Author: CaravanRamblings

It feels as though summer has finally arrived. Sat outside the hotel room at 07:00 writing this blog entry from Sark. Our ferry back to Guernsey will depart later this morning and it promises to be a whole lot smoother and calmer than the crossing over here on Tuesday.

We hired ebikes from Bam bikes at the top of the harbour road and these looked like the best bikes available for hire on Sark.

Wednesday we explored the main island, starting out at the Window in the Rock. Our hike back took us through the lovely La Moinerie village which at the moment, looks largely abandoned.

We had left our bikes at La Seigneurie gardens which we visited on our return from the Window in the Rock. Lunch was at the nearby Hathaways after which we cycled North and walked around the coastline.

A full-on day was complete with dinner at the Old Hall – we had been fortunate to book the last table on the previous day. As well as good food – the seafood Linguini was excellent – there was live music too. This seems to be the “in-place” on Sark.

Thursday we returned the bikes and walked across the iconic causeway to Little Sark. Post hiking around the coastline, lunch was at “The Little Shack”.

* * * * * Prologue * * * * *

This trip started out as a “special” re-union. The Magnificent seven (class of 1978 / 1979), Ermysteds grammar school, all hit 65 years of age, a few months either side of 2026. Someone suggested that we head further afield than the usual gathering in one of our current towns.

Plans escalated rapidly, Jersey was the chosen destination and someone found the nicest hotel on the Island – the 5-star Grand Jersey Resort and Spa in St Helier…

One might ask what relevance this has to Caravan Ramblings. Well, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore other Islands such as Guernsey and Sark. What better way than to book a campsite on Guernsey for a couple of weeks and use it as a base. Moe would entertain our daughter on Guernsey whilst Joe had booked a return flight from Guernsey to Jersey for the re-union. We would then continue our break on Guernsey in the Campervan and also add a trip to Sark.

What could go wrong…

In fact, very little went right. Firstly the Northern contingent had their Easyjet Tuesday flight to Jersey cancelled and had to travel Monday and stay an extra day.

Then, two weeks before arrival, the hotel tried to move several of us to their sister hotel on the other side of the island, including myself. I was livid but they were quite adamant no room was available. I refused to accept a move and told them to provide the room I had booked a year in advance or cancel and kick me out. They didn’t want to do that and after a week of emails and phone calls, we were finally assured we had our allocated rooms.

With everything in place and 24 hours prior to our Sunday lunchtime departure, on the Poole to St Peters port ferry, we received a call from Brittany Ferries. Our sailing was cancelled!! It would now be operating on Tuesday. Nor could BF transfer us to the Portsmouth route because the reservation systems were down – a fire caused seven days of downtime for the old Condor Ferries website.

With no possibility of getting the campervan to Guernsey, we frantically sought alternative options. Moe and Suzy were despatched on a Sunday morning Auringy flight to Guernsey and I found a flight to Jersey the following day (Monday). The campsite swapped our campervan reservation for a cabin and more flights and hotels were booked for the return.

Meanwhile, the Northern contingent arrive at their departure gate to find it closed. No surprises that they had stayed in the airport bar a little too long! Fortunately, Easyjet re-opened the gate allowing embarcation.

At great expense, and for us, minus the campervan, everything slotted into place.

Here is a quick summary of this multi-tiered trip.

* * * * * Jersey and the Grand Hotel * * * * *

The hotel lived up to expectations and it was great to meet up with the rest of the Magnificent seven.

Walks into St Aubin and long the coast from Gorey to St Catherine’s beach. Plus a 25 mile cycle ride to the North West beach at Plemont.

Four of us set off on bikes, two with ebikes. The weather was cold, part wet and brutally windy. A rather unpleasant day for a cycle ride.

Our excursions were rewarded with copious amounts of beer as we celebrated retirement. Although most have been retired for some time!

With the weather forecast looking hot and sunny, we decided to head to Exmoor and the CAMC site at Dulverton. Arriving Thursday lunchtime, we would stay just the two nights, leaving for home on Saturday.

What a fantastic site this is. On the banks of the river and bang in the centre of the historic market town of Dulverton.

The site only has 66 pitches and it’s certainly not your stereo-typical Caravan club site. A relaxed atmosphere, lots of different sized pitches, and for us, a pitch alongside the river.

The Exmoor National Park centre is at Dulverton and we picked up a few leaflets for some local walks.

Thursday we walked the Burridge Woods circular walk and on Friday, part of the Dulverton to Brushwood circular walk. The garage at Brushwood has the most amazing selection of home-produced cakes…

There is an interesting range of shops / cafes / pubs and restaurants in Dulverton and also, on the Saturday, there was a farmers market in the town centre.

Every once in a while, someone organises an informal meet. This is the VW California Club forum – a wealth of knowledge and experience for everything California related.

California Club Meet – Dorset Club Meet April 10th – 12th 2026 | Page 5 | VW California Owners Club

We arrived at Highland’s end close to West Bay early on Friday afternoon and secured a pitch with sea views and tree shelter.

I think 74 VW California campervans arrived on-site for this get together. However, we were not blessed with good weather and as Friday turned into Saturday the winds whipped, several not so well-tied-down awnings were whisked away and by late Saturday, most of the pop-tops were lowered.

Given that we were only an hour from home, we decided that cramped into the campervan for a wickedly cold and wet night wasn’t what we signed up for so we abandoned ship, so to speak!

We did get to meet some great folks and were so impressed with our neighbours drive-away awning that we ordered one for our up-coming trips away. It’s a Telta Core 260.

We also walked into West Bay on the Friday and further along the coastal path for lunch at the Three Horseshoes in Burton Bradstock on Saturday. A great weekend over-shadowed by some dreadful weather…

A mini two day heatwave prompted a change of location for a few beers with Bob from Lyme. And what better place to spend the afternoon drinking beer than in Beer itself. The Anchor Inn garden is located on the cliff edge with stunning views over the beach at Beer and onwards to Lyme bay.

The campsite and caravan park at Beer head is only a 40 minute drive from our house in East Devon and it is a lovely site. The static caravans are are situated on steep terraces with amazing views. The view from the Campervan wasn’t too shabby either.

On Wednesday I decided to walk the coastal path from Beer to Branscombe and had a bite to eat at the Mason’s arms. The weather remained dry and sunny but today was very warm with unseasonal temperatures in the early 20Cs.

The final section of the coastal path into Branscombe is closed due to erosion of the cliffs and there is something like a 500m walk along the pebble beach. Here the cabins and mobile homes are abandoned and slowly migrating to the beach…

There are many other footpaths so my walked turned into something more circular.

The lookout tower, situated at the top of Beer head is I believe owned by the Caravan park and available as a holiday let.