On Friday 31st July, a collection of Club CamperKing members made their way cross country to the meet in the beautiful New Forest for our annual Club CamperKing New Forest Meet. We once again teamed up with the Caravan and Motorhome Club to stay at their pop-up site on the Beaulieu Estate.
With warm weather and clear skies, Friday got off to a great start. Throughout the day, CamperKing campervans were arriving on site, Club CamperKing members were setting up their pitches, and everyone was mingling and relaxing.
Shortly after arriving and getting our pitch set up, the CamperKing staff started with the preparation for the evening's entertainment: a welcome BBQ! We cooked over 60 burgers, 4kgs of pasta, and prepped snacks and sides ready for the hungry campers. Judging by how quickly people were up for seconds, everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. After dinner, everyone gathered for drinks and chatted well into the night. There was a lovely buzz of people sharing stories of travels and their plans for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday was a day of exploring for the members. Some went on a bike ride, others drove or got the bus to explore the surrounding areas, and a large group went on a walk with their dogs, stopping at the local pubs on route. In the evening, CamperKing hosted a quiz, in which everyone in each campervan competed to win a £50 shop voucher. Little did they know, there was also a consolation prize for last place - a Club CamperKing lettuce. After a few different rounds, some unexpected ‘get to know me’ questions based on myself and two tie-breaker questions, we finally crowned our winners, and announced who came in last place. Congratulations to both of the teams!
Whilst the weather was a bit of a wash out on Sunday, a planned trip to the National Motor Museum was the ideal place to be, not just because it’s indoors! Just a five minute walk away, the world-famous museum has one of the finest collections of cars, motorcycles and motoring memorabilia in the world, with everything from the earliest motor carriages to classic family saloons on display. This was enough to keep us busy for hours. We also visited Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House and the Ground & Gardens during the day on Sunday, all of which was included with our entry.
Monday quickly came around and we were up and packed away to drive home, ready for the next adventure.
This was the first Club event that I not only attended, but also led, and as it was the biggest Club meet so far, it made the weekend even more exciting.
It was a pleasure to meet and spend time with everyone. I hope everyone who attended enjoyed their time as much as I did. I look forward to meeting everyone again on future Club CamperKing events.
Here’s what some of our attendees had to say about the trip:
“We did the open top bus tour on Saturday which was really great. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Fun weekend, shame about the weather.” - Ros Tildesley
“It was a great weekend. The sun shone on Saturday, which made for a great day out at Beaulieu. It's much more than a motor museum. It was great to get so many campervans together and to make new friends. I think the Saturday BBQ was a good idea and the drinks in your CamperKing awning was a belter. Well done.” - Rick Nikolic
“What a fantastic weekend with all of our fellow CamperKing friends. We had a brilliant time with lots to do as well as just having chill out time. The CamperKing team provided a great welcoming BBQ and the light hearted quiz gave us all time to meet, chat and laugh... Looking forward to the next event.” - Dave & Sue Hypson in Vinny
“Had a great few days with like-minded people. BBQ and quiz nights were very enjoyable. Had a fab bike ride taking in some of the lovely local area including Brockenhurst and Lymington. This is our third trip, we would highly recommend coming along.” - Joy & Adam
“What can I say, fabulous weekend and so great as an Ambassador getting to know some of our Club Camperking members. It's like one big family sharing our travels, experience and knowledge about the transporters that bring us all so much joy in so many different ways. One thing that seemed to come up time and time again whilst out chatting with some of the members was that they wished they had purchased their Transporter sooner and most certainly had no regrets!!!! I want to thank the CamperKing team who put in so much effort with the BBQ, quiz and bringing along all the merchandise, but more importantly, making everyone feel very welcome. Great experience, one most certainly to be repeated by myself and of course Mr Banner!!!!” - Trudi Fletcher
“The thing I enjoy the most about CK events is getting to catch up with old friends and make new ones, and this weekend was no different. A fab BBQ, Erin’s quiz night and loads of wandering around admiring everyone’s vans and set ups, and this time also laughing together in the face of the best British summer weather! Luckily Saturday was warm and dry so a gang of us went on a bit of a pub crawl disguised as a long dog walk, and explored the Beaulieu Estate, some local countryside and found a couple of cracking pubs while the dogs also made friends and looked for muddy puddles! Shame about most of the weather but 50 CK members in a field will always be fun!” - Damon Largent
“It was lovely to finally meet up with fellow CamperKing members and put names to faces and chat about vans, compare notes and anecdotes and to pick up merchandise. The quiz was fun the welcome BBQ was a great idea” - Tim and Sue
Behind the scenes, I am now busy planning more exciting trips and meet ups. Keep an eye on the website and socials for updates on next events. We would love to see you there!
Want to be a member of the Club and join us on future events? Join here