We set off from Bedfordshire as the clock not so much struck 10.05am, but yelled 10.05am. We were running behind schedule already. Waking up around 7.30am, it took ages getting the final packing, checks and everything else done before we could get streetside.
Ellen offered to do half the driving but I declined – I worry about her driving sometimes – and took the wheel to begin our 200-mile journey north to our Dolphin Park caravan site on the clifftops of Filey, North Yorkshire.
The kids were asleep in no time and the traffic was unexpectedly heavy at times, but we still made good time and stopped off at Donington Services at around 12.30am for a bite to eat (homemade pack lunches for all) and stretch of the legs. The weather was sunny and quite warm, with a wasp or three buzzing around our grub.
A quick flick of the ignition keys and air-con later, we were back on the motorway and not long later (around 3.20pm) we arrived at the caravan site against a backdrop of cloudless, blue sky, farmland and blue sea. Postcard stuff.
Ellen got us checked in while I amused/fed/watered/occupied two dazed-looking boys.
The site reception area was busy, with kids and parents everywhere, ice cream vans nearby, and my first impression was that of pleasant satisfaction, as I had heard some mixed reviews about the site.
With caravan keys tucked neatly in envelope, we headed with site map on lap to find our plot in the “Hilltop” area of the site. We eventually found it after getting badly lost, embarrassingly lost actually as, at one stage, we walked up the steps of someone else’s caravan with our bags before being told they were sleeping there that night – a mixture of Ellen’s poor map-reading, me trusting her to map read and Haven Holidays’ crap signposting to the “Hilltop” area.
We’d booked a “prestige” caravan (the 2nd best in the pecking order apparently) back in January for a ridiculously low amount on special offer. I was pleased with out site location - ie. near enough to the entertainment complex without being so close that the drum ‘n’ bass keeps you awake at night – the views were spectacular with panaromic vistas of the Filey countryside and North Sea coastline stretching many miles to Scarborough/Bridlington and beyond. The caravan looked decent enough on the exterior too. Modern green/white livery and modestly creosoted but generously sized boardwalk veranda with seating supplied.
How would the interior fare?
Upon entry, all my visual senses were pleased. Clean, modern and neat. It was the smell that did for me, and later Ellen. Stale cigarette smoke or damp. I couldn’t decide which.
I quickly reassured Ellen that not everything in the countryside smells nice, as she should know, being born and bred in rural Bedfordshire where “Caution – Tractor Traffic” road signs are not uncommon sites on arterial routes.
One downer was the TV choice. It was pants. They hadn’t even given us a Freeview box, the stingy gits.We’d stayed in a Haven site last year in Hastings, Sussex, in a caravan inferior to our current one, yet the Hastings franchise had provided each caravan with a Freeview box as standard. Come on Haven, Filey. They don’t cost that much!
We had to quickly adjust to our pre-BskyB, pre-cable parallel universe, as with two young kids, we’d be spending most evenings in the caravan and some decent telly wouldn’t go amiss.
The site also had a little Spar and I ventured down for some essentials, with the main shop to take place tomorrow in Scarborough. I picked up all we needed but would you believe it, in Yorkshire of all places, they didn’t stock any real ales. We were 10 miles from the North York Moors, in black sheep country, and there wasn’t a drop of Black Sheep Ale in sight.
So, I ventured into Scarborough at about 8pm as I wanted some real ales to toast our first night!
I settled on some Yorkshire Square Ale, Black Sheep, Lancashire Old Leg Over and York Breweries’ Ghost Centurion.
We sat down and supped a few beers and ales before turning in for the night.
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