Sold - and Bought

The end of an era.   And the start of a new one.

I've sold the van back to Bilbo's - the very company I bought it off some two and a bit years ago.  It's served us well and been great fun to modify, drive and camp in.  But now it's going home to get a proper refit by the master conversion experts.  I'll have to pop up there and have a look at it when it's done.

Although the van has been sold and I won't be writing any more entries about converting it from Kombi to part camper, we're still going to own a T5 - in fact we've just put a deposit down on a California - our dream campervan.   I'll be blogging of our weekends and holidays in the new van as much as we used to about our old trips in the old van - simply as something we can look back on to remember good times.

Out with the old and in with the new.   I'll post details here of the new California when we take possession of it in a couple of weeks time.

For Sale

It's finally time to sell the van.  I've had it for just over two superb years.  I've toured Europe in it, camped in it, I've gone surfing in it, gone mountain biking in it, taken rubble and rubbish to the tip in it, helped a friend move house in it and enjoyed every mile I've driven in it.    But now me and Mrs Blakey are looking to upgrade to a full blown campervan.   Not just any old camper, but a T5 California in fact!   But to do that we need to make some money out of our current T5 Kombi.   I'll be sad to see it go.

So, here are some details if you're interested in buying it:

Overview
The van is a VW T5 Kombi.   I've taken that base model and added a raising roof which enables you to stand up in the van and you can sleep up there in the roof.  I've added a 240v electical hook up and leisure battery so that you can power all necessary goodies in the van.  I've built in a rear cabinet in which lives the 12v coolbox (included in the sale) and the leisure battery.  I've also built a removable kitchen pod which bolts into the side panel of the van.    So you can have a 5 seater, 3 seater or 2 seater, depending on your needs.   You can throw surfboards (I can fit my 9' longboard inside), mountain bikes, motor bikes, etc in there if you want to, with or without the seats.   The front seats swivel enabling the back to be used as a camper.   The original rubber kombi floor means you can easily clean all the sand and mud from the van.   It's insulated and carpetted on the inside meaning it's comfortable and warm.  It's designed as a machine to let you go surfing or biking or any similar activity, plus to be used for camping when wanted.  It will take 5 if desired, but is perhaps best designed for 2 to sleep, cook, eat, drink and live inside, plus having space for storing all the stuff you might need.

We've taken it on many weekends camping and even a 3 week long tour of Europe.  It's a great van.  You can read all about the adventures we've had in it here.

Basics

• PRICE:  £19,950 ono
• LOCATION:  West Sussex.
• VW T5 Transporter, 57 plate.
• 2.5 TDi engine, 130 bhp.
• Tiptronic gear box.
• 38,000 miles at present.
• T30 model (3 tonnes payload).
• MOT vaild till the end of November 2011, although I think I'll almost certainly service and MOT the van before I sell it so it will probably have a year's MOT.
• Tax is due end of March 2012.

 Exterior

• Black pearlescent paint.
• Caravelle appearance pack (inc spoiler front and rear).
• Front and rear fogs.
• 16” alloys
• Side and rear chrome rails
• Limo tinted side and rear windows.
• Barn doors to rear (limo tinted)

Interior

• Kombi set up – i.e. windows in middle and rear doors, panels in rear section. 5 seater combination.
• 5 seats:
• 2 leather upholstered “captains” chairs up front, with swivel bases for 360 degree rotation;
• Double seat bench and tipping single seat in the rear, all easily removable.  All covered with vinyl which means they are water resistant and super easy to clean.



Kombi rear seats



• Seatbelts to all 5 seats.
• All original VW seats which were with the van at construction so 100% crash tested safe.
• Kombi floor – soft rubber, easy clean surface.

 Electricals

• T5 Electrical pack (inc electric windows, heated electrical mirrors)
• Air conditioning
• Cruise control
• Rear parking sensors



Campervan Modifications

• Reimo Raising Roof with bed (£4500 modification done by CMC of Hythe, Kent).



The van with the roof up



• Insulated throughout.
• Carpeted throughout (on the walls for comfort and warmth – not on the floor for practical cleaning)
• 2 x LED 12v lights, powered off internal Leisure battery.
• 12v Leisure Battery, built in.
• 12v 28 litre cool box built in - runs off leisure battery.
• Split relay charger (charges Leisure battery from alternator when you are driving along).
• 240v mains hook up (allows you to plug the van into the mains when on a campsite – enabling 3 x 240v plugs inside the van for use with computers, hairdryers, kettles etc). The 240v hook up was also done by CMC of Kent – wanted a professional VW electrician to do this as it’s too important to get wrong.



240v electrical cut off with split relay charge - built into rear cabinet



• Lockable safe under front passenger seat.
• Rear cabinet (home-made) – which houses Leisure battery, 12v coolbox and 240v hookup and trip switch. Removable (screwed into rear panel).



Rear cabinet



• Kitchen pod (home-made) – contains camping gas cooker and gas bottles, plus space for camping plates, cutlery etc and food. Bolted into side wall, removable. Note:  this can’t be in place when the rear bench is in place – they go in the same location.



Kitchen pod in situ



Built in Campingaz stove in the kitchen pod



If you're interested, drop me an email or even post here.

Insurance

It's been a while.   The main reason I've not been writing anything is that I've not made any mods to the van since our epic tour last year.  And although we're still using the van for camping on a regular basis (and surfing, mountain biking and even trips to the tip where necessary), nothing has really compared to the Euro tour so I've not really been posting about them either.  Which is a shame.   Last night I went back and read some of my camping trip reports and it was cool to look back at some of the places we'd been.  We're off again this weekend so I might take up the keyboard once more.

Anyway, that's not the point of this post.  This is about insurance - and if any of you out there have custom conversions like mine you'll probably have also found that finding insurance isn't easy.   I've been with Direct Line for the last 2 years but this year their quote was ridiculous so I have had a good look around.  And I've come up trumps.

Adrian Flux have started doing a policy for campervans which are still in the process of being converted  - as mine is.  There's no time limit on how long before you get the conversion finished.  And the cost of the insurance policy was more than £300 less than Direct Line!!   I bit their hand off.

Euro Tour Day 22

Last day on the continent today. All we had to do was drive up to Calais and find a place to crash.

We were only 3 hours out of Calais and about half way through the journey we passed the city of Brugges, which we had contemplated visiting if we had time. We decided to take a spur of the moment detour into the city and are glad we did.

Brugges is a pretty place with canals that are much like Venice but somehow nicer and plazas to rival anything in Italy. The city center is full of little cafes and restaurants and chock full of tourists. The sun was shining which always helps too.

They have a great parking idea here too. If you park at the train/bus station on the edge of town (which is dead cheap at €0.50 per hour) you get a free bus ticket into town and back. The buses run every 2 minutes and have bus lanes so getting in and back is dead simple. This also means the city centre is very traffic light.

Leaving Brugges behind (another place we'll come back to) we headed on to Calais via a quick hypermarket stop for "supplies". We found a really delightful French site about 15 miles south of Calais to spend our last night of this epic tour.

Time for a shower and beer I think.

Euro Tour Day 21

Today we left Germany, drove into Luxembourg and on into Belgium.

We drove the last few miles of flat Germany and on into Luxembourg where we pulled in to a cheap parking spot near the train station. We walked up to the open top bus tour stop and grabbed a map of the route - which we proceeded to walk, cheapskates!

We took in the palace, the old city walls, the cathedral and the park. A pleasant enough city all told. Small and clean and generally friendly.

Here we filled up with diesel at a great rate of €1.01 per litre - about 90p or so which is good compared to the price back home.

From Luxembourg we drove on about half way into Belgium to the grounds of a 17th century chateaux where we camped up. The chateaux boasts a restaurant which we treated ourselves to a visit of. Very nice. We tried their local ale, "the best ale in Belgium" and crashed out.

Euro Tour Day 20

I've not updated the blog for three days so this is a bit from memory.

Today we woke by the picturesque lake Titisee and headed reluctantly away into the black forest. We drove through gorgeous forested hills with some stunning views.

Lunchtime we stopped at Germany's highest (disputed by wikipedia) waterfall called the Triberg falls. These fall the through seven stages and generate enough electricity to power 1000 homes in the local town. They're quite a sight but not hugely spectacular. Quite a walk from top to bottom and back up again though.

After lunch was our first experience of the fabled German autobahn and I admit to a little flurry of excitement as the moment approached. So what did we find? Roadworks. Roadworks and 20mph traffic. Great. Eventually it cleared and we hit some space. I only took the van up to 80mph but we were passed at great speeds by others although it was so busy no one was really motoring. Not as impressed as I was expecting all told.

We drove on to the edge of the black forest and finally decided on a quiet little campsite with a little trout beck running through it. There we pulled up alongside a great looking black T5 California. I'm jealous and deffo want one!

This was to be our last night in Germany and we really liked the place. We'll be back.

Euro Tour Day 19

Isn't it funny how much better life is when it's sunny?

We woke to a glorious morning sun peeking over the Swiss Alps and smiled. Last night Mrs Blakey had planned our route today and it was a corker.

We started off wending our way through more of the alps in the sunshine. After an hour or so we turned off the motorway and into the tiny principality of Leichtenstein. Its only 15 miles long and yet boasts a capital 'city' which we drove through in about 2 minutes flat. Factoid for the day: Leichtenstein holds more Olympic medals per capita than any other country. And its a pretty place in the sunshine.

Driving on we soon wound our way into flatter Switzerland as we approached Zurich. Here we turned north and left Switzerland and passed into Germany.

Neither of us had ever been to Germany before and I have to say we are massively impressed so far. Okay so the sun has been shining all day today and as we crossed the border we hit rolling hills carpeted with trees in their full autumnal colours. A visual feast. Plus the roads are excellent, fast and free. Bonus. And fun to drive to boot.

A few minutes into Germany and we drove into the Black Forest. Quite breath taking. The forest is mostly pine with rolling hills. We are now camped right on the shore of Lake Titisee which is beautiful in the sunshine.

We've taken a stroll by the lake into town, enjoyed a pedalo ride on the lake (yes it has been that hot today) and an ice cream in the sun. Rounded off with a quick beer and a slice of Black Forest Gateau and we're back to camp and making dinner by the lake. Lovely.

First impression of Germany is 10/10.