Easter in the New Forest

After somewhat of a break to allow for house moving at the start of the year, Tin Box is back on the road! There’s been a few changes, not least that Tin Box Baby has now graduated to become Tin Box Tot (TBT).

TBT wreaking havoc in the New Forest

In our first few hours away we discovered that caravanning with a toddler was a whole new challenge. While we were once worrying ourselves about what she might roll off or into, we were now in hot pursuit as she tottered towards caravan steps, fire buckets and gas heaters.

Our first stop was a long weekend to coincide with the Easter Bank Holiday. We were staying at Gang Warily, on the edge of the New Forest, on a rally organised by the West Hampshire Centre of the Caravan Club.

Sunrise over the Gang Warily rally field

There were plenty of family friendly activities both during the day and evenings, including quizzes, an egg hunt, and Easter bonnet competition. The rally officers also laid on some excellent food during the weekend, culminating in a three course Turkey dinner on Easter Sunday.

Eggs, bunnies and more

From Gang Warily we travelled 20 minutes down the road for a few quiet days at the beautifully kept Black Knowle Caravan Club site.

Mr TB being towed by TBT into Black Knowle

This is a great base for walks or bike rides to Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst. We visited the local butchers in both towns to buy BBQ meat. Both come highly recommended, as does Pages of Lyndhurst where you can sample speciality drinks and coffee.

The weather was a bit hit and miss so we alternated our days exploring the forest and relaxing in Tin Box. However, there were a few occasions when we were able to break out the sun glasses and enjoy sitting outside.

Sunset at Black Knowle

On our final evening at Black Knowle we treated ourselves to a fish supper from the mobile chip van that visits the site every Thursday. It’s reasonably priced and the food was tasty. Shame we still had to do the washing up!

Everything you’d expect from a good chippy

As always, home time arrived too soon. To add insult to injury, we’ve only just finished doing the laundry – another new challenge presented by TBT. Thankfully, it’s not long before the next Tin Box outing and we can’t wait.