car park
Club sites are always full of people who will gladly help so just ask. Here's to your next trip!
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Its always worth reading the directions foot note in the club site directory, Like you I found out my Land Rovers Sat Nav tells lies
Enjoy your Caravan
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Had the same thing when the Sat Nav took us down a lane into a Garden centre near Burford
The other one was going to Normanhurst Court. the road became a single track, very narrow lane. luckily there was a left hand bend with a gate to field which I was able to reverse in to and after about 3 or 4 shunts was facing the way back to the main road
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It is a good idea to take a glance at a proper map of some sorts, even if it is just a road atlas before setting off. Sat navs are usually ok for solo vehicles, but towing or something larger than a big van may need extra precautions. But you survived unscathed, and got in some expert level reversing, so well done to you.
We have just left Hawes after a first visit there, as you say, a nice site, with very nice staff. Hope you enjoy your new van, and have many happy times away😁
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Well the responses should make you feel a lot better as "experienced" tuggers confirm their oversights. I'm happy to confirm that we, too, have succumbed to the "Sainsburys at Warwick syndrome", as it shall henceforth be known. I wasn't relying on Satnav, that's what Mrs WN is for, except I swerved to avoid an oncoming car and took my eye off the site entrance. Cornersteady will probably be nodding now as he knows that the road becomes narrower with no turning points until Sainsburys unless you know the area.
So good luck and I'm glad you enjoyed your first adventure. It gets quite addictive.😀
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indeed I was
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I could start a long thread with all my 'oversights' down the years. Some minor and embarrassing like above, some expensive (hint don't leave your mover remote on the A frame), some happen even when you should know better after many trips and you stand there scratching your head asking what you have done wrong (hint, don't try and fill your hot water tank with the drain tap open)
But it's all good fun, remember the wardens are all experienced caravaners and motor-homers too and they are always willing to help too.
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"hint don't leave your mover remote on the A frame"
Yep, us too. 😳
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I think lots of us own that particular T shirt! A few years ago we missed a turn to a CL in the Yorks Dales and found ourselves heading into Malham, desperately looking for a lane, farm entrance, drive to turn in. Found one and half way through the reversing manoeuvre a local bus service mini bus turned up to watch! Oh what fun!
Enjoy your travels.
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You still have to experience leaving the breakaway cable attached when un coupling from the car and trying to move off with motor mover still engaged
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Not to mention TV aerial still extended, Battery box lid open, rooflight not fully closed, jockey wheel not raised and a myriad of other things you forget about, even after 'donkeys' years of 'vanning experience.
Even after close on 30 years experience, we went to Chester Fairoaks last autumn for a few days only to find on arrival I had left the van keys at home. Fortunately my better half had the spare set with her. Worse was to come, however. On setting up I found the hook up cable was still in the garage at home. I had to go out and buy a new hook up cable from the nearest dealer. What was particularly annoying was, that apart from the current cable, which is normally kept in the front locker, but for some reason was in the garage on this occasion, I also have another two brand new unused cables stored in the garage. That tally has now risen to three!
Caravanning is a learning curve, sometimes steep, sometimes not so, but each trip out is different to the last one even if you go to the same site, just enjoy it!
I
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After a few trips you should be more familiar with the basic do’s and don’ts.
Many moons ago a caravanning neighbour gave me a small laminated list of things to remember.
I now have my own version for our Eriba Troll which clips nicely above the sun visor.
Like all instructions, I run through the list once I’ve finished - both hitching up and unhitching 😀
From memory there’s around 25 or so items and it does help to remember what I’ve forgotten. As others have said though, check the Club Directory for your approach to the site.
Happy caravanning ☀️0 -
Forgetting to turn the gas bottle off is another, as is not handing in your site tag and remembering it after 30 miles.
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When my mover is left engaged, its like the caravan has been chained to a tree behind it..... Apparently
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I managed to travel/skid about 100 meters on hard packed snow with the mover engaged, and only realised when trying to drive up hill.
Have also lost 1 small roof light, presumably by having left it open when setting off, quite often tried to operate the mover with the caravan hand brake still on, driven forward with breakaway cable attached, and have left the handle for waste barrel at home, so now always carry a spare. You's think that after 40+ yrs of caravanning I'd know what I was doing, but appears not!0 -
We’ve had a lot of mishaps too. In fact, so many that we were amazed if we had a trip out with the caravan without something going wrong. We shared a motorhome with my OH’s parents initially, and that always went wrong too. I was glad to get rid of it when father in law died and we exchanged it for a caravan of our own in 2011. We got a 2008 Abbey gts, and stored it in the compound at a nearby commercial site, where we also spent a night on a pitch for our trial run. That was when we left the keys at home (fortunately only 20 minutes from home), followed by the mysteries of setting everything up and getting it working. First proper trip out for a night at Brighton. A bit of a challenge getting onto our pitch, but the main disaster when we got back to our storage site. We pulled up to unhitch and got the rough end of a static van owner’s anger and impatience. OH got forced to pull forward into banned territory, then couldn’t get out as uphill behind & too narrow in front. Knackered the clutch on the car (pardon the language), and had to be rescued by site staff with a tractor. Evidence of car clutch problem a few weeks later when it gave out on the M25, and we, car & caravan had to be recovered by the RAC. We got a motor mover fitted after that.
The front locker appeared a good place to store the motor mover remote control. Not so. There was a gap at the front and the remote control fell out as the caravan was moved out of storage. Luckily we found it on the road on site.
For some reason the jockey wheel would fall off if the front of the caravan was raised too much, and three times we were helped by various wardens to get it back on.
We got a new car and hitched up easily the first time, or so we thought. Pulled away and the caravan fell off the car. We didn’t know about the way of checking at that time. Maybe OH had been taught on the towing course, but had forgotten.
We’ve arrived back at storage and, having moved the caravan with the mover, forgotten to put the handbrake on before disengaging the rollers whilst chatting, and getting distracted by, the warden. That was a scary moment seeing the caravan moving backwards down the slope on its own.
Those are the big things. Of course, there’s been all sorts of minor mishaps/things not going to plan, wrong routes, narrow lanes, bits knocked off the caravan, etc. It’s a wonder we’re still at it, really, but we got our present van in 2016, and we still love it.
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Similar experience. Took the awning last year only to realise I'd left the pegs and all the other bits and bobs in the garage.
We once pulled into a filling station on the A1 on our way down to Ashridge Farm. I filled up then realised I had left my wallet and cards at home. Fortunately the oh had her cards with her but the ensuing panic made her forget her pin number!
We had to sit and compose ourselves for a few minutes before the pin number came back to her. Fortunately the filling station attendant was very understanding. He was probably able to relate to his mates in the pub that night about the 'thick' northerner who had forgotten his wallet and his 'dozy' wife who couldn't remember her pin number!
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agreed.....and don't use postcodes for campsites (unless you can confidently add the 'house number') and at the very least have a look at the route its planned for you....even the destination might be wrong (incorrect POI or coordinate) and the route might not be the best available.
definitely do not have 'shortest route' selected....it will try and take you down a lane to save 50 yds...set to 'fastest route' to make it priorities faster (wider) A roads, dual carriageways and MWays...
good luck and enjoy
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Like many we’ve had mishaps and I’m sure will have more but they can be laughed at later. We also have an AA map book open and check route before travelling. We no longer allow our old tom tom (set to fastest route) to plan alternative route when it detects a road closure relying on diversion being in place which can be used by large vehicles. So far it's been OK. When closer to site using their advice is helpful as they know the best approach. Happy travels to all.
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In a few weeks time we'll be driving through Callander. I'll plan to avoid repeating our first visit, on our first real trip, when having pulled into the supermarket carpark I realised that the "other entrance" was in fact next door's entrance, so not my way out. Luckily people were quite patient while I unhitched, spun the van, moved the car, re-hitched and tried to look calm and collected as we drove out.
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If. you can look those mishaps in the eye and laugh,
If you look at your own misadventures as steps in the learning process,
If you can happily share your embarrassing moments for the benefit of others........ You are a caravaner, motorised or otherwise!
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I think our worst disaster, if you can call it that, was getting to Exeter (some 300 miles from home) and congratulating ourselves at an uneventful journey. Then it slowly became apparent that we had the awning, but no poles! We carried on, pitched up near Fowey, and enjoyed three weeks of glorious sunshine. We didn’t need the blinking thing after all! 😁
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Maybe 15 years ago, decided to take the plunge and take the caravan over to France. Coming back up-country on the way to the Loire region, I pulled up behind a transit sized van at some (red) lights. Up until this point, I’d relied on road signs to direct me, so since there weren’t any, “straight on” I thought. The lights changed and I followed the van across the junction. When we got to the other side, the van pulled in and to my horror, I realised that we had entered .....a shopping precinct. I could see that there was an exit further on, so had to press on. I got some very odd looks, as you can imagine. So embarrassing, I could have died 🙄 On the same trip, I managed to smash the jockey wheel as we disembarked the ferry, so had to struggle without one for the whole holiday.
Still, you gotta laugh...
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