Acquisition of Minotaur

Say hello to my new motor home, Minotaur:

She's a 1987 Talbot Express, 2 litre petrol engine, manual transmission. The coach end is by Auto Sleeper, the Talisman II. It is a fantastic unit thus far, I am so very impressed with the layout, use of space and configuration options available.

Her name is Minotaur (thanks Rhys!). This combines that bovine colour scheme with badassery, and the top sleeper unit does feel a bit horn like. It fits nicely.

Picking her up was a bit of a whirlwind. Back to London Victoria, then Oxford and on to Farringdon - left me about three hours of daylight left. The folks I bought her from, Keene Campers, did a wonderful job on her and provided me all the odds and ends I needed to hit the ground running. Basic utensils, a pot, a hose pipe, toilet chemicals, power connection, gas bottle. All ready to rock. So off I went four miles or so away to a place recommended to freedom camp and bond with the van, White Horse Hill.

White Horse Hill is so named because of a white horse laid out in chalk stone on a neighbouring slope, stone-henge kind of time. Unfortunately it was foggy the entire time I was there so I didn't see it. There was the remnants of a castle though, dating around 300AD - reminded me of the old Pa sites back in NZ, all that remains are earthworks and sheep.

Well, that's the flat bit in the middle of the castle. Covered in British sheep.

There were a couple of cars around, dog walkers and horse riders - but as the night closed in I was left alone with just the hoots of owls in the trees. It was pretty magic, such a change from the hustle of London.

Later in the evening youths arrived. God. Don't get me started on youths. So I sat there quietly, my imagination running wild:

Are they parking me in? 
Where did they go? 
Are they going to rock the van? 
Can they see the lights on? 
What if the cops come to move them on?!

It was all rather stressful, and the sign said no overnight parking so I was all worried about breaking the rules n that. My gas bottle was less than half full so I didn't use the heater, and it was an extremely cold night. About 2 degrees. I was as cold as I was in the Moroccan desert. So it was a bit shit really, that first night.

Waking up was wonderful though, not a soul - this historic monument site to myself. But I had resolved to go get my duvet at the earliest convenience. One of the guys at Keene Campers rang to see how I was getting on (great bloke) and wanted to check something, so I popped back through there and on to Oxford.

In Oxford I stayed at the 'Camping and Caravanning Club: The Friendly Club'. It's built on an old tip, classic 70s deal, nothing new to me, never expected better. But the woman was anything but friendly, oh the irony. I said it was my first time and I'd only had the van for a day - she didn't wish me luck or make any comment in response to my statements or excitement in the slightest! So I took pleasure reading their printed excuses for the state of the facilities - looks like the neighbouring store is slowly destroying them on purpose. Good luck finding some ground-swell of support there hag, aside from the landfill your site is reverting back into. I did talk to some nice people there though, other campers, and Oxford was even more lovely at this time of year than when I visited in January.

Climbed the Carfex tower central Oxford

Popped in to the town hall, an orchestra was practising so I hung out and listened for a while, was neat.

Spent a night back in Bromley, my home away from home, and then I was too excited to not hit the road the next day. I popped through the shops and after visiting Poundland I have most of the bits and pieces one needs to set up a wee home. I bought a smart phone suction cup and a cassette-headphone adapter so I can have sat nav loud and hands free, which made getting in to Brighton much less stressful when I was cut off by a funeral procession. On a side note, it's pretty hard to find a cassette adapter these days - took me like eight different stores, and then the guys who had it didn't even have them on display, just out the back. I count my blessings.

Now I am in Brighton, at the Caravan Club site. The Caravan Club are pretty well set up here across the UK, they sent me a nation wide map and it is pretty well covered! It's mosty old fogeys (guess folks my age freedom camp), but it's cheap as chips during the week. Four nights for £33. Sparkling facilities, and the proprietors are totally lovely. They helped me identify a faulty mains connection lead and found me a replacement so I could run a fan heater rather than the gas heater. These sites also have pretty good wireless so I'm even able to back up my photos, watch my shows and use the laptop mercilessly. Unfortunately it sounds like you need to book well in advance and most weekends are booked all summer already, so wild-camping may be the only method many a night! I am not adverse to wild camping, I love the idea and look forward to the peace it offers, but while I bed myself in with the van and learn the ropes of the various motor homing tasks, it's more comfortable to be in a safe and set up area in which to learn.

As for being in Brighton, I haven't had much of a chance to explore yet, but I did go for a wee walk this afternoon.

The Royal Pavilion

So alone. 

So very alone.

Classic seaside weather. Note the fluff inside my camera lens, I must get it fixed!

I wanted to knock Brighton off before summer kicked in, and I'm glad - I don't think I'd dig it.

So yea, this is just an introduction to the van - it's not going to get its own posts again, but it's going to be behind the scenes on most of my adventures! Here're some configuration pics:

The double-couch configuration. Note the top bed down

The one couch, one table configuration. Top bed up!

The queen-size bed option. Note the passenger seat swivelled, they both do that (but I've been using the drivers side, tilted forward, as recliner backrest). 

Closet above the gas heater, toilet/shower in the back corner. Electric/gas fridge/on right

Gas cooker, grill and oven, and the sink.

The loo and basin. You can see the faucet in sink, it's a holdy-shower thing and the room is a wet room.

Well that's the van! I love it.

I do admit though, that I am finding it a struggle at the moment, doing the solo baseless thing. This blog probably looks like it's all sunshine and lollipops, but it's not! It's hard. I know I won't ever regret spending the time to tour the country though, so I just have to push on through the lows. Fortitude. Resilience. Let's do it!

I probably just need to make myself a bit of an itinerary, make a plan - but I've never been much into that. I shall read my travel guides and work on that.