There's nothing much to report on the van front other than it has been in regular use as Camper, show vehicle, bike transporter, spare room, and chill-out area. Early September saw us make our annual pilgrimage to the Southwest for some camping, surfing and general lazing about, with the return journey being interrupted by a stop at the Busfest show under the Malvern hills.
Our first stop was at our regular haunt, Trewan Hall campsite near St. Columb Major. As the week progressed, the campsite emptied leaving just us with a field to ourselves.
The weather was kind so we made our usual trips up and down the spine of Cornwall; St. Ives is one of my favourites - but it's always better when you take the park and ride train from Lelant rather than struggling to drive into town and find a parking space.
The Eden Project is always quite high on our list and one we hadn't visited in quite a while. The addition of the new aerial walkways adds a great new perspective to an already spectacular site.
Plenty of chilling out with our fellow van-campers took place. If ever there was a perfect time and location for the 'snail-like' lifestyle of carrying eveything around with you, it's Cornwall in early September when the weather can change three times in a day. One minute you're sat in the fog, the next minute you're getting ready for a spot of surfing under clear blue skies.
Perranporth sunsets are always a bit special in September.
Feeling refreshed from a few days in the southwest, it was time to head north to our next stop; the Blackmore Camping & Caravanning Club site just a mile or so down the road from Busfest at the Three Counties Showground. Being on a designated hard-standing pitch isn't quite the same as the freestyle Cornish camping, but having electric hookup was nice as the temperature had cooled.
A small selection of the awesome vans at Busfest:
Busfest was as busy as ever and there seemed to be even more of our European bus-loving cousins making the trip to the show. Loads of Germans, Dutch and Belgians in attendance - they always come over with the really cool vans that never really sold in the UK; syncro T4s and cool early bays were in abundance. The show and shine was a little thin on T5's - more than last year, and the quality/taste is getting better year on year.
This year really highlighted the need to get our interior done. Sticking with the 'no-compromise' ethos, I'd really like the dash and door cards trimmed along with the front seats and rear seat/bed. Cost-wise I fear this will have to be done in two stages; we'll get the seating done first as Mrs. Stone174 can no longer deal with making the bed up with just bare foam and an Ikea throw.
As ever, keep watching this space. I'll try and put up a few musings as to the direction I'd like the interior to take, without giving too much away! Apologies for the break between posts - but you can't blame me for being out in my van all the time!!!
Love Cornwall. Also loving the sky shots. New filters and maybe a new wide angled zoom lense were defo on my agenda. And then came the pups.....
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to find out if there's anyone else out there with 3 dogs in a T5 - we should be okay for room over winter (as we're not really going anywhere) but next year things might get a little *tight*. I know there's some front *bunk bed* options for the older VW models but not sure how to get the dogs up there with no headroom to jump up. Raising the roof seems an expensive option and again, not sure if there's an extra bed option then? Selling the van is defo not an option so I guess we'll have to come up with a clever plan over winter. Any suggestions appreciated ^_^
If it were me I'd go for a roof - it's one of the best things we've added to ours. Most come with the option of a bed 'upstairs' which hinges upwards with the roof when not in use to give you proper standing up space in the van. Most roof systems have a weight limit (somewhere around 24 stone if my memory serves me correct), so sleeping upstairs whilst the dogs are downstairs could be an option. Failing that, a drive-away awning/tent might be a more practical solution.
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