Pontins Camber Sands Day 2 - Camber Sands Beach

For Day 2 of our holiday we mostly spent the day on site making the most of the amenities, however we did also venture over to the lovely Camber Sands beach. The kids had a good lay in after the long day yesterday and once everyone was eventually awake we had a nice cooked breakfast and then headed to one of the on-site parks before heading to reception for a meet-and-greet with one of the kids club characters.

 

Joshua on a swinging carriage.

Holly loves baby swings and giggles away.

Holly trying a more unusual type of swing with Mummy's help.

Brandon looking comfortable.

Joshua and his little Sis.

Whilst we waited for Florence to make her appearance, Holly had a ride on the Magic Castle.

You've got to love her little chuckles as the castle spins her around and around.

There was four main characters in the kids Croc club and today the kiddies got to meet Florence the bird. 

Tina, Joshua, Brandon and Holly with Florence.

The walk to Camber Sands beach was an adventure in its own right as it meant negotiating a rather steep sand covered hill dragging a buggy in tow. Me and the boys even tried doing a little training run up the sand hill and failed dismally. Once we reached the top though we realised that our efforts were worth while as the beach and the views were just stunning. The only shame is that we had about 75mph winds this day effectively causing sand storms across the beach. We took a football down on the beach and the wind was so strong that we could tonk the ball as hard as possible in the opposite direction to the wind and then just stand there and wait for it to boomerang back to us!.

 



The view back on Pontins once we had eventually climbed the sand hill.

The boys go running off down the hill as we get our first glimpse of the stunning camber sands beach.

A bit of bum surfing in the sand.

This picture doesn't really capture the sand storm effect as streams of sand whipped across the beach.

Josh and Brandon desperately trying to play football in a sand storm.

Joshua goes down and eats a face full of sand in the process.

Brandon victorious with the ball in hand.

My boys having fun on the beach whilst their little sister wisely sleeps in her buggy.

Again trying to capture the sand storm in a picture but failing dismally.

 

We stayed on the beach long enough to take some pictures and grab an ice cream. But then it was back to Pontins to get out of the wind. The afternoon was then spent with a visit to the on-site swimming pool, a round of pirate crazy golf and then a good blast around the site in some Dino pedal go-karts.

 



Brandon tee's off on the pirate golf.

Joshua and B with a mean looking pirate.

Brandon on the course.

Yo, ho, ho and a barrel of rum as Joshua lines up another shot.

One of the holes required us to cross a Jake and the Neverland bridge.

Joshua posing with another pirate.

Brandon trying his best facial pirate expression.

The sinking ship hole.

Over the bridge and into the hole.

Fire when ready.

Is that Captain Jack Sparrow?

I actually hid Brandon's ball in Jack Sparrows raised hand and he couldn't find it anywhere. When me and Joshua eventually gave him enough clues he saw it but then couldn't reach it. So with a tap of his golf club he managed to knock it down only to be unlucky enough for it to fall on his head with a thud and a few tears to follow. Woops!

 

But then Brandon got me back by tonking me in the belly with his golf club thus wiping me out.

 

The Dino Go-karts were next on the agenda but first we had to search high and low around the site for a machine which allowed you to purchase tokens which could be exchanged for a half an hour ride on them. At first I didn't think half an hour would be anywhere near long enough but I soon realised it was plenty of time. These go karts aren't exactly light weight and once loaded with myself and 3 kids there is a reasonable amount of weight to pedal around. Joshua was trying his best to help provide pedal power but he really wasn't contributing much. After about 20 minutes my legs were screaming, my shirt was sweaty and the kids were all shouting at me to pedal faster to try and jump over the on site speed bumps. So eventually I handed over to Tina for the last 10 minutes to give myself a break.

 



Me and my kiddlywinks exploring the Pontins site on a Dino go kart.

 

Working up a good sweat as we build up speed to jump a speed ramp.

Time for Tina to take a turn. The boys weren't happy as she didn't go as fast as me. Holly was obviously worried and holding on for dear life!

In the evening we once again ate in the on site restaurant and the local fish and chip shop didn't have any fish!!!! After that it was back to the arcades for the boys to spend all my hard earnt money collecting price tickets.

 



Brandon draped in streams of prize tickets which he won during his evenings work.

 

 

Another full on day and a very tired family. Back to our chalet for a good nights rest ready to start all over again.

Pontins Camber Sands Day 1 - Bodiam Castle

For the first time ever we decided to go away for a short holiday during the 2 weeks Easter holiday. I have been working and training so hard this year and the thought of waiting until the summer holidays before taking any vacation was not a nice thought. So we booked up for Holly's first UK holiday at Pontins down in Camber Sands staying for 4 nights/5days.

 

With the car loaded to the max we set-up quite early on the Monday morning, but as we couldn't check in to our accommodation until 4pm we decided to stop off en route and spend Day 1 at the absolutely stunning Bodiam Castle. Joshua lived up to his reputation of being a bad traveller and was sick all over himself, his Trunki, his car seat and my car when we were literally only 2 miles away from the castle. So with a quick emergency stop and a clean up we were finally back on course. Once we arrived the view of the castle from the car park was breath taking. What made the day eve more special as they had a treasure map for the kids to search the grounds looking for gold coins as part of an Easter egg hunt.

 



 

View of Bodiam Castle from the car park.

My kiddlywinks at Bodiam Castle standing in front of the moat (which we told them was filled with crocodiles and sharks!).

Joshua and Brandon crack one of the clues on the treasure map and find a pot of gold coins in the Easter Egg trail.

The spectacular entrance to the castles doors.

More treasure found by a statue of a King.

Tina and the kiddies in front of the castle.

Joshua hiding in a hollow tree.

After finishing the Easter Egg trail the boys head off over the moat and enter the castle.

Spectacular view of the grounds inside the castle. We had fun exploring and running around.

Joshua and a medieval bedroom.

Holly having a good walk around the castle grounds.

A Holly size room in the castle.

Brandon testing out a medieval castle toilet!

Then Joshua's turn.

View from one of the tower windows.

Looking out of a tower window onto the moat.

From the highest point in the castle you can get a stunning view down into the castle forecourt.

More views looking down into the castle (being very careful as I am holding Holly)!

Family photo on holiday at Bodiam Castle.

View down onto the entrance into the castle. The moat was filled with some monstrous carp which could be seen from up high.

Another view of the castle.

The kids playing with some medieval spears and helmets.

Prisoners of war.

 

After a great day out at the castle and a nice picnic lunch we dove the final 30 minutes of our journey to get to Camber Sands. Fortunately no more sickness from Joshua. However we did have to suffer Brandon's "One Direction" CD all the way there. Amazingly once we arrived we were surprised to see that some numpties had been there since 9.30am and were just sitting around waiting to get their key at 4, Why????? Instead of hanging around we went and found the games room and had a quick game of snooker and then I started teaching Brandon how to play draughts whilst we killed time for the l. Obviously I am a good teacher as he beat me....

 



Brandon playing his first ever game of draughts.

Brandon thinking hard about his next move.

 

After a very busy first day we finally checked into our chalet and sorted all the beds out etc. Then we decided to head out to the restaurant on site to get some dinner before hitting the arcades. The two boys were pretty much hooked on the arcades and this became a regular activity every evening as they were hooked on collecting as many prize tickets as possible to then exchange them for a gift at the shop at the end of our holiday.

 



Had had no trouble falling fast asleep in the travel cot after a busy first day.

And somehow poor Brandon managed to get to sleep with his bigger brother snoring his head off 3 feet away!