Home from home

“Owning a Haven holiday home means you'll always have a coastal getaway to call your very own. Somewhere special to escape to, whenever you feel the need. Somewhere to share with your favourite people, and spend family time together. And when you come back home for every holiday, you can really get to know your park, and the region. Find out where the locals go, and explore the hidden treasures that make magical memories. Make the place yours”
Ok, I didn’t write this bit. I lifted it straight from the Haven website. But this statement perfectly sums up the reasons we bought our Caravan at the back end of last year.

We had spent more money than we’d care to re-count on last minute getaways to Holiday sites. With four children and businesses to run, life was stressful and so our way to find down-time was to set off for a couple of nights whenever we could at the weekends.
My first choice has always been Wild Duck. We have stayed at other sites but nothing quite compares to this one. There is something so special and serene about staying among the tall trees. Surrounded by woodlands and wildlife and of course the ducks! It was one rainy afternoon in August that we happened to walk into a managers special: the rest, as they say, is history. We chose a three bedroom ABI Elan. Our very own ‘home from home’ complete with country style decor and divine decking. We are located on a beautiful pitch; where the trees stand tall, but not tall enough to sacrifice our sunlight. Best of all, we are close to the facilities on the complex so our little ones’ legs don’t tire.

The hub of the Wild Duck is the main complex area. A handy Fish’n’chip takeaway, the Live Lounge and the arcades give a glimpse of holiday living. The Sitting Duck is the restaurant where you can enjoy a family meal or just a dessert if you’re feeling naughty! They offer a good range of pub food, with your classics from the grill such as steaks and burgers, hearty favourites of sausage and mash or pie and chips, or lighter options with a twist which include a selection of salads, Malaysian noodles, or classic Italian inspired pastas. Desserts are to die for, we’ve tried every one on the menu and each are a hit (especially with the kiddies). By my standards, the food is great quality; anyone who knows me, knows I regularly return food if I’m not happy...I am yet to send back a meal! What we really found welcoming, was how friendly the staff were. And still are of course! As holiday makers and owners, we have been treated with respect and well looked after, always. It’s nice now that we’ve gotten to know these familiar faces, we can snatch a quick conversation whilst they’re not busy, and they address us by our first names; the personal touch is something to be admired these days. That said the site staff are friendly everywhere. Always a ‘hello’ or a wave in passing makes the place feel like one big happy family.

The on-site shop blows away any other market I have ever been to on a holiday site. The produce is supplied by Co-op and daily deliveries ensure fresh and quality goods. The Haven website suggests “don't sweat it if you leave something at home, we've got you covered” and I can confirm this is indeed true. For me, one of the most trivial tasks is remembering to pack the things we take for granted. The coffee and teabags, condiments (including the all important ketchup for the kiddies), washing up liquid and a sponge; the things that are readily available to us at home. A self catering break, means just that, but if you forget any of these immediate amenities on a weekend away, be sure to pop to the shop! They stock everything from clothes pegs to tea towels, have a healthy reading section for your perusal, and a wide selection of alcoholic beverages should you choose to wine and dine at ‘home’. And with your owners discount you get a fine deal on all of your shopping goods! This often means that you can get bits even cheaper than you can in the leading supermarkets. Those of you who have read my blogs in the past, will know that I usually need ‘methods’ as a means to aid functioning of a morning and to face another day of manic mum-life. After night feeding duties and other such wicked wake up calls, my usual ‘go to’ is of course, coffee. In these glorious summer months I tend to opt for the cooler alternative and a shop bought Starbucks latte is my saviour. At the moment, Co-op, are doing these on a special offer of just £1 each, and with my 15% privilege discount, that’s 85p for the milky goodness! Winner winner-chicken dinner!

During lockdown we have been having home deliveries from Tesco’s. As we relocated to Wild Duck for a few weeks to enjoy the rest of our summer in the Caravan, we continued to remotely shop via our local store in Great Yarmouth. Now if anyone has become a custom to an on-line shop, you’ll know that to keep your ‘slot’ you have two hours to dump at least £40 worth of goods in your virtual basket: then until just before midnight of your pending service, to finish your final purchases and check out. We usually pop in some expensive items such as alcohol and soft drinks by the pallet to begin with; and amend our basket nearer the time. Well on this particular occasion, we’d invited some new friends of ours to enjoy a social-distancing beverage on our balcony. After a few drinks, some nibbles and awesome adult company, we said our goodbyes and began the bedtime routine. That’s when the husband realised we had totally forgotten to revise our produce. And so we are currently awaiting our first ‘on park’ delivery from Tesco’s, consisting of a crate of fruit shoots, a pallet of Pepsi Max and two rump steaks!
The point of this long-winded and unrelated story is this...the Mini Market at the Wild Duck has most things you could think of. From a wonderful range of healthy (and some not so) snacks for a light lunch, to everything you need to create a good wholesome meal from scratch. For a convenience store, it’s really bloody convenient! It even includes a good gift shop section to buy all of your Holiday memories from, and a piece of rock for all of the family! My favourite bit of all... as a Gluten free girl, they have the most impressive selection of free-from goods. From pasta, to cereal and cookies. My choice to consume soya milk over dairy is also catered for. Along with refrigerated and frozen shelving and even a hot counter too, it really is a fabulous little outlet. I now do not need to worry about only having steak and soft drinks to survive the week... the Mini Market has everything I need.

There certainly are a few perks to being an owner. Half price and sometimes priority booking on park activities provided by Haven. Your privilege card also gives you 15% off of everything you purchase on site. I didn’t know this, but it also applies to any other Haven Park too. So we can pop over to a nearby holiday site in the region and relish the benefits there as well. Certain swimming slots are reserved for you to enjoy a quieter time in the pool. You get to enjoy the park for a little extra time each year, either side of ‘Holiday season’. Some of the outdoor activities such as the popular go-karts and mini golf activities are free for the children (and adults) to use in this time. One thing we always wondered as Holiday makers, was what the Owners lounge looked like? Ok, so I’m nosey perhaps! We weren’t curious for long, the sales staff took us on a tour of the place when we expressed an initial interest in becoming more permanent residents on park. It is huge! Much bigger than how deceivingly dinky it looks from the outside entrance. What’s more, it hosts a completely separate entertainment package for the children and adults. This was a pleasant surprise for us. Of course you can still chose from the variety of visiting acts in the Live Lounge, but if you’d prefer to perhaps mingle more with familiar faces. (And not have to face the expense of yet another spend on frenzied kids in the Fun Shop) you can enjoy the entertainment in the Merry Mallard instead. They cater for all ages. In my maturer years I’ve become a sucker for Cash Bingo and they offer this in the owners suite as well as in the main complex. All sorts of adult clubs are run for us to participate in if we want to. During the holidays they offer some fantastic activities for the children everyday. Pumpkin carving, decorative art classes and karaoke to name a few. It gives us mums and dads time to sit and watch the madness with a drink or two. Should you not want to take advantage of the array of snacks and beverages at the bar you can enjoy hot drinks too. Did I mention, you also get free and unlimited tea and coffee up until 5pm daily!

Undoubtedly, normal living has to resume. We are not ‘on holiday’ all the time we are here. With four children and two adults to look after, laundry must be done! There are two Launderettes on-site. Each can be used by owners and holiday makers. Sadly, I actually enjoy using the industrial machines. They fit a lot more in, and so I can get a lot more done, in less time than I’d spend doing it at home. Finding little things like this so satisfying I suppose is simply showing my age! - sigh!

Back to the van. Anyone who has considered buying one. My opinion. Do it! You have to respect ‘tiny living’ (I like to call it) Bear in mind that the single bedrooms are very small compared to your ones at home. Limited wardrobe capacity and even less storage space encourages you to consider curbing your collection of belongings and only allow the essentials. We chose our caravan for its distinct difference in aesthetic design. But that means we also compromised any extra overhead storage space which you might find in most static homes. There are no clever little cubbyholes I had come to admire in the rentals we always stayed in, and we have no mounted units above the headboards, only the bedside cabinets and the tops of the wardrobes to store any accessories that come with the children. We have colouring pens and puzzles and a few other indoor activities to fill the time should it rain, but generally, we are all for ‘outdoor living’ when we are here in the warmer months and so we don’t bring many bits from home.

When it comes to organising my living space at my own house, I like to work to a ‘one in five out’ kind of ratio! Clean surfaces and clear tops are preferable and everything has to have a ‘home’. I don’t do ‘display’. ‘If it don’t fit-throw it’ is my motto; on this basis I will not allow hoarding of hopeless items and Santa certainly has to check with me before he brings brick-a-brac that won’t be useful! So actually, I prefer to have less storage space in my van. I love ‘tiny living’. It’s like a hobby for me! I firmly believe that the more space you have, the more likely you are to store.

Let’s not be fooled. We are all aware that anything you buy is subject to depreciation. Not only do you have to pay out for the initial van purchase but there are also annual fees to pay for such as ground rent and a few other small bills too. My husband and I are under no illusion that we have effectively a second home to run, physically and financially, and we are always straight with people when we tell them. This is not a financial investment. It is a lifestyle investment... and that there... is the key! What’s important to us is that they our kids are happy. And even more importantly, they are safe! The park has a strict one entrance and exit access; which is manned by security at all times.

Our children are living the lives that we lived as kids. The nostalgia for us is becoming a reality for them. And watching our grubby little feral ones playing from dawn til’ dusk makes us truly content. They meet new faces on a weekly basis, and have made some life-long friends already. They play tag, the skip, they run. They collect feathers and gather pine cones. They are learning valuable life-skills from Ranger Mike. They’ve been shown how to properly construct dens, and make them weather proof with the precise placement of branches and leaves. They have practiced fire lighting, learnt all about pond-life and know which insects eat which plants. They are embracing outdoor life... something as a mother, I’ve always wanted for my children; I’ve just never found the time to facilitate that and fit it all in.

The decision to make our weekend trips more of a permanent practice is paying off already. We know now that we will spend many good years here. Make more friends, and many more memories.
Life is for living, and we’ve just started to live the life we’ve always dreamed of doing.