A Vantastic Weekend – the Scottish September Weekender at Solway View!

Home again now, after an absolutely brilliant weekend! An idea of mine, way back last year, came to fruition, and seemed to be enjoyed by all who attended. And the weather was really kind to us as well, a beautiful day on Saturday and dry on Sunday for the pack up. It was smiles all round, and farewell “toots” as folk headed off, surely a great success.

The idea came from back in 2020, as the official Owners’ Club Bongo Fury hadn’t managed to secure a venue for 2019, and with the Pandemic nothing happened during 2020. It was announced late that year that there wouldn’t be an official Bongo Bash in 2021 either, just too big a risk to book anything, and then getting a campsite that would accommodate was a struggle too, apparently. This was really disappointing, and I had been looking forward to a Bongo Bash! I decided late last year to put feelers out, and see if there might be an appetite for an unofficial meet up.

I needn’t have worried – of course there was!!

Now for a venue……

That was simple, I knew the perfect spot! Since our first Bongo adventure, we have been frequent visitors to Solway View Farm campsite. A beautiful spot on the Solway Coast, near the village of Borgue, and about 6 miles from Kirkcudbright, the site is owned and run by Neil and Patricia Pickens. They run a sheep farm next door, and they have set up and are continuously improving their wee campsite. There are spotless warm shower blocks, there’s a campers kitchen room with cookers and sinks, there’s outdoor pot wash facilities, and most pitches have hard standing on very generous pitches, their own picnic table, and even a fire pit! There are logs for sale, marshmallows to roast, a large dog exercise field, and even a Frisbee Golf course!!

While we were there back in April this year, I put the idea to Neil, and he was very agreeable. He offered to block book the weekend we arranged, and then all folk needed to do was get in touch with the campsite direct, pay a deposit, and the pitch was theirs. If we didn’t sell them all, then we would return the pitches left for general use. This we duly did, and I posted on the Facebook group with all the details. Ther was a veritable flurry of interest, and that was it – the ball was well and truly rolling!!

And so it came to the actual day! I had opted to drive down earlier in the day, planning to arrive around 2:30, and Lorraine would join me later, driving down in my car after she finished work. It felt strange, driving along on my own! Of course I’ve been away solo many times, but this was different, and despite the heavy traffic around Ayr typical of most Fridays, I arrived dead on my planned time. I drove to my designated pitch, passing waving Bongonauts as I went. I elected to pitch the awning myself ( as it turned out, Lorraine didn’t arrive until very much later due to traffic problems, so just as well!), and it actually went okay. Obviously it’s a big structure, and it did fight back a bit, but once I had the driveaway strip slid into place and the centre guyline out, it was straightforward enough. Buoyed by my success, I also pitched the canopy on the spare rail on the driver’s side of the van. I busied myself getting carpets down, hookup plugged in, and most importantly the coolbox plugged in! Done! Even on my own, approximately 45 minutes from arrival to sitting down.

A bit of mingling in the gathering dusk, and when Lorraine arrived, we joined our friends Kath and Heather in their posh wigwam for dinner. They had prepared a beautiful meal for us, chilli and rice, and I shared my favourite Tortillas round as accompaniment. Lovely!! And suddenly, it was night time! By 8:30 it was pitch dark, and a fine drizzle was falling. I posted to say we would see everyone in the morning, and we zipped ourselves into our awning for the night.

We turned in early-ish, Lorraine had a bit of a stressful week, and she was weary, and the excitement of getting the event off the ground had now worn off to leave a deep tiredness too. We slept, but fitfully, as the stiff wind flapped the canopy around a bit. It is a handy covering, but is very lightweight, and flaps a fair bit in high winds. We had a leisurely breakfast, and I showered before we toured the field to see the other campers. This took up the best part of the day, as we stopped to blether with everyone. There was a great “buzz” on the site, everyone enjoying the now sunny weather. Lorraine popped into town with Heather, I gave Ali Bongo a quick wash ( can’t help myself!), and we headed over to the campers’ room where it was raffle time!!

The raffle and hot dog stand were in aid of Kath’s African charity, and there were dozens of donated prizes. Pretty much everyone who bought tickets came away with something – from fog lights, to toilet roll, booze to After Eights. And the hot dogs were demolished!! At final count, £230 was raised, a brilliant amount for some Bongo friends, well done everyone!!

And then it was time for the main event – a pub-less pub quiz!!

The quiz was a fantastic success too, pretty much everyone at the campsite attended and joined in. There were several rounds of questions, and the “Moonies” team (by far the biggest team) won by a margin. Team “Bongolia” took the wooden spoon! But winners and losers were unimportant. Much hilarity, new friendships made, and a real sense of “Club” amongst the Bongo Owners . It was so satisfying to see it all unfold, and it just….worked. It was a relaxed, friendly, fun and entertaining weekend.

Sunday was home time, unfortunately, as both Lorraine and I had work to go to in the morning. We set to packing at a leisurely pace, with breaks for coffee and blethers with the other campers. All were smiling and complimentary about the weekend. Packing took far longer than normal, but it didn’t matter. Patricia, the campsite owner, came by for a chat too, and she was happy with how everyone had conducted themselves too. Eventually, packing complete, it was time to head off. Brunch in Kirkcudbright was the order of the day!! We both drove down to the busy town, the Sunday Market was in full flow by now as it was mid day. We managed to park up, and searched for a cafe, which we found just off the main village green. Some nice filled rolls and coffee later, we climbed aboard our seperate vehicles for the drive home. This passed without incident, and we arrived back at Galloway Towers around 3:30. We unpacked the van, Lorraine started the washing machine on it’s way, and we sat down for a cuppa to reflect.

There was no doubt, the weekend had been a resounding success. The venue, Solway View, was just ideal. It’s quiet, out of town location gives it such a relaxing feel, and the views over the Solway are just stunning. Set in the Dark Skies area of Dumfries and Galloway make it perfect for star gazers when the skies are clear. There are well appointed facilities, spaced out pitches make it private, and the price structure is very reasonable. Neil and Patricia worked very hard to accommodate everyone, and in the end we had 18 Bongos attend. Vans of every age and condition were there, and while there were a couple of stunning Bongos ( and Fredas) there, I wouldn’t swap Ali Bongo for any of them! We were as always very comfortable, and the van was faultless on the journey to and from Borgue, around 90 miles each way.

Thanks to everyone who attended the weekend – you folk made it a great success. All I did was come up with the idea, and approached the campsite on behalf of the group. All the owners, partners, children and friends who came made it a great event. I don’t think there’s any doubt – same time and place next year!!

Happy trails, folks!!