Camping 2014 – Daily photos: Sight seeing.

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Even though we’ve stayed at the same place for most of my life (we calculated that we’ve only ever taken 8 years of my life off from camping in the same town annually), there are some spots we just have to visit. You know, just in case something has changed. You never know. One of these spots (which never changes) is the historic water wheel. Which is also a great place to drive to when you’ve started to lose the plot because your toddler won’t do day naps while you’re away and if he doesn’t sleep soon, you’re going to get really grumpy. So you chuck him into his car seat super quickly (before he even knows what’s happening), strap him in while he calls out for his shoes…”Shoes! Shoes!”

…And then you reply a little more menacingly than you intended, “We won’t need shoes where WE’RE GOING.”

When your toddler falls asleep almost instantly from the movement of your car, you head towards the water wheel and it’s a really nice place to sit and relax as you soak in the scenery. Without ever opening your car door, because you just cannot bear to wake your child who hasn’t napped in days. So you take photos through the windscreen and Instagram them to kill some time. Then you drive home and your child wakes up, wondering if he did indeed go anywhere. Job done.

We visited the water wheel twice in the same day, because later we wanted to show a couple of my mum’s lovely international relatives around. Oh well, I thought. The Little Mister will at least remember this time!