What's new

Ciall goes on holiday! (Days 1-5) Pictures FINALLY uploaded

ciallkennett

Strata Poster
Day One

Hello from a very foggy Great Yarmouth :D Had a very stressful day today and I will tell you all of my day to day goings on up until Friday :D Unfortunately I don't have my camera usb, so now day to day cameras, but I'll add a bunch at the end

So let’s start. We (Me, my mum, my sister, my mum's boyfriend, his two sons (Aged 5 and 7)) set off this morning at a delightful 12:06, and after a long journey witnessing an unfortunate fatal crash, we arrived approximately 3 hours and 4 mins later. We are staying at a caravan park known as 'California Cliffs', about 3 miles from Great Yarmouth.

We had arrived early, but anticipated our caravan would be ready as virtually all others were. Nope. An hour later, we got our keys and I directed my mum to our caravan.

'Oh', we thought. The caravan was titchy, and I mean titchy. We had booked a sliver caravan, however this appeared to be one of the smallest bronzes ever. We got in, and I couldn't fit, my head touching the ceiling the whole way through. We had only four beds to fit 6 of us and only two bedrooms. Not only that, it was not cleaned very well, with the bathroom floor covered in mud and the windows covered in bugs. Off we went to complain...

...Back we came 10 mins later. He had negotiated to get another caravan as well as the one we already had, but the other caravan was the other side of the park and we had to pay extra for it!. 'Yes!', I, my mum and my sister thought. 'We can get away from those annoying, loud, bratty kids'. But my mum's boyfriend wasn't having any of it. Off he went to complain again.

During this time, a cleaner came from the site to clean the bathroom, he came, cleaned and went and we were pleased. He arrived back. We had been give another caravan, a sliver one, on the the other side of the park, but this time without the one we already had. So, we packed once more and headed to collect the key. Guess what? We had to wait another hour for them to clean the caravan.

Finally, we had a caravan that we paid for.

So, at about 7pm, we had finally managed to secure our residence. Off to the clubhouse we went. The entertainment was, well, entertaining and the arcades were, entertaining, but something was missing. I popped into the sports lounge to catch the final 20mins of the Peterborough v Millwall match, while the rest of the family got a few drinks. The little boys left at 10pm to go off to bed, so just me, my mum and my sister remained. I paid for a pool table and challenged my mum, who plays snooker regularly. Naturally I won, playing with excellent style and precision.

And off we went back to the caravan, with fog so thick that you couldn’t see 3 foot in front of you (no exaggeration)

(In the style of the Bible) Evening fell, and morning came, that was the first day.
 

AeRo

Hyper Poster
Sounds like the makings of the holiday from hell .... I can't wait for this story to unfold :p
 

jack.bell

Mega Poster
sounds well similar to our holiday in cornwall where we were moved from a chalet to a caravan that was dirty as the chalet had no hot water. hope you enjoy the rest of your holliday though!
 

ciallkennett

Strata Poster
Day Two

A mixed feel day today. I got awoken at just before 6 by the two brats kicking the caravan walls. Eugh! Nevertheless, we all awoke and had some cereal before faffing and finally leaving for swimming at 11.

The swimming pool was small, no larger than 30ft x 30ft, and very shallow, the deepest area being 1.1m deep. 10 mins later I left the pool, I simply could not fit in with around another 75 people attempting to bathe in the water like scavengers fighting for space. I waited about an hour for the rest to follow.

The fog still remained from yesterday, though was not as thick. We grabbed lunch and then headed into Great Yarmouth. After spending more than half an hour finding a parking space, we left the car and headed for the beach. I was right next to the Pleasure Beach, so decided to grab some action photos of the smaller rides as they could be seen within the fog.

After getting soaked attempting to get some nice shots of the log flume, I headed down to a local tea gardens and had a very nice cup of tea and a slice of cake. Afterwards, we discussed what we were going to do tomorrow. I said what I wanted to do, but you’ll have to find out tomorrow what that is ;)

We then caught the ‘car-train’ which passes along eth seafront. This was a pleasant journey and allowed me to relax away from the children, who by this point had annoyed me so much I had a huge headache.

This was unfortunately not a two way journey and stopped on the other side of the seafront, roughly 2 miles from where our car was parked, with 10mins left on the ticket.

Jog, jog, jog and we made it. We headed off back to the caravan and attempted t shower. At first, the water was warm, then luke-warm, then freezing cold. By the time everybody else had finished washing, I went to the shower after leaving it for more than an hour to heat up again. Still freezing cold. Check the boiler, and it’s faulty. Great :roll:

Off to the onsite restaurant, just in time for the footy. Ordered, watched game, left. T’was brill! Went into the clubhouse and watched the ‘entertainment’.

22:30, we left, and we headed off home.

Evening fell and morning came, that was the second day.
 

Mike

Giga Poster
Should've stayed at Potters, or at worst Hopton Caravan Park (although I think that's been taken over by Haven now, so maybe not such a good idea :p).

Sorry to hear about your time, but it's your fault for going on a Holiday in Yarmouth in the first place. :p
 

Emmett

Giga Poster
:lol: , I'm enjoying reading this report. I think things are more interesting when things go wrong. Can't wait to hear what else will happen.

I just hope you end up getting to do all the parks there or get a day to yourself to enjoy them.
 

ciallkennett

Strata Poster
Firstly, nice to see that people are following my travels, so thank you. Secondly, I was too tired yesterday to do my update, so I’ve done it now :D

Day Three

Yesterday, I was awoken yet again by the brats at just before 6, however, I went back to sleep to be woken at 10:30. I panicked, and realised I needed to get to Great Yarmouth to do what I had planned to do asap. So I got my mum to give me a lift instead of waiting for them to go swimming, get lunch etc, which would have taken us up until about 1ish.

What was it I planned, you ask? Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach and Joyland of course :D So, I arrived at just before 11 and noted that both Joyland and GYPB did not open ‘till 12, though I thought GYPB opened at 10. So I headed back to the tea-shop I went to the previous day, and saw the guy who served me who remembered me from the previous day. We had a nice conversation about coasters :)D) and I left feeling refreshed from the lovely cake I had. 4 credits to be had (I don’t count the Snails at Joyland), so read my TR here:

http://www.coasterforce.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=585668#585668

Afterwards, I met up with the family and we went to Sealife, like every year, this time using my anal pass. Fun was had by all, and off we went to our favourite restaurant ‘Olympia’, our favourite as around 9 years ago my mum dropped a whole trifle onto the floor there. Chicken burger and chips = Yum :p The weather was the best so far on our holiday, with only a bit of mist and slightly warmer temperatures than the previous day, hitting a high of 12 degrees. Later on I found out that Milton Keynes had reached temperatures of 21 degrees, not what I wanted to hear.

By this time, it was getting late, so we headed back to the caravan and relaxed for the night.

Evening fell, and morning came. That was the third day.

Day Four (Erm, today :p)

I had a lye in today. Didn’t get up ‘till 12:30 :lol: Upon awakening, I was told of a mighty storm that ripped through the area early this morning, with thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Naturally, I slept through it without any disturbance :p

Today was a much more relaxed day, and to be honest, not much happened.

Me, my mum and my sister went to see our old mates who own a pub nearby, only to be greeted by new people who took over the pub. A few walks around the local area, and me trying to find any credits nearby eventually left us back at the caravan site, where I remain now.

I’ll head off to the club soon then pack for the 10am departure and the annual trip to Pleasurewood Hills we do. I’ll try and get some snaps of the refurbished log flume for the site while I’m there.

Evening hasn’t fallen, and morning hasn’t come. That is more or less the Fourth Day.
 

AeRo

Hyper Poster
Good stuff Ciall, at least you have started getting the credits :p

I too sleep through disasters - like the pub across from where I used to live burned to the ground - the whole town was out to watch, whilst I slept :D
 

ciallkennett

Strata Poster
Day Five

I literally only just got back, so thsi will be short and sweet.

We had to leave the caravan site before 10, so, we left at 10 all packed. Our destination? Pleasurewood Hills :D We arrived there at just after 11.You can read my TR when I get around to doing it :p

A boring and uneventful 3 hour journey back, and I arrived to be greeted by my overly excited dog and brother.

I'm in the process of sifting through my pictures, videos etc now, and will post links etc later.

Evening came, and morning did not. That was the fifth and final day.
 

Lewis

Hyper Poster
Re: Ciall goes on holiday! (Days 1-5)

ciallkennett said:
We are staying at a caravan park known as 'California Cliffs', about 3 miles from Great Yarmouth.

I stayed at that one about 5 years ago :lol:

Is it like a Park Resort/Haven/God-Awful Company ones??
 

Nic

Strata Poster
Sounds like you made the most of a dodgy situation! While we're all naming holiday parks, I stayed at Vauxhall last year, which is on the outskirts, near the train station. Its nice. Should've gone there :)
 

ciallkennett

Strata Poster
^We travel past that on the way into Great Yarmouth :p

We only went to California Cliffs as it was the cheapest around for what we wanted: a six-person silver caravan. Though, initially we didn't get it, we were moderately happy with the cost of the holiday, bearing in mind the time of the year.

Having said that, a formal complaint was sent via e-mail and post to Park Resorts HQ. Here's hoping for a free holiday to a park of our choice :lol:
 
Top