Sunday 15 March 2015

Swiss Farm Campsite, Henley on Thames. 5th to 9th of March 2015

Well the caravan was in storage, so we loaded up the Freelander, collected the caravan and were soon on our way up the M4.  We came off the M4 at Swindon and headed across country to Henley on Thames.
As we crossed the Chiltern Hills, we became very aware of large numbers of  Red Kites flying overhead.
We soon found the site, and our pitch!   The site was very busy with a mixture of Motor homes, touring caravans and seasonal pitches.  On the site were an amazing number of American RV's and 5th wheelers
We were soon set up on our pitch which had electric, water and waste connections.  These super pitches certainly spoil us! The weather was really lovely, obviously spring is coming. One advantage of this site is that it is only a short walk into town, so I was able to wander up each morning to collect the morning papers.

On Friday we had coffee at the campsite cafe, and then drove into Henley where we enjoyed a couple of hours just wandering amongst the shops. 
Henley Market Square



The Gold Post Box, that celebrates all of rowing Olympians



We then set off to find Tescos, our plan being to surprise James as he was running the Butchery and Fish counters. He was really surprised to see us, as he thought that we were coming up on the Saturday!

Early on Saturday morning I walked up to Henley to get croissants and the papers. I took the opportunity of walking along the river and was able to take these photographs.

Old Man Thames early in the morning!




On the Saturday we drove down to Reading where we met up with Kim and Graham for morning coffee. We then drove up to see Jade and Jack where they live with James's parents in Early, a suburb of Reading. Jack was also very surprised to see Anni, which is what he calls Lizzie. He was having great fun playing in the garden with sand and water.
We then set off back to the campsite, a journey that due to traffic took over an hour.

When we got back we put some bacon scraps and some bread out on the grass in front of the caravan.  Very quickly the birds spotted it, and we soon enjoyed the spectacle of Red Kites diving down for the bacon scraps.
Red Kites!



On Sunday morning we went out for morning coffee at a local garden centre, then drove to a local pub for Sunday lunch with Jade, James, Jack and Andy (James's Dad).  I have to say the food was excellent but the service was somewhat lacking.  To cap it all when we went to pay the bill, we were told it had already been paid!  That took a bit of sorting out.
We then all went back to the caravan and enjoyed tea and coffee in the site cafe.

In the morning we cleared up and had a leisurely drive home cross country  through Cirencester.  It took us no longer to take that route rather than using the motorway.

Total nights for 2015    24