Summer 2014 Still Going Strong!

This weekend I find myself home alone!

Kiera has gone off with the girls for a boozy weekend in Glasgow, the kids are at their Grandparents which means only one thing.

In the words of William Wallace "Freeeeeeeeedommmmmmmmm"!!!!!!!!

Only kidding!

But with the weekend off myself, I thought that I should make the most of it and head off out on my trusty Honda C90 aka "Lucille".

I was unsure where to go with a loose plan of watching the sunrise out at Calshot spit, but a last minute change of mind had me booking a ferry ticket to the Isle of Wight.

It has been many years since I was last over, and that was on business so no time for sight seeing then.

For a full report please visit my other blog at www.fatbloketravels.blogspot.com but a couple of pictures for you to wet your appetite.

To be honest the best part of the island is the South West Corner, with spectacular views and a rugged coast line. I also spotted numerous camp sites and some great spots to wild camp in the VW.

However, the ferry is not cheap, £34 return for me and the bike! £70 plus for a car!

A great day out was had, and when I got home a quick shower and then off out in the VW as I had pre bought all the ingredients to make a wickedly hot chilli.

Off down to Keyhaven Marshes and I cooked myself a fine tea. I had contemplated staying there the night, but decided against it in the end and headed home. I was shattered.

Till later......................

Owning A Vehicle That's A Bit Different!

Between us we own a number of vehicles.

1. Mitsubishi Pajero
2. Hyundai Santa Fe
3. Austin Mini
4. VW T25 Camper
5. Honda C90

Now, the first two really do not have any kind of status, all though there is a Pajero club scene, all though a bit of a small one.

However, driving around in either the Mini or the T25 as soon as you pass another it's all waves and big smiles!

I found this with the Honda C90 as well.

Parking up in our T25 tends to always get admiring glances or in a lot of cases folk coming over and starting up conversations with you.

It really is fun owning classic/iconic vehicles.

But with this comes the cost of up keep. Last week we required a new fuel pump for the Mini. The VW though sound, does need a bit of body work doing to it. Engine wise I think she is good but a full service is on the cards soon. More money.

But you gain so much more joy out of these vehicles. Driving around in a square box which looks similar to all the other square boxes has no appeal for me.

Which brings me onto the fact that with two 4x4's in the stable and not a caravan in site something really has to go.

I'm afraid to say the Pajero is or rather will be, once I have emptied it up for sale.

She has served me well and runs brilliantly. So the full spec is as follows:-

Mitsibushi Pajero 2.8 Long Wheel Base. A full 7 seater with cloth interior. The 4wd system all works and she is a dream to drive.

Tow bar obviously with twin electrics. Great for towing, you often have to remind yourself there is a caravan on the back!

She has the winter pack which includes full insulation in all door/body panels, heated front screen so no scraping of ice in the mornings and a diesel pre heater.

A bit of a long shot but if anyone is interested email me at joolsmauro@gmail.com for further information.

Till later......

Cadac Carri Chef 2 BBQ Skottel Combo Latest Review 2014

I've said it before and I will say it again, the Cadac is an amazing bit of kit and with the new upgraded version even better.

For those of you new to this a Cadac is essentially a gas BBQ with an assortment of pans.

I used one when I was full timing, cooking everything from roast chicken/lamb/pork/beef etc to a curry! As well as your more traditional general BBQ type food. I really don't think there is much you could not cook on a Cadac! 

In the above picture I am using the pan stand and a large flat pan bought from IKEA for less than £15.00

We also bought with this one a Pizza Stone, which slots into the top and that worked well, in fact it was rather rapid! With it up to full temperature of almost 200 degree's it cooked the pizza to perfection in just 5 mins!

A number of things were different on the new Cadac. Firstly there is now a temperature gauge in the lid, a handy addition.

The way that the pans sit in the base has also been modified and works a lot better now. The lid handle has been changed and a new starting switch and gas flow knob has been redesigned.

However with this version the griddle pan is different. My old griddle was reversible, griddle one side and a flat pan the other. This one only has a griddle on one side. It is non reversible. I guess the people at Cadac thought why sell one pan when we could split them up and sell two and make double the money!?.

So far I have only cooked a Pizza, breakfast and BBQ food. But I can say it cooked it all really well. Roast next!

If you are in the market for one of these then I strongly urge you to get one. It packs up small enough to lug about in it's very own carry bag and not only can you use it in your camper/caravan but when your home it is big enough to use in your garden. So save your money and get one of these that can do the lot!

There is a smaller table top version available. Personally I haven't tried it, it just looks a bit too small for my steaks, but it has it's place if space is an issue.

The only other thing I noticed different on this one was the cover. My old one had a sewn in handle on the top. All you had to do was pull on the handle and off it came. The new one doesn't have one. This may sound like nit picking, but the handle was handy for hooking over your jockey wheel winder or anything else to hand to stop it blowing away!

But all in all, very pleased with it. You simply cannot go wrong with one and if you are it's because your probably doing something wrong!

Till later..................

Camping Test Run In Our VW T25 aka "Duckie"

This was a full blown test run with full camping gear which included the drive away awning, the Cadac the fold up tables and the LED light to name just a few things.

We were all packed and ready to go, we just had to collect the kids from school and load the food we were taking into cool bags/boxes.

I had a 12v cool box which we plugged in for the trip. We filled the fridge to the brim and placed a frozen blue ice block in the ice tray, and a couple of cool bags.

The VW fridge runs off either the 12v supply or gas. Running if off the 12v supply will drain the battery sharpish and running it off the gas eats up the gas, so to be totally honest after leaving in the blue ice pack and opening the fridge door as little as possible we did nothing with it. It kept everything cool, which for just a couple of days is fine.

We had booked 2 nights at Freshwater Beach Caravan Park near Burton Bradstock, as I said in a previous post, not my normal type of camp site, but for the kids it was perfect.

Reception was still open when we arrived as it only took us and hour and a half to get to the site. We were issued with and information pack and pitching instructions and a map of the site.

As you can see we had a good view over the rest of the site, I would say approx only 1/12th full. I was rather glad of having a corner pitch, only having neighbours on one side.

Setting up on the site was fairly easy, it wasn't level so I am glad we had invested in the levelling ramps! I did see a motor home with a massive set of ramps which I rather liked the look of but finding somewhere to store them may be an issue!

So once level, we pulled out the awning and got to work putting it up. It could not of been simpler! Two large poles which slot through from corner to corner, peg out the base and hey presto, the awning is up!

Now the tricky bit of connecting it to the awning. Well it could of been, and probably would not of worked as well as it did if we had done it correctly.

The problem being that it clips onto the roof rail on the VW. However when the van was resprayed the rail appears to be clogged up and solid with some kind filler?! So attaching the clips proved impossible.

We were aware of this as the previous owner had told us about it and they said they used bungy ropes to attach it. We inserted the pole that goes along the entrance to the awning and with a couple of bungy ropes over the roof of the VW and down to clip on the wheels we attached it to the van.

Now in doing this it did a number of things. Firstly this whole section became taught and attached much better to the van, but the best thing was that it lifted the entrance up higher. If we had attached it to the van rail it would of just of been above the sliding door entrance. With it being lifted higher it was a good 30 to 40cm above which meant getting in and out of the side door so much easier.

So all in all it worked a treat. The awning had a sewn in ground sheet and three doors, however we only used the one. Both us us were very pleased with not only the ease of erecting the awning but the size of it and it's use ability.

Not tested in wind or rain, but have no complaints so far about it.

Next was the Cadac, what can I say that I haven't said a million times before - brilliant! The new model, considerably improved over my last one worked as it should. I will write a complete post on it as I really do think it deserves to be covered in a little bit more detail.

The folding tables also worked well, all though the large one was a little tricky to put together and you had to be careful when moving it around as it tended to come apart!

The site had direct access to the beach, I'm sure that I have written about Chesil Beach before, but if I haven't then it's worth taking a look at. It stretches for 18 miles and it has been said that in the old days, the smugglers would land on the beach and new exactly where they were by the size of the shingle as the further from Portland you get the smaller the stones get. I have also heard this story about Mackerel fisherman landing.

Now the site itself was spotlessly clean and the loo's and toilets were tip top. Some of the shower cubicles were massive and included within it a sink and loo which is great if you have young kids. The water was hot and plentiful as well. So they deserve a pat on the back for getting that right.

However, two things left me rather puzzled. Firstly, no recycling at all. The only bins were the big industrial ones where everything went into. You would of thought they would of had general, glass, cardboard and plastic ones?

And the one thing that does annoy me no end, chargeable WiFi !!!! In this day and age you should not be charged for internet access. Certainly not £4.00 a day! Not only that but you were limited on data usage as well! Rip off.

All in all a good weekend away, all the kit was used and it all worked extremely well.

On our way back we stopped for ice cream near Corfe Castle over looking Poole bay, then we headed home via Studland ferry. A bit of a wait to catch the ferry, but nothing too long.

So where next??

Till later.........................

Preparations For Camping In Our T25 aka "Duckie"

This weekend will be our first weekend of camping with the kids!

We aim to set off as soon as they finish school tomorrow. We are heading for Burton Bradstock and a site called Freshwater Holiday Park. 

Now this is not the sort of place that you would not normally find me, indeed under normal circumstances it would be my idea of hell.

However, with kids aged 10 and 12 it seems ideal with a swimming pool and ten pin bowling. The beach is close by and we are on a grass pitch with hookup.

We wanted to test out the awning and our new cadac, which I must say has been upgraded considerably since my old one!

Today has been spent, fitting out the camper with all sorts of useful gear that I have collected over the years. The Pajero is being emptied of it's tools and safety/recovery gear. Finding homes for all of it now.

I still have a massive list of things to do, but have all day tomorrow to get things sorted.

Looking forward to a a couple of days of relaxing and camping, should be good fun.

Will update as we go as long as I have an internet connection.

Till later.......

Conservatory Update - We Have Walls And A Cat Flap!

Old Vic has been cracking on and has been working like a man half his age!

All the bricks arrived and have been cut where needed, and now we have the beginnings of walls to both sides.

The cat is called "Whiskers" and is a bit daft, however, he has all ready sussed it's a cat-flap and is using it!

So back on track - sort of. But progress can clearly be seen so as long as this continues we are happy.

Till later...............

Honda C90 "Lucille" Looking Sheepish!

As I mentioned in a previous post, recently during a visit to IKEA in Southampton I bought a sheep skin rug to act as a seat cover for my Honda C90 aka "Lucille".

It was time to try it out and how amazing is it!?

It fitted a treat, and the comfort level has now gone stratospheric! For the money you simply cannot beat it - cost £30.00

If folk looked at her before, they certainly will do now!

I have also fitted some additional LED headlights to her, to say they are bright is an understatement. Very impressed with how they work and the way they light up everything.

I mounted them directly to the front of the shopping basket and spliced them into the all ready fitted LED lights mounted below.

After trying them out in the dark I can safely say I can now see where I am going.

Till later............

Last Days Of Summer - 2014

As I tend to get up early these days due to my job of driving a bus, it has started to become noticeable that it is staying dark longer in the mornings and getting darker in the evenings.

This should not really be a surprise,after all it is just a passing of the seasons, but this year it seems to of crept up on me rather rapidly!

With the kids starting back to school we thought we would celebrate the last night of the school holidays with a trip to Milford on Sea beach in "Duckie" (what else)? and a pizza/kebab/chicken nuggets takeaway.

Whilst parked up we had a couple start talking to us about the our T25! You really do get to meet some folk when you drive something just a little different.

So that is summer more or less done and dusted, not that it means camping is over - oh no! Hard core - remember??!!

Till later...............

New Camping Equipment Essentials For Our VW T25 aka "Duckie"

Bringing my experience of full timing to kitting out our VW T25 "Duckie" has been fun. We started out with very little in the way of equipment, but it does not take too long to kit out a van to our own specification.

We decided on a list of items that were required to bring her up to top spec.

First on the list was a Cadac. My one went when the caravan did! So a new one was a must.

We took a bit of time in trying to find the best deal and price, there are a few combinations around. We did try to buy one from GoOutdoors but they had sold out, so after we came home we looked on Amazon and came up with an even better deal!

Now when you buy one of these you also need to think about how you are going to connect it to your gas bottle, so we also bought a gas regulator for a propane bottle and a length of gas pipe.

Some thing else you also need to consider is how you are going to store your cadac when you are away camping. From experience it is a real ball ache to pack it all up and put it away every night, or even bring it into you awning once it has cooled down, so why not buy a cover?

Well, that's what we did and that is what we are doing again!

We also treated ourselves to a Cadac Pizza Stone - a bit of a luxury but as we all love pizza we thought we may as well.

Whilst we were in the cooking frame of mind I always fancied the idea of a Cadac Skottle - but to be honest I found them a tad expensive at £33.00 for what they were. So whilst we were wandering around IKEA the other day I came across something very similar, but at a fraction of the cost. I think off the top of my head it was £15.00 or less! Not only that but this one is a lot deeper and can be used as a "wok" style pan. Brilliant for stir fries, currys etc.

So what else did we buy? The list goes on!!!!

With the twin axle caravan I never bothered with levelling ramps, instead relied on two rather thick planks which I placed under both wheels to raise them up a bit and it worked a treat.

However with having less space and being a bit more practical we bought a set of Fiamma Levelling Pro Ramps and some chocks to go with them, just to be on the safe side.

The chocks just slide in on the runners and with four of us in the van if the handbrake were to fail a bit of piece of mind! I may even use them on flat ground - just in case!!!

Of course we had to have the bag for it all to go in!

We carried on shopping by adding a camping table - my old one was a good few years old when I bought it from ebay! It has certainly seen some serious action and was in dire need of replacement. So another item added to the basket!

In my caravan I had a smoke detector, which constantly went off, so in the end one night I took the whole unit off the wall and flung it out the door. I know that was childish but it really did my head in as you would then spend at least 5 mins looking for smoke!

So, with that in mind we decided to buy some half decent smoke and Co2 alarms. There is some debate as to where to place the Co2 alarms - Up high or down low, my feelings are down low, but if anyone has any good information on this matter I'm all ears!

We also bought a couple for the house at the same time.

Now it's one thing detecting a fire but putting one out is another matter all together.

Fire extinguishers and fire blankets were added as well, both for the camper and for the house!

The bill was getting bigger, but, these are one off purchases, and essential for piece of mind and ease of camping.

Anyone can rough it, but why do that when you don't have to?

I did treat myself to a new titanium Spork. I have had several plastic ones now and each one has broken after a bit of use. I love the concept of them so decided to splash out!

These are brillant and the titanium one is well worth the extra money. If you haven't ever had or used one before I suggest you get one to try it out. A spoon one end and the other a fork with a serrated edge for cutting. Pure genius!

I already had a cover for it, so it was just a new Spork

So with our Amazon shopping basket over flowing we hit the purchase button and await our goodies to arrive. I am so looking forward to having a Cadac again and introducing the wonder of cooking on it to Kiera as she has only seen the normal steaks and burgers being cooked and not the full monty of roast chicken or pork!

The other reason for buying it, is that we can also use it for outside in the garden, saves us buying another gas BBQ!

Not sure what the final bill was, I was to scared to look! 

Should all start to arrive pretty soon, excited!!

Till later...............