Euro Tour, Day 1

We're now camped up in a little riverside campsite in Auxonne, near Dijon in France. Caught the chunnel across which is so easy and quick - highly recommended.

About 350 miles driven today on the French toll roads. They are so good! Quiet, fast and well maintained. England take note. Well worth the €40 for the day as we got here 3 hours faster (according to TomTom) and it was so relaxing. Cruise control is also worth its weight in gold on those roads.

We're off into town now to hunt down a restaurant as today is our 1st wedding anniversary! Great way to spend it!

Tomorrow - Cannes/Nice/Monaco!

Weekend in Hampshire

We spent this bank holiday weekend over in sunny Hampshire.   It's only an hour and a half down the road for us and has lots for us to look around on our bikes so it's a place we like to visit.  This weekend we stayed in Sunnydale Farm campsite just outside of Southampton.   It's in a great location as it's easy to cycle to Eastern Docks from there, giving you ferry access to both the Isle of Wight and the New Forest.

Saturday was a lovely sunny day (and my birthday to boot) so we set out early for the Isle of Wight.  We crossed to Cowes and then bombed down the cycle path to Newport in the centre of the island.  We had a leisurely cruise around that town, taking in a cream tea and a pint by the river and then shot back up to Cowes which we also explored.  Taking the chain ferry back across to the main docks in East Cowes we then returned to the main land, passing the Queen Mary 2 and three other ocean liners setting out from Southampton.  Saturday evening is clearly the time for cruises to set out.

Cowes Harbour

Cream tea in Newport centre

Beer by the river in Newport

On the chain ferry in Cowes

Queen Mary 2 goes past

Sunday was a more leisurely day spent biking down to and exploring the nearby Netley Abbey, an old 13th century ruin which was huge and most impressive.  It was disolved by Henry VIII and turned into a tudor manor house before falling into ruin. 

Netley Abbey

Monday dawned another lovely sunny day so we broke camp, drove around to the New Forest and parked up in a layby near Brockenhurst.   From there we whizzed around the cycle paths down to Beaulieu and from there up to East Boldre were we had lunch in the lovely pub garden.   From there we headed back to Brockenhurst, stopping off to watch some model aeroplanes being flown.   Some of them were really rather impressive.

Handy layby in the New Forest

Quick break in Beaulieu

Pub lunch in East Boldre

Mini aerodrome in the forest

This weekend was our last chance to trial our camping set up before we set off for our European Tour in a few weeks.  It was also the first time the kitchen pod had been used since it has been bolted into the van (meaning it's always available and I don't need to unbungee it to use it).   We found a few bits and pieces we felt we didn't need to take with us for our Tour, and we came up with some efficient ways of storing stuff in the van such that we can easily access it, but so it's also easy to put it away when we want to drive on.

The kitchen pod worked a dream.  It was great getting back from a long day out on the bikes, opening up the van and simply popping up the lid of the hob, grabbing the kettle and putting it on.  Absolutely zero effort and the kettle had boiled by the time we'd got the biking stuff put away.

The kitchen pod, ready for action

We also used it as a stand for the laptop, which made for an excellent entertainment centre so we could watch a couple of DVDs.  We'll no doubt be using this a bit when away.

An evening glass of wine and a movie

One thing we did decide on is that we really need a bike rack.  The bikes spent all weekend chained to a fence where we camped up but when we came to move on we had to bring them into the van and bungee them up.  This was all very do-able but the inside of the van was then mostly unusable, and it would be much better when travelling to be able to use the space inside the van without having to throw the bikes out.   Lunch stops would work much better like this for example.  So I'm now on the hunt for a T5 barn door bike rack.

All in all this was a cracking weekend and really helped us making last minute decisions on what we need and what is superfluous for our tour.  Can't wait to get going now!

Bolted

This evening we finally bolted the kitchen pod into the van wall proper.   It feels very securely in place now and I've also managed to add some velcro strips to hold the hob lid open when cooking.    I'm hopeful that's it all nice and neatly and safely secured and that if I really need to I can unscrew the bolts.

Real test is this weekend when we're off to the New Forest for a long weekend.  Then we'll really know how it handles.

Kitchen Pod Attachment

After many months thinking about how to attach my kitchen pod into the van I've finally decided on the approach to use.  I got a very helpful message from Mr Hedgehog (great name!) on the Brickyard suggesting that I use rivetnuts to bolt the pod into the wall of the van.   He then went on to explain what these nuts were and how they worked and then extremely generously offered to lend me his rivetnut gun to use!     How could I refuse?

Basically, for those like me who don't know what a rivetnut is, you drill a hole in the interior metal skin of the van and then push one of these rivetnuts into the hole.   You then use this special rivetnut gun tool to compress the nut such that it pinches itself around the metal skin and basically won't come out.   The rivetnut is hollow with a 6mm screw thread on the inside - meaning you can thread a 6mm bolt into the rivetnut and it will hold it tight.  The great thing about this is that when bolted in the pod will be extremely secure and not move around, but will be really easy to remove by simply undoing the bolts.

So, I've now drilled three holes into the metal skin along the top of the panel under the drivers side window.  Into these I've popped three rivetnuts ready to accept 6mm bolts.    So now all I need to do is drill holes into the cabinet and bolt it right into the wall of the van.  Importantly, when the pod is out of the van, all you see on the wall of the van is three really neat looking metal nuts in the skin of the van wall.    I didn't take any pictures last night when I did this but will add some later.

Of course nothing is as simple as that.   If I did bolt the cabinet right into the van wall I'd no longer be able to open the sliding window that the cabinet would be bolted up against.   So to make this work I need to put a wooden batton in the back of the cabinet and bolt through the cabinet, and through this wooden batton and into the rivetnuts on the van wall.   I'm planning to do this during the week ready for a camping trip next weekend.

Thanks heaps to Mr Hedgehog for the loan of the rivetnut gun!  I'll post a follow up with pictures when I finally bolt the cabinet in.

Cruise Control

It's been a while since I've posted anything up here but that's not stopped me using the van, nor indeed adding bits and pieces to it.  

The most significant item I've added since my last post is Cruise Control.  I paid £280 from my local Stealer for this mod and in my opinion it's well worth the money.   I took the van to Wales this weekend (and slept in the roof of course) and the cruise control was a godsend.

If you've used it before you'll know why I love it.  If not, try and take a car/van for a long motorway journey with cruise and you'll see why it's so great.  The journey down the M4 was easy as pie, with cruise on most of the way there.  It's early days to be certain but I think it's saved me some mpg too - although obviously I'll have to drive a lot of miles for it to pay for itself!

I think it will really come into its own in a couple of months when we take the van to Europe.

Llangennith Weekend

We're just back from a cracking weekend down in the Gower in Wales, catching up with a few friends and trying to catch a few waves.   We stayed on the excellent Hillend site right on the sand dunes in Llangennith and although it was very busy there it was an absolutely awesome campsite.   The facilities were all brand new, all the showers etc were free and there was lots and lots of stuff there so even with three full fields of campers there was still enough facilities to go around.    On top of that the staff were friendly and amicable (and possibly on weed) - the Nazis of Bude could do with taking a leaf out of the pot smoking staff in Wales.  Add to that that the campsite is 200m from the largest most beautiful beach and you have a real winner. 

The only downside was the campsite was full of loads and loads of youngsters (all good there) who were still partying very loud at 3am on the Friday night.  But we were all young once and me and Mrs Blakey are pretty chilled about this sort of thing so it was no real problem.  Saturday was much better it has to be said too.   All in all I'd rate the Hillend campsite as 9/10.   The only things that could have made it better would have been if it had been a smidge closer to the beach (200m is really not far at all mind, but with the dunes you can't see the surf from the campsite) and if it had been a smidge quieter.

We got there Friday night, parked up, popped the roof and went straight to the beach as it was still light.   A big disappointment as there was hardly any swell but after a 4 hour drive I was getting wet regardless so slipped into my wettie and paddled out.  Not really worth it but any wave is better than nothing when you've travelled so far. Plus I had the whole of Rhossili to myself and a glorious sunset to enjoy so I wasn't moaning.

Waiting for a wave.

We went back to the campsite and waited for our friends to arrive - they were travelling down later that evening.  When they got there we had a few more beers and about 1am we decided to crash out - but the party in the site went on for a good while after that!  This was the first chance to test out the bed extension and it really did make a big improvement - that extra 20cm or so length on the bed just made the whole experience much improved.

Friday evening camp.

Next morning we got up, checked the surf - very flat - and decided to hang around the campsite.  Another friend who lives down that way joined us and we sat about in the leigh of the van chatting about the World Cup and Maxican Waves and other bizzare stuff for a few hours.  Then he wandered off and we lit the barbie and cracked open the first beer.  Lovely just chilling about the place and having everything on hand in the van.

Saturday barbie.

Later on in the afternoon more friends who've moved to Swansea arrived and we all decanted back over the dunes to the beach.   The waves were still pants but, hey, when in Rome.   So I picked up another hour or so in the gutless 1' swell with a howling cross shore wind.  Pretty horrendous conditions really.

Back to the campsite, grabbed a bite of tea and another beer and then up to the local cafe where they were showing England vs USA in the World Cup.  Hmmm, shocker but I still think we'll top the group.

Sunday we checked out the surf but didn't go in, sat around enjoying more lovely weather and generally chewing the fat and then eventually headed home up the M4.  An easy drive home that will no doubt be made even easier after tomorrow when the van goes in to have Cruise Control fitted.

This weekend was the debut of the new kitchen pod.  And what a winner it was.  We bungeed it into the van when travelling and then just unstrapped when we arrived.   We pulled it out a smidge from the wall when we wanted to cook on it (so that the top hob-lid could open fully) and then pushed it back snug against the wall when we'd finished cooking.    The pod held the gas hob, our gas bottles, all our cooking utensils and pans and all our crockery and cutlery, plus a weekend's worth of food.  All in the one place, neatly stacked away and easy to access - it did the job perfectly.  Then when we came to come home, everything was already packed away and all we had to do was bungee it back in place. The doors have all warped slightly since I varnished it on a hot summers day (you live and learn I guess) which is a tad disappointing after the hours I've spent making it, but that doesn't in any way stop its functionality so I'm still really pleased with it.

Kitchen pod in use.

All in all a really fun, relaxing weekend.  The weather was great, the surf was pants, and the two new additions to the van (kitchen pod and bed extension) were both really useful and did the job great.  Fantastic.

Latest News

Haven't posted here in a while but I've still been doing the odd little bit of work on the van.    Since last I posted I've varnished the kitchen pod and added some galvinized steel plating to the insides of the hob partition.  I've also added magnetic fastners on the tops of the doors which helps to keep them in place although I think I might stick some on the bottoms of the doors as well to seal them tighter. 

The kitchen pod is pretty much done now.

The kitchen pod is now loaded up with all our camping gear - gas bottles, gas hob, Bluecat gas heater, water bottle, washing up bowl, cutlery, plates and mugs.  All basically ready to go.  It's living in the shed and just needs to be wheeled out when we want to put it into the van.

As yet I still haven't got a good method to secure it in the van, although I have had lots of ideas.  I'm just not settled on one solution yet.  I plan to bungee it in place for the moment, when travelling and then just take the bungees off when we arrive.   It can stay pushed up against the van wall when we are not using it and then be pulled forward a smidge when we want to cook - so as to allow the hob top to open fully.   Not an ideal solution but it works for now.

Gave the van a really good clean this week.  Came up sparkling.  Makes such a difference.

Up in the 'loft' I have finished my bed extension.  It's simply a 18mm bit of plywood with a thick foam wedge glued onto it.   It extends the default bed by 17cm, which is enough to make all the difference, I think.  This should let me lie on my back and not have my knees and feet restricted by the roof height.   I'm hopeful it will really make a difference, although it's not been tested by a sleep over - yet.

Today I have booked the van into have Cruise Control added next week.  I had it on my last car and really miss it on long journeys down the motorways.  I think it will be invaluable for our European Tour in the autumn and really make the long drives even more easy and relaxing.  Should be a great addition.    Just a shame I can't get it done this week ready for our trip to Wales at the weekend.

I'm planning on getting some lowering springs fitted next month too - the last mod I need to make before we go on our Tour I feel.  Just to improve the handling and general ride quality as we'll be in the van for so long.  Should also help us to get into any height restricted places too!   Lowering 40mm is my plan.  Now I just have to find a supplier and someone who'll fit the springs.   I feel a Brickyard search coming on!

Want to lower the van by about 40mm.

This weekend coming we are off to Wales for a few waves (swell permitting).   Should be a perfect opportunity to test out the new bed extension and of course the kitchen pod in anger.  I'll write a report of how we got on next week, probably whilst the van is in on Monday having the cruise control fitted in fact!