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[Squealey]

Just had to tell somebody about what is by far the worst (luck) holiday I have ever had.

Money is very tight at the moment but with 4 (holidaying age) kids in the house we decide we should try to get away for at least one week every year. This time the inlaws were invited along. (4 berth touring caravan and awning (only cost £200), me, wife, mum, dad, 15, 12 and 2/12 y old daughters, and 18 month old son)

Here is a list of what happened:

. Only went to a Haven in Cleethorpes, 49 miles from me due to having 2 young babies, nothing could go wrong on such a short journey.

- Car overheated 4 times on the way, this I think is because there is no viscious fan attached to the engine (you still got that Jaime??)

- Arrived on site, about the same time as the swarm of ladybirds and horse flies

- Heavens seemed to open just as we pitched up. Had to move the caravan by hand a bit as the car was wheelspinning. Pulling the handle to move it, bang, the handle snapped off, cue me falling back 10 feet and doing a backwards rollypolly. (I am not a small lad, 20+ Stone) Cue my new 'neighbours' falling about all over the place laughing.

- Put the awning up in the wet, never a good idea!!

- Woke up the following morning to 'Carry On Camping'. Rain hadn't stopped overnight and we were flooded in about 6 inches of water.

- Managed for a day then got fed up with it. Complained and after a lot of tooing and frooing got moved to a hard standing pitch, not easy when you have to dismantle an awning.

- Hard standing was also flooded, turns out this site used to be marsh land and drainage is non exsistent. Managed to percevere.

- By Thursday we had had about 4 hours of sun in total since arriving on Saturday. The rain became torrential. We lost all the electrics in the caravan as the power point from Haven exploded. It was at this point my father in law had a heart attack. Ambulance arrived within 3 minutes and took him to Grimsby hospital where it was found to be very mild thank god, still bloody scarey for everyone though.

- Complained to reception and a brilliant chap there arranged for us to have a static caravan till Monday morning (we was meant to be checking out Saturday) free of charge.

- As it was free I wont complain about the state of the caravan, suffice to say the pull out bed had been nicked as had the shower hose and head and the main gas bottle

So all in all, who needs Spain or the Maldives when you've got Cleethorpes!!!!

Hope your all doing better than us!!!

Wayne

[damon80]

Good grief - sorry to hear about that Wayne.  Hope your father-in-law in on the road to repair?

We used to do quite a bit of caravanning over in this country in the summer hols, until we decided to head over into Europe one year.  Used to work out miles cheaper, even taking into account the ferry costs and the fuel costs.  All-in (with spends, petrol, road tolls, site fees etc) we paid less for a 3-and-a-half week holiday touring round Europe than we did spending 2-weeks in Devon.

It got even cheaper when we got rid of the caravan and did a combination of camping in tents in rural areas, and breaking up the trip with over-night stays in hotels in city-centres like Reims, Stuttgart, Nice, and the like.

I'd highly recommend that approach to you, and if you PM me if you're interested, I'd be more than happy to e-mail you a route-map that we use.

As for the probs with your Mig - I'm sure you'll get plenty of helpful advice to sort off this forum 

[Mr Skrunts]

Oh Bugga, such a shame yout Father In Law has suffered throughout all the problems, hope he's on the mend.

I reckon Cleethorpes must have been the buisness years aog when it all got popular, sadly these sort of places wont spend money whilst they are still doing well.

Over the years I have been to Cleethoerpes amd Skegness and probably all the places inbetween, In the 70's we had a static at Ingoldmells and then after that a litt;e chalet/bunglaw in Chapel St Lenards.

Nipped into Cleethoprpes a couple of times last year but it all just seems to be about making money and the atmosphere with holiday makers just does not seem the same any more, maybe the problems start at the camp site and B&B's

[Ghost]

Sorry to hear about your holls mate, Hope the father in law is doing well though,
you might want to try renting a static caravan next time say up north, there is a load of good caravan parks here in the northeast,

[Lizzie_Zoom]

That was all an appalling run of bad luck!!

Still I suppose it is one of those experiences that you will laugh about in years to come, but obviously 2009 was not a good holiday year for you!  

Glad to hear the old chap is ok

[STMO999]

Apart from poor father in law having a coronary, I think that was highly funny

[mantagte]

unlucky run of events
wishing your FIL a speedy recovery

[Omegadoha, Desert Member]

Wow what an experience. Hope the Father in Law is OK!

[Squealey]

Sorry to hear about your holls mate, Hope the father in law is doing well though,
you might want to try renting a static caravan next time say up north, there is a load of good caravan parks here in the northeast,

Father in law is now as fine as can be. They kept him in for two nights then let him come home. This was his second heart attack, his first was much bigger. He was actually back at work on Tuesday this week.

I went to Hagerston Castle near Berrick upon Tweed (sorry if thats spelt wrong) a couple of years ago. That was in a trailer tent and was fantastic. Haven site, very clean and nice. Thats why we were so disappointed with this c**p hole, we know how good they can be.

Thinking of doing Gt Yarmouth next year, again its only a couple of hours away so the babies wont get too bored on the journey. We have said we will get a static (anyone here got one they rent out?) and sell the old caravan, or maybe even scrap it. Like I said previously, it only cost us £200 with an awning and if I sell everything thats in it (portaloo, wheel clamp, stabilizer, awning etc) then I shouldn't make a loss.

Thanks for your concern about my father in law everybody

Wayne