Adventures in Uma by Zara aged 7 My Mummy was lucky enough to win first prize in the draw at my school fete of a weekend away in Uma. Everyone was really pleased for us and said how lucky we were. I counted down the days until Friday 2nd August came along. With pilly (my favourite pillow) and Sydney my favourite teddy bear packed I was good to go. My Mummy, Daddy and I drove to Okehampton super excited and even though Daddy got lost we eventually managed to find O’Connors. We met with some lovely people who showed us around Uma.
She was bright yellow like a big banana and as soon as I saw her I knew we were going to have a fab time. I couldn’t believe how old Uma was – but not as old as my Daddy! We set off down the hill from O’Connors and at the bottom Daddy got stuck and nearly ran into another car. He couldn’t change the gears and said it was like stirring porridge. Everyone was looking at Daddy wondering what he was doing so I kept my head down in the back seat.
Eventually Daddy managed to drive off and we headed off on our adventure to St Ives which is one of our very favourite places. I was Daddy’s navigator in the back seat. The only thing we overtook on the way was a man on a bike. It was really funny because every time we saw another VW campervan the people in it waved at us and so we quickly did the same back. After how long I don’t know we arrived at the campsite in St Ives, Daddy had never driven quite so slowly before! I heard Daddy saying to Mummy that he didn’t know how to get Uma into reverse.
He kept trying but nothing happened. We were parked outside the entrance to the camp site and once again everyone was looking at us wondering what Daddy was doing. He got on the emergency hotline to O’Connors and Penny told Daddy how to do it. Phew! Daddy was then able to drive into our pitch on the campsite and we could give Uma a well earned rest for the night.
We left Uma on the camp site and went into St Ives for our favourite fish and chips before coming back to have a midnight feast in Uma. Because Mummy and Daddy hadn’t put the awning up it was a bit cramped for room. I tried to sleep in the top bunk but in the end Daddy went up there and I slept with Mummy on the lovely comfy bed. In the morning Daddy came head first down from his bunk like he was doing a handstand.
We put our awning up which meant we had much more room in Uma to play. Daddy drove Uma into St Ives to the rugby club where once again he caused chaos trying to get Uma to go backwards. A nice old man came over to help saying he could do it as he’d driven a campervan in the 1970’s. He sat in the driver’s seat to show Daddy what to do and then let Daddy park it. The man then went back to his car and drove off waving at us with a big smile.
After he had gone I saw a big pair of shinny glasses on the front seat which I realised the kind man had accidentally left when helping Daddy. I felt sorry for this nice man who was only trying to help us and had now lost his glasses – bet he wasn’t smiling anymore! We spent the day in St Ives on Porthminster Beach having a fab time body boarding.
I even offered to help the lifeguards as well as I was drawn to their yellow boards. We had Cornish pasties for lunch and then went to our favourite place Sea Food Cafe to eat in the evening, I was even allowed diet coke! When we got back to the rugby club it was lovely to see Uma who had been parked up sun bathing all day, she seemed even brighter yellow. We drove back to the campsite and played games in Uma before going to bed.
It was a bit rainy that night but we were all snuggy buggy in Uma. On the Sunday we got up early and put all our things away into Uma before going back to Porthminster Beach. We left Uma at the top of a hill as we thought it might give her a bit of a shock trying to go down a big hill knowing that on the way back she would have to go up it! We were the ones who were tired not Uma. We went body boarding again and had a fab time in the sea.
We started our journey home after visiting St Michaels Mount. You can see me parking up by the sea. We then went to Newquay to see my Nanny so she could meet up with Uma. – she is 2 times as old as Uma. Wherever we went everyone was looking at Uma and waving at us. It made me feel really happy.
We then drove back to Okehampton to take Uma home. It was really sad to leave her but we had such a great time that weekend I didn’t want it to end. It was a fab adventure and one I want to do again with Mummy and Daddy very soon. All of the people at O’Connors were fab .They were so kind and helpful.
This was the best prize anyone could ever want. If you are thinking about going away in a campervan and like us have never done it before please do try it. It was something I will treasure forever. Going away with Mummy and Daddy, staying in Uma at night, playing games and driving around in her made me really happy. I’m a very lucky girl. THANK-YOU SO MUCH O’CONNORS. Jackie, Mike & Zara Fowkes
By Zara Fowkes
