Blooming Weather

The day started very early and badly. I generally only use a thin sleeping bag in the campervan, it's all I need, but this time I'm regretting not bringing the thicker one. I woke in the early hours feeling chilly so reached over and put the fan heater on for a bit. I may have dozed off, but some time after there was a clunk and the heater went off. I survived the rest of the night and getting up in the cold (it wasn't that bad really) but only really for warmed up when I walked down to Wythall Station. It subsequently transpired that the trips in the 'van and on the supply post had tripped but even if the heater did come back to life I wouldn't trust it.

The locals seem friendly - good mornings and chats seem to be the norm, or at least that's what I found on the walk and at the station  It's a quick run up to Moor Street and I then wandered through the Bull Ring and round the markets. I'd got a couple of destinations programmed in to the sat nav, the Ian Allen book and model shop and a couple of walking shops do I use those as the basis for my meandering. I did get accosted by a local "character" walking through one of the squares, I don't know why I attract them but we had a bit chat.

After a mid morning coffee and cake, and a visit to the Cathedral, I headed down to the canal and Gas Street Basin. It's changed a bit in the years since I was last there, and not entirely in a good way. The James Brindley, which was a newly opened fancy bar, is now derelict and boarded up but the Tap and Spile has been tarted up and is now a gastro-pub. I had a couple of pints anyway, timing it nicely to avoid the first rain of the day.

That generally turned out to be the story of the weather, I always seemed to be under cover when it rained and outdoors when it was sunny. I'd located an Argos near the station so called there for a new fan heater before returning to the station. I had time for a coffee and sandwich before my train, once again it started tipping it down and I stayed dry, although it was chilly and I put my sweater back on! The light drizzle when I got off the train only lasted a couple of minutes, it wasn't heavy enough for me to get the umbrella out, and by the time I'd walked up I was getting warm.

There's a farm shop just up from the site so I called in and got a pie for tea and, after a couple of pics of Carillon House I got an ice cream from the site office as I was definitely too hot. 20 minutes or so after I got back to Dai it was hailing and I was unpacking the new heater (that's when I found out about the trips as it wouldn't work at first).

Short Day

Well it's short from the point of view of the blog as I didn't leave work until 14:30! I'm spending the weekend at Wythall, south of Birmingham. I've been to the site before and fancied a return trip as there's a transport museum right next door.

As I'd anticipated the M40 and M42 were busy, that's why I'd arranged an early finish from work, but I was on site and sorted before 5. Not too bad a drive up if a bit breezy. The non-awning pitches here aren't great, it's just tarmac with no delineation between pitches, just the peg to park on. I'd reckon the site must be about full and there's been a lot of traffic.

As there's no pub handy (it's about a mile and not that easy to get to) I had a chips of beers and indulged in some people watching. There's one fancy caravan where one of the two male occupants actual changed the water and emptied the waste wearing a designer suit! They went out later slightly more casually dressed. Next door to them is a tatty Transit campervan, one of the occupants came racing back in on his bike - I'm guessing he'd been working somewhere local.

I did consider parking next to one huge motorhome - one of those ones where the side slides out to give more space. It would have made a good picture!

Tomorrow I'm off to Birmingham by train so want a reasonably early start. It's only about a mile to the station so I'll walk up. It's not exactly a warm evening, the fan heater has been on and off, but it'll be fine once I settle down in the sleeping bag.

MOT Time

That time of year has come around again, which means it's about 2 years since I bought Dai. It's always a bit of a worry that they'll find something major wrong but in the end there weren't even any advisories this year so I'm very happy about that. Although not advised on the MOT they did pick up that the front brake pads are about 75% worn. They should be fine for another year but I might get them changed at the end of the summer anyway just in case as the disks themselves are OK so I'd prefer not to damage them.

The MOT and service came to just over £170 which I reckon isn't too bad. The garage were canny this year, like most they generally order parts on the day but she ordered the service kit in advance this time, common parts for the Daihatsu are easy enough to get but sometimes need a bit more hunting out than they would for a UK model.

Tyred this Time!

After the saga of the exhaust I had hoped everything would run smoothly. Unfortunately when I got back to work yesterday afternoon I realised, as I was turning and reversing, that I'd got a deflating tyre. A quick check and yes, one of the fronts was about half way down. I had hoped that it might hold enough for me to pop round to Tesco, pump it up and it would get me home but decided as I left work it wouldn't be with the risk.

Changing to the spare was easy, is only a scissor jack but there are nice substantial chassis beams in just the right place! The hard part was getting the spare out from under the back. One of those jobs you never remember until it's too late, cleaning and greasing the screw for the wheel carrier. Eventually got it unwound enough to release it, however I chucked the dust in the back rather than try and screw it up again, just put a tie-wrap on to make sure it didn't bounce off while driving.

A quick call to Etyres had elicited a promise of someone coming out today and either fixing or replacing. In the end it turned out to just be the valve which had spilt, annoying but one of those things. He did put the spare back on the carrier but hasn't fully tightened it, sensibly he preferred not to risk it. I'll have to get under there at the weekend with the WD-40, wire brush and grease.

Exhausted but not Tyred

One of the downsides of any imported vehicle is the availability of spares. When the exhaust splits in two you can't just nip in to the nearest Kwik Fit (not that I would go there anyway).

Two weeks ago the slight blow that "needs fixing sometime" became a major issue. Fortunately I was able to borrow dad's car for a weekend away before taking Dai in to a local exhaust centre. I chose that particular one as they do fabrication. After examining it they confirmed that the cat had fractured at the back and they'd see what they could source.

I felt it worth doing some searching myself as well and found a company in Japan who could supply parts. A new cat would be about £600 + taxes, not too bad really, a full system though would cost more than that in air freight alone due to the length. However they did also confirm that the local model name is an Atrai 7.

Armed with that additional information I tracked down a cat off the shelf in the UK  for under £300. A quick internet order and then, after a day's delay (the technician wasn't available yesterday) I took 'van and cat back in this morning. The good news was that the rest of the exhaust is still well serviceable, with just surface rust. The bad news was that the new cat didn't fit properly, the front flange was incorrect and it's too short for the rest of the system. It may well be that the whole system had been replaced at some point.

I can't fault the can-do attitude of In Town Automotive though. It cost another hour and a half of labour charges but they cut off the front flange and welded the old one on then sleeved the back joint.  They'll get the job if and when I do need the rest fabricating.

The Tyred  part? They routinely check the tyres (trying for sales of course) but after 18 months or so they're only 15% worn so no chance there.

2015 Conclusions

Following what's likely to be the last camping trip of the season here's the promised round up.

Nights Away

I've been away for a total of 28 camping nights, 18 of these were on Caravan Club sites, 3 each in boatyards and a pub caravan site, 2 in a festival temporary site and 1 each at a watersports centre and a friend's drive.

Of those 3 nights were at no-facility locations, I can certainly manage those for a couple of days.

Viability

There's no question that for me it is viable to have the campervan, but that's largely because I also use Dai as my every day vehicle. On that basis I can discount the general running costs as I'd be paying those anyway. At a quick guess for the 25 nights I paid something for I averaged £15/night which would total just £375. The 28 nights in even a cheapish hotel or guest house would probably average £60 a night before even considering that I do much of my own catering. Add on another £10 for that and I've saved around £1600. Of course I'll only know about depreciation when I sell Dai but typically it will be less that a car would be so I can disregard that. There's been some additional other costs such as the Waxoyl but overall I'm happy with the finances.

Awning

One of the things I wanted to think about this year was an awning, and whether I need or want one. The answer is a resounding no! The only circumstances where an awning would be useful would be if I was on a no facility site for several days (as it could house the larger porta potti) or if I wanted guests stopping. If either circumstance occurs I'll think again but until then I know I can manage without and indeed it would just be a nuisance with little benefit.

I wouldn't mind a sun shade but it would be difficult to fit one on Dai so I'll leave that for the future.

Washing Up

OK, not a major conclusion, but I realised most of the way through the summer holiday that it was silly to be boiling a kettle to wash up after meals if the site has a perfectly good washing up area with unlimited free hot water. They're quite sociable places as well. One tweak to facilitate this is one of the collapsible washing up bowls.

Jobs to Do

There's only one important job and that's to tackle the surface rust on the sills before it gets worse. As soon as I get a fine weekend I'll get on with that. I'm planning to largely empty the cupboards this year to help reduce condensation problems and inevitably I need to give the whole 'van a good clean.

Storage

I think I largely got the storage arrangements right last year. One thing this year though is a tendency to have some of the camper stuff (e.g. the window screens) stored away when I'm driving day to day but then put them in the front footwell when I go away to free up the storage for clothes, etc.

Changing Dai

Barring a major influx of funds I'm definitely planning to keep Dai until mid-2017. This year has proved the viability and suitability of Dai for long holidays. I would like to find something a bit bigger with two particular changes. I'd like a camper that doesn't use the front vehicle seats as part of the bed, the current ones are comfortable enough but they do take a bit of time to make up and take down and something flatter would be better. The other thing is a recurring theme of campervan owners - better toilet arrangements! I just need to wait and see what's available when I start looking, but if I can't find anything I'll just keep Dai for longer.

Never Raced but Rallied

This weekend's trip was to a boat rally, it's an annual event that I've attended on-and-off for many years despite no longer owning a boat. We returned to the pub we've used for several years which has the advantage of a full facility caravan site, better for me but more expensive, £20 a night isn't unreasonable at all but is a bit more than I'm used to paying.

Dai behaved all weekend, as usual. The fan heater did come out, it's getting to the time of year when I'd be reluctant to be away without hookup although it would still be manageable.

As that's probably the last camping weekend of the year I'll be emptying and sorting stuff out at the weekend (weather permitting). Last winter there was quite a bit of condensation in the cupboards so I plan to empty them, give everything a good wash and store it in the house.

I'll do a season's round up and summary in the next couple of weeks but overall it's been a good year.