After thinking about and wanting to go camping for the past few years, this weekend myself and Uns eventually got around to a camping weekend away down in the New Forest. We thought we'd just try one night away as a test run and hopefully make it a bit more regular next year. So yesterday morning we were up fairly early and caught the train down to Ashurst which was about a 5 minute walk to the campsite, so easy enough without having a car. I'm glad we did a tent pitch trial run last week, as we were pitched and unpacked in no time at all.

We decided we'd hire bikes for the day and picked up a couple of them from Mr. Spokes who we'd spotted just outside the station. Once we had the bikes we headed back to camp for lunch and then set off down towards Lyndhurst. We followed the suggested map given to us which involved mainly forestry trails down to Brockenhurst and back.

We didn't rush the cycling, stopping often for photos and the view and landed up getting to Brockenhurst a lot later then planned. So instead of missioning back in the dark we figured we'd stop in at the Foresters Arms for a quick beer and then catch the train home which was probably wise.

Once back at the camp we fired up the cooker again for dinner, chilled outside under the stars and then called it a night, both feeling rather knackered from cycling. It was a bit chilly last night, we probably weren't all that organised with the cold at night, but that's part of it all, will be better prepared next time no doubt.

This morning while Uns went for her run through the forest, I missioned around on the bike, keeping to much the same route that she ran. After our morning's exercise we headed back to camp for coffee and a croissant and then one more stroll through the forest before we headed back to pack up camp. After packing everything away we made our way to the New Forest pub for a carvery for lunch and then caught the train back up to London.

For our first weekend camping trip I think we were pretty well organised and now need to try arrange another sneaky weekend away before the winter sets in. But we'll definitely be doing more of this next year!