Happy New Year!

2017! Happy New Year! We started this year as we mean to go on, in our beloved campervan, Seabert.

After much deliberation and research about where would be good to camp on new year’s eve, maybe on a site, but must be near a town or village centre, with plenty of celebrations, ideally a fireworks display, and with enough dog-friendly places to cater for our vdubdog Luna (she isn’t afraid of fireworks, luckily!), we finally narrowed it down to Weymouth or Exmouth.

Both seemed to have a fancy dress tradition, a fireworks display and plenty going on outside. Weymouth had some sites nearby but not very close, and there were some wild-camp suggestions, but these also seemed quite far out, and the more centrally located ones seemed risky for being moved on.

So we settled on Exmouth. From various facebook groups, it sounded like it was a very popular spot, where campervans and motorhomes are welcome along the seafront, not far from the centre.

When we got there, my first impression was that the beach was full of the happiest dogs in the world. It looked really great. Luna loves a beach and got very excited! She had a great run-around before we walked into the little town to have a look around.

In the evening we found a nice dog-friendly pub where we had a few drinks. They had a singer on, and as the evening progressed, lots of people came in in fancy dress. It was really fun, but it soon became a bit too rowdy for Luna, so we decided to have a little walk around to see if we could find another pub.

Soon, we found the perfect place; the Beacon Vaults pub was warm, welcoming, quiet with a great DVD on with old music videos. We had a few drinks there, and chatted to some of the other customers. Soon it was close to midnight, and the landlord very kindly shared some bubbles around the customers. We were right outside the park where the fireworks display was held as well, and while we didn’t want to risk Luna getting scared by going outside, we could watch them through the window and Luna was happy as larry getting plenty of cuddles.

We wandered back to the van where we had put hot water bottles in the bed before we went out, so it was nice and warm. It wasn’t all that cold altogether so we had a lovely comfortable night sleep, followed by a slow start the next morning with cups of tea in bed, a walk on the ‘happy dog beach’ for Luna before setting off to Poole where we wanted to see the Skimmity Hitchers play.

Unfortunately, the Stables, which was the venue for the gig, was all full, so we missed out and ended up having a lovely roast dinner in the King’s Head pub in Poole.

All in all, it was the perfect way to see in the new year as far as I’m concerned. Adventures in the van, waking up to the sound of the waves rolling onto the beach, a nice night out and a happy, sandy dog.

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