So the van is at last mostly complete! We have had our first few nights out, and she is very comfortable. We will deffinetly be buying a drive away awning though to enlarge our space and to ensure we don't get too stuffy inside in the summer..
We have some rough edges to tidy up such as the side of the table obviously, and some other holes in the chassis, the rear doors are still uncovered (might just be painted), and it needs a little more storage. We've got a load more of those little net compartments that are great for holding phones and nick backs, phone charger cables, battery isolator keys, etc etc.
The table was made from a piece of kitchen work surface I found onsite where I work, and then a small wooden frame made with quite cheap wood from B&Q, as I didn't want anything too heavy. It has been screwed in so it doesn't move, but is easily removed to use the van as a van.
Sadly I still haven't put enough into the van to be able to take pictures, send to the DVLA and change it to a converted camper. Still need a sink and tanks, a window (which is why I left the sliding door as it is for easy window installation).
Right so as usual I haven't posted as much as I wanted to, but hey ho, thats life. There have been a few significant changes to the van recently, some more money spent on things I should have thought about a long time ago, but hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it eh? The significant changes are as follows - I have added a new red gear stick gator, which frankly looks bloody awesome, and matches the steering wheel cover (covered in a previous blog post and video). I have then also added a new and smaller, much better finished red table in the back. This has opened up the space magnificently compared to the older table. This also happens to look much better, and be literally a tonne lighter in weight. Its total opened up the back of the van, leaving more room for stuff that can be unloaded into the Sheltapod later on (www.sheltapodcampervanawnings.co.uk) . The new table is about half the depth of the last one, so a significant loss in actual usable table, but to be hon...
Since coming back from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, we have failed miserably to use the van as much as we'd hoped for various reasons... These include but are not limited to the following: I have basically used all of my work holiday now, so I'm struggling to find the time to use the thing. Work for me is quite tiring as it is, so I usually find the prospect of getting the van gone to be used fairly daunting, and that I'm in need of my beauty sleep! We also have a holiday in Croatia booked for the begining of October, and since this has occurred we've been saving a bit of money to spend there, so the van has taken a back seat sadly. We're not really equipped for wild camping yet, and camp sites cost money, diesel the same, etc. Motivation has been low sadly :( Unfortunately I have considered SORNing the van so I don't need to tax and insure it, thus saving several hundred pounds, ready for its use again in March/April time next year. I haven't actual...
So it's been a little while.. not much has been going on. Except a lot of prep and messing about with the van, in the hopes our first delayed trip would be success. And it was! Thank the lord. The van didn't miss a beat, it got us to Durdle Door and back without any worries at all. Which was a massive relief given how much I have spent on the van for both the conversion and to keep the engine running. It may have helped that I gave it a fresh service just before we left, new oil, filters and just a bit of lovin'. It wasn't a long drive there, its only about 76 miles from Portsmouth apparently (according to google maps). But it takes a while, about an hour and a half of lovely motorway through the New Forest. It's actually quite simple, you just hit the M27 west, and just keep going until it merges into the A31, and then just follow that for ages, and turn left a bit! When you arrive, you'll be met with the steepest and fairly narrow entrance ever ...
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