Brighton or the Mediterranean?

After having a wonderful time in sunny Cirencester we were looking forward to continuing our heatwave adventure on the south coast.

We arrived at Brighton Caravan and Motorhome club site late on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. The last time we were here it was an icy cold February and we were almost alone on site so this was a complete contrast- it was blisteringly hot and full of people! As Stephens Mum would be joining us the following day to stay in one of the sites wooden camping pods, we wanted to be pitched as close as possible, so we opted for the only pitch nearby- right at the site entrance!

This was a first for us as we always tend to be tucked away in a quiet corner somewhere, but it was a weekend in the height of the summer holidays so we didn’t have the luxury of choice.

Just as our tummies began to rumble a wood fired pizza van rocked up on site and we were first in queue- one of the positives to being pitched near the entrance!

Our delicious ham and pineapple pizza was devoured quickly and we seriously contemplated going back for another!

Instead we opted to go for a little evening drive down to the beach to watch the sun go down, before heading back to the campsite for an early night ahead of our guest arriving the following day. With the high temperatures during the day it sure felt great to be by the sea again.

Waking up early the next day we quickly decided that being so close to the site entrance wasn’t for us. It was noisy with people coming and going and many people kept cutting across our pitch, we just weren’t able to relax. The site wardens were very accommodating and said we could move, luckily a few people had already left and we found a lovely vacant pitch not too far from the pods but in a much quieter area. At 10am we quickly took the awning down, shoved it in the back of the caravan and did the quickest tow we’ve ever done, a whole 30 seconds to our new pitch for the week!

Despite being just around the corner from our previous pitch the atmosphere was vastly different. Set back from the entrance, with trees lining two sides we had a cosy grassy corner all to ourselves and we instantly felt relaxed- it was like we were on a different campsite!

After setting up for the second time in about 20 hours we finally settled and I was able to enjoy roasting in the sun with a good book for a while before we popped out to the local Asda for some supplies.

Mid afternoon and Stephens Mum arrived, so we greeted her in the best way we know how- with tea and scones!

The rest of the day was spent catching up whilst enjoying the sun, before having a lovely barbecued steak for dinner.

By the evening it was a much more bearable temperature so we made the short trip down to one of our favourite spots in Brighton- Brighton Marina! Although by now it was quite late and all of the shops were closed it was still a lovely place to go for a wander and soak up the atmosphere. We made our way through Marina Square, admiring the amazing properties for sale in the estate agents windows. If only we had a million pounds to spare!

We then found ourselves at the waters edge, it was such a perfectly still night, there wasn’t a single ripple.

Over the next couple of days the temperatures soared even higher and into the late 30’s. It was far too hot to do anything during the day other than lounge around at the campsite, sip on cool drinks and make the occasional trip down to the sea. It was easy to forget we were in Brighton and not somewhere a bit more exotic!

There are certainly worse places to be during a heatwave. Brighton Caravan and Motorhome club site is in a great location for accessibility to the town centre and the Marina, and is a lovely campsite with great facilities. This includes numerous tent areas, a spacious disabled wash room and two beautiful shiny static airstreams- not to mention the cosy wooden camping pod that Stephens Mum thoroughly enjoyed her stay in.

After waving goodbye to our guest on the Wednesday afternoon we wanted to make the most of our remaining days here. We’d heard from our friends Richard and Trevor that Saltdean had a great Carvery so we decided to go and check it out for ourselves, for research!

We weren’t disappointed! There was so much choice on offer, and at a great price.

After thoroughly enjoying our dinner the night was still young, so we took a little stroll along Saltdean promenade as the sun went down. It was a perfect end to a fantastic trip and we can’t wait to return.