Ooh, I've been receiving awards and tagged, so exciting!!
Thanks very much to Berthddu Suit and Confused Take That Fan.
I will endeavour to 'do' the tag too...but not today, and bear with me, this is a long one, but the punch line isn't half bad.
We've been camping in Cardiganshire with friends. It was a fantastic break.
Our friends nagged us for most of the week before, phoning at all sorts of times of day and night, dropping 'are we going camping?' into the conversation until we gave in.
The plan was to leave at around 5pm.
Our friends rang to say they were ready...darling husband was farming, so they left and we would follow.
I had:
booked the campsite
washed the children
Made fresh bread
cooked a joint of gammon
had a blowout on the car with 200kilos of pig food on board
had a new tyre fitted
cleaned the kitchen
cleared the fridge
tidied the living room
washed and dried clothes
finished an enormous quote (yeehahaha!!!)
put the pod on the car
packed clothes, towels, knives forks and storm kettle
rediscovered all items for camping and using tesselation skills packed the car to perfection
Darling husband came home, washed and changed and drove us to West Wales.
My friend and I had sat at my computer to find the site they had stayed at before, she knew where she was going and when we got near the coast we met up with her and followed her onto the site, in the dark...we were very glad not to have to try and find it on our own.
We arrived very tired, delighted to be handed a large glass of port and invited to sleep in their tent for the night instead of putting ours up in the dark and the coastal winds.
The morning was beautiful, fresh and sunny and the campsite looked straight over the sea. It was fantastic.
We put our tent up next to our friends.
The farmer arrived.
We had to move our tent.
We went to the beach, us our friends and our five children.
Daughter number three spent the day filling her pockets with sand and rocks, the older two children built a dam and the oldest two children went fishing with a dad. Vampires it seems are a little duff at fishing.
I spent the day perfecting my sunburnt extremities and reading the Saturday Telegraph (what a fab publication it is).
Darling Husband slept on the beach, my friend read the Daily Mail, we were all very happy.
And our time continued in this relaxed manner.
We ate a leisurely brunch on the last morning.
I:
packed the contents of the tent away
Folded all clothes
Flattened airbeds
aired sleeping bags
stuffed sleeping bags in their bags
resorted possessions into theirs and ours
packed the pod with bedding
swept the tent out
took out all the tent pegs
tied up all the strings
took out all the tent poles
folded the tent
packed the tent away
packed the car
Darling Husband poked the fire, then went to settle up with the farmer, along with my friend.
He and my friend returned, a little disgruntled.
"How much did they say it would be on the phone when you booked?" asked my friend
"£15 per tent per night"
"Well they charged us £20 a night!"
I decided to go and see the farmer and his wife, I made the booking, I'd sort it out.
I knocked the door, a female human rabid pitbull chewing a wasp answered the door, and she wasn't terribly friendly and had a slightly very aggressive manner.
"Mrs Davies?" I asked politely.
Pitbull "NO! Where are you from?"
Me "Erm, sorry to bother you, we're camping in that field there, I seem to have made a mistake, I do apologise"
Pitbull "You're with us then!"
Me "Oh, um, well, I'm terribly sorry, I think there's been a misunderstanding somewhere. When I spoke to you on the phone to book with you.."
Pitbull (now getting nasty) "I've never spoken to you on the phone, who are you?"
Me "I'm Mrs Frog, my erm husband was talking to you this morning...um, when I telephoned you said the fee was £15 a night per tent.."
The pitbull stormed into other room shouting "this woman is complaining about our prices!!
The farmer slammed his knife and fork down and marched to the door.
I explained again about the price on the phone and the price we'd just been charged, his wife ranted and raved behind him (I wished he would chain her up).
He said that their prices were clear and justified and in fact should be £23 a night.
Pitbull "I definitely didn't speak to you"
I suddenly had a thought, it all didn't seem right.
Me "What's the name of this farm? I asked.
Farmer answered "Nant-y-Croi"
Me " Oh dear, I'm so, so sorry. I have obviously booked one campsite and come to another, I'm so sorry, there's no problem at all, I'm obviously in the wrong place"
Pitbull and farmer racked up the strop even more, justifying their prices and insisting I hadn't spoken to them.
Me "I think you've completely misunderstood me, I'm apologising for bothering you, obviously I am not in the place I booked us in to, there's no problem at all"
Pitbull stormed off, the farmer said not to worry it happens all the time.
So, it seems we followed our friends into the wrong site and not one of us noticed the huge sign at the gate with the wrong farm name on it.
I just need to call the other site now and apologise for not turning up, they sounded so friendly and nice too....
We saw it on the way home, it looked great..next time.
18 comments:
Oh dear! At least it gave you a blog... Camping, the inconvenience is the fun, or so our mantra goes.. MH
It could have been worse, you could have met Mrs Bulldog on your first day and had to move or been charged even more!
Oh dear! I love camping but my husband's not so sure! Just the sort of thing that would happen to me though! Better luck next time, at least everyone enjoyed their stay.
Oh no, that is hilarious! It's a wonder they don't get anyone camping there if they let her lose on you the minute you arrive.
I think Darling Husband has things pretty well organised then... And all you had to do was book the campsite! (Well, that'll be how he tells the story, anyway...)
Hi Frog...mentioned you in my latest blog. Name in lights and all that. Might tempt you over after your camping faux pas...(Can I have some of your energy BTW? Very impressive.)
I just kept think of "Carry On Camping" while reading this. I half expected the punch line to be that you had booked yourselves into a nudist camp.
CJ xx
The division of pre-holiday labour is always the same in our house. That's a great story, and it's good to see you back! Reminds me of when Big G & I went travelling one summer (pre-kids) and we got off the boat on the wrong Greek Island. Couldn't figure out why nothing matched the map and nobody had heard of our hotel.
Ha ha. V funny. And can I say, are you a special froggy superwoman?? I bow down to you and your impressive list of tasks you manage to achieve in one day.
Glad you enjoyed camping despite staying in the wrong field...
I love the long lists. Mentally I make these lists on a regular basis and they all end with 'And then he washed a plate and sat down'... I've encountered rubbish campsite owners too, you'd think the fact that they advertised as a campsite would make them accept the fact that sometimes people might pay for the priviledge of sleeping on their land but it still seems to come as a surprise to some of them!
Oh dear - frog in the wrong field! Mind you, going to the wrong place is a bit like going somewhere spontaneously - it's always much more interesting than what you actually plannned...
It sounds just like the Peak District where people put bulls in fields to stop ramblers using the right of way, wave guns about airily as tourists walk past, and moan about the economy. I tried to buy eggs once from a place that had a sign advertising 'eggs'. I think I met your field owner. I did not succeed in my egg buying expedition. We tried to BBQ an orange instead. I'm afraid I have tagged you too.
Oops! Expensive mistake and the other campsite owners may have been much nicer!
We're off to Pembrokeshire soon, any tips for a great family holiday in West Wales?
i have to chuckle here, because it is just the sort of thing we would do too. then we would all argue about whose fault it was on the way home.
Fantastic! Lucky you didn't bump into Mrs. Bulldog alone in the field, on a dark night. Might have put you off your supper!
What is tesselation then? Multi-tasking leads to short-sightedness, it's a well-known fact frog!
Blimey frog, she sounds far too scary. Glad you had a fabulous time though. :D
You were brave....Lx
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