Oops!

I can do most things on my own with the caravan however reversing can be a bit of a problem when there's no-one to guide me. A problem which I usually solve by either using the mover or jumping in and out of the car like a jack-in-the-box to check where the back of the caravan is. Unfortunately I was not able to use either strategy recently while reversing the caravan up a friend's driveway. The mover would not have coped with the incline and I had to keep the foot down and keep going once moving otherwise the car would stall. The result? I reversed the caravan into a large wooden flower tub. The rear tail-lights were literally wrapped round the tub when I got out to see why I had stalled. Nightmare! Fortunately the plastic rear panel of my beautiful Bailey straightened itself out when I pulled forward but the lights on the nearside were a mess and the rear panel was cracked underneath. The moral of the story is never reverse up a long sloping drive without someone to help.

I managed to sellotape the red and orange plastic pieces of the lights back together and duck tape it back onto the caravan so that I could get home (amazingly the bulbs were still intact) but the insurance bill is going to be big. Bang goes my no-claim discount (again).

PS. I have now discovered how to check the caravan brake lights on my own - by jamming my folding camp chair between the pedals and the steering wheel! It applies enough pressure on the brake pedal to make the brake lights come on.