Caravans

 

We’re slowly making the move into downsizing and moving into a retirement flat in town to be nearer the shops and also the hospital (just in case), and using the money left over to buy a holiday home on the Isle of Wight.  We’ve started the ball rolling by organising for central heating to be installed so that our house is more saleable, and workmen will be invading every room in our house during the week commencing 18th July.  Stevie is not looking forward to being uprooted, but needs must.  The kids have flown the nest, and more and more we’re looking forward to spending  weeks at a time or long weekends on the Island.

Last week in-between attending the festival we spent a considerable time visiting holiday parks.  The old chalets of our youth have gone, and now there are what the sales bods call ‘Holiday Homes’.  These appear to me to be large static UPVC caravans with decking, but we were assured by the staff that ‘Holiday Homes’ are their new name.  They come in various sizes up to a large lodge, which is more like a bungalow, and apparently the smaller caravans which fit on the back of gas guzzlers have changed their name and are called ‘Tourers’ (the kind that we saw can be seen in the picture above).

It was all news to us.  We were shown around many holiday homes/caravans until we were in fact ‘caravanned out’, but were impressed with their quality and realised that they weren’t like the old 1950’s caravans we remembered from our youth.  They are like little home from homes, some with en-suite bathrooms, double glazing, and central heating. The holiday parks are not residential, and so we cannot have post sent there, but owners can stay in their homes for as long as they like.  There are even owners’ social functions throughout the year to attend.  Owners can also sub-let when they are not staying there, or let their home out privately.  It all seems too good to be true.

There are 4 holiday parks on the Isle of Wight, all selling similar homes but all with very different prices.  It all comes down to whether you want a panoramic view or not.  If you do, you will be paying three times the price for the same home that you would on a cheaper site.  We are caravan experts now, and can witter on for hours about decking, underskirts, awnings, sub-letting, site fees, and premium pitches. We were won over by one sales lady who was very good at her job, and we plan to buy sometime in the near future when our house has been modernised and sold.

Our sons and their families have suddenly expressed a keen interest in holidaying on the Isle of Wight.  Has anyone had experience of buying a holiday home?  I’d be interested to hear your opinions.  When I asked the sales lady what owners or holidaymakers complain about, her only answer was that a couple had complained that there were fish in the sea when they were trying to swim!