Days out in my campervan in March 2026

I only had one camping trip in March, a weekend in Wales.

I stopped a night in Barry ready for a parkrun and a visit to watch Barry Town play football on the saturday before heading off to Newport in the evening ahead of visiting my nephew and his family on the Sunday before heading home via visiting a friend in Monmouth.

The campsite in Barry was approximately 3 miles outside the town so on arrival on the Friday night I drove down to the beach to check out the parking for the morning and back via Jenner Park to check out street parking for the afternoon.

The campsite was on a farm.

There were two sets of toilet and shower blocks. This one for general use and a set for disabled travellers as well as washing up facilities and good wifi. It was a very peaceful site with an amazing sunset.

There was some housekeeping as usual. Peter is left handed and I'm not and between us the electricity cable is getting awfully confused.

I really hate how this door opens where the cable is stored. To put it away properly is such a fluff, either from the outside or climbing in through the side door and manoeuvring in a narrow gap. It would be so much easier if the door was detachable.

The van is 2.07m but we have a solar panel fitted so I avoid anything with a height barrier, especially when the ground is uneven. I found a good spot for parkrun.

With great views of the beach.

And now I've mastered the art of folding the roof within a minute, it's lovely to be able to lie down with a cup of tea and read my book after a run with a spectacular view of the sea.

After the football I drove onto Tredegar in Newport where I stayed at the Caravan and Motorhome Club for a night. It's in the grounds of a National Trust Site which we've explored before.

The only downside is that check out is 12pm and the showers shut at 10.15am and it's a pain when you have to rush to pack up so you can get showered before the drive home. Some sites have two blocks and alternate cleaning times.

I pack all the fridge stuff back into the cool bag so when I get home it's ready to lift straight back into the house.

A clean tea towel sits under the bowl to stop it moving around and the dirty cloths are hung up ready just to be taken into the house. And fresh cloths are put back into the van straight away. All the other items, clothes and shoes are packed into the yellow bag ready to be carried in also.

The only other trip I had out in the van in March was to Bath when I took part in an Ultra Challenge. I could have taken the car but it was a long journey both ways around 2 hours each way with a 5 hour walk, so I took the van so I could brew up after wards and have a lie down for an hour to rest before the long drive home.

Our adventures in April took us to Tenby and May I'm off on my own to visit the grandchildren.

 

The Good Bits of April 2025

April has been busy and packed full of fun with 2 of our sons, DIL and grandchildren. The weather has been perfect for being out and about and we've made the most of it. The 2 weeks Easter Holidays felt so much longer and despite packing so much in, we've also had plenty of time to rest, watch TV and just chill.

Things that made me laugh:

April Fools Brownies. I made these for my students. I work in a secondary school, they humoured me.

Parking the white car. My other vehicle is a camper van, a Ford Transit. I can park it anywhere, this thing takes several attempts and a taxi to the pavement. I took this photo to prove I can actually park it.

The grandchildren have provided us with lots of entertainment from 'She was naughty for 3 minutes' When granddaughter spoke to her friend at the park and didn't give her cousin the full attention he wanted. Being told by granddaughter that I am her favourite, but not to tell granddad. Also the importance of a half year has been discovered. And I best not mention the punch in the face I gave our granddaughter when I was trying to put her seatbelt on.

Places we visited:

Forest of Dean - Beachenhurst with Peter and the grandchildren for the park and lunch

Malvern Hills - Walks with our son's dog and to see the bluebells on our own

Park - We're fortunate to have several nice play areas in Malvern to take the grandchildren to

St Briavels - Two nights camping together and a walk to the local pub

Chepstow Castle - Day out with Peter and our granddaughter

Easter Party - In my old neighbourhood with DIL and the grandchildren

Much Wenlock - English Heritage Wenlock Priory in the morning with a friend, then

National Trust Benthall Hall - Late afternoon before I headed to my camp site for the night.

National Trust Berrington Hall - On my way home

Countrytastic - Three Counties with Peter, DIL and grandchildren

Birmingham City - Two trips to watch Birmingham play

Croome Park - A day out with Peter, DIL and our grandchildren

Goodrich Castle - A day out with my friend and her 2 children

Keynsham - Peter and I visited his mother as there was some DIY to be done - catching up with reading on all the trips

Meeting with friends - Lots of coffee visits, meals out, just chatting and drinking tea moments also

Things we did at home:

Gardening - Lots of moving pots around really for best sun light

Grandchildren to stay

Tidying up after the grandchildren had visited

Had a visit from the Easter Bunny

Had fun with Olive our friends dog we looked after for the Easter weekend

I'm not sure May will be as busy but I do start and end the month with child 4 with a bank holiday weekend and Whitsun holiday, so who knows? How was your April?

Visiting places without kids.

When our kids were little and we used to visit kid friendly places, we noticed lots of adults visiting without kids. From castles, to theme parks to Disney. Not just the younger generation (pre kids) but middle aged people like we are now.

We would question why on earth someone who is child free would choose to go somewhere full of kids when they don't have kids with them. When we were child free, after household chores, we chose the pub, visited friends and did the grown up shopping ie B&Q, Ikea etc.

We've always avoided doing things on bank holiday weekends and avoided the UK during the summer holidays when the kids were still at home and since they've left home we've gone places on week days and travelled outside of the school holidays.

However I'm now working in a school so now we're limited to weekends, evenings and holidays to go places. We visited West Wales over the Easter Weekend, went to a family fun day in the park over May Day and visited the RHS Spring Festival. We're going camping the week of the Jubilee, but will hopefully be in Australia for the main summer holidays.

Since the kids have left home, we've had spa days, private beach days, been out for brunch, had a game of crazy golf, been to tourist attractions, been to firework display's and seen laser shows and more recently joined our neighbours and friends with their children for Christmas light and garden shows as well as visiting indoor and outdoor play centres as well as soft play for dogs. I've taken Bob to the Lavender fields and Pumpkin Patch, been on doggy play dates and even attended Valentines events and taken Bob to see Santa more than once as well as hold birthday parties for the cat and the dog.

Beach days

Easter egg hunt

Pumpkin Patch

Light shows

So that's why adults go to kid friendly places, it's a lot of fun. It's a chance to explore places properly, to relax and not be running after kids, breaking up fights, amusing and entertaining kids of different ages and interests.

We do however, do things with our kids still, road trips, parties, shopping and meals, but these days they have their children with them and we can sit back, relax and just enjoy being out with them now and not having to take charge.

A trip to the Pumpkin Patch - Avon Valley Adventure and Wildlife Park

Last year Bob and I visited a Pumpkin Patch in Ledbury. Just the two of us and why not? We also decorated the house (AD)

I love Halloween. I've always decorated the house, me, the dog and even the kids when they were still interested.

I was disappointed to discover they don't do Halloween in South Africa, but I still decorated the table with a more autumnal theme.

On moving to Dubai, I was super excited to see that Halloween in Dubai was done in full swing. 

This years plan involved a trip to the Pumpkin Patch at Avon Valley Adventure and Wildlife Park with Bob of course, decorating the house and a Halloween party over the weekend for our 2 year old grandchild and the neighbours children, pumpkin carving and answering the door to trick or treaters on Sunday evening.

Do you do Halloween?

Next up I'm getting ready for Christmas, but won't be decorating the house until December 1st. Do your decorations go up earlier?

A day out with a disabled adult child

We're fortunate as parents that our eldest child, child 1 lives in an excellent home with wonderful staff and management. Yes, we've had some issues along the way especially with me only being seen as her 'step mum' quite often, despite being her 'mum' now for 20 years and most of the time having more contact with her than the rest of the family, including my husband, due to the distance we live from her.

A while ago I found myself unable to take her out on my own, usually because I hire a small car which normally only has 2 doors and she's a bit of an escape artist when it comes to getting out of her seat belt. I'm also getting older and she's getting stronger.

Normally child 2 and 2a come with me when I visit, to open doors, help guide her with steps, carry her changing bag and assist with getting her in and out the car in narrow parking spaces. But 2 and 2a are having a baby later this year and child 1 is what we call 'a bit grabby' she also lashes out, no malicious intentions, but she can pack a punch.

Usually these days I just take her for a walk around her neighbourhood or turn up with cakes and drinks to enjoy with her in her own home. Sometimes it's tricky visiting her with certain members of staff on duty, but it's a lot less painful than taking her out on my own.

This is me and child 1 when we go out. Just like Andy and Lou in Little Britain, I have this image in my mind as I'm explaining what help I need. Click on the link below.

A trip out with child 1. BBC Little Britain with Matt Lucas and David Walliams. But unlike Andy, child 1 doesn't make my life difficult intentionally.

Miracle Gardens and Butterfly World.

I love visiting the gardens in Ajman, not far from the Mall of the Emirates and if you're visiting Dubai, there's a frequent shuttle bus.

Entry to the gardens costs AED 50 and to Butterfly World AED 55. Sadly you need to enter one from the other or face a longish walk around the perimeter as once you leave the gardens you can't re enter on the same ticket.

I visit in term time when it's quiet, but avoid the end of the school day as the roads round there are chaotic at the end of the school day and make sure you have google maps handy and 3G switched on as the roads are changing on a monthly basis with new developments.

Each year the theme for Miracle gardens changes. This year it's cats and there's a full size replica of Emirates Airbus A340, festooned in flowers.

Creating a garden in the desert requires a lot of water and planning. You can see more of my efforts on the gardening tab.

 If you look closely you'll see that not many types of flowers are used, just tried and tested ones, with built in irrigation systems and regular dead heading and replacing.

Designed inside a circle, paths lead you to new finds as you explore freely.

View from the pavilion. It's quite a skill getting photos without anyone in them, hence why it's better to visit during the school day.

There are tonnes of restaurants to choose from under a covered area of plants and umbrellas, but watch out for the over head irrigation section.

Every time I visit I have yet another idea for the garden, sadly I neither have the space or the skills required to do anything on this scale.

Next up is the Butterfly World.

It's easy to just walk round the first dome and go back outside. There are a further 4 chambers accessed through a string/rope netting/door. Make sure you walk round the whole place.

I'm not a big fan of the dead butterflies creating the art work in the entrance area by the cafe. I'd like to think they were made a long time before we wised up to the damage we were doing to the species, but sadly this doesn't appear to be the case.

Be careful as you walk round though, there are butterflies on the ground.

There are clear pictures on how to hold a butterfly in special areas, sadly too many parents weren't supervising their kids and wings were being grabbed. The adults were placing butterflies on their children's heads for photo opportunities and some of the kids were hysterical swatting the butterflies away while parents laughed and took more photos.

The rooms were large with high ceilings and there was lots of space for the butterflies to fly around and escape to. 

And plenty of feeding stations where you could take close ups without disturbing the butterflies.

This is only my second visit to the butterfly world, both times with visitors, don't think I'll be going again though.

But Miracle Gardens has a big thumbs up from me and my next trip might involve a book and a spare hour or three.