Mull

Last October on my camping trip I’d turned up at Oban ferry port and asked where would be a good place to go to for a day trip with my bike. They suggested Mull, so the next day I went. It was beautiful, but a day wasn’t long enough and I knew that one day I’d go back to see more of the island. With two weeks off work, now seemed like a good time.

I’d seen a photo in the paper of some huge horse sculptures lit up at night and had put them on my mental list of places to visit. They’re the Kelpies in Falkirk, which also happens to be home of the Falkirk wheel, the world’s only rotating boat lift. These seemed like a good enough reason to head to Falkirk. I didn’t think much of the town but was pleased with my decision to start my holiday with some touristy bits.

Next was getting to Mull, so I stocked up with a few supplies and fuel in Oban then headed over on the ferry. The ferry ticket is a 9 day return and unless the weather turned, I had plenty planned to keep myself occupied for that amount of time.

Apart from the first day, the weather was dry and mostly sunny which meant for a busy week. Plenty of walking, cycling, a couple of boat trips to Iona and Staffa and wildlife watching; seals, eagles and finally - some wild otters. The island was made for exploring with empty roads and tracks and paths all over the place, more remote feeling than Skye but a bit less daunting too – or maybe I’m just getting used to it! My only disappointment being that the resident puffins on Staffa had already migrated, a reason to return at some point. There aren’t many campsites on Mull, I saw three, so apart from a couple of nights on one of them I wasn’t tempted to use sites, the rest of the time was wild camping - having a van and wild camping isn’t about free accommodation, it’s about getting to sleep in the best places. 

 

On the 9^th day I wasn’t in the best of moods about the fact my ticket had come to an end. I went and found some phone signal to book a ferry back and ended up in Oban in the early afternoon. Back to tesco for fuel and supplies and then slowly start the journey south. Just out of Oban there was a sign which said “Beach”. I was in no rush and it was like a summer’s day, so before I knew it, Bertha had turned to follow the sign. Ganovan Bay was stunning! I laid on the beach and read, and was in need of a wash, so had a swim before getting the bbq out and having dinner watching a purple sunset. Following that unexpected sign gave me one of my favourite afternoons of the trip.

A bit of West Highland Way, a night wild camped by the highest village in Britain (should have packed de-icer) and then down to Buckinghamshire to be able to visit the Bletchley Park museum on my way home.

A great two weeks - time to plan the next trip…

Summer trips

After the maiden voyage I was fairly pleased with everything. I made some cupboard fronts out of plywood and vinyl tablecloth material, trying every type of glue to get them to stick, but that was about it, apart from turning her into a hippy van by sticking some flowers on the back. She also went into the garage to have a leaking steering rack sorted.

After that, some more trips. A few odd nights places, a weekend in North Devon, a week in France and a long weekend in Cornwall.

Things to fix before next trip - lack of leisure battery charging, a still leaking steering rack.

Scotland

Id had a couple of trips to the New Forest but my first big trip was to Scotland for 12 days. The aim was to end up on Skye but apart from that, I didn't have a plan.

Me and Bertha did some serious bonding. I found her limits on hills, she tested my limits on finding suitable places to park up. I only came close to scraping her once, a very narrow swing bridge over the Crinan Canal, she survived unscathed more by luck than judgement.

The first afternoon on Skye was the toughest, she almost didn't make it up a couple of hills and after she had, I rewarded her with a long rest to cool down and treated myself to a creme egg which I'd been keeping for Easter.

The rest of the week was brilliant, I found a mixture of campsites and wild spots to sleep in. Campsites were the easy option but wild spots were the ones which made having a van worthwhile. I stayed in a waterside carpark of an eco campsite where the owner invited me into her wooden hut house, a clearing on a waters edge seeing the pinkest sunset I've ever seen and Staffin harbour where just as I was taking a photo of the grey sky, 5 porpoises came swimming and leaping past.

Skye was beautiful, probably the most remote place I've been to, walking for miles and miles and not seeing another soul is both magical and slightly scary. Temperature wise it wasn't too bad, I didn't need any heating on and was lucky not to be caught out in any rain all week.

I took a couple of days getting to Glasgow, scaring myself on beautiful hilly roads and even feeling brave enough to go on the Nevis range cable car to play in the snow. Getting to Fort William it felt strange to be back in a busy place, the town is now starting to feel like an old familiar friend. The night to the south of there was the coldest of the trip and it was the only night I really could have done with a heater on, but at -7 I think its OK to feel a bit chilly, it would have been a lot colder in a tent.

Ikea van

The worst thing about camping, especially in the cold and wet, is needing the toilet in the night. I had decided I needed a proper toilet, a bog in a bag or a pee bottle just didn't appeal so I bought a proper chemical one.

Its not an attractive thing so it needed to be hidden, and wandering round IKEA I saw a wooden box which would fit over it. A couple of modifications and the toilet was secure and hidde, never to be mentioned again!
IKEA also had some smaller boxes and I'd seen a van which had a pull out kitchen at the back which I really liked - being able to cook inside in bad weather but outside in good weather. The smaller box would be perfect for that and I found some drawer runners to mount kit on.

Now I was pretty much set up and ready to go, I made a little shelf for a plug in coolbox to sit on, you never know, it could be a hot Easter in Scotland.

The bed

After a driveway sleepover and a weekend trip to the New Forest I realised the sofa bed cushions I'd got weren't great and I needed to sort a proper bed out.

Having seen a layout online that I really liked which used an IKEA futon, a trip to the home of dimebar cake was in order. The futon was really comfy but I thought it might be a bit long, this would need some more thought. After measuring a few times, sitting in the cold and pondering, I found one of the futons on eBay and thought it was worth a try.

It needed to be raised to fit over the wheel arch so I took the legs off and made a wooden frame to attach it to. The wood all came from the Southampton Wood Recycling project, if I ever win the lottery, that's the type of place I'd like to spend my days.

It took hours to build, not helped by the spring mechanism clattering me a few times. A bit of help from Grandad and it was done!

Conversion work

It had been almost 3 years since I'd sold my flat, and I think the van project was similar - I like making stuff. Too much time sitting behind a desk at work fuels this, building shelving in my shed had given me (misplaced?!) grand ideas. I hadn't decided how much to do myself and how much I would have done professionally - I actually wasn't too fussed by it all, it just needed to be practical to go away in.

Firstly I removed the extra seats in the back - jamming a socket onto the bolts then crawling underneath to undo each one. I also had a go at removing the welded half bulkhead - after hours of slow progress I gave up, demoralised and having had what would turn out to be the first of a few sliced fingers.

Next was to have the windows fitted - I found a mobile windscreen fitter so took it to the garage he worked from. Not that mobile. I told him to mind himself on the sharp bulkhead and we got talking, he offered to have a go at removing it for me. After a couple of hours reading the Sun in a greasy spooner I got a call to say it was ready. I returned to find the guy covered in blood - windows in, bulkhead gone!

It was at this point I decided to take her to Devon for the first time. When my parents first saw my Flat project they'd commented on the nice hotel down the road. They'd obviously learnt from this experience and Bertha was left neglected on the road outside. Grandad on the other hand was bordering on being more excited than me.


The bulkhead had dampened my spirits/been a dose of reality so I decided to have the electrics and lining done professionally. I was starting to get quite attached to her and wanted her to look good.

Next stage was to fit a bike rack - or remove the spoiler to be able to fit the rack. A very carefully placed kitchen knife meant the paint stayed on the van. Along with all the bond stuff.

The Monstrosity

In October 2013 I set up a savings account which would end 12 months later. I did this to be able to pay off my student loan in October 2014, it would be good to finally get rid of it.

It was a modest budget for a campervan but I found a perfect one. Until I went to see it in all of its rusty glory. The 3rd one I saw was just about right and pending a full test drive a week later I agreed a price, it was a fairly basic conversion but a lovely smart van. 

3 days later I owned a van. Meet Bertha, an unconverted panel van...

Wanderlust

In October I had a free week in my calendar and felt the need to spend a week outdoors before winter. With no one I knew fancying a week off, I packed up and headed to Scotland, my only real plan being to finish the West Highland Way. Cue a stunning week of wandering, exploring, walking and cycling(and not finishing the WHW). It was sunny but chilly - most other people up there were away in vans, I admired them but I was quite happy in my little tent.

The Monday afterwards was painful, even more so than usual. After holidays it was usually bad, but not this bad, after a week of such freedom. I decided that I would have to go away in the same way again as soon as possible. As soon as possible in a tent - probably spring then.

If only I had a van...