2022 Caravan, Camping & Motorhome show
It’s that time of year where the Caravan, camping and Motorhome show is preparing to open its doors once again. After a hiatus for what seems years the show is returning to the NEC. Although there are some notable absences to who is exhibiting at the show, the overwhelming demand on tickets and what looks to be a record setting attendance really does show how popular the leisure industry has become in recent times. Of course, we have to thank the one thing that has caused the cancellation of the last few shows. Indeed the pandemic caused a record surge in demand for caravans, motorhomes and...
Read MoreTo tow or not to tow
It seems lately all I’ve discussed on this site is the trials and tribulations of our tow car, so to keep the rhythm and theme, here is another one. This time, it’s good news. We have finally bought a Volkswagen Touareg. It is difficult to say correctly and spell for me, however, I collected the car this weekend. It is the 3 litre TDI V6 variant and in a fortunate turn of events has a detachable towbar too. So, surly this means we can get out in the caravan next weekend, doesn’t it? I asked a question in the form of a poll on twitter asking if you’d have any hesitation buying a car that...
Read MoreGive me a break..
Do you ever have times in your life when you just mutter to yourself “Give me a break” or experience runs of bad luck that no end of logic or analysing will help solve what’s going on? Be warned, this is a long post, I can’t seem to separate the topic, its all quite integral, so grab a cuppa and let me begin. It’s Saturday 30th October, and Angela would like to visit Glastonbury. We’ve never been and would like to spend a day out in the Somerset town. Full of good eating options, holistic shops and being just over an hour’s drive, why not. Chloe is staying at home as she has some...
Read MoreTow car blues
Caravans are pretty useless without a tow vehicle. They are even more impractical with a broken tow car. At the end of last year, I spectacularly broke my car. One of the turbos decided to let go, pulling oil through the core, into the intercooler out the exhaust and filling the DPF with all manner of goodness, it was (at the time) conceived to be terminal. I managed to “break” the car whilst towing in single lane traffic whilst on route to a weekend away. Once recovered, the quote I received from my trusted garage was around the £4,000 mark to fix the issue. The value of the car simply made...
Read MoreNot great, not terrible
I’ve just finished watching the Bafta winning drama Chernobyl again on Sky Atlantic, and there is a line of dialogue delivered by the late Paul Ritter in episode one “Not Great, not terrible” and this sums up our year thus far. No matter how I fudge the figures, no matter how I try to convince myself it’s okay, the fact is we have only used the caravan for 8 nights so far this year. At the point of writing this article, that’s 8 nights out of 111 possible nights we could have used the caravan in 2021. So, what on earth has happened? The reason isn’t as clear as “COVID”, I...
Read MoreThe first trip 0f 2021
It was Thursday morning and to say I was nervous would be an understatement. Had we packed everything we needed? Did I check everything correctly? And how are my towing skills? Yeah, setting off for the first getaway this year was an anxious prospect. In fact, the day before we set off, I walked around the caravan several times checking and double checking that everything was correct and ready for towing. I did need to change the batteries in the TPMS sensors and I’m really glad I checked them. Our first trip since October 2020 was literally hours away, and to a site that is quite...
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