Boating with dogs on Lake Windermere, Part 2

We stayed at NatlandPark Farm, which is a running farm with cows and horses set in fields (complete with the fresh farm aroma) and only a short drive to Kendal. Google maps said it was a 30 minute drive to Windermere town but with the SatNav it was only 20 minutes. The camp site was a good choice; dogs were allowed off lead and the pitches were spaced out. We were asked to pitch on one of the hard standings, which we like, but unfortunately these were next to the lane the tractors use regularly to enter the farm, so you had to have a good recall if you wanted the dogs off lead. There were ample facilities, inclusive of 2 showers, a toilet, a settee, books and leaflets, a washing machine, tumble dryer, a fridge and other kitchen facilities, set inside a tin barn that was in dire need of tlc. There was a notice up saying there were renovation plans that would be finished for the end of September '14, but we left on 29^th September and there was no sign of the renovations being started. Pitching with hook up was only £12 per night and we would definitely go again.

There are plenty of places to walk straight from Natland Farm Park too.

On the Saturday, our first full day, we were joined by my parents who stayed in a nearby B&B. We made our way to Ferry Nab, where there is a car park and a public slipway. My parents hired a kayak, which was £25 for 3 hours and they flew past us with little effort, while we got a little frustrated in our dinghy on discovering how hard it was to row with short oars. We also made the mistake of sitting in the wrong places so Nick was having to row forwards instead of backwards, adding to his difficulties and leading to me becoming bored and unable to navigate. We didn't see my parents again for about 90 minutes, who had sailed around the islands in the middle of the lake, while we barely reached the other side of one.

We didn't much like this part of the lake as it was very busy and there were lots of large boats like yachts speeding up and down which made crossing in our difficult-to-row boat a little frightening.

Duke had run down the slipway in desperation to swim before we'd even pumped the boat up and had jumped into the water after 30 seconds of us launching. He was a little shocked by his launch into the lake from the boat and immediately wanted me to pull him out, so I was soaked from the beginning. I had worn linen trousers as I had little choice in maternity wear, but I'd definitely choose something more lightweight and quick-drying if I could.

Alice, on the other hand, was so relaxed and still in my lap she was almost asleep. I have never before seen her so serene.

After a couple of hours in the water, we called it a day and went back to have a hot shower and dry off before we went back out for dinner.

I chose to eat at the Eagle Child Inn at Staveley, which was advertised as situated on a river and very dog friendly. Well, the river was very small and there was a road in between the pub and the river, and I had expected to be able to walk along the river but that wasn't an option. They did, however, have a beer garden on the river which must be nice on a hot summers day.

There are loads of walking routes in Staveley, though, and we had a nice walk up over the hills before dinner.

The pub was very dog friendly, and there were a few other dogs inside. The tables were packed in tightly though and the dogs had to stay under the table or people would have fallen over them walking past us. The pub was very busy and the food was delicious. The menu was quite interesting and I had wholemeal pancakes with spinach and mushrooms that was full to the brim with spinach and tasty, wild mushrooms that I simply could not finish. Nick had the buffalo chicken which looked delicious, my Mum had the same as me and my Dad had gammon, which was nice but smaller than I had expected at the size of my meal. The desserts were lovely too.

On Sunday, we went to Fell Foot Country Park, which is part of the National Trust. The parking was a bit steep but the toilets were nice (and free – 20p at Ferry Nab) and the site was very well maintained. The ranger was very helpful and you are allowed to launch anywhere on the park.

We picked a spot and went south down the lake reaching the Swan Hotel and Spa before we turned back. It was very peaceful indeed with lovely sights and a steam train passing every so often. We floated along for a while while we ate our picnic in the boat and Alice's serene vibes were infectious. We were totally turned around after a rather trying trip at Ferry Nab.

As Nick packed the boat up, I played fetch in the water to satisfy Duke's need to swim with his favourite toy – his sprong – and Alice was totally pumped up after her meditation in the boat. Being quite reserved normally, Alice made Duke very frustrated as she beat him time and time again to the sprong and refusing to drop it as Duke so readily would. It was great fun to see this side to Alice, who was clearly having the time of her life.

After showering and warming up, we went to the Gateway Inn, which was the most dog friendly pub we've ever visited. The tables were spread out with enough room for dogs to lay at the side of the table and still leave space to walk by. By the door was a selection of dog bowls for water, an abundance of dog cushions and a tin of dog biscuits, all very clean and ready for diners to use. The menu was very traditional and I struggled to choose what to have, but the quality of the food was good and the portions were huge. Nick had no room for dessert but I couldn't resist and forced down a blackberry and apple crumble with custard. It was the nicest crumble I've had for a long time and it came with custard on and an extra jug of custard. I love lots of custard but there was so much, Nick finished the custard off out of the jug!

On the Monday, we were due to go home but we weren't made to feel rushed to leave the site so we went into Windermere for lunch. We chose The Queen's pub as it looked lovely from outside and had a really nice patio area where we sat down. However, the food was very disappointing. I had a chicken burger and the chicken breast tasted like it had been barbecued and was very dry. I gave half my chicken to the dogs and filled my cob with chips instead. Nick had a beef burger and the quality was no better than a burger you'd get at a car boot, which the dogs helped him eat. The staff were very unhelpful and the waitress cleared our table before Nick had finished eating, which really annoys me. To add insult to injury, Nick's pint of coke cost £3.50! Visiting The Queen's was an unfortunate blow to the end of a good weekend.

We will definitely be using the Intex Excursion 3 boat again next year, with a little baby boy in tow!

Boating with dogs on Lake Windermere, Part 1

My parents took us canoeing on holidays a few times when we were kids. The most adventurous was a 25km round trek on a river in Canada, which was amazing but tough towards the end.

In recent months, I've had a strong desire to go wild swimming with the cockers, who both love the water, but haven't been able to this year as I am now six months pregnant. My parents mentioned they were planning on going kayaking and this set me off wanting to go canoeing with the dogs, to satisfy my craving of being in the water with them.

So we started looking into it. Not wanting to spend a fortune on a vessel, in case us or the dogs hated it, we decided on an inflatable dinghy. I would love a canadian canoe or a wooden rowing boat, but even used and refurbished ones seem to be going for a few hundred pounds, and then we'd need roof racks or a trailer. Nick found an Amazon warehouse deal for an Intex Excursion 3 inflatable boat with oars and a pump, for £65.

The boat came in a bag that folds up enough to take in a back pack which is handy and the pump inflated the boat in minutes. The oars were decent enough quality, and my only criticism of the whole set was that the oars were too short. The boat itself is quite wide, which meant it was very sturdy on the water and would take something monumental to tip it over, and there was room for the cockers and a picnic, but it meant that your arms were spread wide when rowing, which made rowing rather uncomfortable and difficult. If we go again, I'll be replacing the oars for longer ones. However, the boat would be perfect for anyone going fishing who wouldn't need to do much rowing as there are holders for your fishing rod.

We bought some life vests at a good price off Amazon, and we bought Sodial Pet Lifesaver vests off Amazon for the dogs. These fit the dogs well, apart from slightly covering Duke's penis making it difficult for him to go for a wee. The quality of the pet vests were a little poor. Duke went rummaging through some bushes while we deflated the boat at Ferry Nab and ripped his vest open, and Alice's D-ring ripped off at a yank. The design of them were great and I did use the handle to pull Duke out of the water successfully.

We chose to go to the Lake District, as Lake Windermere seemed like the obvious choice to test out our new boat. Finding information on sailing was quite confusing at first as we were unsure whether or not we would need a license. However, we believe, after our research, that you don't need a license at all to sail or canoe on a lake. You do need a license if you sail on a river or a canal, as these are managed and maintained by authorities. So Lake Windermere it was (or “Windymere” as Nick pronounces it!). There is a lot of tourist information available too for the novice sailor at Windermere. I like to go with my trip researched and planned, and we found this map very useful for routes and places to launch. You have to plan where you want to launch as some slipways are privately owned.

So, Norfolk makes for a very dog friendly holiday!

We have just stayed at Lee's Caravan Park in Hunstanton for five nights and we had a great time. The weather has been beautiful, around 25 degrees Celsius everyday! We had one summer storm in the night that shook the caravan and nearly defeated our awning - a little reminder that we need to replace a few poles and bits on our awning.

Dogs are welcome on the beaches at Hunstanton and Cromer (the ones we visited) all year round with the only restriction of the main beach groins (I think that's what they're called?) between May and September.

We found the prices to stay at campsites around Norfolk quite expensive compared to what we're used to paying, but we loved it so much we'd pay it again. Lee's Caravan Park is situated literally a two minute walk from the sea, to the edge of the town centre so dogs are welcome on the beach there all year round.

The camp site had 10 pitches, which seemed to be close to each other. There were around five caravans that were permanently sited there so it was actually very quiet. The toilets and showers were kept fairly clean but they are in desperate need of modernising. The toilets are the really old ones that are huge and when you're sat on them your knees are almost touching the stall door. The owners were very friendly indeed and made us feel welcome. They had two dogs of their own and they were happy for our dogs to roam freely as long as we kept them under control, which makes for an easier life.

It was a 10-15 minute walk along the promenade into the town centre where there are amusements, independent shops, seafood stalls, cafes and a high street. The dogs are welcome in every amusement arcade but one, the one that stands on the promenade at the bottom of the green. Dogs are welcome in some shops in Norfolk but there were no window signs displayed, you had to ask.

There is also a traditional funfair which looked great for people with children, ad the dogs were welcome to walk around the fair.

The sea at Hunstanton is very warm and very calm and very beautiful. We were very unprepared as the weather report had forecast storms all week so we hadn't taken many summer clothes or any swimming gear. I wished I'd had my batho so I could have gone swimming with the dogs, who had such a great time and went swimming in the sea every single day. Nick went wading out with them in his shorts and had to hand wash them every night as he'd only taken that one pair!

One day, we drove to Cromer on a mission to try the famous Cromer Crab! It was an hours drive from Hunstanton, through countryside where we passed some little fruit stalls trading on the road. Cromer is a lovely town with lots of independent shops and boutiques, a gorgeous beach and fish mongers.

We found a little shop selling daily-caught Cromer Crab and Cromer Crab sandwiches. Nick had a delicious chicken tikka baguette from The Baguette Shop and I had a Cromer Crab sandwich from the stall. My sandwich was made from normal brown bread, which was disappointing at the side of Nick's baguette, but the Crab was absolutely delicious!

There was a great little fishmonger called the Davies fish shop, which sold a wide range of fresh seafood including a bag of fish for pets for £1. We bought one as a treat for the dogs and it contained two huge fish skins! Very cheap when you consider a small bag of Fish4Dogs dried fish skin treats is £3. When we got back I had to pour boiled water over the fish to defrost it, despite how hot it was that day, and I have never seen the dogs so eager to be served their dinner and it was great to watch them shred the fish skin with their teeth, two very happy dogs indeed!

I picked up a great little guide to North Norfolk in the tourist information centre in Hunstanton, where I read about The Orange Tree Pub in Thornham, five miles from Hunstanton. Although it wasn't far away, we couldn't see a walking route so drove along the A149 and had a look at the little villages on the way to Burham Market. I'd read great things about Burnham Market, aka "Chelsea-on-sea", but it's really not worth a visit if you have dogs with you. It was a very quiet village with lots of independent Art galleries and a few little clothes shops aimed at the over 50's, no where you would want to take a dog.

So we called at The Orange Tree on our way back for a late lunch. I was desperate to go there to discover their 'Doggie Menu' that I'd read about. The pub has a beautiful beer garden with a very relaxing atmosphere where even the two crazy cockers were happy to chill.

I was still obsessed about local seafood so I ordered the seafood sandwich that had crayfish and smoked salmon on it. Nick isn't as daring as me and we weren't ready for a big meal so he ordered fries and cheese (he didn't even pick the hand cut chips with cheese!). And we ordered two marrow bones for the dogs. It was order at the bar where Nick was given the marrow bones (at £2.95 each!) in a metal dish. Call me silly but I was disappointed that the dogs weren't served by the waiter, those bones would be 50p each back home from a pet shop, and the metal dish was filthy. The dogs didn't care of course and the other punters were very amused by it all. The silver lining was that the waiter made a mistake and brought out a prawn salad starter on it's own to our table, which had two slices of bread with it so I assumed it was my seafood sandwich and tucked in, to then be served with my actual seafood sandwich and Nick's cheesy fries, so we had a delicious free starter. The food was perfect and we really enjoyed the meal, but I wouldn't go again as I thought it was all overpriced. The mains were around £15-£20 each, fine if you're dressed up for an evening meal but not what I like to pay when sitting in a beer garden with the dogs.

We tried to have a BBQ one afternoon which failed - down to either the disposable BBQ from Poundland or the wind that blew it out. So we ended up cooking in the caravan with our Cookworks oven from Argos but it was till nice to eat outside.

We had a great time in Hunstanton and we will definitely go be going back next year.

Happy Caravanning!

So, we've finished customising our caravan...

A while ago I had the bright idea of ordering some custom graphics for our little caravan. Well, it's finished! Not precisely what I had imagined but I think we're both quite happy with the result. *If there's anyone else considering doing this themselves, I just want to point out that our caravan is 19 years old and not worth very much nor are we considering selling it for a long time ;)

I showed you my doodles of our cockers, well I wanted those to sit side by side, next to the window on the back of the caravan. I sent all of the dimensions when I placed my order but the width of that space was used as the width of each dog, not both, so they arrived huge! So if I was to give you one tip, it would be to be super-specific! I thought I was very thorough and specific but there was still a teeny oversight. But I'm still happy with it.

Do you want to see it? Here it is...

And here's Nick finishing off the front...

The web link stickers and the Alice sticker were from Signkits.co.uk and the paws were from MS Custom Graphics. The paws were a matt finish which is a nice touch.

And here's another approach to customising your caravan...

I hope you like the results of our caravan! Give us a wave if you ever see us on the motorway!

Happy Caravanning!

So, making a dog friendly holiday in Oxford...

Last year, we went on our first ever caravanning trip, and visited my brother who is living in Oxford. We had a good time so we decided to do it again. We stayed at the same camp site, Godwin's Ice CreamFarm, which is a lovely quiet site two minutes from the M40, that allows dogs of course and has an ice cream factory on site!

My parents had decided to come along and had stayed at the WestonGrounds Farm B&B, which was a five minute walk from the camp site. The rates were very reasonable at the B&B and was set on lovely grounds in a nice house. My parents said it was run by an old couple and their only complaints were that, and I quote, “you can tell the rooms are cleaned by old people”. By which they mean, they miss things like dust on the lights and in the crevices, the same criticism they have for my Nana!

It's a ten minute drive into Oxford, and we left the car at my brother's place and walked into the city centre. My family don't walk any slower than briskly so the dogs were happy since they had to stay on the leads for this part.

The city centre is really nice, with nice buildings and lovely shops. There are some neat little shops in the indoor market but dogs aren't allowed in there so my Mum and I abandoned the men for a snoop around.

It was a Saturday so it was really busy and the dogs surprised me at how well they weave through the crowds without tripping anyone up – for anyone who owns a cocker will know that at home they are perpetually under your feet, wherever you go. Last year, Duke was just a puppy so it was great socialisation for him but he quickly grew tired and my brother, Sam, happily carried him for us. Well, you would think there weren't ever any puppies in Oxford by the reactions he got and if a guy ever wants to pull, this is the way!

On a Saturday, there are lots of street entertainers in the city centre, and we spent quite some time enjoying watching them as they were good street entertainers. My brother always throws some money in their hats and was annoyed at the number of people who enjoyed the entertainment then walked away. It reminded me of our trip to Paris where there were some fantastic street dancers, who had built up a very large crowd, then when the music stopped and the hats came out, everyone made a quick getaway. This Saturday, we enjoyed a delicious pasty while we watched a tight-rope walking violinist, enjoyed a singer singing Ed Sheeran song, an awesome 8 year old guitarist singing Counting Stars by One Republic and a professional dance group promoting the Dance in Oxford festival.

For dinner, we took a redcommendation from Sam's boss and walked to a pub where dogs are welcome, called The Perch that was on the River Thames. It had a beautiful beer garden that was huge but half of it was flooded as the river had swollen from all the rain we'd had, much to the cockers' delight who were soaking when we got to the pub. My Dad and I had the hand battered fish and chips and Mum and Nick had the burger. Sam had the steak which he said was truly delicious.

Sam said it would have been a lovely walk back if we had walked down the river, but we had forgotten to bring the cockers' dinners so we had to call in a supermarket to buy them some raw steak, so we walked back through the centre.

On the Sunday, we went for a walk from the camp site and found a nice public footpath to the left after The Black Sheep pub. The path took us through fields and a wood with a stream, and we came out at Kirtlington where there is the Oxford Arms. We decided to just have a snack at the corner shop, though, so we could make it back in time to have some ice cream before they closed, something worth finding time for.

Another cute caravan themed gift...

I am becoming addicted to searching for unusual beautiful things on Facebook. There are so many talented people crafting stunning things and here's one I just love. It's sold by My Happy Place, check them out!

So, here is a great little reference website for dogs on holidays...

Doggie Pubs is a great little website that lists pubs all over the UK that allow dogs inside. There are lots of reviews of the pubs too so be sure to bookmark this site so you can find it next time you're out with your dog and are feeling a bit hungry, or like their Facebook page.