I must have done a great big loop because I suddenly found myself heading back down into Nairn and so did a sharp left-hand turn. Round a high stone wall. With no pavement. I felt, rather than heard, the crunch. I stopped to survey the damage. Two inches wider and all would have been well but, instead, there were scrapes all along the side of the caravan at two different heights and the window was cracked. I could have wept. I did weep. It was 6pm, I'd trashed my beautiful caravan, it had started to rain and I still hadn't found the campsite. I was really wondering if I'd done the right thing in buying a caravan. Now, with lots of towing miles under my belt and lots of great trips, I can say that I had. Then, I wasn't so sure, however later that evening, caravan finally pitched (another story), pizza inside me and a glass of red to hand, I felt a bit better and I went to sleep that night to the pleasant sound of rain drumming on the roof.
Sunday 7 April 2013
Learning to tow
I like to think that I am a competent driver and I'm used to big cars - my current motor is a Mondeo estate - but the thought of towing a caravan filled me with apprehension. I therefore decided not to tow until I'd been on a Caravan Club towing course. This meant delaying my first caravan holiday by a month as the courses are very popular. It was a one and a half day course at a local college and it included plenty of practice in reversing the caravan between bollards in a car park, however there was no opportunity to practice going forwards round corners. This would prove to be a fatal flaw. I left the course feeling reasonably confident that I could reverse on to a pitch but still rather nervous. Less than a week later I was on the road. Perhaps driving from Aberdeen to Inverness on the first day was a bit ambitious but all went well until I got lost on the back roads above Nairn trying to find Culloden campsite. 
I must have done a great big loop because I suddenly found myself heading back down into Nairn and so did a sharp left-hand turn. Round a high stone wall. With no pavement. I felt, rather than heard, the crunch. I stopped to survey the damage. Two inches wider and all would have been well but, instead, there were scrapes all along the side of the caravan at two different heights and the window was cracked. I could have wept. I did weep. It was 6pm, I'd trashed my beautiful caravan, it had started to rain and I still hadn't found the campsite. I was really wondering if I'd done the right thing in buying a caravan. Now, with lots of towing miles under my belt and lots of great trips, I can say that I had. Then, I wasn't so sure, however later that evening, caravan finally pitched (another story), pizza inside me and a glass of red to hand, I felt a bit better and I went to sleep that night to the pleasant sound of rain drumming on the roof.
I must have done a great big loop because I suddenly found myself heading back down into Nairn and so did a sharp left-hand turn. Round a high stone wall. With no pavement. I felt, rather than heard, the crunch. I stopped to survey the damage. Two inches wider and all would have been well but, instead, there were scrapes all along the side of the caravan at two different heights and the window was cracked. I could have wept. I did weep. It was 6pm, I'd trashed my beautiful caravan, it had started to rain and I still hadn't found the campsite. I was really wondering if I'd done the right thing in buying a caravan. Now, with lots of towing miles under my belt and lots of great trips, I can say that I had. Then, I wasn't so sure, however later that evening, caravan finally pitched (another story), pizza inside me and a glass of red to hand, I felt a bit better and I went to sleep that night to the pleasant sound of rain drumming on the roof.
