May Day Family Fofanny Fiesta 30 Apr/1st May

[RedLeader]

It's been a quiet start to the year, it's time for some outdoors fun. I have a young'un who's absolutely itching to get camping. So this May Day bank holiday weekend I'm aiming to take her for her first camp. Plan is to go somewhere easily accessible for kids, I'm thinking of the wood at Fofanny Reservoir where the Mourne Way comes through.

What : Family Camp
When : Sat/Sun 30th Apr / 1st May
Where : Fofanny Reservoir

I'm saying Fiesta but realistically, that's because Family Fofanny Fiesta sounds clever but I'm really just thinking of chilling around the fire and letting the kids cook sausages and toast marshmallows etc. If anyone wants to bring a Piñata and Quesadillas or sit around and talk about Ford motor cars then crack on

Everyone's welcome with or without kids but we'll want to keep it kid friendly. Obviously if the weather looks dubious closer to the time then plans might change.

Please remember to read and accept the Safety & Responsibility notice if you want to come. You can find it here:
Safety & Responsibility

Potential camp spot:

[Dowser]

Count me in..! My kids have been asking me to take them camping for months, but the weather has been awful 

Everyone's welcome with or without kids but we'll want to keep it kid friendly.

I guess that means I wont be bringing my favourite toasting forks 

[fourman]

Gonna try and make this one with the youngster on tow , will be good to catch up with you guys again.

[torp]

Redleader hopefully myself plus one if that's OK

[Heggs]

Sounds great, I was going to bring one or two of my kids camping this weekend. Only thing is, my eldest has a sore ankle at the minute. Would there be much of a walk? If it's not far from the car then we can take it slow and you can count me in!

[torp]

make that plus 2

[RedLeader]

Great stuff guys. Firstly, we're keeping a bit of an eye on the weather. It's been unseasonably cold and the Met Office can't seem to decide what is happening at the weekend rain-wise. I'm thinking we'll make a decision closer to the day when we can see a rainfall radar. Assuming it's only showery then I'd suspect we'll still go. Maybe if anyone who has a tarp could bring it then we could get a bit of a decent shelter up.

Heggs : It depends on where you want to park. If you look at the map above, there is a car park at the bottom that we're thinking of (it's at the Ott Track).  It's about half a mile from there to the camp spot and the last part is down a decent hill. It's basically following the red line of the Mourne Way. You could also park just on the road at the top of the forest, that's where we all parked at Xmas. However, none of those are secure car parks so everyone would be assuming their own parking risks. The closest secure parking is at Meelmore Lodge which is a bit further away. You can PM me if you want any more specific info.

[torp]

Red
Ive got a spare tarp if you want me to bring that with the poles

[Heggs]

My daughters ankle has gotten worse so going to have to give this one a miss. Maybe next time 
Red Leader, thanks for the info you posted
Enjoy yourselves guys!

[torp]

Well Red is it on or off mate

[RedLeader]

I'm thinking I'll still crack on. The weather looks like a chilly-ish weekend with showers through Sat afternoon, dry Saturday night and showers again Sunday morning. Think I can deal with a bit of rain on Saturday afternoon, it's to be okay in the night and if it's too wet Sunday morning I'll just head for bacon and eggs at Meelmore Lodge The wind is also in the SW which should mean Fofanny gets a bit of shelter.

Forecast here:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/gceu3yrn3#?fcTime=1461974400

As Dowser sensibly pointed out, it's the Tour of Ulster on Sunday morning with cyclists coming by on the Slievenaman Road at around 11am so I'll probably not leave my car on the road. I'll park there, get the kit and kids down, then take it to the car park. Though I suppose if it was okay Sunday morning we could go watch the race come by.

I'd say I'll aim to be setting up camp around 3pm.

What does everyone think?

Well Red is it on or off mate

[torp]

sounds good red however my plus 2 are not able to make it so will just be myself, you still want an extra tarp?

[RedLeader]

Yeah, that would be good if you could. I'll have one but another would be handy.

sounds good red however my plus 2 are not able to make it so will just be myself, you still want an extra tarp?

[torp]

no problem, hammock or tent advised

[RedLeader]

Either would likely be fine but a tent would be warmer. Is defo a cold snap at the moment. Plus if it's showery in the afternoon, hammocks seem to take much longer to put up

no problem, hammock or tent advised