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Hey guys,

Been a month since I went away, and have been so busy with work I haven't had chance to come on here and tell you how everything went.

We got the tent (a Vango Orchy 500) up eventually (with a little help from bf's dad - luckily they go on holiday to the same place and we were struggling a little).  It is a little awkward just with getting everything pegged out tight enough.  One thing I can't seem to get right are the corners at the front (e.g. the one after the window going from the front door towards the side door), it always seems to pull tight and wrinkle the mudwall...must be a tensioning thing, but I couldn't seem to sort it while we were away, but it doesn't cause any problems.  I think this may also have been the problem for the mudwall that you can pull up when the doors are closed to prevent water leaking in not standing up, but laying flat on the floor.  Luckily no water came in.

The tent itself is fine, love the skylights and the big windows, especially the one with the vent at the top which lets you have either vent, or just window or both.  Great that the windows have covers for privacy at night.
We left out the partition inbetween the bedrooms to give us more room, plus I think it may be a squeeze to get a double airbed in one half.

We didn't exactly have any leaks, although there were a few drips from catching the inside of the tent with the roof of the bedroom.  This caused water to run down the top of the bedroom down the side...this then leaked through a seam joining the bedroom to the groundsheet.  Luckily it was a tiny dribble, and I wiped it all up from both sides, we were more careful not to touch the bedroom roof in fear of catching the tent after that, and we had no more problems.

Managed to get away with quite good weather, was lovely the first 4 days we were there, absolutely roasting.  The rest of the following week was mixed, and there were a few warm days (we managed to get on the beach quite a few times), and towards the end of the week we got some rain (some heavy) and thunderstorms.

The tent didn't leak once (excluding us touching it that previous time), even in the really heavy rain.  One night the wind got up and was quite strong, not gale proportions, but the sort that you would imagine the tent would move quite a lot.
The front of the tent moved a little more than I would have liked, but I think we need practice at pegging it out a bit better, but it wasn't drastic.  The bedroom (which was facing the direction the wind was coming from didn't move at all, which was fantastic, as there is nothing that scares me more than being in a tent when it's raining a lot and the tent is really moving!

Went on a caravan and camping club rally, the toilets were lovely, there was fresh water and chem. disp. point (which unfortunately some people didn't hose out properly after emptying their toilets ).  Bargain at £7 a night, we had showers when we went to see bf's parents at their caravan site after going on the beach , cheeky I know, but it was only a couple of times, and there's nothing to stop anyone going onto the site.

We had some really quiet neighbours, an oldish couple that never said hi or anything...they did eventually, and then went home that day!
There was an inconsiderate man (and family) who was put just above us, and who parked his huge 4x4 in front of his caravan like he was towing.  This left little room for me to park my car infront of the tent which I was intending to do if it got really windy as it wasn't pegged quite right.  One more thing that annoyed me about him was that he had a rubbish bin infront of his caravan outside - this resulted in a starburst sweet bag ending up inbetween his caravan and our tent, a cob bag next to my tent and a bag that looked like it had had beetroot in it down the side.  Later I noticed that it looked like someone had emptied their leftovers over a little fence next to his van that surrounded a nature pond (it is a primary school), I'm sure the kids would love to find that when they came back!
I meant to mention it to the stewards on the way home, but completely forgot!

There was a little cut in one of the window covers which I didn't do, Yeoman's couldn't get hold of another tent, so they gave me some tape to fix it for free (was £4).  You do get squares of fabric to mend the tent, but nothing to put it on with.  The tape will be a different colour the window cover but it doesn't really matter as long as I can stop it getting caughts and possibly getting any worse.  I might cut it into a pretty shape like a flower. lol

I also just wanted to just say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to my threads before I went away and for all the helpful advice.
Thank you

Charlotte
xxxx

So glad you had a good time. Sounds like you had a bit of allsorts. Have you planned your next trip yet?

You should do a tent and site review.

I think I will, maybe another day as I am knackered from a full day at work, and I have to be up at 6.30 to go to the rspca for the summer fayre I've organised!

I've just edited my post, so there are a few extra bits I missed out.

I wouldn't mind nipping up to Filey again (we went to Flamborough last Sept for the weekend), so I might see if bf is up for a couple of days.

Mainly though we just go for the main holiday in the summer due to work.

We went to that area this August. Really enjoyed it.  Love your profile pics btw.

thanks :)

If we go to Filey we'll probs go on Filey Brigg site which I used to go on when I was little, if we go to Flamborough, I might go to Thornwick Bay (again which I used to go to when I was little), as I would like to be closer to the sea than I was at Grange Farm and although it is more expensive, the facilites will be better.

So glad everything went well for you and the Orchy held up well. The view with the windows open is really quite panoramic making the tent seem very spacious.I've fitted new poles to replace the ones that split on my Orchy, so hopefully I'll get a chance to try it out before the season finishes.

Hope that you have many more good times in the 500.