NICF Ballyronan Meet

What a weekend, I'm knackered! We had the best time and the most fantastic weather and I'd love to do it all again as soon as possible.

There were seven families altogether, and a few day visitors. It was amazing to meet all the people I've been talking to online for ages. There aren't any photos as there were people present who don't want photos appearing online, as well as young people and children there and it wouldn't be appropriate. I don't think I need any to convey how much I enjoyed the campfire, the evening beers, the barbecue, the craic and the table quiz (even though the girls lost by 2 points). It was really nice to see my little cousin and meet his new fiance too.

The weather was incredibly hot, regarding the actual camping it was too hot. It meant an early morning to escape the sauna and there was no way we could use the tent during the day. Shade was is short supply, and the poor dogs were moved around the shade of the amenity block as the sun moved in the sky. We got some walking in too, and Toby had his first paddle in the water. Ballyronan campsite is a marina and is on Lough Neagh, and I think the little dog was more surprised than I when he leapt off a rock and found himself up to his neck in lake water.

One way to cool off though!

Camping in a pod - yes...me!

Well, it was sort of unintentional. I turned up for some solo camping to a place called Drumhoney Caravan Park and being so early in the season by the time I got there in the early evening it was practically dark. The family who run the site must have taken pity on me and offered me the use of one of their brand new camping pods, only launched that day! It was very good of them to offer me the pod for the same price as the pitch which I'd already paid, and so I couldn't really say no. I did have a twinge of regret at not being able to pitch my tent which was something I'd really been looking forward to doing. But I knew in the wee small hours of the morning I could well be glad of the slightly warmer temperatures the pod had to offer.

By the time I got the kettle on it was more than twilight, it was pitch dark. The harsh electric strip light in the camping pod was an annoyance so I dug out the fairy lights I'd intended to use on the tent and was pleased to see the ambient light made the pod look very pretty. I've never seen a pod before, but I have read about them and seen pictures of them online, and so I did have an idea what to expect. I believe some pods have sleeping platforms inside them but this one didn't, so it was a matter of setting up my bed on the floor. There was a nice little deck outside for putting my stove on, and the enclosure in which the pod was in included a long built in seat and a picnic table. 

I did feel a bit disconcerted at sleeping on the floor of what is essentially a glorified shed, I felt quite isolated in there which is something I don't feel in a tent even if I'm camping alone like I was on this occasion. On the up side though, I could have the ipod docked in it's speaker and listen to some podcasts and even an audio book quite loudly, without disturbing anyone at all. 

This was my puppy Tobys first camping trip, and I elected not to use the crate as we were 'indoors'. Well, that was a mistake, I spent all night defending the little space at the back of my sleeping bag from a little wriggly body and after evicting him the first time, he proceeded to sit an inch from my face most of the night. So every time I opened my eyes he scared the wits out of me! I can honestly say I didn't sleep well, it was very cold even in the pod and I was glad at that point I wasn't in the tent instead.

I was up very early on the following morning, following a very strange sound outside that I just couldn't account for. It turned out that there was a fully grown stag in the field adjacent to the site who was amusing himself by rolling a plastic barrel with his antlers up and down the hill. A bit more investigation and I discovered that there's a whole animal farm in the valley beside, and belonging to, the campsite. There were goats, wallabies, minature horses, rare breed chickens that looked like Rod Hull, and some very strange short eared Rabbits! 

Games Room

Looking down from the site to the animal enclosures

who are you?

I'll just have a scratch of my - um - belly

Billy goat gruff

Coco and Toby would love to chase those animals

The campsite was very nice, clean and well tended. There are a lot of statics but some spaces for tourers and tents as well. I would go again, especially to bring my two boys to see the animals. I liked the pods but having done that once I would prefer to use my own tent. One of the things I learnt was that when I was packing up it still took me an hour or so to put everything away in the car. Thinking about it I realised that it's the emptying of a tent that takes all the time, not the putting the actual tent away. Once a tent is emptied it can be taken down in minutes. It's getting all the stuff out of it that takes time!

Memories of past seasons and saying goodbye to a faithful tent

Feeling a bit nostalgic about past camping trips I thought I'd look up some old camping photos, so here goes:

Following pictures feature a Royal Tarn 4, my two kids and one loopy dog (see if you can spot the dog)

An oldie, taken in France 2006. I took that particular tent to a car boot sale yesterday, and asked for £20 for it. I ended up bringing it home again :(

Same tent, taken in Benone in 2010, can't believe how much these two boys have grown since then! Both of them have overtaken my height, and it's no wonder we started to feel cramped in this tent when the only place my eldest son can stand is right in the centre.

Most recently this tent was used at the Sunflower Festival, August 2011. Not a bad pitch considering I did it single handed, in complete darkness, by feel. And that included trampling down the wheat (which was the designated camping area for the festival, I don't make a habit of trampling down farmers crops).

That trip convinced me we'd finally outgrown the tent. I thought I'd hold on to it for a 'borrowing' tent but as no one has borrowed it for one year I think it's time to get rid of it. It'll be brought to the next car boot sale, where I may or may not get a tenner for it.

The boys have outgrown our old tent, time to say goodbye to an old friend.

List of items needed for camping (modifiable)

One of the most frequently asked questions on camping forums and in real life, from other people, is WHAT DO I NEED WHEN I GO CAMPING!

So here's a starter list, which can be modified to suit you as you become more experienced.

• Tent
• Groundsheet/footprint
• Pegs
• Rubber Mallet, more than one
• Claw Hammer can be used for stubborn pegs and also for taking them back out again.
• Sleeping bags (3-4 season) per person
• Airbed and PUMP (capital letters because this is so often overlooked!)
• Foam mats or equivalent for under an airbed
• extra blankets
• pillows from home
• hot water bottles

2 folding crates or clear plastic boxes (If you buy a lidded plastic box they used as a low table.)

Crate 1: (think of it as kitchen box)

• plates, mugs, cutlery
• tin opener/corkscrew
• dishwashing kit (ziploc bag with sponge, scourer and sm. bottle of dishwashing liquid)
• nesting pan set (or a lidded pan and a small frying pan from home)
• tongs, sharp knife, peeler, chopping board
• tea/coffee/sugar in airtight food containers
• dry food, such as crisps and biscuits and cereal packets
• MARSHMALLOWS
• wooden skewers
• tin foil
• hand sanitiser

Crate 2:

• torch/head torch
• battery operated lights (such as a string of fairy lights or even solar lights)
• first aid kit
• baby wipes
• spare loo roll
• matches or lighter
• books/pack cards
• roll of bin liners
• collapsible water carrier
• ear plugs
• picnic blanket

Clothes bag:

• soft holdall bag, one for each person (even little people) containing clothes, toiletries and undies.
• toiletries to include sun cream and meds
• travel towel, preferably bath towel sized

Cooking:

• Stove (lots of options from single burner to camping oven!)
• Folding barbecue
• Cool box (tip freeze milk, sausages, pre-made dinners etc beforehand)

Optional:

• 2 handled Trug, £3 Asda, perfect for washing dishes in. (Alternative: washing up bowl from home)
• Kettle (or you could use a lidded saucepan)
• Chairs (or you could sit on a picnic blanket
• Table (for eating at and playing games etc)
• Folding kitchen stand, not essential (for example you could use one end of your folding table) but it is safer with young children to have everything confined to one place. Avoid the concertina type kitchen stands, they are unstable and prone to collapse.

If you're taking EHU (Electric Hook Up) you can have:

• fan heater or electric oil filled radiator
• electric kettle
• table lamp from home
• chargers for devices such as cameras and phones

Having EHU extends the camping season earlier and later in the year.

For a more simplified version of this list check out The Never No More Packing List

New Puppy/camping buddy

Meet my new camping buddy! This is Toby, he's a rough haired Jack Russel and he's super cute. I now have two dogs and one cat, and luckily they all get along with each other swimmingly. Toby is very easy to look after, until night time when he cried for two weeks solid! I was trying my best to crate train him but the crate is consigned to the shed and Toby is in the same pet bed as my other dog Coco now. No whining, crying or going mental, sleeping all night, bliss! Just wish he'd stop piddling on the floor now!

So any tips or ideas you have about how to get a little 12 week old puppy to poo outside instead of inside would be gratefully received. 

The mop is permanently in a bucket of bleach outside the back door, and although we're using puppy pads he seems to think they are an optional extra. Also, he leaks slightly every time he's picked up! 

Afternoons camping by the seaside

Quechua Base Seconds 4.2

As a follow up to my previous post we did have our afternoons camping yesterday afternoon, and I thought I'd share the photos of the new tent, which I'm really, really pleased with. I haven't admitted the purchase of this tent to my folks yet so ssshhh...keep it to yourself!

I have wanted this tent for some time, it is sold by Decathlon and is in fact a pop up tent. It comes in the shape of a large disc (81cm by 14cm) and weighs about 2 tonne....well it's not an easy package to carry despite the rucksack style straps. But ultimately this is a family sized tent so it's not going to come in backpacker dimensions. It has been superceded by another model, and is about to be phased out. The new model is not as pretty in my opinion, and I would have been gutted to lose out on this tent.

We went to Murvagh Beach in County Donegal, just a few miles from Donegal town itself. I knew that there were various places where people normally pitch as evidenced by the remnants of fires dotted around the area. Being lateish September we had the place to ourselves.

The tent was very easy to put up. This tent has a separate groundsheet which you peg down first, then you use the pegs already placed to tie down the tent. I reckon it was pitched in two or three minutes at the most. It is actually easier not to have the ground sheet sewn in because it means when it's put away again it's easy to shake the sand or dirt off the groundsheet rather than having it trapped inside.

We also went to the Golf Course nearby to see if we could gain access to investigate the old property I'd seen on the historic map. Unfortunately it was not possible as the clubhouse has a panoramic view of the entire location, and in fact looks a bit like an aviation tower at an airport! So there wasn't much chance of sneaking in!

 Some photos.....

a lovely, secluded spot

We did take some strolls through the forest along the beach, and found the remains of an old cottage, now in ruins although the roof is still intact. It was in the deepest part of the forest and was quite spooky, but the effect was exadurated by the approaching twilight. I would not want to spend a night camping there, although there was some evidence that people have done so. Thanks for reading!

NICF 1st Meet Weekend

.... it really was a meet of mini proportions, with myself and my family and another couple in their caravan. Gail and Stevie are both active members of the forum and it was Stevies idea to get together for a bit of craic, and I'm so glad he did! It was an excellent weekend and I can't wait to meet up with them again.

The weather was pretty awful when we first arrived, the rain heavy and steady. Stevie and Gail had prepared a Chilli for us all to eat which was very kind and gratefully received, even if I did try and choke on a single piece of rice which was when I was so glad I was in the company of a trained nurse (Gail). We got set up and absolutely soaked, and were glad of spicy chilli and a glass of red wine to warm us through. We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and discovered that we had lots of things in common with each other.

The campsite is on the lower slopes of Benbradagh Mountain and has fantastic views across the valley to Altahullion Wind Farm. Despite it's location the pitches are flat, with any slopes terraced out and landscaped. There are slides and swings, and the amentiy block is in an old Irish Cottage, which also boasts a campers kitchen, a sitting room and a washing and drying facility. I was very impressed with the attention to detail, with the owner providing a kettle for making a cuppa and the washing powder to put into the machine.

The Campsite taken from the amenity block. The cottage on the right is a holiday let.

On the laptop, with Ben the campsite dog

The landscaping means that pitches are flat, and the caravan is on a hardstanding

The Amenity Block

 On the Saturday morning it was overcast but dry, and it was mild too, T-shirt weather, despite now being September. We had booked into a local activity centre to try out archery and laser clay pigeon shooting. I surprised myself by being quite good although my results were not consistent, but it was so much fun it didn't matter. We had an absolute ball, finished off very nicely with moist victoria sponge cake and coffee.

Archery at Foyleho

We got some geocaching in on the way back to our site, Gail and Stevie had already found them but they brought myself and the two boys to a couple of ancient churches and graveyards. In the afternoon we went to the top of the mountain, by car, to find the remains of an American Radar Station. It can be seen clearly on Google Earth but there's not much to see from the ground, apart from the amazing views over Lough Foyle and into the North Sea.

Dungiven Priory

It was difficult to leave the site on Sunday as I really felt I was only just getting into the swing of things. I don't think a weekend is long enough to explore the area and so a return visit will be on the cards.

The Sunflower Festival

Last weekend (third weekend in August) I went to the Sunflower Festival which was held at Tubbys Farm, just outside Hillsborough. Having never been to this kind of festival before I was nervous and excited at the prospect. I’m a fan of live music anyway but I’m a fairly sensible Mum who has the odd glass of red, partying was something I did a long time ago when I had more energy. I wasn’t sure if I’d fit in or if I’d be ridiculed for being there, but I need not have worried at all, it was very welcoming and friendly.

I arrived far too early. I’d anticipated some sort of mad rush to get the best camping spots but in the end I was there before official opening times and was almost mistaken for a volunteer. I nearly got a purple wrist band and a job to do! Actually volunteering would be a good experience and something I might do next year.

When I arrived on the family campsite it wasn’t all that clear where I was to pitch the tent. This was partly because the signs hadn’t all been put up yet, and partly because I didn’t believe that the waist high barley crop should be pitched in. I chose a pitch amongst some trees instead but then other people started arriving and pitching amongst the barley. The place where we had pitched was seriously bumpy so we moved later that day to the barley too.

I had deliberatly taken an old tent to the festival. Not an old ‘retro’ tent as I really value those when I get my hands on one, but a five or six year old dome vis a vis with a busted, taped up pole and a tear in the fabric near the door. It’s not particularly valuable and it’s been well used to the point of almost delamination so I wasn’t too concerned if it got damaged or muddy. I was astounded by all the ‘good’ tents that people had brought with them, there were lots and lots of the Pagoda style Quechua 4.2’s and even one of the new model that replaced the pagoda style one (which is not as pretty in my opinion). There were large Outwells and Bell tents too, so there was no need to bring an old, nearly done tent. I could have brought my Vango Icarus and been able to stand upright! I’ll know for next year....

I really love this tent. It's the Quechua BS 4.2 and I'd like one as they're being discontinued.

There were three stages, a main stage, a campfire stage and a barn stage. The music was scheduled in such a way that when the main stage was between sets the other two were active. This meant that the sound from the main stage didn’t encroach on the music from the other two, which were quite far away from each other. The campfire stage was my favourite, built in such a way to face a slope which had logs dotted around to sit on, and a large campfire was lit when the sun went down.

Campfire Stage

Pay*ola

 

  



Swannee River



Nasa Assassin

My Festival Loo

As projects go this is certainly not a large or complicated one. For camping I have a Kampa Khazi which is a proper camp loo, it has a inner bucket with a lid and a proper loo seat and lid as well. It's extremely useful at night time and lives in the corner of the tent with a blanket thrown over it.

But at a Festival you don't have the luxury of parking beside the tent, and although the Kampa Khazi isn't heavy it is bulky and also, it looks like a loo - and I have to carry that to the tent with everyone knowing what it is.

So I went out to my favourite cheapie shop, B&M Bargains, and bought a waste paper bin with a clip on lid, and a kiddies padded loo seat. I took off the plastic ring under the seat as unfortunately it did not fit the rim of the bin. I then put the screws back in they stopped the seat from sliding about.

Cost:

£1.99 for the bin with lid

£2.49 for the kiddies loo seat

Over all cost: £4.48

I have anti-bacterial wipes and will bring wet wipes, hand sanitiser and some loo roll. I will line it with bio-degradable bags and discard and I may also recycle the whole thing at the festival if they have the facilities to do so and I don't want to take it home. I'll play that by ear.

Popping the festival cherry this time.

This time next week we'll be some hours into our first ever festival. The one we are going to is called the Sunflower Festival and it's held at Tubbys Farm, quite near Hillsborough which is just outside Belfast.

So I've been swatting up on Festival hints and tips, and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Like, do I really need to worry so much about the state of the toilets? This festival I'm going to is quite small, and I hope to camp in the Family Field so it couldn't be too bad, could it?

I've decided to take my old Royal Tarn 4 tent, it's a vis a vis with a separate groundsheet. It's not a very valuable or favoured tent, but it ticks a few boxes. The loose groundsheet can be peeled back to give a wellie boot area if the ground is muddy outside, it's stand up height in the middle, big enough for three chairs (just about) and has two separate bedrooms which are large enough to store bags as well as hold sleeping mats and bedding. The front door also poles out to make a tarp, so it's possible to sit with the door open and look out even if it's raining. The rubber mat from outside my front door will be useful, along with a dirt trapper mat inside the tent.

I'm not planning to take the camp loo as it's quite bulky and I don't want to carry it from the car to the tent. I'd like something more discreet, a bucket with a lid that doesn't look like it's for wees?

I am really looking forward to this Festival but nervous at the same time! Wish me luck!