Winchester Escape

Midweek weekend came early. The Boss finished work and was home by Monday lunchtime. Snaffled a quick lunch, threw some bits in a few bags, raided the freezer, shouted goodbye to the cat as the front door  closed behind us, (the kids will be home from work later for him to look after).

Straight down the A31, Morn Hill in Winchester is our closest CAMC site. A site that we have used a few times for a quick, local getaway. The Boss even worked once whilst we were here. 

Beautiful blue skies and temperatures defying April make it feel like a pleasant summer’s afternoon as we pull in.  The wardens have been here for the last few years and are helpful and chatty as we book in. Recent tree felling and heavy rain have put a few pitches out of order, still plenty to choose from though. 

Before we’d even unhitched the car the phone is ringing. Our youngest jellybean is at uni in Winchester, she’s ringing to say she’s come to visit. She’s on the car park and we’ve still not paid. Cupboards filled, clothes hung and folded. Kettle on and relax. The youngest jellybean is twitchy. She’s in competition on her Fitbit and needs to get some steps in, a wander around the site is in order. 

She’s extremely chatty. Coming to the end of her third year and having final lectures and seminars with exams looming, end of an era, starting to think about the future. 

Wine in the evening and Mrs. Brown’s Boys on DVD leaves me with sore cheeks through laughing. 

Rain during the night means we wake up to a grey sky that threatens more showers. Phone rings again, youngest jellybean is on her way, have we got anything in she can have for lunch. Quick ploughmans thrown together and she’s happy. The clouds turn lighter and she’s twitching again. A big fan of a zoo and she’s trying to persuade her Dad to take us to Marwell zoo. With his wallet constantly mothballed we are really surprised when he agrees. Not giving him time to change his mind we’ve grabbed a couple of bottles of water and our coats and we’re in the car. 

A quick 15 minutes down the road and we’re there. Schools haven’t broken up yet here for Easter so it’s relatively quiet. We get to take our time as we Potter round and spend ages with some of the animals. Penguins and giraffes were my favourites. The baby pigmy hippo pulled on a few heart strings whilst the loud call of the lemurs was quite unexpected and startling. With toilet blocks and refreshment vans in abundance you could want for nothing. The paths are wheelchair friendly but be warned it’s a bit steep in places. 

This trip was intended to be a bit of a lazy stay at the van kind of trip so that we could have a good sort out before we head off on our 50 days for 50 years trip. The stuff the you accumulate is unbelievable. A TV ariel, we don’t have a TV.  Tins of food for just in case. Cups, we have 6! There’s only 2 of us. An assortment of toiletries that we never use. Shoes that I’d forgotten I owned. Things start to get boxed up to take home and stored with decades worth of things we might need one day, like you do. I’ll put it all in the loft next to the camping stuff that we haven’t used for 10 years, but you never know when it might come in handy.  Black streaks have appeared on our bodywork and our water has started tasting a bit stale so whilst I’m sorting through stuff The Boss takes himself outside for a bit of cleaning. Silky and Puriclean Seem to do the job and in no time at all he has us sparkling with fresh tasting water. 

The sun makes a welcome appearance that afternoon and slowly people emerge from within, chairs are positioned and the sunglasses go on. Some with wine and beer, others nurse a coffee. We all have the same thoughts, just sit and relax, this is what it’s all about. 

BBQs are fired up and the smell of cooking wafts around the field. Books are laid down as people ready themselves for their evening meal. Sitting outside to eat so early on in April is a bit of a treat, the clatter of cutlery as people begin to eat. As the evening chill draws in we are treated to the most spectacular sunset. A perfect ending to a lovely few days. Home tomorrow. Let’s not spoil things, let’s think about that in the morning.