Heavens To Betsy

It's damp squib not damp squid!

Campsite Review - Palace Farm Campsite / Doddington

This was our first attempt at cycling to a campsite with everything we needed. Richard had spent countless hours researching blogs, and website to put together the best list for us. As it turned out it was pretty close to being fine with only a few amendments required for next time. The most notable omission was the lack of alcohol for post tent erection thirst quenching and there could had been plenty of space had we not been carrying two completely redundant thermos flasks! The omission was sorted at the local pub so all was not lost. The other omission was an egg - critical in the making of pancakes.

On arriving at the campsite we were met by the chickens followed by Graham and official paperwork was completed and signed while Jo chatted to Liz (Graham's wife.) We were told where everything was, informed of our pitch number and off we went to the field.

The field is quite long and surrounded by trees with pitches up each side and lots of space in the middle for playing and walking back and forth to the toilet block which was at one end. The distance to your neighbour was not massive but there was enough room for tent and car without feeling like you were in a camping car park. As we had a small tent and bicycles we had plenty of room.

The toilet block was clean with 2 showers, 2 toilets, 2 washing up sinks, a water tap and disabled facilities. Plenty of hot water at the shower and a proper shower control so you didn't have to keep pressing a button every 17 seconds like you do at some places.

Graham and Liz advertise the site as a peaceful, non-party site and it was clear that campers were like minded. As darkness fell, campfires were lit and quiet chatter could be heard from others but nothing obtrusive.

All in all it was a very pleasant site, well looked after, in a quiet area. We would be quite happy to go back.

Generosity Is Sometimes Just An Egg

Saturday night was our first night camping away on our bicycles pulling or carrying everything we needed. We took things we didn't need - 2 x thermos, and we forgot things we needed - alcohol and eggs. The alcohol was sorted by buying a bottle of wine at the local pub for a stupid some of money. The egg was almost going to be a major problem. I had planned pancakes for breakfast but with no egg it was looking dodgy. Thankfully the campsite owner let us have an egg at no cost and so we had breakfast.
Generosity is often measured in large things or large acts but sometimes something as small as one egg can make the difference.
Thank you Mr Palace Court Farm Campsite in Doddington.

Our First Go At Cycle Camping

Tomorrow afternoon we head off on our bikes with camping, cooking and everything else gear packed into packs and strapped into panniers on Jo's bike and onto Boris the trailer behind my bike to have one night away.

So far our packing list is as follows;

Section: Pannier - Eli
Travel Towel
Ipad
Essentials Bag - Eli

Section: Essentials Bag - Eli
Inhaler
Contact Lenses
Sunglasses
Ear Plugs
Glasses

Section: Ortlieb - Eli
*Sleeping Mat
*Travel Pillow
Pillow Case
*Sleeping Bag

Section: Pannier - Boo
*Travel Towel
Essentials Bag - Boo
*Halvassons Thermals
*Thick Socks
Helly Hasen Thermal Top
*Shirt
*Fat Face Shorts
*2 T-Shirts
*Sprayway Top
2 x Cycle Tops
2 x Cycle Shorts
1 x Cycle Socks
*1 x Normal Socks
*2 x Underwear
*Vivo Flip Flops
*Waterproof
*Wash Bag
*Ipad
Gap Loungwear Bottoms
*Berghaus Trousers

Section: Essentials Bag - Boo
Sunglasses

Section: Ortlieb - Boo
*Sleeping Mat
*Travel Pillow
Pillow Case
*Sleeping Bag

Section: Wash Bag
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Shampoo
Hair Oil
Deo
Perfume
Shower Gel

Section: Dry Bag 1
*Meal Kit - Boo
*Meal Kit - Eli
Washing Up Kit
*Salt & Pepper
*Titanium Sporks
*Lighter
Oil Spray
*Flint
*Mugs
*Freezer Bags
*Coffee
*Sugar
Food
*Trangia

Section: Dry Bag 2
Tent
2 x Lantern
Rok Straps

Section: Skiiddii Front Pocket
*2 x Back Bike Lights
*2 x Front Bike Lights
Inner Tube - Boo
*Bike Locks
*Pump
Inner Tube - Eli

Section: Skiiddii Main Bag
*Picnic Blanket
*2 x Stools
*Trangia Fuel
Medicine Box
*2 x Thermos
Cow Bag
*2 x Water Bottles

Section: Medicine Box
no items

Section: Ortlieb - Long
Tarp
Tent Poles

Section: Seat Pouch - Boo
First Aid Kit
Repair Tools
Victorinox Multi Tool
Repair Kit

Section: Handlebar Bag
Apple Charger
Kindle
Cables
Travel Adaptor
Map
Money Pouch
Passports
Sheepee
Maglite Torch
Keys
Wenger Knife
Petzl Headtorch
Power Junkie

Section: Cow Bag
no items

Section: Miscellaneous
Plastic Bags
Wet Wipes
Phone Case - Boo

It will be interesting to look back on this and see how it evolves on future test runs.

First Things First - How to make a decent coffee while camping

This has been borrowed from http://travellingtwo.com/resources/making-the-perfect-camp-coffee and it really does work quite nicely.

Making The Perfect Camp Coffee

Photo by Synne Tonidas

A great cup of coffee is something we really look forward to in the morning, whether we’re at home or bike touring.

Sadly, most of our attempts at making great coffee while camping haven’t been that successful.

We’ve had a lot of watery coffee, and we’ve had great coffee, but from coffee makers that were either too heavy and bulky (like the stove-top version in the photo) or too expensive to consider taking on tour.

Our best results up until now were with the coffee sock we picked up in Thailand. This cloth filter held around a metal ring made reasonable coffee, although it took quite a bit of water to clean the filter properly, and then we had to find a place to put the wet sock to dry.

So, when we recently read about Stephen Lord’s coffee-making technique without any gadgets – just a pot – we had to try it. The technique is really simple, and is a variation on the classic “cowboy coffee” that has been popular with campers and outdoor people for decades.

Start by putting the ground coffee in a pot (we use one heaping spoonful for each cup of coffee, plus 1 extra).

Next you pour the cold water in the pot.

And stir…

Put the coffee on the stove and bring it almost to a boil. At this stage, the coffee is at the top and forms a sort of skin over the water. It looks more like chocolate cake batter than coffee. Just as the coffee is coming to a boil (you see the bubbles coming through the coffee), take the pot off the stove.

Stir it and watch the coffee clarify.

Now, put the coffee back on the stove and bring it almost to a boil. Stir again.

Once you’ve stirred the coffee 3 times, it’s ready! There’s nothing more to it than that. You can see in this picture, how clear the coffee is.

And that’s it: perfect camp coffee, without any fuss or muss. At the very bottom of the pot, there are some grounds. This means you can’t drink the last few spoonfuls of the coffee, but you can drink very nearly to the bottom.

Enjoy!