CAMP SPARKLE 2008
Sep. 2nd, 2007 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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campsparkleCamp Sparkle 2008 will run from Friday February 29th to Friday March 7th. The accommodation we've booked is The Old Stables at Lyndhurst in the New Forest.
The 'main event' will be the first weekend as before, with 24 hour wall-to-wall sparkliness, fun and pixie stix. While we're sure that the rest of the week is going to be pretty damn sparkly too, we're also planning trips out from the cottage, etc.
The Place
The Old Stables is right in the centre of the village of Lyndhurst itself, which means that we'll have various pubs and restaurants and also local shops within walking distance.
There are plenty of pictures on the website to give you an idea of the cottage itself. For anyone concerned about the apparent lack of large-screen TV, I can assure you that we'll have one for the week, by one means or another. The cottage owners are looking at having a multimedia centre installed; if it isn't ready by then, Pen and I will hire a TV.
Within easy driving distance of Lyndhurst there are plenty of interesting places to visit, including lots of excellent historical sites, country walks, and the south coast. We'll be organising trips out for people who'd like an alternative to 24 hour sparkly dancing boys. (E.g. a sparkly dancing boy-themed picnic at Stonehenge.)
The Price
Accommodation at The Old Stables is charged at a fixed price per head, and therefore we can give a firm price right away.
The price for accommodation at The Old Stables will be £75 per person for the weekend only, or £87 for the full week (or part thereof if it includes the weekend). No one who responded to the previous poll suggested that they'd want to come for the latter part of the week only, but if this turns out to be the case for anyone then it can be arranged, and will be £56.
We haven't yet finalised the catering arrangements, but the most likely option is that Pen and I will provide a menu for the first weekend as before, adding a food budget for that to the base price; then depending on how people feel we will consider various options for the rest of the week. (Yes, we'll be polling!) Last time, food for the weekend cost £20 per head, and we expect this will be about the same.
Transport
A major consideration for the change of venue is better public transport and road access. Southampton is a mainline station, with direct trains from all over the country. National Express also run plenty of coaches to Southampton, and a few services into Lyndhurst itself. There is a regular and frequent bus service that runs between Southampton station and Lyndhurst village (the last bus from Southampton leaves there at 18:49, the first bus back in the morning leaves from Lyndhurst at 06:53). Lyndhurst is also easily accessible by road, being only a few miles from the M27.
In addition to these options, we plan to run a minibus from Stansted to the cottage on the opening Friday, and back again to Stansted the following Friday. If there is a demand for a group departure on the Monday or Tuesday, then there might be an additional run. We'll have the minibus at the house all week, to use for trips out, etc.
A registration post will follow soon, with exact details about when and how much you'll need to pay. For now we'd like an idea of how many people are planning to come, given the information here. Please fill in the poll, it really helps us to plan things as well as we can.
[Poll #1048944]
Please pimp this around, especially if you know anyone you think might like to come but who doesn't have this comm friended. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please leave them in the comments.
The 'main event' will be the first weekend as before, with 24 hour wall-to-wall sparkliness, fun and pixie stix. While we're sure that the rest of the week is going to be pretty damn sparkly too, we're also planning trips out from the cottage, etc.
The Place
The Old Stables is right in the centre of the village of Lyndhurst itself, which means that we'll have various pubs and restaurants and also local shops within walking distance.
There are plenty of pictures on the website to give you an idea of the cottage itself. For anyone concerned about the apparent lack of large-screen TV, I can assure you that we'll have one for the week, by one means or another. The cottage owners are looking at having a multimedia centre installed; if it isn't ready by then, Pen and I will hire a TV.
Within easy driving distance of Lyndhurst there are plenty of interesting places to visit, including lots of excellent historical sites, country walks, and the south coast. We'll be organising trips out for people who'd like an alternative to 24 hour sparkly dancing boys. (E.g. a sparkly dancing boy-themed picnic at Stonehenge.)
The Price
Accommodation at The Old Stables is charged at a fixed price per head, and therefore we can give a firm price right away.
The price for accommodation at The Old Stables will be £75 per person for the weekend only, or £87 for the full week (or part thereof if it includes the weekend). No one who responded to the previous poll suggested that they'd want to come for the latter part of the week only, but if this turns out to be the case for anyone then it can be arranged, and will be £56.
We haven't yet finalised the catering arrangements, but the most likely option is that Pen and I will provide a menu for the first weekend as before, adding a food budget for that to the base price; then depending on how people feel we will consider various options for the rest of the week. (Yes, we'll be polling!) Last time, food for the weekend cost £20 per head, and we expect this will be about the same.
Transport
A major consideration for the change of venue is better public transport and road access. Southampton is a mainline station, with direct trains from all over the country. National Express also run plenty of coaches to Southampton, and a few services into Lyndhurst itself. There is a regular and frequent bus service that runs between Southampton station and Lyndhurst village (the last bus from Southampton leaves there at 18:49, the first bus back in the morning leaves from Lyndhurst at 06:53). Lyndhurst is also easily accessible by road, being only a few miles from the M27.
In addition to these options, we plan to run a minibus from Stansted to the cottage on the opening Friday, and back again to Stansted the following Friday. If there is a demand for a group departure on the Monday or Tuesday, then there might be an additional run. We'll have the minibus at the house all week, to use for trips out, etc.
A registration post will follow soon, with exact details about when and how much you'll need to pay. For now we'd like an idea of how many people are planning to come, given the information here. Please fill in the poll, it really helps us to plan things as well as we can.
[Poll #1048944]
Please pimp this around, especially if you know anyone you think might like to come but who doesn't have this comm friended. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please leave them in the comments.
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 02:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 02:39 pm (UTC)Since I probably won't have moved yet by then it probably means Heathrow and not Stanstead for me, and depending on how long my mother is willing to take care of Lancecat I might combine Camp Sparkle with a visit to my sister in London this year too. I ticked that I would need a lift but I might be able to take the train to Southampton, it's too early to tell yet.
Squeeeee!!!!!
no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 02:58 pm (UTC)It's lovely, isn't it. We especially liked the dorm room -- perfect for midnight feats :-)
but I might be able to take the train to Southampton, it's too early to tell yet.
Trains to and from London are really easy. The rail enquiries site give the journey time from Heathrow to Southampton as ~ 2 hours.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 04:26 pm (UTC)It all looks fantastic!
no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 07:02 pm (UTC)(p.s. did you get my e-mail?)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 10:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 07:03 pm (UTC)And I just realised that it's actually only five months away.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 06:09 pm (UTC)You people are fantastic, I'm so looking forward to this. The new venue looks lovely. I got so excited I forgot to answer the transport question -- I should think I can probably make my way to the house by bus.
I'm in the process (still) of trying to get a new job, so I can't say anything definite yet, but I'm hoping I'll be able to come for the whole week. It will be lovely to see everyone again. I hope there are some new people as well who are yet to be sufficiently traumatised by Harry and Max. Pay it forward, that's what I think. ;)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 07:06 pm (UTC)And, true, it won't be quite the same without
unsuspecting victimsnew viewers for 'Harry & Max'.no subject
Date: 2007-09-04 02:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-04 09:12 am (UTC)possibly the worst film ever madea work of cinematic genius in which the central characters are in no way whatsoever based on Nick and Aaron Carter. Nu-uh. Definitely not.For some inexplicable reason it gets a bunch of very high-scoring reviews on the IMDB. I can only guess that we've been spoiled in popslash by all the good stories, and people outside fandom have a much lower standard for their Cartercest. :-)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-02 07:07 pm (UTC)Little Brampton was such a cool house that it took us a while to find somewhere that looked as good but was easier to get to. Fingers crossed it's matched up with the website.
question about airports.
Date: 2007-09-03 11:56 pm (UTC)Thanks. Should I flight to london..... or? o_O *feels lost*
Re: question about airports.
Date: 2007-09-04 12:14 am (UTC)I just had a quick search, and I *think* there are flights from Mexico City to Stansted airport. Stansted is on the other side of London and thus a bit further from the house, but a lot of the European sparkly campers fly into there, so we're hiring a minibus. So if you could arrange it so you arrived at Stansted on the morning/early afternoon of Friday 29th Feb and flew back from there on Friday the 7th March, then we'll pick you up and deliver you back.
Re: question about airports.
Date: 2007-09-04 02:51 am (UTC)I'll save this entry on my memories, and search a bit more about flight info to get the best rate for our pockets.
Thanks for all the trouble!
Re: question about airports.
Date: 2007-09-04 09:17 am (UTC)Re: question about airports.
Date: 2007-09-05 06:48 pm (UTC)Also, I live less than an hour from Heathrow, so if flights to Stansted don't work out, you could aim to get to Heathrow on Thursday 28th, and I'll come and get you. You can probably be dropped off at Heathrow on the 7th, as it's pretty much en route to Stansted from Southampton anyway.
Re: question about airports.
Date: 2007-09-06 03:53 pm (UTC)Various people have mentioned Heathrow. If we end up with a few people coming in via Heathrow on the Friday, it might be worth considering a minibus collection there on the way from Standsted to the cottage too.
Re: question about airports.
Date: 2007-09-11 03:27 am (UTC)I'll try to check the price on that, so that I can have all the info before I made a decision about the trip. But thanks *hugs*
Re: question about airports.
Date: 2007-09-11 08:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-03 11:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-04 12:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-04 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-04 02:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-04 09:15 am (UTC)And don't worry. You can't really get lost in Britain -- it isn't big enough :-) If you did get lost, we'd come and find you.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-11 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 06:41 pm (UTC)Okay, it looks like I should still have a week or so's worth of personal time off from work by that point, and I can always request to monkey my schedule around so that my two days off the weeks before and after my trip make it that much longer... ..so I =should= be able to attend for the whole week, or at least most of it, but I will DEFINITELY be there for the initial weekend!
I'll have to figure out if I'll be coming in early to visit with Terri or not and work out my transport options from there. I may end up coming in a touch early to stay with Terri for a day or two and come down with her as I did last time; if not, I'll most likely need rescuing from the airport or wherever I get myself lost at attempting cross-country public transportation. OR, if Donna and/or Lincoln make it this time, I may see if I can manage to get a seat on the same flight, and we'll figure the rest out from there.
So, to make a long story short (too late), I'll figure out more details later.
Camp Sparkle 2!! SQUEEE!!!
no subject
Date: 2007-09-06 12:19 am (UTC)