iamchucky
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A review of our Cali Half Term Adventure – 3 Peaks in a Week.We walked up Snowdon a year ago with the kids and talked about the 3 peaks challenge. My wife and I had done it a few years back and from that moment the kids wanted to take on the challenge. Obviously not the 24 hour one, but we said that maybe we could do 3 Peaks in a Week.
So this half term, that’s what we set out to achieve with the kids (7 and 10).
We’re based in Kent (not the most central location for the challenge) and so Friday was getting the kids from school and then battling the Bank Holiday traffic and heading for a half way point on the way to Scotland. Have to admit we cheated on this leg as we booked a Premier Inn Hotel, just off the M6 near Warrington as we weren’t sure what time we’d arrive. After a good night’s sleep and fuelling the kids with a large breakfast (fill your boots kids it’s free!) we then headed off to Fort William for the first leg of the challenge (stopping off at Lock Lomond for a dip).
We’d planned for most eventualities for the walks, wind, rain, cold but not a heatwave in Scotland! We stayed at the Glen Nevis Campsite at the foot of Ben Nevis which is a great site (large pitches, good shop & facilities, great views and close to the Ben Nevis Inn!).
After the long drive, Sunday was spent relaxing in the stunning setting of Glenfinnan (Home of the Viaduct used in the Harry Potter films) and swimming in the nearby lochs. Bank Holiday Monday was walking day and it was hot, but with rucksacks packed with food, water and spare warm and waterproof gear (just in case) we set off with perfect blue skies all around. I’m not sure I’ve ever known Scotland to be so hot and the views were amazing with the kids certainly enjoying the snow at the top in just their t-shirts and shorts! Seven and a half hours later we were all enjoying much needed refreshments in the Ben Nevis Inn!
Monday night we set off towards England staying overnight at the Strathclyde Country Park Caravan Club Site (near Glasgow) – we’d already booked and phoned ahead but arrived after 8pm though and so had to sleep in the late arrivals part of the carpark but it did the job. Tuesday we arrived back in England and were booked into the Wasdale camping site at the bottom of the Scafell Pike trail. It’s a National Trust run site mainly for tents but they have about 10 small hard standing sites with Electric for Campervans. It has a small shop and more than adequate facilities. The Kids spent the rest of the day just playing in the nearby river building dams and pools with all the rocks.
Wednesday the walking boots went back on and the trek up the smaller but steeper Scafell Pike, again in blue skies with the amazing scenery all around. Back to the river to cool off and then Thursday morning we were off again towards Snowdon via Zipworld Fforest at Betws-y-Coed. We’d booked to stay at the Llyn Gwynant site which was brilliant & definitely one that we’ll be returning to. It’s right on the lake/river with Kayak hire, freshly made pizza’s in the evening and fire pits to roast marshmallows. The shop is fairly limited but the site more than makes up for it – even a hot water boiler to save putting the kettle on (Well we were getting tired!)
We had our first rain of the week on Thursday night where it rained very heavily for a few hours, but despite this the kids were determined to continue to cook the marshmallows and so stayed out under the umbrella by the fire. Friday morning started fine but then we had 2 hours of solid rain followed by brilliant sunshine – as a result 1) the wind out awning seam gave way (call already made to VW on this to replace hopefully under warranty) and 2) a small part of the campsite near to us flooded as the river couldn’t cope with the water coming off the hills & so we ended up helping a few re-pitch the tents that were under a foot of water.
Saturday we finished the 3 peaks challenge with a misty walk from the campsite, meeting up with the Watkin path to the top of a very foggy Snowdon. The top was incredibly busy with so many people, apparently the usual trails up (Pyg and Miners) were really busy at the weekend both up and down & so we’d been recommended the Watkin path by the campsite wardens as one that wouldn’t have many people on it and so would be more enjoyable – how right they were as it was great, blessed with great views although the last 100m or so has a lot of scree to get up. Some will like the challenge and some will probably hate it, we were probably in the middle of the two, what with having the kids with us. Anyway a few foggy photo’s at the top, a sausage roll from the café and then the walk down the same route back to the campsite, followed by the drive back to Kent arriving just after midnight to allow for Sunday at home to unpack, relax and start planning the next adventure with two very happy but slightly tired kids.
Overall a brilliant week and we know we were very, very lucky with the weather, but it was an adventure we probably would never have thought about doing with the kids before we took ownership of the Cali. Driving the 1420 (s)mile round trip was effortless and the 40 mpg on the display made me smile (I know it probably isn’t that high if I actually calculated it, but why bother as I prefer VW’s fudged figures!).
The only slight negative was the midges, but these are to be expected in these areas – but is it me or can some of the midges get through the mosquito nets on the two small air vent ones on the Cali canvas – the one’s that you can’t zip up (we have the Internal Topper, but we had midges appear from the gaps between the Cali Canvas and the Internal Topper). Any recommendations on what people do in midge territory would be appreciated!
So if you’re thinking about whether to order your Cali, then if you can, just do it. The kids grow up so fast and we’ve had the Cali over two years now and simply love it as we’ve visited so many places that we would never have dreamt of going to, created so many memories with the kids and I simply can’t think of the Cali now not being part of our family!
