We woke up in a leisurely fashion and availed ourselves of Caroline and Chris’s toaster to have toasted sourdough, marmite and hummus for breakfast. We packed the van away slowly, in no rush to start the 4 and a half hour journey to the Gower. However, by 10:30 we were more or less ready and set off to Wales.
I always love crossing over the Severn bridge (is that its name any more?), even more so now that there is no toll. We were getting a bit hungry so we pulled up at the service station and ate our Upton’s pie, and a tomato (just to be a bit healthy). We eventually fell off the end of the M4 and wended our way along the tiny roads to the end of the Gower, through Llangenith village and into the campsite reception.
We arrived at the campsite and while I went to the loo, Sue went in to sort out the booking. They show you to your pitch here, in a golf buggy and Sue was very thrilled to jump in as they drove us down to field 3 and our pitch. The pitch was pretty flat, but I still used to the chocks to get it all level.
You can see the pitch here, although this was shot a bit later. The sea is just over those dunes, so not far at all and a lovely 5 minute walk.
We pitched the awning , very efficiently and got everything set up. I was a bit tired after the drive so we had a quick siesta and then set off for the short walk through the sanddunes to the beach.
As I have been lucky enough to have been coming here since I was about 4, the walk through the dunes to the beach is always evocative. I am always surprised at how big the dunes are, as you can see by the one Susan is running down. The beach was suprisingly empty as the weather, as you can see, was great, about 22 degrees.
Back to the van and time for tea. We are really enjoying the hob and cooking outside on the table. There is a lot more room and it is means you can both sit in the fresh air, depending on how open the awning is, and cook, and chill out.
The extension cable runs around or under the van , into the window above the fridge/cooker. Having the induction hob stand on the carrying box raises it more to a level of a normal oven. The table gives us a lot more space and is sturdy enough to chop and prepare food on.
We also now wash up outside. The hob is so quick to boil water. Having boiling water outside is also a bit more relaxing than sloshing it around inside the van. We can also get our natty drying rack working. If the sun is out the dishes dry in no time.
The pans for the hob use are Tefal ingenio, a tad expensive but the detachable handle means that it stores very easily.They are a nice quality and quite hefty stainless steel, which works well with induction. The frying pan has a non stick surface, but the pan is stainless steel which I prefer.
This has been a big improvement in our campervan experience! We haven’t used the gas once!
After dinner, it was down to the beach to enjoy the sunset. It seems that the whole campsite empties out for this little ritual. The sun sets out in the west north west at this time of year, over towards Bury Holme. One problem with having fantastic clear blue skies is that the lack of clouds makes for a very dull sunset. I did my best, climbing up to the top of a dune, using the marram grass to add some interest to it. The best one is at the top of the page but I though I would have it here again.
