I mentioned at time we bought our new Berlingo that Mrs B and I were thinking of moving from canvas to caravan for holidays etc. We’ve got a towbar fitted and have a towing course booked for the weekend.
Now at point where we have questions about vans, weights, practical stuff etc.
Pat helpfully pointed out that Berlingo’s towing limit of 1300kg MTPLM was quite restrictive – indeed, it's well under the ‘85% rule'. We understand that but it’s a car that suits us in every other way and we don’t want something bigger, costlier and less flexible in other roles just because we tow for a bit of the year. There are actually a few models getting 6-7 berths in at 1300kg MTPLM
Although it will usually just be two of use we want a 4 berth with side rear dinette for extra space and in case ‘kids’ tag along albeit they’ll sleep under awning or in pup tents. The dinette is needed as (a) I tend to read, mess about on net or play with SW radio long after Mrs B retires for night and (b) space for breakfast without clearing bed is an advantage if we’re not dining en plein air or using an awning.
Fashion is for such vans, in fact nearly all vans, to have a massive transverse (full width) rear washroom, almost as big asour home en-suite. We don’t want that, as campers using the site shower etc facilities is second nature. Other than peeing in the night and washing on the odd occasion at sites like Setthorns in the New Forest without bogs etc we won’t use it and prefer the space in the living area.
We’ve identified the Adria Shannon (or its Sportline derivative) and the Elddis Explore 304 as possibles with a preference for the Adria. Possibly new as neither is particularly easy to find second-hand at sensible prices. As we're experienced campers I discount the possibility of not liking camp life at all and only risk is we cannot take to towing.
Any comments on those vans?
Weight wise the Adria’s MTPLM of 1100kg looks about right . Gives us an adequate 200kg+ of payload, though less if we go for local supplier Venture’s Sportline version as extras eat into MIRO/MTPLM gap.
One concern is we’re bumping against car’s Gross Train Weight limit which is its max laden weight plus 1000kg. In other words I need to shed 100kg from a fully laden car to keep within GTW if van is fully loaded. Not a problem if it’s just two of us but maybe if kids tag along.
Am I right in thinking GTW is actual car laden + actual caravan laden? In that case I can cut my cloth, if caravan is assumed to be at MTPLM I’ve got less to play with.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 7 May 14 at 21:57
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Don't know anything about those 'vans but maybe worth having a look at the Trigano Silver range www.silver-pop-up-caravans.com/presentation.php
We have the smallest of the range and at only 1.8 metres is not much wider than the car so is easy to tow, they have layouts that would fit your requirements.
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>>and less flexible in other roles just because we tow for a bit of the year
I quite agree.
But just before you splash out, is it worth considering that that "bit of the year" might start to grow into quite a big bit?
Also, speaking of my own camper van experience, if you haven't done much of it, I would definitely suggest renting one for a couple of weeks in order to refine your purchasing requirements.
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>> But just before you splash out, is it worth considering that that "bit of the
>> year" might start to grow into quite a big bit?
That's possible but unlikely before (a) The Lad graduates, sorts out a career/ home etc and (b) Mrs B can access her Teachers pension in 2018. By then my 2005 Berlingo will be 13yo and probably on 200k miles while current 'new' one hits 5 and close on 100k miles so a sensible point to consider vehicle changes including bigger car for towing.
>> Also, speaking of my own camper van experience, if you haven't done much of it,
>> I would definitely suggest renting one for a couple of weeks in order to refine
>> your purchasing requirements.
We've already got possibility of a hire of the Elldis from a dealer at last caravan show and looking for same on Adria.
I think we're covered but both would have been easy to overlook - Thanks.
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No worries, just my last spannette(s)....
Friend of mine and his wife, with a college son, used to run shifts with the van; drive to place A in France, have great time, drive home without van, eek or two later collect van from place A, drive to place B and have fun, etc. etc. Used to get joined by offspring here and there.
They only used to take the van on the ferry on the first run over at the beginning of the season and the last run back at the end. so bought a larger van with more space for living.
Other friend and his boyfriend would stop in their van at the drop of the hat. visiting friends, long distance weddings and parties etc. etc. So bought a smaller van with good facilities but was small enough to get parked on people's drives and the like.
Envy you, I love camping / camper vans. Not done caravans, but 'spect it'd be fun.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 8 May 14 at 00:26
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You will have a few weights to consider.
MTPLM = Maximum Technically Permitted Laden Mass.
Generally MTPLM is found on the manufacturers plate of the caravan (not the chassis as they are bought in separately) and as you rightly state is the maximum weight it should be loaded to.
Your Maximum Train Weight /Gross Train Weight (GTW) displayed on you vehicle Chassis Plate is the maximum weight of both vehicle and trailer fully loaded.
You refer to the MTPLM of your vehicle which is generally referred to as the GVW or MAM - Gross Vehicle Weight/Maximum Authorised Mass - they are all same thing. You should also see front axle and rear axle weights which are the maximum weights which can be imposed on those components. If you deduct the Unladen Weight UW or Kerbside Weight from the GVW this will tell you how much you can put in the vehicle.
You will also need to consider the 'nose weight' of the caravan which is the ideal weight imposed on the tow ball and also the nose weight of the tow ball which is on a plate on the towbar (or should be ). This is a compromise and normally about 80kgs.
The Caravan Club rule of 85% is only strongly recommended guidance, think of which order you would wish 'wag dog and tail' to be in. However all sorts of potential offences could hinge round seriously flouting it and the Nose Weight specs.
The figure that is unknown is what is the true weight of your vehicle loaded up with your own kit and ready to roll. This will dictate where you are in relation to the total weight of the caravan and the 85% rule. I used to lob heavy stuff in the boot like awnings and poles to get the weight up.
So if you want to dismiss the '85 % rule' all you need to concern yourself legally with is that the Train Weight and Axle Weights are not exceeded.
Ideally you need to know what the weight of your full laden vehicle is. 85% of that weight will dictate the weight of your loaded caravan and providing together the weight does not exceed the Train Weight and the MTPLM of the caravan you are cooking on gas (literally). The way you load the caravan will dictate the Nose Weight.
Clear as mud??
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Thanks Fulchat.
I think I've got all that and will ask questions at weekend's course to clarify.
We cannot push the 85% limit as the car's 1300kg towing weight limit is c 75% of kerbside weight.
We'll need to do a bit of checking to make sure we know weight of awning and other big stuff as well as an approximation for camping chairs, table etc and personal baggage.
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www.kampa.co.uk/caravan-awnings/air-awnings
>> to make sure we know weight of awning <<
If you're buying a new awning Bromp, consider one of these.
We changed ours for one last year and it's excellent. So easy to put up with a few pumps of the air pump ( electric pumps are available for the rich!), no poles at all so weight is minimal and absolutely stable in all bad weather without having any bent poles to replace.
Can't praise them enough!
Pat
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>> One concern is we’re bumping against car’s Gross Train Weight limit which is its max
>> laden weight plus 1000kg. In other words I need to shed 100kg from a fully
>> laden car to keep within GTW if van is fully loaded. Not a problem if
>> it’s just two of us but maybe if kids tag along.
For most cars, the gross train weight is the sum of the car's maximum gross weight and the maximum towing weight. Exceptions to this are usually French - you can't use the maximum towing weight with the car fully laden.
It's more to do with power to weight and hill climbing/starting ability than stability, but that doesn't get over the legal issue unfortunately, so you'll have to watch it.
>>
>> Am I right in thinking GTW is actual car laden + actual caravan laden? In
>> that case I can cut my cloth, if caravan is assumed to be at MTPLM
>> I’ve got less to play with.
No, the GTW is the actual weight. If you are under the GTW on a weighbridge, and within the axle limits and the GVW for the car, you should be OK (assuming caravan not overloaded of course).
You may though find you are more likely to be taken to a weighbridge if the sum of the GVW and the MPTLM is more than the GTW. But only if you are stopped in the first place - very unlikley I should think, if not obviously overloaded.
I'm with you on bathrooms. Our shed is one of these -
www.automotiveleisure.co.uk/page74.html
Weights etc - www.automotiveleisure.co.uk/eriba_troll.html
Technically 3 berth, but OK for two. We have had occasional guests overnight in the awning which is a Khyam Motordome, essentially a 3m square tent with a tunnel connection to the caravan - designed for VW campers I think but they work well on Eribas.
The Elddis and the Adria look OK, not really that dissimilar in terms of acommodation to the Eriba, though a bit lighter (despite the Adria being bigger - the Eriba is built on a steel space frame). Adria build quality should be OK, a friend of mine who has had Hymer and Mobilvetta motorhomes now has an Adria and says its fine. The Adria is unusually narrow for a white box at 2.07m, one of the features I like about the Eriba at 2.0m - no wider than the car.
Last edited by: Manatee on Thu 8 May 14 at 00:34
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I think I'm late on this thread but my bed time is earlier than most on here!
If it was me doing this again for the first time then our mistakes were definitely buying new for the first van.
You really need to live in a caravan for a week to find out what could be better and what you really like and wouldn't want to lose.
We found we hated making a bed up daily for two of us and a fixed bed was a must with our differing sleep patterns ( but opposite end of the day to you!)
Ian can have a lie-in with the door closed to the bedroom while I have coffee, a comfy seat and laptop and table to hand.
Have you considered this layout?
www.caravanfinder.co.uk/caravan-layouts-4berth-fixedbed-fixedbed-01.html
There are some light ones about without the rear bathroom which you don't need.
Pat
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Having camped around Europe (in tent) from the age of 17, I have only once (30 years ago) been tempted to stay in a metal box for a week. I hated it, although with a 12mnth old in tow it may have been a tad easier for SWMBO.
When I meet people who have tried a first time holiday on a camp site in a caravan , they fall in to 2 categories.
Hated it, never again. Reasons - small, cramped, noise and proximity of neighbours.
Loved it, want to buy one for theillusion of 'freedom'. - generally people who have never camped!
As a camper I believe the secret is to to live outdoors - and just use the interior just for weather protection. The people who hated caravan life try to live 'in it' and never embrace the 'outdoor concept'. A tent can also be put in many places that are not as 'regimented' as vans on continental sites. Give me a good shower in a communal block anytime, over a pathetic luke warm dribble.
A motorhome, unless equipped with an internal (or towed) car is the least flexible and very expensive possible alternative. The running and capital costs will pay for many good quality meals and hotel rooms for convenient overnight stops. Similar logic can also be applied to caravans,
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Thu 8 May 14 at 06:52
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>> As a camper I believe the secret is to to live outdoors - and just
>> use the interior just for weather protection.
That's what we've done for 15 continental holidays and a few more GB rips in our Rigidome tent. Space only a problem when for odd days it's been cold/wet while we're on site. Only issue now is that Mrs B particularly (me a bit but less so) struggles with camp or air bed etc close to ground.
Eating and sitting outside until nightfall is a given normally but we hope van might extend our season a bit, particularly scope for weekends now. We're not tied to a Mo-Fri work pattern as I'm early retired and Mrs B is an agency supply teacher.
>> A motorhome, unless equipped with an internal (or towed) car is the least flexible and
>> very expensive possible alternative. The running and capital costs will pay for many good quality
>> meals and hotel rooms for convenient overnight stops. Similar logic can also be applied to
>> caravans,
We thought about a motor caravan. Then thought about parking - it would still be second car - and all the occasions camping I've gone off to get bread etc while rest of family get coffee on.
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I absolutely love motorhomes and the whole lifestyle that goes with them. Suits me, Herself and the two girls.
There are three downsides that matter;
Depending on your requirements, and seemingly we had 29ft of requirements, they are quite expensive to buy if you want a modern one.
They need somewhere suitable to be parked when not in use, although that's not an issue we have.
When you are actually on holiday and parked then without effort you are without transport. The enclosed and secure storage area at the back holds our bicycles and a naff old sit up and beg moped. Where we want a car, I'm normally pretty lucky in finding cheap old POS to rent. (Last time I got a million year old Mazda for £8 per day).
There are many upsides.
To avoid boring you senseless, suffice to say that I have many experiences and memories of how much fun they can be.
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Our first caravan, back in 1994, was a 3-year-old Adria. Brilliant build quality especially by British standards. They still seem to be well-built vans. The downside is likely to be when the time comes to change. Unfortunately they still seem to be a bit of a niche market and unlike Eribas haven't yet acquired a devoted band if followers. Servicing and parts may be an issue too but I guess in this day and age many components are standard.
We had an Elddis a couple of vans ago and whilst the design was brilliant the build quality was an unmitigated disaster. We had 18 major faults in 18 months before we moved it on. Having said that the dealer's after-sales service was the best we've come across. Plenty of practice I suppose! Strangely, because it's a UK make it held its value well though. It's always possible Elddis have improved their quality control since then of course but they've lost me as a customer.
Just thought I'd add my two-penn'orth.
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Ps I forgot to say our Adria had the same layout as your favoured model and we found it very convenient. The layout of the Elddis doesn't look, on paper at least, quite so liveable. Appears a bit crammed in.
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Thanks Telb. Feedback on the Elldis and 'niche' value of Adrias noted.
Were a handful of miles from Venture Caravans on the A5 near Daventry who are Adria dealers and producers of their own enhanced 'Sportline' version so servicing/spares shouldn't be a problem.
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Yes, location of the dealer is also an issue. Sounds like your Addie dealer is ideally situated.
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The notion of voluntarily towing a caravan around behind a diesel Berlingo does seem a bit in danger of being a form of masochism.
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Not half as much as riding a bike in a wood, downhill and landing on your nose;)
Pat
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As might have have been written into a Pink Panther script...
Zat was not my nose.
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Still masochism though!
Pat
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Just a tuppence from myself - I would throroughly recommend that you start off by buying used - when I sold my dad's caravan for him there was an abundance available on Ebay etc. Like cars, if you buy cheap enough you won't lose much money from them when you resell them again. Maybe try and pick one up for this season , see how you get on with it and then decide if its for you and get a better one next year?
Something like this seems to fit your layout criteria
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ABI-JUBILEE-GLOBETROTTER-4-BERTH-TOURING-CARAVAN-TRADE-PX-2-CLEAR-/191152092200?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item2c818d7428
Also you need to think about all the associated stuff you need which I am guessing you will have had with camping but things like the water bottles, waste bottles, gas cylinders etc.
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>> Also you need to think about all the associated stuff you need which I am
>> guessing you will have had with camping but things like the water bottles, waste bottles,
>> gas cylinders etc.
Good point. If you're lucky you'll get the awning, water barrel, waste collectors, wheel and hitch locks, battery, and spare wheel with a second hand one - all of which can add up to a lot of cash when you buy new if nothing comes with the caravan as is often the case. Ours even came with a motor mover - it was 2 years old, and about 25% cheaper than a new one with none of those extras.
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Still masochism though!
If it was someone else's nose, doesn't it become sadism?
};---)
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>> The notion of voluntarily towing a caravan around behind a diesel Berlingo does seem a
>> bit in danger of being a form of masochism.
>>
>>
Think I recall someone else on here toying with a Caravan......
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Aye, but I'd maybe want something with an engine to pull one.
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I'm not interested in all the weight stuff, and twin axles and bedroomettes with separate rooms.
This is what I'd love:
www.365campingcaravanning.com/micro_caravans.htm
Check out the micros and the teardrop trailers. The best one for me would be the T@b. There are three models, very stylish and cool. I'd go for the bigger just because it has a toilet. I'd love to show my boy the UK, just hook up the micro for a few weeks over summer. Fishing, roller-coaster parks, museums, castles, cinema, just go wherever we damned-well felt like. Of course my little girl would stay with mummy, sunning themselves by a Spanish pool.
Funny innit, that one of my dreams involves a caravan. A roof, a bed, a flat-screen telly and a pee-pot. Nothing more, nothing less.
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You obviously don't suffer from claustrophobia then!
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I would've thought you'd be more attracted to the cockpit.
;>)
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Be nice to live in permanently, Bonz. You'd need Lud's sort of money, though !
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Decision made and deal done.
We decided after much thought that the Xplore was a marginally better 'fit' for us than the Adria. Difference was thickness of a Rizla paper and turned on size of bed (the Adria's was a bit narrow - or rather short) and the bunk/dinette arrangement. The Adria had a better bathroom with so much storage you might have kept your tinned food in there but heater wasted space compared with underfloor set up in Xplore and electric element for blown air heater was extra as was stabilised hitch.
We had found both models available and after looking at each on successive days both had same dawning conclusion while looking at a new Xplore on a dealer's site in Coventry.
Deposit paid and delivery scheduled for Tuesday week.
Now need to sort out insurance, extras, storage et and plan first trip - nominally either Peak District or New Forest first w/e in June.
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The very best of luck, Simon. I have no doubt you'll have fun. And almost certainly a *lot* of fun.
Just treat the first trip as a learning experience and try and keep the expectations in check.
However, I look forward to your first report back and will without doubt envy you.
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Good of you to issue a warning as to where you're likely to be. Perhaps it should be compulsory.
;-)
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>> Good of you to issue a warning as to where you're likely to be.
Yes... but I hope you enjoy it Bromptonaut.
I like those American caravans that look like cigar tubes. I understand they tow very well and have low drag.
I always thought a long-chassis high-geared Mercedes Sprinter with skylights would make a good, effective, inconspicuous caravan.
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>> plan first trip
I'd recommend a weekend at somewhere local. We always did this whenever we had a new tent or 'van after disastrously forgetting to pack a corkscrew!
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I'm sure that's the best one of the two Bromp and I do hope you enjoy kitting it out and your first trip!
Just remember to pack your sense of humour and a good bottle of wine:)
Pat
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Hope you enjoy it. Let us know of any teething troubles and if it is problem-free I might even put Elddis back on the list to consider. Their design is certainly more original than the competition.
Don't forget to check the wheelnut torques.
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and the tyre pressures :)
If you want an easy shakedown trip with backup facilities for showering etc then Houghton Mill CC site is probably a 40 mile trip for you, and a pleasant small all grass site with riverbank walking around the water meadows (no hills mind!).
Not everybody likes CC sites - but if you want showers etc they are the best. I know a couple who prefer £7/£8 a night farm sites but they like to "luxuriate" in their on board bathrooms and cart all their water back and forth. Give me clean, heated facilities and endless hot water every time.
CCC sites you are probably familiar with as a camper. In some areas they have good locations. Bala was good, Rosemarkie on the Black Isle is a favourite of ours.
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Thanks M - that's a direction we'd not thought about.
Houghton Mill was a Youth Hostel in my youth.
Dug out the old handbook and it's described as:
Old Water Mill in River Ouse 3m E of Huntingdon. OS 153 GR282720 Bart 20*
Smoking prohibited anywhere in building due to fire risk
IIRC it was a National Trust property and ceased to be a hostel after around 1982.
* still got my set of Bartholomews maps in the loft.
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>> Thanks M - that's a direction we'd not thought about.
>>
>> Houghton Mill was a Youth Hostel in my youth.
They have a "museum" there now with a few bits of YHA stuff. National Trust.
There was some serious work going on at the mill last time we called by, new stones I think. And we went a few weeks ago to Anglesey Abbey - Lode Mill there was shut for I think the same thing.
I once told my 86 year old mate in N Wales about Houghton Mill, and he had almost perfect recollection of going there on a solo bicycle tour in the 50s. Even remembered the statue and name of the erstwhile owner, one Potto Brown, whose memorial is in the village square.
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But if you're on a shakedown you'd want to check everything worls well, including the on-board shower, surely?
By the way, we're just back from a visit to the Longleat CC site. Lovely site a few minutes walk from the House and Park. Plus discount vouchers for members at the park. We were lucky enough to go to the house one morning when they were doing guided tours of the private apartments. Excellent trip and as members of HHA entrance to the house cost us nothing. With CC site night vouchers it was a bargain break!
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>> But if you're on a shakedown you'd want to check everything worls well, including the
>> on-board shower, surely?
Of course. Point was you have a back up:)
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Ah yes. Better than a large tin of deodorant! :-)
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Nothing to add other than my vote would be for an Adria.
We borrowed my parents four berth (Adria Forma 510C 90's model I think) for a trip around France. Big caravan and on the weight limit of our car at the time. Was solid as a rock with never the slightest wobble - we were never overtaken by another caravan or motorhome!
The caravan itself was modern, airy, well built and didn't try to look like an old pub inside. The major plus was a separate bedroom for my then young daughter to go to bed earlier whilst adults continued to get lashed on the local wines.
I loved the whole experience but alas my wife prefers hotels.
I've always thought the motorhomes must be a pain. If you leave your pitch to go out someone could nab it plus you'd have to pack everything away every time you wanted to go out for something. Adding to that parking the thing in touristy areas must be a pain. To combat these problems you see motorhomes towing cars - might as well have gotten a caravan!
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My daughter & SIL have a VW T2 bay-window camper which they love, despite its propensity for breaking down in unusual locations!
She has written two photo-illustrated articles (paid for!) about their trips which have been published in VW camper & van magazines and is in the process of finalizing the last trip which went from Germany (they were in BAOR) to Turkey via the Balkans, Albania, Romania, et al.
I keep on telling them to flog it and buy a modern lump with a loo, but they love the horrid air-cooled thing.
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The VW Camper model is the only form of motorized wendyhousing that makes any sense to me. It's small enough to use as a car, yet big enough (just) to cook and sleep in while it (probably) keeps out the rain. Yes, it's cramped, slow and, these days, old and unreliable, but it still has some romantic appeal.
Perhaps it's that the size forces you to switch to camping mode, and keep everything minimal and compact; very different to the take-the-chintz-with-you ethic of the typical caravanner, whether motorized or dragged. It also keeps other, quicker road users (me, anyway) from seeing you as two fingers on wheels. And I don't see the lack of a loo as a negative; perhaps Roger can explain the appeal of taking a tank of his own poo on holiday.
It's hardly stay-in TV but I've quite enjoyed what I've seen of the Ryan Sidebottom lookalike's UK tour - mainly for the food, but for the van too. A Camper makes me smile, no caravan will ever do that.
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"perhaps Roger can explain the appeal of taking a tank of his own poo on holiday"
You don't. You take an empty tank and have the availability to use that whilst on site, empty the odorless blue liquid and come home with an empty tank. The one we had was a cassette type thing that came out of the side of the caravan. Very clever.
Was great not having to leave the caravan in the middle of the night for a wee. However, if someone's snobbed up enough to worry about little things like a chemical loo it's probably not for them.
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Well I've had the misfortune to walk too close to a few at French motorway rest stops - or worse, for one to arrive upwind while we were eating. If it's not the caravan that smells of poo, it must be the caravanners.
}:---)
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Thu 22 May 14 at 16:37
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"Was great not having to leave the caravan in the middle of the night for a wee."
Surely that's what windows are for.
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>> "Was great not having to leave the caravan in the middle of the night for
>> a wee."
>>
>> Surely that's what windows are for.
A pal of mine used to have a very nice 70' narrow boat with boatman's cabin, engine room etc.
Moored in the middle of Birmingham one night outside the National Indoor Arena, shortly after going to bed and having had a few pints earlier, he just had to go. All was quiet, and rather than clamber over his slumbering wife to to get to the bathroom, he crept out on to the rear deck into the balmy night, saw there was nobody about and let flow freely and with some relief into the cut.
Just then the exit doors of the NIA opened and the audience of Gladiators burst out.
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>> >> he crept out on to the rear deck into the balmy night, saw
>> there was nobody about and let flow freely and with some relief into the cut.
>>
You have to be careful doing that from a boat. Apparently the sudden reduction in pressure on a nerve can cause momentary dizziness.
There is a theory that Robert Maxwell might have fallen overboard while so-engaged.
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Drifting OT, but if you like camping, why do you want to be in a tin shed. They're very noisy when it rains...
Take your tent here, cook on an open fire. I filled the car with wood from the garden and took it here to burn. Can't recommend the place enough, they have a huge field, and really you don't have to be close to your neighbours.
www.dernwoodfarm.co.uk/
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>>They're very noisy when it rains...<<
*huge sigh* :)
I miss sleeping in a lorry cab so much and pray for some rain at night when we're on holiday in the caravan!
I love the sound of rain and have always loved walking in the rain and getting wet.
Something to do with not bumping into anyone else and having to talk to them, I suspect;)
Pat
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Putting breadcrumbs on a caravanists roof after they've gone to bed is always a good wheeze.
They think the hundreds of seagulls which gather there in the dawn and crap all over it are just raindrops.
;-)
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Yesterdays sandwiches on his cab roof at Dover Docks was always the revenge we foisted on the lorry driver who wouldn't come for a pint with us.
Seagulls have clogs on at daybreak!
Pat
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>>I love the sound of rain
Me too. Just not on a tin roof...
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>> Drifting OT, but if you like camping, why do you want to be in a
>> tin shed. They're very noisy when it rains...
I've heard more than my share of raindrops on the two Rigidome tents we've had since 1999 . Also effects of 'vent de matin' (when, in mountainous territory, unevenly distributed strong sunlight after a cool night creates strong thermals) in the Auvergne and elsewhere.
Been hearing rain on the caravan ever since we picked it up yesterday. Quieter than tent and can drown it out with fitted Hi-Fi. And if the night's chilly the warm air heating goes on too. Runs of the site 'lecy or our gas bottle.
Other issue with tents is that Mrs B is struggling to use camp or air bed due usual late fifties mobility etc problems.
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I have the best of both worlds. Heating, telly or book in the evening, then off into the awning at bedtime with a good airbed, sleeping bag and pillows all in an insect proof inner tent with bedside table, mains lamp, clock and drink.........snug city !
Three grandkids coming tomorrow night to watch DVDs and sleep in the van down the drive . They all enjoy tenting with their parents.
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>> struggling to use camp or air bed due usual late fifties mobility etc problems.
Not particularly relevant now, I know. But when I was having similar difficulties following an injury, I found that a "real" mattress on top of a camp bed worked well for me. I used a futon mattress, which could be rolled up.
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You mentioned your cul-de-sac location and your proximity to your neighbour's drive in another thread, Bromp. What will your neighbours think of your new caravan for the 300+ days a year when they have a better view of it than you do?
[Told you I was feeling argumentative.]
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Ha ha... we've just had new next door but one people move into our cul-de-sac. I was so nervous when I noticed a towbar on his car... thankfully now see it's for a neat 6x4 camping type trailer which lives in the garage.
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I would imagine Bromp would be doing just what we do, WdeB.
We pay £400+ per year to keep it in a secure storage park in the village even though we have ample room to park it at home on the drive.
The insurance reduction pays for a big portion of the storage costs but I do reserve the right to park it on my drive if I so wish (or get hard up again!)
Argue with that:)
Pat
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>> You mentioned your cul-de-sac location and your proximity to your neighbour's drive in another thread,
>> Bromp. What will your neighbours think of your new caravan for the 300+ days a
>> year when they have a better view of it than you do?
>>
>> [Told you I was feeling argumentative.]
It was in drive Tuesday night and last night while we sorted out and loaded essentials. Tonight it's at Carsington Water CC site on its maiden outing (from where I'm typing this).
It'll go home Sunday for clean and de-provision on Monday. On Tuesday it's booked into a local storage site where it will stay until next outing to New Forest when daughter, her boyfriend, his Father and other friends of his family are doing the Round the Island (IoW) yacht race. Intend to watch the race pass Hurst Point so an early start.
Apart from covenant in deeds and planning stuff being prohibitive I'd never dream of imposing a van in drive on my neighbours for more than sort of times mentioned above.
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Caravan Questions - T junction
