Changes afoot

Back in May I mentioned some changes and additions to the van but never quite got round to writing about them. Things have come on even more since then and my husband is currently in the process of lining the roof with plyboard ready to carpet it. Up to now we've used the van as it was, half finished with just parts of the sides boarded but the roof was just the bare fibreglass. When ever we were cooking or if it was raining and cold outside (which it has been mainly for the last two summers) condensation soon built up on the fibreglass roof making it quite wet to the touch. This is also a problem overnight from the condensation produced by our breathing. We've pondered over this problem for some time as I keep thinking that if we line the roof, even with insulation the condensation is still going to be there and eventually whatever we line the roof with is going to become damp. However it's no good the way it is. It doesn't look good and is obviously unfinished and every time we put things in storage over the cab they get wet from the roof.

In the end we decided it can't stay the way it is so we will just have to take the chance of damp occurring and decided to line it anyway and hope for the best. Before we went away in July my husband had already lined the part of the roof that goes over the cab. I love this space as I can fit loads in there. Unfortunately the space has become a little bit smaller because of the lining but I can still fit my two large plastic underbed storage containers up there. It's also good because now when we get up in the morning we can shove pillows and anything else up there without it getting soaking wet from condensation. We used household loft insulation between the roof and the plyboard. There is also a layer of tin foil between the insulation and the board with the idea being that the foil will make it a little bit harder for heat from the van to get through and meet up with the cold of the fibreglass roof, just hope it works.

Loft insulation in space over cab.

Underbed storage containers hold loads

We are doing quite well for storage. When we first started out with the van I did wonder where we were going to put everything. We've got the small wardrobe that as well as fitting our hanging clothes in, also fits two fold up camping chairs, a small TV, waste water bucket, the battery and various other bits and bobs and still has a small cupboard above the wardrobe that fits folded clothes. The underbed storage container on the right also contains clothes such as jeans etc and the one on the left holds our plates, jug, wine glasses, teatowels etc. Pans and kitchen type stuff reside in a cupboard under the microwave and the gas bottle and water container are in another cupboard under the sink. We also have a couple of colourful plastic tubs and small plastic baskets which are handy to store other loose stuff in like soap, shaving stuff and the like. These are really handy because it keeps everything together and can easily be moved out of the way into the awning when we set up.

Brilliant for storage.

Out with the old......

Last year when we started the van we looked at hobs. They are a ridiculous price for what is effectively a two ring hob and a grill if you're really lucky. They all seem to be made by one manufacturer Neff, not exactly renowned for being cheap. So we bought a second hand hob/gill and combined sink unit off ebay. We were never happy with it. The sink was OK but the cooker was old and rusty. Not really sure why they insist on making the pan holder out of thin chrome covered rod. The chrome cannot withstand the heat of butane gas and soon ends up looking very shabby and the metal glows moulton red when heated up and becomes worn and mis-shapen. 

Old hob

And in with the new........
We decided to cut the sink off and keep it but get rid of the hob and grill as it didn't look good. We now have the sink with a worktop at the side of it replacing the hob with a portable camping stove for the time being. This is not acceptable as far as the DVLA is concerned as they state it must have a fixed hob but we have our change of vehicle now and this is only a temporary measure until we have the funds for a new gas hob. It is so much better. The camping stove has two rings and a grill and after making a board to cover the sink, sits on top of the sink when we're using it with a nice work surface to the side. When we're on the move it is held in place with bungee elastic straps and only cost £30 from Go Outdoors.

The sink is under the cooker which can easily be accessed if needed.

Green silicone mat - great for putting hot pans or the kettle on.

Cooking is a whole lot easier with the new layout as there is somewhere to put plates when dishing out. The cutlery now fits neatly under the worktop where the grill used to be. When not cooking the worktop can accommodate the TV we bought which when you can actually get a signal is so much better than staring at the walls at night or watching the tea go round in the microwave.

So that's about it for changes so far. All for the better and we have just purchased some fabric liner for the walls and ceiling.

A summer washout

We went away again a couple of weeks ago in our campervan. Again I'd booked a week off work but this time we hadn't actually decided on where to go or booked a site. As everyone living in the UK is aware this summer has been an absolute joke. Cold temperatures and rain - lots and lots of rain. Compared to some areas we have actually been quite lucky where we live in that whilst it has rained a lot and it is cloudy almost every single day we haven't had the torrential downpours that other areas have seen with flooding. Even so I didn't have a whole lot of enthusiasm for going anywhere and spent more time looking for sites that might not be too waterlogged or where there were hard standing pitches rather than grass and looking at weather forecasts hoping that once we picked somewhere it was unlikely to actually flood. It's not the best way to find a holiday.

In the end we decided on Conwy Touring Caravan Park in Conwy, North Wales. We went there this time last year and quite liked it. It was sunny then. It was our first time away in our little camper, the glasses were kind of rose tinted. This time the glasses were distinctly clouded over and rained on. We arrived Sunday, went to Llandudno on Monday to do some cycling when it miraculously managed to stay dry and came home Tuesday as it did nothing but rain the whole time we were on site. In the rain, which was pretty heavy most of the time it didn't look quite so attractive. There are a lot of trees on this site and to be honest dark green trees, cloud, rain and mud coupled with the fact we had no TV reception, no mobile phone reception and no 3G internet, doesn't really make for a fun evening in. In fact the highlight of our two evenings there was to hurry over to the washing up area and wash the pots which because there is only two of us and we only had spag bol both nights, it didn't take up much time.

It was an absolute joy putting the awning away on Tuesday morning - not. It was pouring with rain, chilly and by now the pitches were getting really quite muddy. As we thought it would be better to get mud all over the outside of the awning rather than the inside, after taking all the pegs out we decided to carry it over to some grass that didn't look too muddy and tip it over onto it's side so that the outside of it would be face down on the grass when we took the poles out. After we'd finished scrabbling about on the floor in the wet grass we managed to get the poles out, dry off the pegs and shoved the awning in the back of the van and headed off for home. I would never make it as a festival goer, I just couldn't cope with being up to my eyeballs in mud.

All is not lost......
It wasn't a complete waste of time. We had a good day out in Llandudno on Monday. The campervan is brilliant as a day van. We parked up near a beach, had lunch in the van, got changed into our cycling gear and went off to the centre of Llandudno. Bikes are a brilliant way to get around. It means you can park up your van outside of the centre and ride in, so no roaming around looking for car parks. You can have a brew whenever you fancy one, if the weather takes a turn for the worst you've got a change of clothes with you and if we shut all the curtains we can even use our portaloo. Complete self sufficiency on a day out - love it.

Learning Curve
It was also an opportunity to test out the slight modification to the bed. When we went away in April I found sleeping in the van quite uncomfortable. The bed is a bench seat by day and opens out into a bed at night. The bed is made up of various bits of foam slotted together but as there was no side on the bed these pieces tended to drift apart in the night meaning we ended up sleeping in gaps that are not good for your back. Before we went away my husband made a side that slots onto the side of the base of the bed at night which keeps all the foam pieces squashed together so that they don't drift apart, problem solved. We now have a comfy bed again. We've also got rid of the quilt that we used last year and replaced it with out trusty old double sleeping bag that we've had for years, this takes up much less space during the day. We also discovered that the 12v battery system appears not to be working. We don't really need it as long as we have an electric hook up. The only thing we couldn't use was the tap because the 12v electric operates the pump. So that's something that still needs to be looked at though it's no big deal.

We also learned that there are better caravan sites than Conwy Touring Park. It's a vast site but it does seem to be getting a little bit worse for wear. They don't seem too interested in making any improvements to it. The washing up area was a little shabby, the roads seem to be developing pot holes here and there and in the rain it's a pretty dismal place to be. If you like things really quiet then go for it but we were getting just a little depressed there and I don't think we'll be visiting again.

Marton Mere Touring Site review

We've stayed on a couple of Haven touring sites before and been happy with both of them. Out of season, or I should say outside of the busy school holidays they have some excellent offers for both touring caravans and rental holiday homes. We've stayed at Filey in Yorkshire both in a tourer and last year in a satic and in Wales at Hafan Y Mor on the Lleyn Penninsular and had a good time at them all.

In April this year we had booked a 4 night break at Marton Mere Holiday Village in Blackpool staying on the touring site with our campervan.  A couple of nights before we were due to go I googled the site just to refresh on the details of arrival time etc. As you know when you start typing words into google other stuff comes up - like reviews. Oh well, may as well have a quick look. Wished I hadn't in the end.  There are some unfavourable reviews of Marton Mere, some criticising   the touring section, others the site in general and many not happy with their rented holiday accommodation. We weren't too sure after reading all the doom and gloom of what to expect when we got there.

Space at a premium

We needn't have worried. We arrived around noon as you can't go on to the site until 12.00. We were directed to the touring site by security on the gate, you then book in at the arrivals office. First impressions were that it looked neat and tidy and the statics were all attractively laid out with extensive landscaping.  Yes you could see that there was ongoing work being carried out, which was one of the complaints on the review sites, it did look a little untidy in that there were large statics apparently abandoned by the roadside, somewhat in the way but it's obviously not their intention to leave them there indefinitely. A couple of times when we went out a road that we had been up the previous day would suddenly be shut to allow them to carry out work and an early warning sign or a diversion sign would have been really helpful but it wasn't a big inconvenience. I certainly wouldn't describe it as a "building site" as one of the reviewers put it.

After booking in and being handed our information pack we went off to find a pitch. We had a super pitch booked but there were also premier pitches. Apparently a premier pitch has 20% more space than a basic pitch, although they do seem to call them Euro pitches which actually includes a TV hook up too.  I don't think the Premier Pitches at Marton Mere have the TV hookup but they have a nice little fence around the pitch for demarcation and just generally look more attractive than the super pitches.  Unless you have a large caravan or motorhome I wouldn't have thought it was worth the extra pitch fee - if you want a fancy fence stay at home.

On a Super pitch you get a hardstanding for the caravan or motorhome and a gravel section next to it for your awning. Wasn't entirely impressed with the dirty looking gravel but I suppose if you don't have a ground sheet which we never do it's better when the grounds wet than soggy grass. With a Super pitch you get 16amp electric hook up, your own water tap (yay, no trailing across wet grass looking for a tap in the dark) and your own grey water disposal point (a grid). The lap of luxury for us really.

There were criticisms on the reviews I read that the pitches were too small and there was very little room between pitches. I have to agree with this. For us it wasn't too much of a problem, our campervan is easy to get in and out on the pitch and our awning isn't that big but for anyone with a biggish caravan who isn't that confident with manoeuvring you're going to struggle a bit. You also have to make sure you stay on pretty good terms with your neighbours, you'll be bumping into them quite literally whenever you step out the door.

Superloos - cosy too!

There is a brand new toilet block specifically for the touring site complete with undercover and sheltered washing up facilities. The washing-up sinks are massive. Make sure you take your washing up bowl with you as it would take you forever to fill up the sink, they're big enough to have a bath in. When we were there they were always clean and tidy, none of other people's dredges of fried egg and cabbage loitering around like you tend to find on other sites. Who eats cabbage on holiday anyway? The toilets have a secure code entry gadget thing on the door so you need a 4 digit code to get in. I think it's a good idea. It means you don't have people using the toilets on the way back from their evening entertainment to their static caravans and is probably also designed to stop children messing around in the toilets on their own. Why do children find toilet blocks such a magnet, they always seem to end up playing about round toilet blocks on caravan sites. Reviewers have found fault with this idea though. Some people are just not happy unless they have something to complain about. It is a bit of a pain when you first arrive because until you've learned the number you have to remember to take the number with you otherwise you can't get in. They're lovely and warm, clean and have about 3 or 4 showers. Sadly though around the sinks there is nowhere to hang anything, sometimes you just want a quick wash rather than a shower. There are blown air hand dryers and a dispenser for antibacterial hand wipe which magically dispenses when  you stick your hands under it - no need to touch anything which I thought was a really good idea and went that extra mile to avoid spreading germs.

Round-up

I can't comment on other facilities on site such as entertainment, shops, cafe's etc because we never had time to take a look. Touring site reviewers again commented on noise from the club at night. I did notice it, it was a little intrusive, mainly you could hear the base beat from the music which was quite loud but it did finish between 11.00 and 12.00pm. I wouldn't have thought it would disturb children's sleep but adults who like an early to bed, early to rise regime might be a bit irritated by it.

Marton Mere

All in all we enjoyed our 4 nights there and would definitely go back again. It's handy for Blackpool, there's a supermarket up the road, a pub within easy walking distance and apparently Blackpool Zoo and Stanley Park are just around the corner. On the site itself is Marton Mere, a Nature Reserve and lake of special interest to bird watchers which used to be the town's tip and has footpaths and birdwatching hides. Not to be confused with Martin Mere (I always thought they were one and the same) which is actually near Southport.

Outlook unsettled

St Annes

Oh dear, I've been a bit neglectful of this blog. Apart from a few days of lovely warm sunshine in March the weather since then has been rubbish. Snow at the beginning of April followed by rain, followed by some very unseasonal freezing cold temperatures.  18th May and we've had the heating on most of tonight with a temperature of 7 degrees (feels like 2 !) So no great incentive to get out and about.

Back to mid April though, and we did have a few days away in the van. I booked the time off work back in February when I realised it was our 30th wedding anniversary in April.  And where did we choose to celebrate this great achievement? Blackpool. Again I booked this break back in February through Haven Holidays.  They have some good out of season offers on and where can you get a super pitch these days at £10 per night including electric and awning. It was an offer too good to miss and fitted in with the week I booked off work and our wedding anniversary - sorted.

Now when you're booking your time off in cold and windy February you do expect things to have warmed up a little by April. When the time finally arrived I was seriously beginning to regret the whole idea and wished I'd spent a bit more and booked somewhere warmer and drier. However I had paid for it so we thought we may as well go as Blackpool is only 50 miles away and we could always come home early if it was too wet, boring, freezing or all three.  This is in fact a lesson to be learned. Had I not paid for it, in all likelihood we wouldn't have gone anywhere and I would have been cursing the waste of a weeks holiday from work. As it was we had a really good time and stayed for the whole 4 nights, which just goes to show you should always take a chance.  Sitting around waiting for perfect weather to turn up before you actually go anywhere is as good as watching your life pass by, perfect weather just never happens any more.

So to follow in a further couple of posts:

• Review of Haven Touring site at Marton Mere, Blackpool
• Minor changes and additions to the Van
• Whistle stop tour of Fylde Coast

Hopefully by the time I've finished writing those, things might have warmed up a bit and we could be off on our travels to pastures new.

Officially a Motorhome

I have already written this on the old Posterous site, but as it's a very special thing and is an acknowledgement that our van is now officially a campervan I decided to re-post it here.

After a holiday away, a refurbish of the curtains and seat coverings and finally the addition of a table we decided our campervan ticked all the boxes required for the DVLA to consider our van as a motor caravan.  We took lots of photos of the inside and out, wrote a letter highlighting all the points for them to consider and sent off the V5 certificate to change the body type from panel van to motor caravan. We sent it off at the end of August, and finally received the new V5 mid October. They specify that it can take up to six weeks for them to consider the information you have given them before making a decision and they certainly took the whole six weeks. But we have it now and Kevin is very proud.

Camper Van Life website has an excellent run down on the requirements for changing your V5 and how to go about it. If you follow everything you're told on there to the letter you should have no problem at least for the time being, in changing your panel van into a motor caravan. There are however rumours and rumblings about a new EC Directive on the re-classification of vehicles which I think is due to come in next April (2012). It may well be worth trying to find out more about this online as it sounds like it's about to get a whole lot more difficult to be able to do a D.I.Y. conversion.

I've added Camper Van Life to the Useful Sites list to the top right of this page..  It has a very active forum and lots of information for anyone considering converting their van, but for the specific page on DVLA requirements please click here.  I've also added Campton Insurance to the list. We used Campton to insure our campervan and look forward to doing a favourable post on that at a later date.

One thing the DVLA seem to be getting more keen on is whether the conversion looks like a motor caravan from the outside too.  It must have windows fitted to the sides and should be instantly recognisable as a motor caravan when it's seen out on the road by for example the police.  We added some graphics for good measure, though I'm never too sure about the stars on the bonnet.  Everyone seems to think they look good, perhaps they're just being kind.

The Kampa Travel Pod - Review

Putting it Up
So now you know how we came by our nearly new drive-away awning, it's time I said what it's like to actually use.  Personally I don't think it's that bad to put up but my husband is of a different opinion.  The first time we used it was back in June when we went on a tour around north and mid Wales.

It was me who sorted out how to put it up.  I was well impressed with myself, not usually being a practical kind of person, but I just think it's very much like a dome tent. You start out with two telescopic poles.  Spread the awning out on the floor and proceed to thread the poles through the loops on the awning, pretty much the way you do with a tent.  One thing that the person who we bought it off went on and on about was making sure we put the little cover over the mesh vent right at the top of the dome shape because he said once the awning is up it's very difficult to reach high enough to get the cover on.  Yes, he's quite right.  Most of the times we've put the awning up we have remembered but there's always a first time.  Rather than take it all down again, Kevin stood on the caravan step and used a stick to stretch the cover over and secure the hooks through the loops, not an easy feat but quicker than taking the whole thing back down again.

Once you have the poles threaded through you just kind of pop it up off the ground. This is the fun bit as it's like handling an unwieldy drunk.  It kind of lolls around in a very unstable manner and I must admit we've been very lucky in that it's never been very windy when we've used it.  I'm really not sure how it would fair in a brisk gale, I think maybe it could end up turning into a bit of a wind surfing sail type thing taking us with it. If you ever see a couple doing a spot of random hang gliding from their awning around a campsite near you, give us a wave because it will probably be us.

Once you have it in an upright position, one person needs to hold it up while the other goes round pulling the poles taught and making sure the webbing around the bottom is rigid and forms a square shape then push each pole end into the hole to anchor it down.  Then it's just a matter of positioning it so that the back end flap can be fixed on to the van guttering via "figure 8" rods.  You then have pegging points all the way around plus a couple of guy ropes to give it some more strength.  All the ropes and pegs are in fluorescent yellow so that you or your neighbouring campers don't walk into the ropes or trip over them.  When you are going out in your camper you just detach the tunnel bit from the van zip up the back door of the awning and it sits there all day looking just like a very tall dome tent keeping your chairs and anything else you don't want to take with you dry and out of the rain.

It's Up's and Down's
Here's some good advice, don't bother using it as a toilet tent.  Firstly shutting all the curtains (well rolling down the curtains) every time you need to use the loo is a pain and unless you're happy for a silhouette projection of your ablutions to be up there for the whole site to see once it's gone dark you're just going to have to have a wee without the light on.  I'm glad to say that with a minor adjustment our portaloo is now completely usable on-board the van.

Quality is pretty standard and not really any better than most run of the mill tents. Unlike a tent it lacks an inner tent or double skin.  This means that in early and late season condensation tends to be a bit of a problem.  You get up in the morning, open the roll up curtains and door and get soaking wet from the condensation that's formed on the inside, still it saves the hassle of going for a shower. It soon dries off but if you're hoping for a quick early get away to pastures new, I suggest you take the awning down the night before, otherwise you'll have a fair bit of drying off to do before you can put the awning away.  The awning fastens to the poles by way of plastic hooks that clip on to the poles.  For some reason you can guarantee that the hooks manage to line up with the thick sections where the poles slot together, if you try to push the hooks on to the thick section they snap and we now have about 3 or 4 snapped hooks in total.  With due care and attention this can be avoided but why does the damn thing always manage to line up in the wrong place.

All in all for the price we paid for it, it serves it's purpose and I do like it.  The zips and velcro fasteners are pretty sturdy and for the days when it's sunny the front zipped opening door lifts up to form a sun canopy for you to sit under and shelter from the ravages of the sun!  There was plenty of room inside for our table, two chairs and other bits and bobs that get in the way in the van and it all packs up neatly into it's own bag.  I'm not over confident of how it would stand up to stormy weather but hopefully we won't have any of that kind of nastiness and if we do, I'll be sure to let you know how it performed.

The Kampa Travel Pod Story.........

............or how we came by our second-hand, only used a couple of times drive away awning quite by chance.

Go back to Easter 2011.  Remember?  Lots of sunshine, unseasonally warm temperatures, probably the best weather we had all year and our van was still a van with just the side windows and a new roof.  As the weather was so nice and as we like to cycle we decided on a trip to Manchester along the Rochdale canal.  How hard could it be? It turned out to be 27 miles for the round trip and the trouble with living high above sea level is where ever we go it's always very hard work getting back.

It was a nice ride out even though the canal isn't at it's prettiest the closer you get to the city centre.  We met some spring lambs along the way and some baby geese.  We came across someone's idea of modern architecture. I took a picture because Prince Charles'  "monstrous carbuncle" speech sprung to mind when I saw it.  People have to live in these flats, houses, whatever they are.  I don't think they look good personally, Oh and if that apostrophe after Charles is wrong or in the wrong place, please don't correct me, apostrophe's are on the whole a carbuncle of an idea we could well do without in English grammar, they are so difficult to get right.

Manchester Architecture

Once we got to the end of the canal and reached Manchester City centre we found a 'Go Outdoors' shop just across the road so decided to have a nosy round there before setting off back up the canal home.  Lots of assistants were stood around the entrance  asking customers if they were looking for anything in particular.  Kevin asked them if they had any drive away awnings as they have lots of tents there.  They said not, even though apparently 'Go Outdoors' started out as a caravan accessories shop.  As we got upstairs to the sales floor some man was waiting for us at the top of the escalator.  He had overheard us asking about drive away awnings and said he just happened to have one himself that had hardly been used that he was planning to sell on ebay.  It was even used for a Ford Transit campervan so should fit ours. He gave us the name of the awning, his phone number and said he wanted £80 for it and left it at that.  We had a look on ebay when we finally arrived home a good few hours later to find it was quite a good price and even though for me, it seemed like an eternity before we would ever be able to use the thing, we bought it anyway.  Glad we did buy it as it's been invaluable for extra space.

Kampa Pod in Dolgelleau Wales