We started scouring the t'interweb for some campsites in that neck of the woods. Using the brilliant and ace website ukcampsite.co.uk there were plenty to choose from. what an ace website that is! well worth using for any of our future camping trips i think. We chose the rural and quiet looking 'meredith farm campsite' ran by Dr. Neil (not sure what kind of doctor he is mind you).
 |
| thats our tent - right down there all on its own!! |
The site is a certified 'caravan and camping club site' and on its 15 acres it is limited to 5 vans and a total of 15 pitches (although im pretty sure there were more than that on the sunday evening). The cost per pitch is £7 a night (thats tent, 2 people, 2 dogs, and car for us) this was a welcomed change from the normal procedure for campsites to charge per person, extra for a larger tent, extra for dogs, extra for a second car, extra for kids, extra most things! Dr. Neil met us when we arrived and showed us the pitches he thought we would like after we spoke on the phone when booking. He was full of advice for walking and where to go! On saying that, the site is a little on the 'rustic' side with only 2 toilets and 1 shower in a wooden building and might not be to everyones standards. It got a bit busy for the washing up area and the hot water tank takes 15mins to heat up when someone has used it. we on the other hand loved our small but nobbly pitch down the bottom of the meadow next to the stream. For most of the weekend the dogs were left to their own devices while on the site as we were away from the main group of people, which was a real bonus. Our dogs are pretty well behaved anyway and dont wander off or anything but not having to worry about them was another tick on the list for us! on site is an honesty shop of fresh farm eggs, home made jams and some essentials for camping that people sometimes forget and there were plenty of leaflets and walking guides to borrow.
 |
| Anna and I cooking dinner - i was having curry! |
So, base camp establised and tent was erected by 5pm in the evening sunshine. Dogs fed and the relaxing weekend began with camping curry while we planned our first days adventure. We decided on a walk along the river near Goodrich which had the added bonus of a few geocaches to pick up where we were there. Starting from the carpark at Goodrich castle we headed onto the Coppet hill estate and down to the river Wye. We followed the river for a mile or so through woodland and open meadows and bagged our first cache at the rivers edge near a monument to a boy who lost his life in the river, despite being a strong swimmer. When we reached the area below Symonds Yat rock (where we decided we would explore the day after) we headed up the 'character building' climb over Coppet Hill. With a trig point at its highest point of 188m it this whole walk felt like training for our return to Snowdon in August! The dogs spent 80% of the walk off the lead, in and out of the woods and river, which was perfect for them (they thought it was their birthday!) 6.75 miles, total ascent of 260m, two tired doggits and the need for a pint of shandy signifies a great walk in my book! Before we went for the shandy, we had worked out the coordinates for our first puzzle cache and needed to go find the cache close to Goodrich Castle. it tooks us a few minutes to walk to the site and confirm we had worked it our correctly (!) and we dropped off a geocoin we had picked up at east midlands airport moving it a whopping 139km which was cool. we also bagged a quick cache and dash round the corner before my shandy radar started beeping!
 |
| Visiting the memorial linked to the Geocache we were hunting down |
Day two saw us back in a similar area of the region, but this time on the other side of the River. Symonds Yat rock is a great view point across the wye valley, a breeding ground for Peregrine falcons, and also a great spot to review where we had walked the day before. The view from the Rock is very well photographed, and i took the opportunity to take some shots of the amazing views. Later in the day i will realise i have had no sd card in the camera all weekend and go in a bit of a huff - shortlived though - school girl error(!). On top of Symonds Yat Rock was an 'earth cache'. Kind of like a geocache but with no actual container to hunt down. Instead you relay some estimates of geological or natural information to assist in the data collection of interesting sites across the world. at this earth cache they were interested in the height of the river to the view point and information about Peregrine falcons we may have seen. I think this adds another dimension to the geocaching world and i will be seeking out some more of these to look into in the future.
Cup of tea and piece of cake from the log cabin on the Rock down, and it was time to venture into the Forest of Dean for a woodland trail walk. We could tell the dogs were tired from the day before as they were not venturing far from the track as they normally would. Normally they must walk twice the distance we do with all the extra exploring they do and all the back and forth up and down they do. The trail was really enjoyable and apart from a section near some muddy bog areas where frogs and newts were spawning the dogs were off the lead all the way again. After the walk Anna and I fancied some pub grub so we headed into Wales and to Monmouth for a bite to eat before heading back to camp.
 |
| Symonds Yat Rock - no photo's of the gorgeous view due to forementioned 'faux pas' with the camera! |
Bank holiday Mondays are often joked about as being horrible and wet and this one didnt dissapoint. i was awoke at 5:30 by the dogs pacing in the tent, and heard the rain. it was still pee'ing it down as packed away a very wet tent at 11am. Due to the weather we headed straight home and to beat the traffic which was for the best as it was still raining when we got home. Only 3 days at work this week before the tent comes out again for the Dog show....
