0utcast
Member
Last weekend we went camping for the long weekend. Luckily the weather held, for the most part!
Friday we went to Goodrich Castle and Puzzlewood, staying at a campsite near Talgarth overnight.
Saturday was a visit to a waterfall and a bit of a hike, back to the same campsite at night.
Sunday was Elan Valley and the reservoirs, absolutely gorgeous area of the world. We'll be back again for the greenlanes, didn't get a chance as it was getting late in the day. Sunday night was at Coco's Wild Camp, another stunning spot.
Monday we made our way home. Stopped in Ludlow for a bit of an explore, then left as it started to rain.
All in all the weekend was amazing. Drove some amazing windy scenic roads (stayed away from motorways, what's the point??). Saw the beautiful Welsh countryside at a sedate pace, limited by the 2.5NA engine. But after a little while I didn't really care that we weren't the most efficient, going at the speed limit to get there faster, because we had no hard plan, and I was having fun just driving.
Sleeping in the back was so comfortable, warm and dry. We had an air mattress with a 2" memory foam topper on top, with a proper duvet and pillows. The curtains over the back door window and bulkhead worked great for keeping draughts out, and heat in. Insulation on the roof worked great, I assume. We were quite warm overnight anyway, and it had dropped to about 2-3degC overnight, so i'm calling that a win.
Completed since last update:
Friday we went to Goodrich Castle and Puzzlewood, staying at a campsite near Talgarth overnight.
Saturday was a visit to a waterfall and a bit of a hike, back to the same campsite at night.
Sunday was Elan Valley and the reservoirs, absolutely gorgeous area of the world. We'll be back again for the greenlanes, didn't get a chance as it was getting late in the day. Sunday night was at Coco's Wild Camp, another stunning spot.
Monday we made our way home. Stopped in Ludlow for a bit of an explore, then left as it started to rain.
All in all the weekend was amazing. Drove some amazing windy scenic roads (stayed away from motorways, what's the point??). Saw the beautiful Welsh countryside at a sedate pace, limited by the 2.5NA engine. But after a little while I didn't really care that we weren't the most efficient, going at the speed limit to get there faster, because we had no hard plan, and I was having fun just driving.
Sleeping in the back was so comfortable, warm and dry. We had an air mattress with a 2" memory foam topper on top, with a proper duvet and pillows. The curtains over the back door window and bulkhead worked great for keeping draughts out, and heat in. Insulation on the roof worked great, I assume. We were quite warm overnight anyway, and it had dropped to about 2-3degC overnight, so i'm calling that a win.
Completed since last update:
- Insulation fit to the roof and sides from the bulkhead back to the rear, including the rear wall around the door.
- Curtains have a temporary fitting solution.
- Fold down table temporarily set up. Wanted to make sure it worked before committing. Got some small changes to make before final fit and finish.
- Packed boxes, bungie cords to hold together, phone mount on windscreen, battery clock on dash, small bits.
- Second layer of insulation in the back, and first layer in the cab. There was a lot of condensation in the front in the mornings, insulation will help with that. Just didn't get the time before we headed out.
- More permanent solution for the curtains. Probably a pole for the back window, and velcro for the bulkhead.
- Replace the air mattress with some form of foam one. Deflated slowly overnight, not much fun but not a showstopper.
- Make the changes and finish the fold down table on the rear door. It worked great, just need something sturdier than paracord to hold it up, and more permanent as it was a quick easy solution for the time being.
- Find and fit a centre seat in the front. The wife didn't have as much fun in the side facing benches in the back as we had up front.
- Some form of electric and lighting. Probably use portable stuff for the time being, but just a bit more.
- Ground cover for outside the rear door. Churned up a lot of mud climbing in and out, as well as standing there to cook. I'm thinking some plywood with rubber over top. Mostly just to provide a dry stable surface to get in and out from.
- Will also look into those camper levelling blocks, they look cheap and cheerful, and may help get a bit more level so we're not sleeping head down.
