We've definitely caught the camping bug again! This time, we stayed at Still Acres Touring and Camping Park, as we wanted to stay close to home again in case Winnie wasn't a fan. Still Acres is about an hour and a half from us and the journey was really easy in the end despite the train strikes, the Epsom Derby and the FA Cup Final all happening whilst we were travelling. A quick jot down the M25! Find my full review of the campsite below:

Pros

- A relaxing adults only atmosphere. I would say Still Acres is the most boujee campsite we have stayed at. When we first pulled up we were greeted with gates, we spoke through the intercom and were buzzed through and we drove down past all of the gorgeous grounds and pulled up at the campsite. We were given a clicker for if we needed to leave the grounds in exchange for a drivers licence. As usual, we selected an adults only campsite and it was beautifully quiet and peaceful, just what we needed after a rather stressful week!

- Super big, grass pitches which are assigned to you. I loved that the pitches were super big, well kept grassy areas big enough for all of your camping gear. You are also able to park on pitch which again, massive plus in my book! The pitches are also pre-assigned to you which I loved. You don't have to worry about ending up with a rubbish pitch as they're all the same size. The only thing which slightly differs is the amount of sun each pitch gets (see below).

- The facilities!! I absolutely cannot fault the facilities. There was a seperate bin store away from the main facilities with recycling and immaculate toilets which catered for all. There were 3 toilets and 3 showers for both males and females with lots of added extras. The showers were lovely and warm and each cubicle had a seperate section for getting dressed. All the cubicles, both shower and toilet, were really roomy and spacious. My favourite little extra was the playing of the radio in the toilets, when I went for a wee at 4.30am, I was jamming out to Guns N Roses! A side note, they also had a 2 acre enclosed space for dogs to run around lead free which was amazing!!

- Check out was at 11.30. This gave us plenty of time to get our bits together, pack down and also have a lie in!

         

Cons

Honestly there were next to no cons about Still Acres Touring and Camping Park. The two cons below are just me being particularly nitpicky.

- The thunderbugs. I don't really think this is an issue but with horses next door the thunderbugs came out in force when everyone began cooking their tea - unavoidable really and you expect bugs when camping!

- Pitches on the left hand side don't get much sun in the evening. When we return to Still Acres Touring and Camping Park, we would probably request to stay at the top of the field or to the right as it got a little chilly in the evening with no sun on the pitch at all. We did however bask in the glorious sun all day long so a break from the sun wasn't the worst thing in the world!

         

Overall

The above pictures are of Winnie absolutely loving life at Still Acres Touring and Camping Park. We absolutely hands down LOVED Still Acres. We wish we'd booked in for longer and we will definitely be returning. The facilities are second to none and £60 for two nights with electric hook up is more than reasonable. I've paid more per night for campsites with portaloos! We can't wait to book our next stay.

Overall, I award Still Acres Touring and Camping Park, a rare 5 tents out of 5.

We've been looking after Winnie, my family dog, for the last month so decided to book a camping trip over the end of May bank holiday. We were very limited on choices as we only booked at the start of May, but we wanted somewhere close to home due to the fact this was Winnie's first time camping. Find my full review of the campsite below:

Pros

- A relaxing atmosphere. We had a really really relaxing time (bar the cons) at Meadow Tree Farm. We literally chilled in the sun, reading and in the evenings cooked up a feast, had some drinks and played Uno / Card games. Lush time. 

- Adults only campsite. Matt and I like a peaceful little campsite and Meadow Tree Farm definitely was peaceful. However, there was a strong weed presence which (I assume) you'd not get if it was a child friendly campsite.

- Check out was at 11.30. This gave us plenty of time to get our bits together, pack down and also have a lie in!

- Dog friendly. Dogs are allowed off lead which is good if you're a dog lover like us! For the most part there weren't any unruly dogs (except our Winnie being territorial!!) but we did have a couple of dogs run up and join us.

                  

Cons

- The facilities. This is a massive con for me. 3 toilets and ONE shower for a campsite which has in excess of 50 pitches is absolutely MENTAL. The management did their best to keep them clean, but with over 100 people staying on the Saturday night, they ended up filthy. Admittedly the pitch up description did state that this was a basic campsite but quite honestly, the facilities were sub far and super SUPER basic. I was so thankful that there was a Waitrose within a 10 minute drive (I'd have settled for a Tesco or Asda but Waitrose was the closest!) and we could use their toilets. They did try with the toilets - hand san and soap, loo roll etc provided but it wasn't great at all. The shower was awful, and a shower curtain is super unhygienic for the number of campers. Not impressed at all! 

- Limited pitches for electric hook up (for tents). If you have a tent, you're only allowed to pitch up on one side of the tree line. Unfortunately this meant the only real pitches which were accessible were amongst the trees and on the less grassy (and more preferable) camping areas. It also meant that our tent got covered in tree bark and other detritus.

- You can't park pitch side. We weren't under any pretenses that this was offered as it clearly states on Pitch Up that you can't park next to your pitch. It's just a bit of a bugger if you have a tonne of stuff which you then have to lug through the tree line to the bit where tents could pitch up.

- There were no recycling facilities. This was a little weird to me. Every campsite we've been to have been so stringent with recycling. We separated our rubbish, to find at the end of our stay (there is only one bin location which is by reception, and again, didn't fancy lugging it to and fro everyday) that there was no recycling facility. In this day and age recycling is a must, no?

- Quiet time set at 11.30pm. Despite having a really lush relaxing time, we did have a noisy bunch of people behind us (the rest of the campsite was totally respectful) and it was quite frustrating to have them hyena laughing into the night as they didn't respect the quiet at 11.30pm rule - by this time it's really hard to enforce quiet time as people are fairly drunk by 11.30pm!

Overall

We had a really relaxing time but unfortunately the cons outweighed the positives of Meadow Tree Farm. I'm not sure I'd recommend to people planning to stay more than one night but definitely good if you're looking for an inexpensive weekend during the summer months.

Overall, I award Meadow Tree Farm Camping, 2 tents out of 5.

I was recently sent some beers from Nirvana Brewery just in time for dry January. Although we ultimately failed (on several occasions) we did enjoy switching to low/ no alcohol alternatives throughout January and sampling the beers from Nirvana was no different.

As a bit of background to the Nirvana Brewery, they are an independent brewery and are the UK's only dedicated no-alcohol brewery which I think is ace. I love that their ethos revolves around those who choose not to drink being included in social situations. I've certainly felt pressure before at social occasions to drink previously so I'm all for this message!

Now... onto the bit you're waiting for... the results of the taste test!

We were sent the Hoppy Pale Ale, the Bavarian Helles Larger and the Dark and Rich Stout.

My personal favourite was the Hoppy Pale Ale as I found it super light and refreshing. It would be the perfect drink to kick back with on a summer evening whilst taking in the evening summer rays.Super cool and refreshing.

My boyfriend, Matt, was more partial to the Bavarian Helles Lager. It won a Great Taste award in 2020 and I can see why! I enjoy the biscuit type flavour and Matt agreed.

We were also sent the Dark & Rich Stout, however, I wasn't really a fan but that probably stems from the fact I am not a fan of stout in general!

These beers are available to buy on the Nirvana Brewery website, and I have to say, they are really good value. The Bavarian Helles Larger retails for £45 for a case of 24 beers - this works out to be just £1.80 for an independently brewed and good quality beverage!

Have you tried Nirvana No/Low alcohol beers before? I'd love to know!

XOXO Molly

AD:|| Please note, I was sent these beers to try by Nirvana Brewery, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own and I was under no obligation to post regardless of whether I enjoyed them or not.

A quick post from me to reflect on what a shitter of a year 2022 was and to wish everyone a lovely Christmas and New Year! 

Make sure you spend time with your family and loved ones and enjoy all of the roasties and PIBs you can eat! 

Last year I wrote, "Let's hope 2022 is better than the last two years...", and I laugh at my naivety. However, I still hope 2023 is better than 2022!

I won't be posting again this year but I'll still be active on socials as usual.