My Bath & Bristol Weekend Photo Diary

[Risker]

For the past couple of years me and a few friends have had a weekend away to coincide with the BVF, it's always been great weather and a great time so this year we made plans yet again.

Friday 30th May

2:30PM
Myself and 3 friends loaded up the van and set on our way, the plan was to stop off on the way to pick up Enchantress (with a quick oppurtunity for me to meet her family for the first time) and then straight on to the campsite. According to the AA's route planner it would take us an hour to get to Enchantress' house and then another 2 to get to the campsite, 3 hours 7 minutes in total.

5:00PM
After a bit of a detour caused by not using the directions we'd printed out we arrived at Enchantress' (over an hour late). I went in to the house to meet the family while my friends turned the campervan around. Formalities over with we liberated some sausage rolls and flapjacks and prepared to once again set off. As we were leaving Enchantress' family came to have a look at the van and watched as we pulled away... well kind of. At this point the guy driving started having serious trouble making the van move, after many embarassing failed attempts to pull away we finally managed it by making the engine rev seriously hard and slowly, we drove away.

5:10PM
A few hundred yards up the road now and we failed miserably to climb a hill, the van was having none of it. We put the handbrake on and got out the shiny triangle thing.

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We soon realised that on a hill right after a corner wasn't the best place to be broken down so we let the handbrake off and wheeled the van backwards into this handy building site area that happened to be at the bottom.

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After all the guys in the van had had a go at attempting to make the van work one of my friends mentioned that we would be covered by his AA breakdown cover and that they would take us wherever we needed to go if they couldn't fix the fault, we could have used my breakdown cover but by chance this turned out to be a very forunate move. We called the AA and were told it would take an hour for an engineer to arrive... bum.

So there we sat, wasting time until an engineer would arrive and ringing every so often to find out how long they would be. During this time many people stared at us as they drove by, a nice man came out from a nearby house to ask if we were ok and hugely embarassingly for me, Enchantress' parents drove past and stopped to chat when they saw us broken down.

7:05PM
An hour late the engineer arrives

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After some poking around he tells us that some bushing or something has decayed and for that reason it will only go into 3rd or 4th gear - not sure I believed him but regardless, we needed to be towed. We now have 2 options, 1) Get towed back home and drive to bath in car(s) or 2) Get towed to bath and attempt to get the van repaired while we're there. It probably wasn't the wisest move but I opted for option 2, we'd get a tow to bath and try and get it fixed over the weekend. As a contingency plan, if we couldn't get it fixed before we needed to drive home on Sunday then Enchantress and I would stay on a couple more days to get it fixed while my friends would be given a lift home with my sister and her BF who had driven up seperately.

Decision made we were given a time estimate for the pick up truck, again, about an hour. On the plus side the AA guy had said we could have a couple of beers since we wouldn't have to drive, we liked this idea and set off to the local shop and pub.

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We bought some cans of beer from the shop and some beans, spaghetti and bread for eating later (classy), we had intented to have a quick pint but decided to head straight back to the van just in case we missed the pickup. Just as we were about to start making tracks back though, disaster, Enchantress' dad cycles by on his bike! My embrassment grows to new heights as I have to tell him that we're still broken down and now getting a tow. On the way back to the camper I found a mobile phone on the ground at the side of the road, no comprimising pictures on it unfortunately though, I'll have to get around to attempting to locate and return it to it's owner soon. Anyhow, back at the van now we set about making a dent in the beer supply.

[Risker]

9:50PM

Almost 2 Hours late the pickup arrives, the guy running it does not seem happy (he's been working since 7AM), he tries to persuade us to return home rather than going to bath - too late by now though, the decision is already made.

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We get into the cab of the pickup and set off on our way as the driver tells us that he's going to smoke and we're welcome to if we want to. By this point we're a bit worried since the campsite we're due to stay at asks that you arrive before 7PM however it should be ok as our friends already checked us in. Another problem is that when we booked the site they made absolutely clear that they would not accept noisyness late at night and here we were about to turn up in a huge great pick up. With any luck we should arrive within about 2 hours.

Luck isn't on our side unfortunately when we make a toilet break at a petrol station and the guy driving sees something splash off the back of his trailer... it's petrol. When I had filled the tank at the beginning of the trip I had forgotten to replace the cap so all the while we were driving/being towed petrol was splashing out of the tank all over the road. We make another stop at a petrol station and pick up an emergency petrol cap to use and we're back on our way.

Around midnight
As we neared bath we discovered that the road we were going to use was closed and we're sent off on a detour, after a while it becomes apparent that the detour isn't taking us anywhere useful at all. The driver spots a man walking down the street and stops to ask him directions but he wanders off down a dark path - not one to give up our driver leaps out of the pickup and chases down the path after the man, he returns a few minutes later with a slightly inebriated man giving him directions.

Down some twisty and very steep roads we follow the directions, only to find ourselves at yet another blocked off road, fortunately though this one has road workers on it to ask for directions. Following these directions we finally made it into bath and through fluke more than anything else stumbled upon our campsite.

2:00 AM
We get the camper off the pickup and set up the tents (in the dark) while the pickup driver goes off to try and make his way home (with no fuel!)

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Finally, about 9 hours late we have arrived, a couple of beers to relax and then off to bed.

And that concludes the first day.

[xwitchymagicx]

That was quite an eventful day for you it seems...hope you managed to get it fixed in the end. :amazed_ani:

[Risker]

Saturday 31st May

6:30AM

For some reason my body decides it's time to get up after only about 3/4 hours sleep. I'm not sure if I made Enchantress get up or she decided on her own but either way we both got up.

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We got dressed and made the trek to the toilets then back to the van to cook up some curry flavoured noodles for brekkie (9p a pack!) After eating we decided to go back to bed so after failing to close the door properly about 5 times I finally managed and we went back to sleep.

9:40AM

Wake up again and open the sunroof above my head to look up to this view.

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With a fresh view on the van problems I come up with a solution, I can use my AXA breakdown cover to get it towed back to my house since it was my friends cover we used before. Simple really.

Meanwhile my friends came knocking on the door to tell me they were going to look for breakfast, while they're talking to me a woman in the background is shouting something towards me about shutting the door first time or something - I ignore her.

10:30AM

Set off with friends on the journey to Bristol, first through the woods

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under a bridge

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and across the cricket ground to get to the bus stop to take us to Bristol

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[Stu]

Good stuff! Loads of stress though... I feel for ya.

[Risker]

11:10AM
Arrived at Bristol and made our way towards the fayre, just outside the fayre we spotted this boat in the harbour.

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As we arrived at the fayre at about 11:20 we held up good hope that we might get one of the 250 free goodie bags... no chance. Turning the corner towards the entrance we spot the queue, turning the corner again we spot the rest of the queue, there must have been 500-1000 people waiting to get in. We decided to come back later when the queue had died down and so went to the pub.

A pint later and we made our way into the fayre. After eating all the free sheese and tasting everything on offer in the first tent with a bizarre combination of sweet and savoury foods in our mouths we stepped out into the middle of the fayre to do a bit of socialising (and cider drinking).

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4:30PM
We bought some Fry's burgers for our dinners and left the fayre to find some reasonably priced booze that didn't have ridiculous queues and to head back to our campsite before they locked us out. Leaving the fayre we discovered the end of Bristol, there is no more Bristol beyond this point.

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[xwitchymagicx]

Glad I didn't go to Bristol then if there were that many people!

[Risker]

On our way to find a bus stop to take us back to bath

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Back in Bath, home of Bath Building Society (sell outs)

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At the campsite it's time to cook up some burgers

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Some ducks decided they wanted to be my friend

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But it quickly turned nasty when they discovered I was withholding bread products.

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At this point it was decided that Enchantress and I would stay an extra day so we could have the van towed straight back to a garage rather than taking it home and having to organise another tow later, everyone else would be leaving the next morning.

[Risker]

What's that coming over the hill? It's some hot air balloons.

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Duck again, they're far too trusting, little do they realise the evil plans I have for them...

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Food eaten, it's time to make use of the on site bar

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Leaving the bar at kicking out time, my photo's are clearly not all that welcome

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[Risker]

On the way back to the bar we pass a signpost covered in thousands of little flying monsters

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Mmmmm, tasty monsters

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Back in the largest tent we chat and drink until about 5AM, which is harsh considering my friends have to leave in the morning.

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[Stu]

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Blimey, there's no escape from Bath Building Society, is there?

[horselesspaul]

Thanks for that Risker. I am waiting for the homeward leg installment now (more pictures of big trucks please).
Vicarious living is ace.

[Risker]

Sunday 1st June

10:40AM
The tents are packed away ready for us to be abandoned by our friends.

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A very brave little robin comes to investigate the eating oppurtunities

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And so we are left to fend for ourselves

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Breakfast is made, beans on toast with cider

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Breakfast in bed

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[Risker]

Enchantress says she wants to spend the day in Bristol again, however sleeping in till mid afternoon isn't particularly conducive to this goal. While she's busy doing that I set about playing with the ducks again.

BU5fYPwo_DU

I was feeding them by hand but one of them kept biting my thumb every time it went for the bread.

Zombie duck

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Enchantress in front of the van

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Casually walking along...

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Until she pounces! (The ducks didn't want to be stroked it seems)

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Shared a bowl of chippies for dinner, couldn't even have ketchup because none of the sachets stated ingredients... salt & pepper worked ok though.

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[Risker]

Stream that runs through the campsite

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A snail

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9:00PM
I decided I wanted to go for a walk just so that I felt I hadn't wasted the day, Enchantress didn't want to come so off I went following the pointings of a signpost that said dog walk.

It was starting to get dark so it might not have been the best idea

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By this point I'd walked so far that I felt it was too far to go back, I knew my way back but didn't know where I was or where the path would come out. The ground is covered in thousands of black slugs and snails. It's getting dark and I'm wishing I hadn't started.

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I finally get back and wake Enchantress up to keep me company, I put the heater and the radio on and we have some cider and do a puzzle book.

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[Fungus]

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Gah! I'm so ugly .. ;) .. nice pictures of everything though :) .. hope you weren't too knackered after your journey there ..

[Risker]

I thought the funny smell was from the fan heater but no, the cigarette adapter thing has melted in the socket!

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Monday 2nd June
10AM
Called the breakdown service, they couldn't find my account details but said they'd send someone anyway... fair enough.

11AM
Engineer number 2 arrives, this one says that he thinks the clutch has gone, I tend to agree with him. Obviously I keep quiet about our contact with the AA on the Friday. He says he'll arrange a tow and that another vehicle will have to come to do it.

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20 mins later after he's spoken to his boss I presume, he's changed his mind and he will give us a tow but only half way, from there another pickup will take us.

Loading onto our 2nd pickup.

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12:30PM

The wonderful Membury services where we swap pickups, fortunately the second one had already arrived so no hanging about for us.

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Onto the second pickup and we're off home!

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I think we must have both had a very tiring weekend since on the journey back both of us kept falling asleep then waking up when our heads dropped forwards like babies do. We got dropped off at my local garage, unloaded most of the stuff from the van into a car and that was us home!

[cobweb]

phew i'm tired just reading the thread!
is it going to cost a fortune to get the van fixed?
and does it (he/she) have a name?

[Risker]

phew i'm tired just reading the thread!

Sorry bout that :o


is it going to cost a fortune to get the van fixed?
and does it (he/she) have a name?

Not sure of the cost of fixing it yet, no matter how much it is it'll most likely make me cry. No name I'm afraid, I don't do naming vehicles, it doesn't have a sex either.

[cobweb]

you're so utilitarian! :D

[Risker]

^In a way yeah, but I love my camper and even though a modern one would be far more practical I wouldn't give it up for one.

[cobweb]

that's true, you're not all bad then, eh? :cool:

do you have a microwave in the camper? :bigsmile2:

[Enchantress]

Nah, just a good old fashioned gas oven, grill and hob :cool:.

[bryzee86]

Nah, just a good old fashioned gas oven, grill and hob :cool:.

does it really? wow, impressive.

[Enchantress]

Yes, see the picture of me eating baked beans on toast cooked with it.