Camper Van Conversion

We decided to have a weekend away, and have a bit of break.  The plan was to see a few sights get a bit of walking in and generally relax.  We picked Tenby in south whales, and found a nice campsite for the weekend called Well Park.  We had a good time there, lots to see, and there where some good walks, I probably could have stayed there a bit longer, but there was too much on at work for that to happen. 

The draft proofing work I did really seamed to pay off as the van stayed warm all night with the heater off, we did bring the duvet this time, and to be honest I was a little too warm during the night, so kicked it off. One thing I did notice is after a really busy day doing lots of stuff it would have been nice to have a TV in the van, as we did not want to go out every night.  So I am going to look into getting a little 12v lcd tv that can play dvd's, so as we can have the odd night in.  The only bad thing was on the way back the brakes started making an unhealthy sound noise.  So I spent part of the day at the garage getting my brakes fixed.

 

We took a trip to the lakes for easter with a few of our friends, the idea was todo a lot of walking.  I think we did quite a lot of walking, including climbing a mountain, and a good time was had by all.  When we first got to the campsite it had been raining for a few days (not surprising for the lake district), so the site was rather boggy.  We had also been unable to get a pitch with electric, so I got a chance to see how long the batteries last, the answer is 3 days with switching the fridge on to battery over night. Some of the nights where rather cold, some of our friends who where sleeping in tents got very cold.  We where not exactly warm either, firstly we should brought the duvet as well as the sleeping bag (my other half kept telling me I told you so), but also there are quite a few drats that kept letting all the heat out the van. When the van's batteries stated the go flat and the heater would not startup, then it got really cold.

 The vans doors (back doors, and side door) are only really designed to keep people and the rain out, so when they close there is a bit of an air gap.  Initially I thought it was quite a small gap and would not make much difference, I was wrong.  You could realy feel the cold air rushing in though this smalll gap reducing the heat in the van quite a bit.  I am going to have to come up with a plan to block/fill or otherwise deal with this gap as it's getting really cold at night.

We took our first trip in the van this weekend, camping near Scarborough, and going walking in the North Yorkshire moors.  The Van is still not finished however, but enough of it is now done that a lot of bits now work.  So how did in go I hear you all cry, well quite well.  All the systems I've fitted gas/water/electric all did what they where supposed to-do, and did it well.  There where some small inconveniences, but they where all of the category of things I did not pack, like no tea towels for dry dishes etc.  So I've got a number of small things to buy for the kitchen to keep permanently in the Van. The idea being that when we want to go some where, the only things we need to pack is some food, and clothes, not have to remember to pack things like pans, tin openers, wooden spoon etc. 

The only big problem was that the bed is just not very comfy.  The odd thing is, as seats they are very comfy, but when the form a bed they are not completely flat, all the little raised areas force you to lie in odd positions, so you don't sleep that well.  I think it can be worked round by using the odd pillow, and a mattress topper.  I guess I'll soon see as we are going to the lakes for a few days walking, so I'd best get it fixed by then, or my other half won't be pleased.