Well the weekend had finally arrived of the much anticipated Boondockers Bash. The Van was stocked up with all the beer and food, spare toilet cassette and a huge assortment of leftover/multiple buys/replacement parts from our customisation of the van to set up and hawk carboot styleee while we are there and hopefully save other van builders a bit of money 🙂
We set off nice and early so we could grab a decent spot and settle in before the entire field was washed away! The rain was coming down in bucketloads and had been for a few days so we knew it would be a bit damp there.. We must have hit every bit of traffic on the way so stopped for some lunch and finally rolled up just after lunch time to be greeted by Missy (?) who likened herself to a traffic cone in her high vis jacket.. Haha – she was ace! She promptly directed us up the field to where Purdie was making his way down to us. After a lovely first greeting we were asked by Purdie to go park behind a Poo Picker and close to the other YouTubers in the centre of the field around the camp fire so as good youtubers do.. We did!
One of the things I do love about having a van compared to the caravans of yore is the setting up.. Are we level? Ish.. OK that’ll do – haha.. Open the door and go say hi!
We parked up, popped Cooper on his lead and walked over the field to say Hi to those already there – I gave Kirsty a big hug and some bunting I’d made her after she said she loved our map fabric in the van and gave Kahlan the Ice Cream Pillow that I’d made her too. We all stood huddled around drinking coffee and trying to stay dry underneath their canopy in true Brit style! We won’t let a bit (well.. OK a LOT) of rain ruin our weekend!!! Dan was there with Fred, We met Our Jolley Journey (Jay and Holly) Said hi to Shaun and of course the Dave (the Poo Picker – One man and his Whippet) and Louie who came to say Hi (which was ace – he’s so cool!!) Luke (Luke’s Van Life), Kev (Wondering Womble), Colin (Colin Tonkasdad), Chris and Sarah (Yorkshire Vanlife).. Like I said – we were huddled!! Haha.. it was a tight squeeze under there but great to finally meet these great people whose antics we’ve been watching for ages. More people rolled in as we chatted and more hugs were shared and stories told.
Another thing I love about having a van are these people I find myself lucky to be stuck in a damp field in Northallerton with – not a bad person amongst them, everyone greets you like we’ve all been friends for years and years. We all jump straight into conversations as we know what the others have been up to and all are interested in the same things – it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and continues to amaze me every single time. I’ll apologise now for anyone I don’t mention by name here, I don’t mean to name drop to exclude anyone at all but if I didn’t mention anyone this blog would be a bit boring “I was talking to thingymibib from whatsitsface..” plus if I can plug the guys with You Tube Channels you can go visit them too and see this Bash from every angle!
As we stood chatting we played the game “Are they going to get stuck on their way in” game.. Thankfully Dan was on hand with his truck to drag anyone in who did – The Wooleycod Wanderers took it on the chin and left the van stuck in the mud and came up to say Hi while they waited for some help. Everyone’s spirits were high, probably because everyone has been looking forward to the weekend for AGES!! Much of Friday evening was spent greeting new arrivals from around the campfire area and drinking – my kind of Friday. Mevi brought a second Poo Picker with him around tea time and parked behind us – a space was left for Mr Virgoe who was stuck at work and was going to miss the Friday (booooooooo!) Ash (Pollard), Marie and CJ (Project Amber) had parked up and before we knew it the fire was being lit, darkness had descended and coffees were swapped for something a bit more appropriate. Liam (the Terrible) had also arrived and as we all were wandering around chatting to what felt like everyone (there was a cracking turnout!!) I ended up walking into a conversation he was having with Mevi, John, Jay, Holly and Hannah (Tiny Pirates) which was one I’d never really anticipated!! Haha.. we were all sat in the gutter for that one – I’ll let you pop over to Liams channel to see his video of the Bash for further info!
I was a lightweight and took myself off to bed about midnight with John following at about 1.30.. The privilege of being parked around the fire also meant we had the privilege of listening to the laughter and conversations until everyone decided to go to bed.. Not a complaint from me as it was ridiculously entertaining from the comfort of my bed – haha..
Saturday morning rolled around and so did a limping springer – it seems the little run off his lead on the Friday was a bit too much for him so Coop was on bed rest and treats, he was really struggling though bless him – it’s hard to keep a springer sat in one place though, especially on my old heart strings – he knows how to use his puppy dog eyes that pup does..it was such a shame he couldn’t run about as there were SOOOOO many dogs around that he would have loved to play with – he’d already recognised Lance from Ash Pollards meet up as well as Molly (Wear Away) and Bolsky, Louie, Strike and Joy.. So John or I had to stay by the Van a bit more than we’d like. As John had set up his wares on a tarp in front of the van anyway that was a little easier to do (funny how you can tell Van lifers as they are after the tarp as well as what’s on it! haha) We managed to clear a lot of stuff though and saw a lot of happy campers with some fab deals – this is what it’s all about.. Helping out where you can.
Thankfully the sun was shining so we popped our nice new chairs out and enjoyed a coffee in the sunshine while gabbing away to everyone who wandered over. I managed to have a nosey around soooo many vans it was brilliant – all through the day. I managed to see how Jane and Graham’s (Wooleycod Wanderers) conversion was going as last time it was a bed with some open cupboards and now it’s fantastic – apparently van tour will be coming the the Vanlife with Betty Boondocker channel as soon as they’ve finished so I won’t give too much away. Hannah gave me a tour around the Tiny Pirate van and it’s amazing how they fit 5 in there..! It’s fab! Also Holly and Jay’s van with their awesome end kitchen set up too.. Will from a little man in a little van showed me his.. well.. little van which is all kinds of awesome squeezed into the tiniest of spaces. There were loads of vans there and can’t wait for the chance to look around more next time (this fab van community is brill for nosey peeps though – haha)
We grabbed some lunch courtesy of Dave and the best butcher in the country as he’d brought us a lovely Steak Pie to cheer us up after the house news (anyone want to buy a house?) I’d had my Instant pot on the go for tea on the Friday with another go at the “Crack Chicken” (crack as in addictive.. I didn’t name it – the Americans did..) which was awesome!! We’d accumulated a few more chairs under our awning so had a little mothers meeting going on with people dipping in and out chatting, showing off bits of the van, asking about travels, talking about solar set ups with our shiny new folding panel draped over the windscreen of the van to give it it’s first run, and John was trying to get Kirsty’s laptop going so it was lovely to still get to sit and chat in the sunshine although we did have to keep pulling the bit for sale further under the canopy when it started spitting off and on..
There was a raffle ticket sale to raise funds which was drawn later on in the day – those with drones were flying them around – at one point I think there might have been 6 or 7 up at the same time, the kids (all chatty, happy, windswept, slightly damp, without a care in the world) were playing in the Sandpit that Kirsty and Purdie had installed in a quiet corner of the field but kept popping back to throw a ball for an errant dog or grab a drink from their van. It was a veritable hub of activity with one common denominator amongst all the faces – smiles. Groups of people stood together laughing and joking, welcoming anyone who walked by top join in. These groups had an ebb and flow to them with people moving from one to another to another with drinks in hand and an abundance of smiles. It was the kind of gathering where just sitting and watching was almost as good as standing and chatting. Now I don’t “do” You Tube that much, John usually recommends things that I’d like to watch but having seen almost all of these guys before and seeing lots of their watchers and subscribers milling around getting the chance to chat and ask questions face to face instead of over the ether, I was kind of in awe of it all – of all these people from all over the UK (and I’m sure I heard some American accents too..!) all coming together because we all like to spend time in vans.
Bellies started rumbling and we noticed that for the second time that day someone was walking up the field with PIZZA.. Well that helped choose what we wanted for tea – Greg Virgoe and Lou had turned up at this point after a bit of an epic drive so easy tea was the choice of most. Around our van sat about 20 people and looking about we could see others already eating so I made a quick shout out to see who wanted pizza and ended up phoning in the biggest order i’d ever made. The pizza place were very helpful considering we were making up our own menu as we went and the delivery guy even drove into the field to drop off the massive stack of boxes he’s brought – I bowed down in adulation of the bringer of food and he was tipped generously – haha.. This also proved a point of how to shut up a bunch of YouTubers.. FOOD! It was very good pizza and the chip score was 6 if I remember rightly.
As we were eating dusk decided to start to show – we had a cracking sunset over the stone circle (i’m sure there are photos of it somewhere) and as the light grew dim the sound of a fiddle could be heard around the campfire. It was drowned out at first by the buzzing of drones as who’d want to miss the spectacle of a sunset from above. Before long the sound of drums accompanied the fiddler and more chairs were pulled up around the fire. Kirsty and Purdie broadcast live from the roof of Liams’ van while we all playfully heckled from below. They had a good walk around chatting while live which was good because I think that’s the only audio they managed to capture of the weekend due to technical failure of their mic (go see their video though as they’ve recovered brilliantly with a musical montage!!)
Lots of beer and dancing around the fire was had – Mevi put on a special show for us all at Kirsty’s request which was captured on about 60 million cameras – haha. I was a lightweight again and took myself off to bed just before 12 when in reality it would have been easier to stay up – these Vanners are hardcore people!!!!! It was about 6am before they all went to bed and even then one person (who shall remain nameless) didn’t quite make it to their bed and spent the night in a chair by the fire which was still smoldering slightly when I checked at 6.30.
We were up at about 8.30 I think (bit of a blur really) and popped out to check on everyone with a MASSIVE cup of coffee.. There were some rather tired looking green faces around on Sunday thats for sure – it sounded like everyone was having such a fab time as the laughter continued for hours – I just wish we could have heard the joke too! (Kirsty told me with certainty that it probably wasn’t so funny in the cold light of day!! haha)
After giving Cooper an all over massage to help with his leg and a quick reiki session from Jo, he was managing to walk around a bit so we paid a few more visits to vans and waved off a few that were leaving early. A group of us who had to get home (so jealous of those who managed to stay and extra night or not have to rush off at all – we’ll be one of those soon enough!) decided to stop for some lunch at a local pub with a big car park then all set off our own way afterwards. I managed to try a traditional Yorkshire favourite of Parmo with added jalapenos which was epic! A good Gadget Gammon Gauge at 7 and a chip score of 7 saw us off nicely.
And there it was – the end of the weekend. Such a brilliant get together of incredibly kind, funny like minded individuals, what more could you possibly ask for..?
(p.s. It took John and I 3 days to get over the weekend – I think we’re getting old!!! hahaha)
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