I’ve only been living in a caravan since 5pm yesterday, and I already feel like getting a couple of slaves. If only to act as a wind-break. The good news is that we’ve made it to Blackpool. The bad news is that if we step outside, we’re likely to end up in Oz.

We might be in the midst of a hurricane, but our journey up here was a breeze. We left an hour later than planned (obviously), but the roads were good and Amelie was better. Not only did she sit happily in the car, but I’ve never seen her so well-behaved at a service station. It was a Welcome Break from her normal behaviour.

We got to the Marton Mere Caravan Park just before five. We’re in a Prestige caravan, away from the riff-raff, and within view of the lake. So we’ll probably be flooded when the wind picks up. We’re thirty seconds walk from the on-site Spar shop, but a two minute drive from the 24-hour Tesco Extra, so I know where we’ll be shopping. In the middle of the night.

Having settled into our caravan, Amelie and I soon headed out into the gathering gloom to look for the toddler play area. As the sign on the left shows, we found it. Amelie suggested that it might have been "broken by a naughty child", but judging by the boot-sized hole that had been stamped into the base of the slide, I’d say it was down to a combination of alcohol and The Sun’s latest 'Holidays for a Fiver' deal.

The see-saw was a lot more fun though...


And even better were the indoor amusements. The last time we stayed at a Haven Holiday Park was at Burnham-on-Sea in May 2010, when Amelie virtually lived in the spinning teapots ride. Well the good news for her (and bad news for the person who has to pay £1 a go) is that there's one here too...


We're up north, so she was attempting some gurning.