In 2015 we spent the first few days of the new year at a campsite in Lincoln. We enjoyed the fact that after all of the hustle and bustle of of the Christmas and New Year, we can finally get some real chill out time in the van. So we made a point of doing a similar thing this year and booked into a campsite in Bristol. We had heard many people say how nice the City was, and how easy it was to get into the center from the campsite.
We used the ferry as our main form of transport, but there were many places withing walking distance. The SS Great Britain was a five minute walk away, and if you fancied a bit of exercise, the walk up the hill to Clifton town & the suspension bridge certainly ticked that box.
I had frowned at the South African grills because I felt people were paying well over the odds for a grill that was just a ‘bit’ different in the UK. However, the first time I saw Terapodz in the flesh was at the T3 Bus Meet. To me they added extra function and extra character above and beyond a wrap around to the indicators.
So these were on my Xmas shopping list. Fortunately my wife had caught wind of my wanting and bought them as an early Christmas present. Suffice to say, mid December I was adding these bad boys…
Lights out for installTerrapodz fitted
All back together 🙂
Sorted 🙂
Update (2019). All of the surface mount LEDs have failed on one lamp, and some have failed on the other. This happened over a period of months so really disappointed as they were not cheap. Would I recommend them…No. However, there is a second generation coming out I am told, but I can’t get my money back so it’s going to be a repair job or take them off!
My wife Mandy had seen the front tables fitted in other vans and thought it would be a good addition to ours. I wasn’t convinced initially, but the more we camped the more it seemed like a good idea. We were continually using the rotated front passenger seat to position the TV when in day mode, and then we would drop the cooker cover down and re position it there to elevate so we could watch TV in bed. We also struggled to find a place for pots we had used, but the addition of the front table over the drivers seat has been a massive bonus for both TV and any pots. This has freed up the passenger seat if we want a change of viewpoint in the van.
So we bought both the leg and the leg mount from NLAVW website. They seemed to be the best prices. However, both parts were the earlier type Westfalia items. This wasn’t a massive issue to be honest and I decided live with it. The items were galvanized and weren’t that pretty so I choose to color code grey. I already has a tin of etch primer and brought a can of spray paint from Halford. I scoured the car paints and couldn’t find anything that fitted the bill. I found a colour that looked like it could work in a miscellaneous section more for household work. It was called ‘Industrial Grey’ . So i got home and gave it a coat. I couldn’t believe how good a match the paint was against the carpet.
Colour coded and ready to fit
I did the same with the leg. When it came to fitting the bracket i decide to take the leisure battery out. I chose to drill a small pilot hole in the body to provide a good biting point for the self tappers. I didn’t want to damage the battery while doing this so i played it safe. Anyways, all went smoothly and within an our it was all fitted and ready to go. 🙂
This cover was brought from Brickwerks. I was in two minds whether or not to buy one as it would hide the polished Brickwerks Stainless Exhaust I fitted a few months previously. However, after some deliberation I decided that, as with the Engine Under-Tray tinware, this was a component fitted from factory (if not in stainless).
I have decided that although it looks clean, it also looks white. Sure it’s brushed stainless, but for me I think in the end it will be colour coded cherry red (LA3E) to match my van.
Once my roof bars were fitted to the van the amount of effort needed to elevate it increased dramatically. Although they are aluminum and relatively light they are mounted further forward than you would expect. Maybe this is because they are designed to carry long canoes as well as kayaks and mounting they further rearward may leave a long vessel sticking out of the back dangerously? Anyways, they are where they are and i have seen others mounted in the same location so I’m not going to question it any further.
So I had a requirement for some lift assist and the following was fitted from Campervan Cuture:
The Westfalia Poptop is great, offers so much accommodation space when you park and pop up but if you have anything loaded on a roof rack or roof bars on top of your pop top such as a Canoe, Surfboards or a large solar panel it can be difficult getting the pop top up into position due to the additional weight.
The kit is very easy to install, you only need to drill 2 holes, both in the fiberglass, one on each side of the pop top. The detailed instructions make it easy to find the right location for the holes.”
We left Brooke Lodge Farm after a day in Bristol and headed over towards Bath. We were just looking for interesting places to camp that weren’t going off the beaten track too much. We knew our holiday was coming to an end and we were just trying to make the most of the weather really. This would prove to be our last night of our main holiday in 2015 🙁 . We decided not to go into Bath as we had done Plymouth City two days previously, and Bristol the day before so more shopping wasn’t on the cards.
After The Eden Project we headed over to see my Uncle at St Johns near Plymouth. We had a great night with some fabulous food and wine, and got to see my cousin and the extended family also. We don’t hook up much so it was a really nice couple of days. We were offered a bed for the night but decided we would camp in the van on the driveway as the views of the garden were pretty amazing 🙂
St Johns
St Johns
Our original plan was to head into Cornwall from here and down to Lands End. However, the weather started to take a turn for the worse so we decided that we would leave my Uncles and catch the ferry to Plymouth and spend the day there. We perused the shops and had a meal at a nice Italian restaurant. For just over a week previously we had done so many different things that took advantage of the good weather, but more rain on the horizon meant that we would probably be better of heading towards another city break. So Bristol was the next port of call.
We departed from Blackpool Sands after a couple of brilliant nights on the beach and headed for our next destination at The Eden Project. The weather had taken a turn for the worse but we were fine with that as we knew the attraction had plenty to do indoors (good timing really 🙂 ). We got to Croft Farm Holiday Park about mid afternoon the day before we were due to visit the Eden Project so that day was really just a day of travelling, stocking up on food and setting the van up for a good nights kip.
Croft Farm
The following day had gotten worse weather wise and it was quite depressing in comparison to the excellent week we had previously. So we had some breakfast and a shower and drove the mile or so to the Project.
I must admit it was an excellent day out and i would recommend it to anybody in the vicinity. In fact it had been on our radar for some time during our trips ‘down south’, but was always just a little bit too far away to get there and back to our accommodation in one day. That is where we were really appreciating the new flexibility of the campervan.
So from Dawlish we headed to our next pre-planned destination. A very exotic venue at Blackpool Sands in Dartmouth. I had frequented this area of the UK on numerous occasions previously, and knew when I saw this event being organised that I wanted to be a part of it. Basically it is a privately owned beach, but the owner lets camper-vans park there for two nights of the year. This particular weekend fell in the middle of our two weeks holiday, and fitted in perfectly with our plans.
We arrived at the camp on the Friday afternoon.
Just parked up
The weather was fine but overcast initially and we had a good chat with the people on the beach front. As the afternoon turned into evening more people turned up. This was limited to about twenty vans so it was never going to be over crowded.
More arrive
So we I had a few Old Moute fruit ciders and the wind started picking up. The temperature dropped, darkness crept in and within an hour or so and the rain started falling. We had the mood lighting on and some nice music playing in the background. It was really cosey 🙂 . Mayhem was happening outside but we were as happy as could be. This is what having a van is all about!
So we called it a day and went to bed. However, I was awaken in the early hours by Mandy who said the awning was being uprooted by the high winds and was in danger of breaking free. We managed to get outside and close it in time, but this could have ended very differently 🙁
Sunrise Saturday morning
We woke up to an amazing sunrise. Well life didn’t get much better than this! 🙂 . We had been fortunate enough on our travels so far to have access to warm shower facilities. The only shower here was a cold one to wash the sand off after you had been swimming. This certainly woke me up! Then it was time for a coffee.
And a paddle….
We had arranged to hook up with my Mum and here partner whilst we were in at Blackpool Sands. We ended up going to Brixham and Dartmouth for the day. We did feel a little guilty about leaving the camp, but many of the campers had decided to catch the bus into Dartmouth so that eased our conscience. The people that stayed behind took advantage of the good weather and sunbathed or flew kites.
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Our day consisted of Fish & Chips at Brixham , then stopped in Dartmouth on the way back and cought the ferry to the castle and back. We had packed quite a lot into the day and got back to Blackpool Sands around 6pm. Tea consisted of Salmon, potatoes and salad washed down with another cider 😉 . When the sun went down we all sat round fire pits and chatted. What a cracking time.
So our next stop on our two week adventure took us from Woolacombe to Cofton campsite in Dawlish, Devon. We had stayed here previously and liked the fact there was such a verity of things to do in a relatively short location. A short walk takes you to Starcross train station and from there you can get the train to Exiter, Torquay , Dawlish beach or Tinmouth. Alternativly you could catch the ferry over to Exmouth or catch the bus or drive to Powderham Castle . Each one of these you could easily spend a day at.
Mandy chilling at the campsiteA view from Starcross station to Exmouth.Starcross Harbour
