New to the Club, from New Zealand
Hello and thank you for allowing us to join the club. My husband and I live in New Zealand, and are newly retired. We own a motorhome in New Zealand, and are hiring a 6m motorhome in the UK for 2 months, April to June this year.
We would love any help, tips, advice that anyone can give us, as we realise it will be different touring in your country. Just planning our itinerary now, starting in Brighton, then touring Cornwall. We will include a little Wales and Scotland in the trip, but not take the ferry to Ireland- will save than for another trip!
Cheers.
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Hello and welcome to CT. Our daughter and family live in NZ and we love visiting. We've hired motorhome over there a few times and live to explore.
Have you visited the UK before? What are your interests? That'll give us all some pointers so we can share tips with you 😉. You'll find the SE of England is heavily populated, especially by your standards - think Auckland plus 😂😂. Do you intend to just do the UK or a trip across the channel? The UK will keep you well entertained and with more than enough to explore 2 months isn't very long 😉
Edit I've reread your post so you probably won't pop over the channel but best to ask 😶
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Hi
Do not forget to spend time in the best part of the UK, Yorkshire. You must see the Yorkshire Dales, Wolds and moors
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Hi, Tijger, and welcome.
Be aware, if you aren't already, that many of the lanes in Cornwall are narrow with high hedges often containing rocks. The more major roads are fine. A 6m motorhome shouldn't give you trouble for parkIng or manoeuvring. Ours is 6.4m and we manage well. Ask away if you have any questions.
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Not sure how busy it becomes in NZ but club sites over here do become quite full over Easter and the 2 bank holidays that we have , one on the 1st Monday in May and the other on the last Monday. These weekends and Easter need careful planning and its usually best to book your site (payable on arrival at the site) well in advance.
Suggest you have a look at the various areas that you hope to visit in depth just to see how free those sites are. You can check on the website about days that are vacant but please be aware that the club has recently "upgraded" its website and there have been teething problems.
When and if you want more specific information then ask away and you'll find most people on here willing to help.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy your visit.
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Hi & welcome to the Club in general & C T in
particular
Much general information can be found by trawling
thro the different sections of C T but specific
questions will gain responses if the "Experts"
( ha ha) are around to answer them. As you might have
gathered there are some of us on here likely to
throw in a touch of humour if I may call it that.
One regular visitor to these Old Islands comes from
the other place -- he's knicknamed Aussie Bob for
some reason, but he comes here regularly & covers
areas of GB & Europe
If he reads these posts he just might come on &
respond for you !!
Brian A B M
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Very good point Wherenext - when I telephoned to book sites in NZ I was always assured it wouldn't be an issue there were plenty of pitches. Eventually I got the message and didn't phone ahead, but I was always mightily relieved once we had the pitch, there were often lots of empty ones. UK training and insecurities will out
PS how's the tooth space?
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Bempton in the Spring will have the 'Seabird City' spectacular to witness. A renown Puffin colony, RSPB site, with Rangers on hand & a place for food. Every year I spend hours there, plenty of parking due to the recent expansion. Welcome to the CC
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Thanks for all the helpful answers. I have been to the UK several timea, my husband only once. I have stayed mostly in the cities, and used trains to travel.
We have friends up at Morecambe Bay so will definately get up to the lake district, also to the borders and possibly into Scotland..
Our interests involve sightseeing, walking, but hiking, some castles, museums etc, lovely gardens and historic houses, enjoying country pubs, good food. We will avoid the cities, but York and Bath are definitely on the list.
Here in NZ there are a lot of places a motorhome can stay overnight, such as RSA clubs, some supermarket carparks etc. Anything like that in England? Also over here there are places to empty toilet waste at some petrol stations, and other places, is there anything like that in England.
Also, are we ok in Cornwall if we stay on the main roads?
Thanks for all the help, keep it coming!
So all the ideas
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National Trust would give you the ability to see historic houses/gardens & walks from quite a few of their car parks. You could check them out on line to see if they do a temporary membership. As far as I am aware Supermarkets don't allow overnight parking neither do petrol stations provide facilities to empty toilet waste tanks but others may know different. Happy researching - part of the fun.
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Hi Tijger, You've just got to visit the Lakes! If you love walking and the great outdoors then the Lakes is the place to be. But then, we live on a beautiful island and there are so many places to visit. Scotland is stunning, particularly over towards the west. Wales is lovely too- we only discovered it 3 or 4 years ago and are going back again with breaks planned for 2017 and 2018! Just have a great time both of you and you are more than welcome!
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If you don't already belong to the new zealand national trust i would join them before you come here. Its a fraction of the cost of ours and you can use your membership here.
i'd be doing a list of your must see sites and joining the dots! Kent, of course should be on the list with dover castle, leeds castle, canterbury cathedral!! But we're all going to say that about our home areas.
if you can manage it orkney is well worth a visit. If you don't have time to take the motorhome you can do a day trip from john o'groats.
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Sadly I have yet to see a dump station not part of a site in the UK, there is usually a charge, quite high I believe in relation to a nights stop, to use it. Wildcamping is not encouraged in England and lots of car parks have height restrictions, sometimes supermarkets. I'm on on here briefly at mo but there a websites for pub stopovers and motorhome friendly parking. There have been threads on CT but it has recently been upgraded and still doesn't have a decent search facility plus some threads have been lost 😉. I'd bookmarked such useful things but now get an error message. I think dump stations in towns and fuel stations are brilliant idea you can also top up your water there too. Sadly another problem if you're not on a site 😉
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Hi, Tijger.
It's rare to find anything like the overnight stops you describe in the UK. Although there are a few and some pub stops, it's best not to rely on finding anything like that. Personally, I would always seek out proper sites whether they be full facility all-singing-all-dancing type or more modest CLs. The holiday peak times have been pointed out in a previous post and you would probably benefit from booking ahead at those times.
I have never come across anywhere to empty toilets other than on campsites or at some docks/marinas.
The roads in Cornwall are fine on the whole. If a caravan site or village exists at the end of a road, it must be OK to travel that road. The biggest problem occurs in leaving the beaten track and heading down side lanes which can be very narrow. I just wanted to make you aware of a potential problem but Cornwall attracts many visitors with caravans and MHs without undue trouble. Never rely totally on a sat nav but back it up with a map and common sense.
Enjoy your visit.
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PS how's the tooth space?
Excuse the slightly off topic comment Tijger. Thanks for your concern Bakers but things are progressing well and my tongue has finally ventured into the cavernous gap only to retreat in horror. You could park a decent size Motorhome in it. Like losing one of the family
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Hi Tijger. Welcome to Club Together and the Caravan Club from me. I think the most important think while camping/ caravanning/ motorhoming in the UK is to book ahead to make sure there is a pitch available for you, whether it's a Caravan Club Site or not. Some sites get booked up, even out of season, so better to err on the safe side. All the best for your trip.
David
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Tijger, a couple of pointers (feel free to bin them)
1. As you like hiking try a website called www.walkinginengland.co.uk. Then choose a county from the list at the bottom of the page and check some of the walks in that area. Print them off before you travel over. We've found this site quite good.
2. You've been advised to join National Trust. I was recommended to another organisation that encompasses individually owned and run historic houses/castles by a regular contributor on here (NellietheHooker). It's Historic Houses Association, HHA. Check out the special offers available to CC members (see under Offers at top of page and go to Membrs Offers). Look at their website which is excellent for info and maps of where these places are found. Might interest you..
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Welcome to CT Tijger. We don't have many stop off places for motorhomes but we do have CLs which are small five van sites situated throughout the UK. You should find plenty of these on your planned routes and if you want to have company look out for Centre Rallies, there may be quite a few happening in various places during your two month stay. You'll find good access on most Cornish roads and some will be a bit challenging! The gardens will be lovely in the Spring, my favourite is Trebah which goes down to the Helford River. Have a look at the video on the link. Good luck with the planning!
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Welcome Tijger - I see you like seabirds etc - if so a trip to the Farne Islands is a must in the spring and there are some wonderful castles in Northumberland. Your trip to York needs to be well planned in advance but one of the sites if probably booked solid by now anyway. The Camping and Caravan Club do Temporary Holiday Sites that might appeal to you but that would mean two memberships. They have THSs all over the country with basic water and emptying - but do not require booking generally. Their Club Sites require a deposit which is why the Caravan Club is far superior on that particular issue. Have a wonderful trip.
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Hi Tiger
We always book sites ahead of our arrival. If your staying on a Caravan Club site the warden's on the site can check availability and book your next site for you.
Enjoy your visit.
John
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Book ahead and book soon as sites start to get busy in May. Are you thinking of seeing St Ives in Cornwall? Try this site as it's in the town with nice walks too. Ayr Holiday Park this is a good spot for motorhomes.
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Hello Tijger and welcome to Club Together, The Caravan Club and the UK!
If you want to do some sightseeing don't forget the Great Savings Guide as this has lots of offers and discounts available for members of The Club on attractions across the UK.
As already mentioned on this discussion, May can be busy as we have the two bank holidays, so it's worth booking your pitch in advance. If you haven't already done so,download The Club's free UK Sites app as this is handy to easily search and book pitches when you are touring.
Let us know on CT about your travels. It would be great to read about it on Your Stories section of the community.
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Welcome,do try and visit the Northumberland area on the East coast splendid area with big beaches,castles and cities. Most of all enjoy. As it's been said try and book in advance the CL's have a lot to offer and at a lower cost, a lot have a local pub close by. A good internet site to try is ukcampsite.co.uk
Here you can modify your search for what you want to have on or near the site. You may want to join the National Trust for stately houses and coastal areas but it would be costly for just two months BeamishMuseum is a must Sunderland is the closest City (picture Below)
Paul
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If you are looking at Scotland let us know where or what interests you and I am sure we can help. The distances up here can make short visits difficult though but I would not miss Edinburgh if you can help it. The club site there has good bus connections into the city where there is plenty to do and see.
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