Tuesday 2 June 2015

Camping. Great Entertainment on a Small Budget.


I have always taken my children on standard 'holiday camp' type holidays, where you stay in a static caravan or a little chalet and there is lots available on site, such as a swimming pool, restaurants, entertainment, etc. In recent years though, this option has become more and more expensive. Sometimes even more expensive than travelling abroad! This year we went on a traditional camping holiday, kindly supplied by  Roebeck Country Park for us to review. We were all really surprised by how positively it compared to our previous holiday choices and I wanted to write about this aspect as I would never have realised how enjoyable it would be and how little we would miss the holiday camp environment.

Here are our camp highlights!

Breakfast

Roebeck Country Park
Breakfast was sooo peaceful.  There were various options; a fry up by the lake with just a hungry goose for company....

Goose Feeding on Lake



Boy on Empty Beach
It's great to be alive!
 Or a cheeky ice cream on the beach (ok, not strictly breakfast, but we were on holiday!) and nothing beats watching the sunrise over the sea. All a far cry from waking up to the noisy frolicks of countless exhuberant holiday makers, making their way to the overcrowded buffet.

Boy Covered in Ice Cream

Daytime Entertainment


One of the biggest pressures I find with holiday camps is the timetable. The children always have a list of different shows and appearances they want to see during the day and are so disappointed to miss anything. I really didn't miss trying to organise our days around that and fitting everything in! What surprised me was that L didn't miss it either! He really embraced finding his own entertainment. It sounds cheesy, but going back to basics, with things like skipping, playing cricket, card games, etc, was really enjoyable and so much more relaxing not having to be anywhere in particular! Our favourite activities were...  


Sunlight on Lake
Exploring the Countryside

Woody Clearing

Ducklings with Mother
Feeding the Ducks

Boy with Fishing Net
And Fishing!

Father and Son Caught Fish

Evening Entertainment


I have spent many an early evening queueing for hours at Butlins or Pontins to try to get a seat for the entertainment provided, usually a selection of Britain's Got Talent or X Factor rejects. The overcrowding, noise and heat is something that I really don't enjoy about organised entertainment at holiday camps. There never seems to be enough room and many times we have been disappointed because there are no seats left for the popular acts. This drives me mad, as it's included in the price, but there is another option and these are some of our best bits... 

Man and Boy Camping
Baking Potatoes in the Fire Basket
Siblings Next to Chiminea
Enjoying Cuddles in front of a Chiminea

Cooking Outdoors
Cooking Outdoors on the Camping Stove
Pheasant
Spotting Interesting Wildlife


What we all concluded from our first family camping trip was that it was far more fun than we had ever imagined and the best bit was, there was something for everyone. I don't know about you, but I have always considered family holidays to be mainly for the children, but camping was really relaxing and enjoyable for the grown ups as well as providing lots of wholesome fun for the younger ones. What's more, it costs around half what it would for a stay at a holiday camp, which I thought was a huge bonus! 



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23 comments

  1. That looks like an amazing break with the family Lucy - just what we need I think x x

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  2. Looks like a lovely place to visit and a chance to really get away from it all.

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  3. What a fab break. Away from everything. One of our best holidays with the boys was in a tent round the edge of a big field with other tents and lots of space for the kids to play.

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  4. This sounds like my kind of holiday camp! I can't stand organised activities and would much prefer to go back to nature. What a wonderful place.

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  5. Whenever I see photos of people camping I just think it looks amazing. I just wish that I was brave enough to tackle the great outdoors and get over my fear of anything and everything that crawls or flies. I am such a wimp and I know that I would have a great time if I could just do it. Thanks so much for linking up to Parenting - #ToddlersAndTeens

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  6. It looks like you had a fabulous and relaxing break! Just went and visited the website of the park and it looks lovely.

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  7. Sounds like you had a great time. This reminds me that our children wanted to camp again this year - I shall look into booking it as our last one was cancelled.

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  8. I like the sound of camping , I think I am more of a glamper to be honest x

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  9. I've always found camping great fun and I can honestly say I found Roebeck to be the perfect location. One of the highlights for me was the fishing, I have fished all over the country, including Scotland, Wales and even the Shimano lakes, where John Wilson does his filming, and this one ranks alongside them all. A big thank you to our hosts for making us feel so welcome.

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  10. i love low budget outings which is what we aim to do with our 7 kids, its simply to much to go anywhhere and a trip to a nature reserve or beach is always free except for petrol to get there

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  11. I would happily give Glamping a go but not anything with a tent, I cant stand them x

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  12. That looks like a lovely place to stay and I can imagine making S'Mores around that fire

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  13. looks and sounds amazing. baked pots from the camp fire, sound yummy. something like this would appeal to me, once our son is older and not want to explore everything crawling about. just sitting there of an evening time looking at the sunset and day dreaming :)

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  14. It sounds like you had an amazing time and made so much out of all you did! :) X

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  15. Wow what a fab time. We love camping too and are often away in our caravan

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  16. That looks magic! Love the ice cream photo! #ThriftyThursday

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  17. This looks like such fun, and yes I'd agree much better than being 'entertained' by someone in a big bear costume! Looks like the kids had an amazing time too! x #ToddlersAndTeens

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  18. I've never yet camped with the kids and I'm sure we would have a ball. Mich x

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  19. That looks like a lovely place to go for a camping holiday. Thank you for sharing on this weeks #ThriftyThursday

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  20. So pretty and relaxing there. Looks like you had such a great time!

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  21. What a lovely place to visit. Kids love camping don't they?! This looks like such a nice site.

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  22. CAmping really is one of the only reasonably priced holidays left now isnt it, especially now we are limited to the school hols! We are off to Camp Bestival soon, which reminds me I need to dig the tent out and give it a check over!

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  23. Always wanted to take my daughter camping this makes me wanna do it even more

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