First Day Complete

Well I have made it to Chelstons in Taunton on day one of the support team challenge. I'm all plugged in and watered up in readiness for my first night in Dickie.

May I say that I've just eaten what can laughingly be described as pasta with sauce. If you are ever tempted to eat Budgens home brand refridgerated pasta, do your self a favour and buy something else. It was the most flavour-free meal I have ever had the non-excitement of eating. Hugo is currently chewing on his tail which, I'm sure, would be more tasty than my pasta.

At least I have some of Helen's yummy scones to fill my gastric void.

I'm up early tomorrow to get the van in for its service at 8AM - hideous - then on to Wells to meet up with Graham's mother for an interview about his family history. 

Looking forward to getting up to Scotland to experience this gorge scenery.

Finally Off to Scotland

It seems like I have been preparing for this support mission for ages but today I am finally off. After a quick visit to the vets this morning to check out Hugo's protruding buttocks I will be finalising the packing and heading for Chelstons near Wellington for Dickie's service and MOT.
Luckily I can stay overnight at Chelstons rather than get up at dawn's crack tomorrow to be there for 8AM. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive so not too stressful.
Despite being a tad terrified about driving to Scotland all by myself in such a large van, I'm kind of looking forward to it as well. My own little adventure.

Solo Support Team

My partner Graham is currently walking from Land's End to John O'Groats and is making great progress. He left Cornwall March 21st and is now in Edinburgh.

I am now about to undertake the terrifying task of driving Dickie from Cornwall up to Scotland by myself (with the help of our small dog Hugo).

me and Hugo

The furthest I've been before is from Boscastle to St Austell and back and then to Wells and back; both on support missions for Graham's walk. I managed OK after my initial trepidation but I have not driven quite this far in the van before. 

This section of our blog will cover my trip from Cornwall to Scotland in our (to me) gigantic Hymer and hopefully the 'not very exciting' adventures I will have along the way.

Dickie in Scotland last year

So if you see me on the road give us a wave.

Click on the link to catch up on Graham's blog

No Women Found In the Search for Fanny

'Why not call her Fanny?' I watched Tracey's face in the iPad Skype screen for her reaction.

My cousin likes the name we chose for our motorhome, 'Dickie', and as I have a childish and, some may say puerile, sense of humour, I thought Fanny would be an amusing moniker for their new van. Tracey chortled merrily, called over her shoulder to her husband Peter, 'how about a Fanny to go with Dickie?' and Fanny was born. Now we just had to find her before they arrived from Australia.

Henceforth, for the last week my partner Mr Fluffy and I have been scouring the motorhome dealerships of the south west for a new van to be ready for them when they arrive for their European odyssey. We've made a bit of a road trip out of it and have eaten in some very charming Britsops along the way; the Crown Inn at Catcott being a fine example.

The thing that stood out for me as we visited these dealerships is that there was not one woman salesperson at any of the seven sites we went to. We asked one salesman in Somerset about it and he said 'we had a couple of 'girls' here but they only lasted three or four months'. Perhaps they weren't keen on being called 'girls'.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is it just me? I hear there may be one or two up north so perhaps it is just the south west. I shall attend the Exeter motorhome show next week and see if any crop up.

Anyway it's just an observation. We did manage to find Fanny. It's quite daunting choosing a van for someone else as it's such a personal choice but, after much Skypeing and emailing of photos and videos, we made a choice: a Burstner Travel Van. She'll be waiting to take them on their adventures when they arrive after their long flight from Australia in a few weeks time.

Fridge Flues Can be Alarming

To say we were thrilled to have survived the night without being poisoned by carbon monoxide (CO) would be an understatement. We were wild camping in the Cabo de Palos area of Spain and had noticed a strange sooty smell in the van but could not determine the cause. We'd kept the windows open overnight as I was worried about the strange aroma. While walking back to the van after a short mooch around town we  heard a high pitched alarm emanating from 'Dickie', our 2008 Hymer 508. Worried that someone had tried to break in while we were on our stroll we dashed back to discover the sound was coming from our CO alarm which, thankfully, we had fitted when we first bought the vehicle a couple of years ago. As the windows and doors were all locked tight the CO had been able to accumulate. The meter was reading 61 which, according to the information on the meter itself, is a fairly dangerous level.

'Dickie' had undergone a habitation check about 6 weeks before so we were stumped as to what could be the cause. Being a weekend we could not do much about it but we emailed our British dealer who gave us the details of a Spanish motorhome mechanic in Almeria for us to contact. Unfortunately they were unable to fit us in for a couple of weeks and we weren't keen to risk it so it was lucky that the following day we met a chap with a similar problem who knew of a local dealer who could help us out straight away. Luckily the weather was good enough for us to keep the windows and skylight open to keep air flowing in the van.

Freeing the flue at Caravanas Lorca

Caravanas Lorca was a couple of hours away but, with a typically laid-back Spanish attitude, the mechanic grabbed a ladder and small chimney sweep-style brush and got to work. 'This is a common problem', the mechanic said, and proceeded to clear a huge pile of soot from the refrigerator flue. A few sweeps and around 40 Euros later we were on our way with a perfectly cleansed flue and perplexed expressions on our faces. How on earth can a habitation check miss such an important detail as a blocked fridge outlet? We decided to investigate.

When we contacted our dealer about this situation they responded:  'Our habitation service complies with industry standard which all reputable Motor Caravan dealers follow'. They were right. According to 'The Approved Workshop' (a joint enterprise between the National Caravan Council, The Caravan Club and The Camping and Caravanning Club which is the benchmark for motorhome and touring caravan servicing) website: Gas appliances will be safety checked but not serviced as part of the basic service; you can ask for this to be carried out (at an extra cost). Please note some appliance manufacturers will not continue any warranty into the second or third year unless the appliance has been serviced annually - check with your appliance manufacturer. Whilst the flues should be routinely checked for correct attachments, and be free from damage and corrosion, the pipe itself is not checked and cleaned unless requested. The vehicle is checked for leakage of gases at the time of service but, as shown by our experience, is no guarantee that in a few weeks' or months' time a leak will not occur and cause CO poisoning.

The sample Annual Motorhome Service Habitation checklist which can be downloaded from the Approved Workshop website (www.approvedworkshops.co.uk) states 'Fridge not serviced unless requested.' Had we been made aware of this at the time of service we would have had it done. According to the Camping and Caravanning Club website, motorhome and caravan owners '...should advise your workshop if you require the appliance to be serviced rather than just checked for function'. I think this needs to be made clear by the dealers when booking in for a habitation check as the consequences of CO poisoning can be very serious indeed.

The gas itself is odourless and colourless so cannot be detected unless you have an alarm. It binds with the haemoglobin in your red blood cells so reduces the amount of oxygen that can be carried in your bloodstream and can cause serious brain injury as the body is starved of oxygen. If you do not have an alarm the symptoms to look out for are: headache, nausea, and general malaise. They then worsen to include confusion, dizziness, shortness of breath and even chest pain. Death is the final symptom. As you can see the early symptoms can be confused with common illnesses like flu, food poisoning or even a hangover. CO Alarms are designed to alarm before there is an immediate life threat so you will be alerted to the danger and be able to remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible. They cost anywhere between £15 and £25 so are not a great expense. We are very happy to have had one and we test it regularly to make sure the batteries are working.

In our situation, the industry standard was followed and our motorhome dealer acted within the regulations when performing 'Dickie's' habitation check. We weren't informed that an extra check on the refrigerator flue was required and we presumed all necessary safety checks were being undertaken. Perhaps it's time for the industry standard to be improved and for all motorhomers to be made aware verbally of the extra checks that could be undertaken to ensure gas appliances are in the safest shape possible. This does cost a little extra (we've been quoted around £25) but is nothing when your health and, indeed, your life can be in danger from 'the silent killer'.

Local Loveliness

As Hugo sat atop the ancient stone altar, I contemplated whether I should sacrifice him to the gods of excrement or let him live. He had just rolled in his third fox poo of the morning and I was not relishing the idea of washing him in Dickie's shower cubicle. Sense prevailed and Hugo is still with us despite putting up a bit of a fight as he was cleansed in the waters of our van.

We are normally somewhere in Europe at this time of year but, due to family commitments, we have decided to make the most of what the UK has to offer and do some small trips in the local area. West Cornwall beckoned and we spent a night at Gurnards Head, a lovely pub with great food, just near Zennor. Graham has a book coming out early next year so we combined our trip with a drop off of the final proofs to his book's publishers, Troy Books, who are located near Penzance.

If you eat in the restaurant you can park your van overnight and there is a fabulous, if somewhat muddy and foxy, coast walk just minutes away. This is where we discovered the remnants of an ancient chapel with only its altar remaining. The rocky cliffs lead down to stunning beaches, only accessible by dangling precariously from a rope by the look of things. As tempting as it was to fling ourselves down for a walk on the sand, we desisted and stuck to the coast path.

The rain started so we headed off to the Ayr Campsite in St Ives. We've stayed there several times before as it's superbly located within walking distance of the town and it has great views over the sea. We had to do the touristy thing and ate fish and chips in view of the ever-present seagulls by the main beach. The rain came in so we spent the rest of the afternoon in Dickie just enjoying being away from home and pretending we were in France or Spain.

The murmurations of the starlings on Bodmin Moor were calling so we finished off our Cornish odyssey with a trip out to Roughtor near Camelford. The birds did not disappoint and millions of them came in to nest around 430pm, entertaining all who had come to watch. We can't get away too far this winter but it's great to think there is so much to see and do so close to home.

The Return

Ardnamurchan

Mr Fluffy's outbursts of 'You're acting like a 12 year old', 'you're being daft', and even 'you need a psychiatrist!' are not helpful. All this because I refused to drive Dickie over the Severn Bridge. Last time I almost had a full blown panic attack so did not want this happening again.

 

I know I'm a total wimp and don't feel confident driving our large Dickie so I suggested we look at a few van conversions on the way home. We popped in to Highbridge Motorhomes near Bristol and had a look. Our first Dickie was a transit Duetto which we loved but, after looking at the vans yesterday, we realised that once you've had a Hymer it's difficult to go back to a smaller van. The build quality and space available are perfect for us and the only reason we would change is my mental block on driving it.

So I bit the bullet and did actually drive from Wells to Boscastle, even doing the seven point turn required to park on our front driveway. Perhaps I don't need a psychiatrist after all.