Beautiful Berwick, our Haven gem of a Sun £9.50 Holiday

It's hard to know quite where to start when thinking of the holiday from which we've just returned dear reader and you might be forgiven for thinking we've been somewhere terribly exotic when you look at this photo, I'll try my best to take you on the journey with us on our Sun £9.50 holiday to Haven, Berwick, in Northumberland

I can honestly say that I didn't have huge expectations of our Monday to Friday caravan break, I'd paid £62ish with The Sun plus another £70ish for entertainment passes, linen hire and a £20 pet supplement for Holly the beagle and I really didn't know what to expect.

I've never been one for caravan holidays but after Looby and I spent 4 nights in Ugly Betty last year in Hereford I thought it was worth a try and it definitely was, from the moment we arrived and saw the immaculately kept caravan park which is nestled on the cliff tops of 2 sheltered coves of white sands made from ground shells in  beautiful Berwick I knew that we had gotten ourselves an absolute bargain.

The caravan, one of Havens standard accommodation offerings was clean, modern and cosy during the day, it was colder than the actual North Pole during the nights and when we go back I am definitely going to be hiring a space heater.  Last night for example I slept in 2 layers of clothes, a huge cardigan, 3 quilts and a hat and I just about had a great nights sleep!  There was a fire in the caravan but it really only kept a small part of the caravan warm and it's no surprise that Abigail chose to sleep on the sofa closest to the fire last night. Obviously though it's warmer in the summer evenings so it might not be as much of an issue but I would pack a hot water bottle just in case.  I do think it's a shame that you can't hire a nicer caravan just because you have a dog, I would have paid more to have one with central heating.

When we arrived we were told there was a leaky tap which would be fixed that evening or it may have already been fixed, I went back to reception on Wednesday to report that it was getting worse and was told that it would be fixed that evening, a repair man did appear and promised he would be back to fix it properly on Thursday but at the time of checkout on Friday it was still unfixed and getting worse all the time.

The wardrobe door was also broken having come off it's track and the extractor hood on the cooker didn't work which lead to me setting off the smoke alarm twice.  They really are just minor quibbles and for the most part for 4 whole days we did what we wanted, ate what we liked and walked many miles each day, it's good for the soul to have a break from the norm and that includes eating all those yummy but usually taboo foods!

The scenery of the surrounding coastline was for me the thing which made the holiday, I just adored every second of the copious amounts of walks with Holly every day, we walked early in the morning, mid morning, lunchtime, afternoon, after dinner and sometimes in the evenings as well, it's no wonder I was racking up 10k steps by 11am most days, it's just a shame it didn't counteract all of the sugar and pastries, haha!

Looby loved the swimming, the activities and the entertainment, she did fencing, water walking, retro party dancing, game playing, amusement arcading, swinging, climbing and lots and lots of sliding and I think if you have kids then that's the joy of a Haven holiday, there's literally things to do nearly every minute of the day.  Looby particularly loved Funstars Go Live in the evenings and I think we went every night, Abigail came with us a couple of evenings but she mostly lounged about with Holly or on her own or did the being teenage and angry thing!  I asked her why she asked for money so often, she said, it's my age, that's what we do!  I don't think she's coming with us during summer but she did say she might come for a weekend which will be handy if it's just Berwick as it's only 45 minutes on the train.

I took some time to contemplate live, the universe and everything and came to the conclusion that Looby, Holly and I need more holidays, more adventures and so during term times I need to really work at making my wedding photography and portrait photography businesses really blossom, it's taken me several months to get to the point where I am enjoying work again, I suppose not just work but also life.  Huge life events take a long time to get over and the healing process does seem to be well on it's way for me, I found I enjoyed all of the time on my own with Holly when we were away, I felt like better company to myself and Looby and I had a big chat about how I would have to work extra hard so that we could take the time away and have many holidays, suffice to say if you would like to speak to me about shoooting your wedding or portraits this summer please do get in touch

For now I am going to have a nice hot bath and enjoy the feeling of being warm again!

(all of these photos were taken with the awesome iPhone6 and edited in Instagram and yes I will be ordering prints)