All about Me: April 2008

You gotta love those Sun Holidays.
On Friday morning at 8.45am we set off on our weekend break to Mablethorpe. We were booked in at Haven Golden Sands. My sisters had both been there before and advised me to set off early. I had planned to get the 11.11am train but we ended up on the 9.11am train instead.

The train to Notts was pretty packed but we found seats. My suitcase was a bit of a nightmare though. It is bigger than any of the luggage holds and I had a job storing it anywhere out of the way.
There was a huge gang of teenagers who all seemed to be going to Skeggy too. This didn't please me as I know that the train is usually only 2 carriages and if you can't get a seat it is a 2 hour standing journey. At Notts station we only had 10 minutes to get to the other end of the platform for the Skeggy train. Those teens all ran ahead and I was struggling along with my big old cumbersome and very heavy case. DD & DS had their own bags to carry as well as the shopping bag with all our food and supplies for the journey.

As it happens, there was a whole carriage empty so we comfortably found a table seat and relaxed. Unfortunately not for too long though as that group of teens also found the empty carriage and took up residence. My lovely peaceful journey was ruined by crappy dance and rap music and lots of shouting and swearing and running up and down. There was also this very annoying boy asking every five minutes "Are we there yet?"
I had my PSP with me and attempted to watch the final episode of Skins series 2. I just about managed to blank out all the noise from the train to concentrate enough to get emotional. I was bawling my head off for most of it (Embarrassingly) but then I was crying with laughter throughout the coffin chase scene. I think that was a first for Skins setting the scene to Girls Aloud and Britney Spears which isn't the genre of music you usually get in the show. By the end of the episode I was just about emotionally drained.
I had a bit of a break and then watched episode 2 of Gossip Girl. We had seen the first episode on TV but kept forgetting to watch after that so I want to catch up and carry on watching it on ITV2.

Despite the ruffians, the trip went quite quickly - Of course that was only the second leg and there were 2 more changes of transport to go.
At Skegness we had to go to the bus station and get the bus to Mablethorpe. This was a 1hour trip and we had to wait 40 minutes in the freezing biting wind.

When the bus turned up (5 minutes late) there was absolutely nowhere to put luggage. I first had it alongside me in the wheelchair/pushchair bit but then 2 people with buggies got on so I had to move it. I got up and some woman jumped in my seat. When I came back she told me to sit in the seat next to her by the window. Stupidly I did and was squashed in for the next hour with her bag sticking in my leg and her taking up the whole seat. She was a cantankerous old woman too. She was chatting to me but everytime she asked me a question and I gave a negative answer she would say "Oh but yes it is - I know because I live here" she was telling me how wonderful the pool was at Butlins and even when I said I didn't swim she was going on. Even when I told her I had a fear of water. I told her that we probably wouldn't leave the Haven camp anyway as there was enough to do there. The further the journey went I prayed for her to get off but she just went on reading her book. When she finally did get off I moved to a seat by the children as the bus had pretty much emptied.

We finally reached Mablethorpe at about 1.15pm we got off the bus and were just wondering where we go to get the bus to the camp when chugging along the road came a little mini bus with Haven on the front. I clambered up the steps with me suitcase and the bus set off. The driver didn't take my money but he stopped soon after that at the bus station and took my money then. Only £2 for the 3 of us so I knew it wasn't far.
It was a funny old bus. Everyone who walked past as we sat there waved to the driver and they all knew his name. Most people got on and didn't pay (I realised that is because they are pensioners and had bus passes) 1 bloke even came and told the driver to wait a minute while he went to the butchers and bought some pies.

The Bus driver set us down outside the entrance of Haven Golden Sands at 1.30pm.

It was nice to finally get there but we were 2 and a half hours early for check-in. We struggled across the car park to find the way to go. There wasn't any clear indication of which way it was and the park itself was laid out really badly.
We found our way to the showbar which is where check-in was to be. We went into the Quayside bar to sit and have a drink while we waited.

The service in the bar was horrendous. There was a long queue and they staff were so slow. I waited at the bar at least 15 minutes and just as it was coming up my turn, there was a power cut and the tills all went off. When the power came back on the woman couldn't get her till to come back on, it seemed to have locked her out. By the time I got served I fancied a beer instead of the coke I was going to have.

We sat in the bar for a couple of hours. We had a few drinks while we were waiting. The kids went off for an exploration of the facilities.

At 3.45 I went to have a look in the showbar (Falcon bar) and collected my welcome pack. They give everyone a Haven character card and when your character is called out you can go check-in. Our card was Bronze Naughty Ned and we waited about half an hour to be called. Then we were off to our lodging for the next 3 days.

We were lucky in that our caravan was right next to the entertainment complex.

You always dread a long walk when you get there especially with a big heavy case like I had (My arms are still killing now)
We also had to manoeuvre over a large muddy bog because of all the rain but we were soon inside.
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed - Last year we were lucky enough to get a private caravan so it has all the mod cons plus central heating but this time we were just in the bog standard unit with 2 bedrooms no heating, no toaster and no microwave. There wasn't even a grill pan so I had to be creative when making toast. It didn't bode well that I could see my breath.

We dumped all our gear and then went out for a wander. It had been a long day and we were quite hungry and tired. We explored the Amusements and the supermarket and sought out the food outlets. I was disappointed again because there was only a fish & chip shop.
When we went to Haven 2 years ago there was a chip shop and a Burger King as well as the Pub Restaurant. Yet at Mablethorpe all there is is a little fish and chip shop (that didn't have any fish) and the pub restaurant. Not much variety.

So we had some chips and had a play on the arcades. We wandered around a bit and DS wanted to go up to the "Brain Buster Quiz" at 8.15pm. We weren't sure what kind of format it would take and soon found out it was just like a pub quiz. Each table was given an answer sheet and told to think up a good name. Well we were inventive, we just went with our surname. DS wanted to make a silly name but I am just too boring I guess.

Funstar Matty B was our MC for the quiz. He is from London and can't half talk for England. He went on and on and kept going off on a tangent. It took him ages to get round to the first question we could see it would be a long night.

The first question was who is Phil and Grant's sister in EastEnders. Easy - Sam Mitchell. I can't remember what all the questions were. There were a few more soapy ones in there. Who had an album called the Immaculate collection? Who is Posh Spice married to? What film starred Kate Winslett and Leo DeCaprio on a boat? What is the pub called in Corrie? One of the questions asked where is Matty B from? Of course how did we know but he gave a clue about Only Fools and Horses and so we knew the answer was Peckham.

When we had answered all 20 questions it was time to swap papers with someone at another table. As we went through the answers it was obvious we were doing well. The person we marked had got 18 out of 20. When they were all marked we had to give them all in to Matty.
As he went through the papers, everyone was getting 19 out 20 I was surprised because the questions were so easy I thought everyone would get 20.

So we were victorious as the only team to get 100% right. I sent DS up to the stage to collect our prize - A bottle of *ahem* Champagne and a certificate. As Matty B couldn't just be straight forward to played about and made DS follow him around the stage first before giving him our prize. As soon as I got my hands on the plonk we were out of there.

Next on DS' program for the night was a magic show in the main room (Falcon bar)

We managed to find a table to sit down at the back of the room so DS went to sit at the front on the dance floor with the little kiddies. He loves magic shows.
To be honest this was torture for DD and me. It wasn't the best of magic shows I have ever seen. The tricks were basic stuff that DS can do himself and it was made worse by picking precocious little kids to go on stage who weren't playing along at all. Then when that was finally over he broke into a Ventriloquist act - and not a very good one at that I have to say.

You can imagine the relief for DD and me when (not-so) Magic Mike finally left the stage and it was time for the Party dances. This is the part I most look forward to. I don't get up and dance on the dance floor but It is still fun to dance in my seat. Thing is they hardly do any that I recognise so we had to learn as we went along.

After the partying was over we made our way back to the extremely cold caravan to wrap ourselves up in the duvets and drink Hot Chocolate and eat cake. We put off going to our beds as long as possible as the bedrooms were like ice boxes. I wanted to be so tired I could just drop off.
I tried very hard to get comfortable but the duvet wasn't very big or indeed very thick so I shivered a long time before I finally fell asleep.

Saturday

I woke up at about 5.30am with hands and feet like ice blocks. My nose too was so cold. Outside the caravan I could hear the wind blowing up a storm. I was worried for a moment that the caravan would be blown away just like in The Wizard of Oz. I played my DS for a little while until I fell asleep again. I woke again about 7.30am and managed to get up and put the fire on in the lounge area so that when the children got up it would be a little warmer.

When we were all up and fed we went out for the bus into Mabelthorpe. As we stood at the bus stop the wind was whipping up a storm. The bus came from the opposite direction and the driver indicated to us from the other side of the road that we could get on there. He said that it would save us standing in the cold.

I love Mablethorpe. It is a lovely little town.

Not too big and you can walk round all of it in a hour. We walked up the main street going in and out of all the arcades. Ange had told us about an arcade where they have lots of old penny machines so we had to go in there.
It was fantastic, they had real penny falls machines and old fashion penny games.

There were also some really classic arcade machines like Jolly Jack Tar and the Pile Driver.

DD & DS played a game of table Ice Hockey.

Once we had spent all our pennies, we found a nice little cafe called the Matador Cafe. It was in a little plazza with other bars and cafes but was the only one open. DS and I had a gorgeous Tuna Melt that was huge and came with a side salad. DD had an extremely large Cheese and Ham toastie which also came with a side salad. DS had a Chocolate Milkshake with his lunch and we had cans of pop.

After our lunch we tried to take a walk along the beach but we couldn't get anywhere near as the sand was blowing up a storm. We did manage to see the sea but we soon retreated.

We walked along the front which wasn't very long then we treated ourselves to freshly made Donuts from a stall called the Pit Stop. They were gorgeous, you know when they are fresh baked and they just melt in the mouth? 5 for £1 - That is £1 well spent.

We spent the afternoon walking down the street going in and out of the little shops and arcades. One arcade had a car boot sale in the back of it. We went to have a look and it was like being taken back in time. Anything for sale on any of the stalls can't have been any newer than the 80s. There was some real relics from the past. Then randomly a stall selling eggs.

We also went in a little market that had stalls selling just about everything. There was a lovely stall that sold lots of spiritual items. Brian would have loved it as they had lots of different crystals of all shapes and sizes and colours. There were also some items that might be classified as Occult. I bought myself a little bag of worry dolls which are perfect for me at the moment. I also bought a spell candle which is supposed to suck in negative energy.
There was a lovely little shell shop where DD bought a gift for her friend and DS bought some new earrings.
We popped into a little shop that sold reduced price goods and I bought some cakes for back at the caravan and some chocolate for the journey back home on Monday.

The last place we looked round before going for the bus was a huge factory outlet shop. It sold everything you could think of from clothes to food to toys to fancy goods. I could have spent a lot of money in there so we got out before I did.

After a hot coffee and a warning up back at the caravan we went out for dinner. While we were getting ready to leave I spied a wild Hare outside the caravan chomping on the grass. It was just sat there. DS went out to try and get a picture of it and it kept galloping away from him but he pursued it until he got cornered by the mud.
We fancied a proper meal so went to the bar restaurant. DS ordered Chicken and chips and I ordered the Bangers and Mash. DD wasn't too hungry so just ordered a starter of Garlic bread with cheese.
My meal was huge. A great big Yorkshire pudding with 4 scrumptious sausages a massive dollop of mash , veggies and all swimming in tasty gravy. I tell you, I really fought to eat it all but I got there in the end.

After Dinner we went down to the Falcon bar for the evening entertainment. It was packed and we couldn't find a table so we got a little stool each and sat up at the back. We got quite a good view of the stage and it wasn't too bad - apart from when I went to the bar and came back to find 2 little kids had nicked my seat. Their parents didn't seem to care and I finally moved them on when some more stools became vacant.

Tonight was the talent show. And boy were we subjected to lots of talent - NOT! There were 2 twins who were dancing to a party dance (Well sort of standing still moving their arms around) another couple of dancers, A brothers and sister group doing a High School Musical number, A boy in a wheelchair singing Angels and a young 10 year old girl with an amazing voice who sang Valerie with no backing track. She was fantastic and should have won but the funstars decided to give certificates out to all the children and not pick a winner. I think that was a bit of a cop out myself.

The evening's evenings entertainment was another magic show by a group called Atmosphere (Or Phoenix illusion, it wasn't made clear) They were a mix of dance and magic and strobe lighting with a little bit of audience participation thrown in. The escapology illusions they did were amazing. you know the one where one of the couple is in the box and the other one stands on top? the swap was instantaneous. I really enjoyed this show.
We stayed for the party dances again and then went back to the caravan for Hot Chocolate and cake.

I was annoyed when we got back as the gas had run out so we couldn't put the fire on and warm up so it was duvets out again.

Sunday

I woke up very early again with the wind howling around the caravan. I curled up as tight as I could and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. I got up at 9am to ring reception and get them to bring us some more gas. Even though she said she would get some sent right away I wasn't sure how long it would be so I just took my duvet to the lounge, made a coffee and sat watching Hider in the house. The children were up before the gas was delivered and we watched a show on Five called the gadget show where I entered a competition for loads of prizes but haven't won.

The gas was finally delivered at 10.30 and I could finally grill some toast, put the fire on and most importantly have a wash in hot water.

Although the weather was really awful we wanted to visit the Seal Sanctuary which is across the road from the Camp.

It was really different from what we expected. The Seal pools are outside of the reserve so you can see them without paying to go inside but it is so worth going in.

Inside is a huge nature reserve. It is also like a TARDIS as it looks so small before you go in but once inside it goes on and on and on.

You can see Ponies and Owls and Emu, Pheasants, Gannets and real life Wildcats (HSM fans will see the joke)

There was also a Time walk where it takes you back to see Mablethorpe through the ages. In there we saw lizards and a Porcupine and a Turtle. Unfortunately there used to be a Crocodile but he died recently.

It took us an hour to walk round the whole thing, At the end of the walk you can see the rehabilitated seals before they are released back into the wild.

After we had seen everything we popped into the little cafe to warm up. I had a lovely Hot Chocolate and a cream scone and the children had a chocolate muffin and a can of pop each. We bought some souvenirs in the little shop and all had a wish in the wishing well before making our way back to the caravan.

I was ready for another coffee when I got in. The children decided to get the bus into Mablethorpe but the rain was coming down quite heavy and I didn't want to get wet anymore. I wanted to stay in for a bit and keep warm and dry, put my feet up and relax for a couple of hours. When the rain stopped though I nipped out to the shop and for a little play on the arcades. While I was out I got a text from DD saying the bus never came so they had come back.

It was about 3.30pm so we took a walk to the restaurant as I fancied the Carvery for Sunday lunch. It was gorgeous. We got the choice of Turkey, Beef or Pork and then there were roast potatoes, Veggies, Yorkshire puddings, gravy and a selection of sauces.

After our lunch we spent some more time in the caravan reading the paper and magazines and just chilling (That should be warming really as I had the fire on full!)

I wanted to get to the club early for the last night so we got a good seat and got to see the whole evenings entertainments.
We got to the club in time for Meet and Greet with Anxious.

Then it was Prize Bingo and the character parade followed by the Character show which was the Legend of Ar-Man-War.

I love these shows and get right into with the little kiddies. The show did go on a bit though and I am sure that some of the littlest children would have got bored and wandered off.
After the show it was time for the fancy dress competition. This was much better than the talent contest, Some children had really made an effort and brought their costumes from home especially for this night. The winners were a 3 month old baby and her 4 year old sister dressed as Minnie Mouses.

The evening family entertainment was the Funstar show "In the Mix" which was a group of the funstars (4 girls and a guy) doing a mix of modern and not so modern songs. It was quite good but went on for an awfully long time. A bit too long really and they had about 3 or 4 big finishes but then returned with new costumes.

It turned out that our good seats weren't so good after all as when the club filled up, we got hemmed in and so I couldn't get out to get to the bar or the toilets so I had to send DD to the children's bar to get us all slushies. She could just jump over the side.

DS decided to join the Party dances tonight as he was dying to win a prize and they were giving prizes to teenagers tonight. Unfortunately he didn't win - every teen around him seemed to win though so he wasn't happy. I cheered him up by treating him to a Hotdog. DD can't be around Hotdogs as they make her sick so me and DS had to go eat our hotdogs at the back of the room.

Oh the new favourite Party dance is "Big fish little fish cardboard box"

We stayed to the end of the entertainment which included an adult Game show (game show for adults) They picked 3 couples from the audience. The gist of the game was the woman stood at one end of the stage on a chair. She was Jane and shouting for Tarzan to save her. The man was to be Tarzan he had to run across the stage jump on a balloon, pick his woman up in a fireman's carry, carry her back to the end of the stage and ask for a kiss. The couple that did it in the least time was the winner.
Unfortunately the woman in the first couple was quite large so it was impossible for her man to carry her. I think she was embarrassed and for the rest of the game she stood there looking like she was waiting for the trapdoor to open up so she could fall down it. Needles to say they came last. It was good fun to watch especially as the winning couple were very drunk.

We got back to the caravan about midnight and packed our stuff before enjoying hot chocolate, Ham and cheese toasties and Cadburys mini rolls. Home tomorrow and it has gone so fast.

Monday

Going home day! I got up at 7am to finish the packing and clean up the caravan. The kids were up by 9am and when we had got everything packed and double checked everywhere several times to make sure we hadn't left anything, we made our way to Laundry to return the bedding and Reception to return the keys. Like I said before the camp is laid out really badly for those of us on foot. We had to walk all the way around the entertainment complex to reception and then all the way back around to go to the restaurant. We had hours before our bus/bus/train so I said we could go and have breakfast with the characters.
It turned out to be my favourite - Anxious the Elephant - So that was great fun. I didn't fancy any breakfast though so I just had a fruit juice along with DD and DS had the full on Breakfast.

We left not long after 10am. The journey home was pretty good and we got back inside for around 4pm.