Well, whaddyaknow - Ethel, aka my 75 Bay, is a cover star, as is the lovely wife! I wrote a piece for the book Campervan Crazy for nothing other than the privilege of being featured inside and getting myself a free copy of said book. Yep, I think they got a good deal, all things considered, but owning a vdub was never about the money (well, maybe spending money on keeping it running!). It turns out, though, that not only are we featured inside, my bus and Manda (leaning out the window wearing a pink hoody with cute animal ears on) are going to appear on the front cover. Ahem, exhibit A:

And here’s the original pic, as taken while on our travels across the Nullarbor Plain:

You can order the book now at Amazon (UK) now.

… VW Mechanics in Swindon, Air-cooled servicing in Swindon - is that what you are looking for?

This is one of those public service announcement type posts. Hopefully you’re searching for one of the above and got here. Good. Now, don’t go booking your old vdub in for any work without first consulting a fellow Swindon Vdubber. We’ve had too many horror stories (a good example right here) and it’s really in your interest to speak to some people who know, first.

If you want to find out who’s good and who to avoid (see who’s made it on to our shit list), drop me a line here - I’ll be sure to pass your question on. Don’t waste money by picking out one of the rogue traders - get a recommendation first!

On the off-chance that anyone is searching on Google for Swindon VW, Swindon air-cooled or vdub or Swindon Volkswagen club - or any variant of those phrases - I thought I’d pop a quick keyword-laden post here to catch those very people.

There is a Swindon group - Zwindon Airskool. The ‘official’ website is here (with details of any future get-togethers) . However, if you are the kind of person who forgets to check on web sites for future events, you can always subscribe to the discussion list (if we want to send out an email to all Swindon vdubbers, this is an easy way to stay informed). See you at a meet-up!

If you’re an avid VW fan and like nothing better than driving your air-cooled
bus or bug up to a show, I may have just the thing for you … if you are also
a Mac owner! I’ve been adding all the VW events that I know about to a calendar in
iCal and have now shared this calendar. When I update the calendar, anyone who
has subscribed to that calendar will get the updates too (when they fire up iCal).

More info about it can be found here: VW events calendar

Update: I’ve now added a page so that you can tell me about VW events that you want added:

Add an event to the VW event calendar »

A new year, a new look - Ethel has had a make-over. Truth be told, I’ve noticed I’ve been calling the van Ethel less and less recently. I think it’s because as time has gone on, I’ve removed more of the stock Aussie camper parts (like the roo bar and spare tire, the stock engine parts) and with each subtle tweak the bus is looking a little cooler; in other words, I don’t see her as a frumpy old lady so much!

The most recent changes have taken a while to come to fruition. Back in December I got the bus lowered, taking up a timeslot that was available at short notice - I had hoped to get the bus lowered and on the set of shiny new Empi 5-spokes before my wedding day (it was going to be used as a wedding vehicle). The timing was good - it would give me three weeks before the wedding to get MoT sorted. But disaster struck.

On the way back from getting the van lowered, the engine was getting progressively louder. Half way through the journey, as I pulled up at a set of lights, I heard the reflected sound of the engine bouncing off the cars next to me. Jeez, it sounded like a friggin tractor! And a very unhealthy one at that! Before not to long, I pulled over to investigate and by the end of the journey I was crawling back on hazard lights, with the engine popping loudly all the way of the 20mph journey.

Prognosis - knackered cam shaft. There was no way I was going to get it running before the wedding.

We got married, everything went smoothly and then we went on honeymoon. When I got back, I started thinking about the bus situation - it had been in the garage while I was away having a new (recon) Remtec engine installed. There had been a few teething troubles getting it to fit in, but earlier this week I collected the bus and now she’s driving nicely, quietly and with the lowering I can really feel a difference in handling, especially going round roundabouts or other sharp turns. I’ve still got to get used to slowing down much more for speed ramps (otherwise I’ll grind out!) but that’s a small price to pay. So, say hello to Ethel version 2.0 - doesn’t she look the part?

This is another little piece that I’ve written for a ’sidebar’ for a forthcoming book. It’s in its raw format, and will be heavily edited, but here’s how it’s looking right now.

One of the best things about owning and driving a VW camper van (or a ‘Kombi’ as the Aussies generally refer to them, regardless of the layout or origins) in Australia is that you really feel that they are being put to good use. Although caravan parks are mostly frequented by people driving newer and (usually) better-equipped camper vans, the Kombi seems to be ever-present. The old bus really earns its keep and certainly gets a reputation of being a good old workhorse. I forget how many times I heard people say "Those old vans just keep going and going" out there. The good climate helps keep them road-worthy and, thankfully, the price of petrol in Aus is nowhere near as high as in Europe, making those long inter-city journeys affordable as well as enjoyable.

There are differences between owning a Kombi in the UK and Aus, I’ve found. In the UK, you really have to make an effort to keep it road-worthy. When people don’t bother, the vehicles rust. And as vehicles rust, so the good ones become worth more, and it’s because of this that they are much more expensive in the UK (it’s also why so many people look to import from Aus and other places, just like I did!). The end results, I’ve found, is that over in Aus people treat the Kombi as a practical vehicle, and not necessarily as a fashion item. You can park it up pretty much anywhere and not worry that someone’s going to damage your van - they’re everywhere in Aus. It does make for a quite relaxing time. And that pretty much sums up my experience of travelling in the Kombi around Aus - the back of the van was great place to chill after a day’s sightseeing or driving. Well, if chill is the right word when you have 40% heat and no air-con!

I loved our little van, despite its imperfections. The set-up was hardly perfect - we did not have a rock-and-roll bed, and so because the bed was a fixed area it meant that when one of us slept (and by one of us I mean my partner, Manda), the other one had a small area to sit in. The cooler doubled up as a seat for those ‘drinking cold bottles of VB while the other half gently snoozed’ nights, while the driver and passenger seats up front became the general dumping ground for anything we didn’t need overnight. And while the van wasn’t as neatly organised as ‘proper’ camper conversions, we soon had the routine of setting up for the night and leaving the next day down to a fine art; we didn’t trip up over each other, and we never left a camp site so late that we incurred late charges!

Some of the most magical times in our trip round Australia were linked to that van. For example, making our way to Cradle Mountain in Tasmania as the snow started to fall, quickly turning into something of a blizzard. By the time we arrived at a campsite our toes were freezing and we couldn’t wait to get plugged into the mains to get the electric fan heater going. It was all quite spectacular, though, and I’ll always remember the curious pademelon (a type of wallaby) sticking his little head in the van and nibbling the raisins that we left on the side for him.

I also remember one of the scariest moments that happened in Tasmania . We had driven up a slightly steep gravely road and saw a sign that said ‘Private Road - No parking/turning’. I realised that we were coming to the end of the road and slowed somewhat. I stopped, wondering where we could go, and decided that I had to carry on and turn as it was a single track road and turn where I could. Except that I couldn’t move. Gravity was working against me, conspiring with the gravel. There was no moving forwards, so I faced the prospect of reversing, very slowly. I let off the handbrake and gingerly crept backwards. Immediately I felt nervous and put the brake on to think the plan over once more, but while the wheels had stopped turning, the gravel was slipping underneath. In short, I was heading down a steep hill on gravel with ineffectual breaks while facing the wrong way. I had to make a difficult decision, and I *chose* to steer into a ditch to stop it rolling, and then had to do this all over again, but to get back on the road again, I had to swing the front round and effectively steer the front wheel in to the ditch in order to angle the back one out. It was pretty hairy stuff, I can tell you!

I dare say that if we had bought a newer vehicle to travel around Aus, we would have spent less on repairs (electrical problems early on in the trip caused us problems) but I’m sure that it would not have been quite as much fun. And, for that matter, we probably not have a VW van now (given that I fell in love with the van and decided to keep it and ship it home!).

I don’t normally re-publish emails that I receive, but I kinda liked this
one - a very similar story to our own. This is what owning a van is all about,
folks:

Whilst looking for some information on VW Kombis today I stumbled across
your website (thanks to google). I can only say that the story of your
van has struck a big chord with me.

My girlfriend and I spent almost a year travelling around Australia during
2000/2001 in our 1976 VW Kombi. It was a 2.0i hard top that we purchased
just outside of Freo for a little under $3000 and despite the fact she didn’t
have a pop-top (and much alike your Kombi had a custom made (wooden) interior)
she came with everything you could need to be on the road for a good few months.
A good friend of mine who I met at a hostel in Freo not long after I landed
suggested that the best thing I could do was buy a van and see the real Australia
at my own pace….. The deal was finally sealed when we found a VW Kombi
called Molly… With my name being Max and my girlfriends being Holly
we took it as fate that this was the van for us….

Having been living in Subiaco in Perth for almost three months we relished
the chance of getting on the road and having clocked up over 16,000 kms and
had many, many adventures we finally ended up in Cairns. To cut a long story
short we ended up penniless (having suffered some major mechanical problems
caused by a dodgy mechanic in Darwin we spent most of our money just getting
to the east coast…) and after a great deal of soul searching and a lot
of tears we had to wave good-bye to Molly. During the seven months we owned
her she bought us great amounts of happiness and every now and then the odd
moment of despair…. I had often given thought to what it would take
to get her home to the U.K and we spent many, many hours discussing what it
would take to get it done. Ultimately it never got the chance to happen but
I often wonder if we really would have got round to doing it… Anyway
all I can hope that she is still out there, her wheels are still turning and
she is giving as much pleasure to other would be hippies/backpapckers as she
did us….

Having now been back in the UK for over five years I am finally giving in
to temptation and having recently started a job with a company car I have
a little more spare cash and a space on my driveway… Tonight we’re
off to look at Kombi again…

Some time ago I wrote an article that was featured in Camper & Commercial magazine. At the end of it I wrote:

"Now, we’re getting settled in again in the UK and finding all manner of jobs that need doing on the van. She’s a rust-free Aussie battler, for sure, but she’s not show car material. She won’t win any prizes for now, unless there’s one for ‘Biggest Holiday Souvenir’. "

The funny thing is that this weekend just gone, Ethel was a show vehicle - and the reason for it was because she was a holiday souvenir. OK, well that’s not how they labelled it: I had taken the van up to Vanfest (who, incidentally, have possibly the worst VW web site in the world) in Malvern to park up in the "Well-Travelled Bus" category. Look, people actually looking at my van at a show! Actually, they’re looking at the map of the route we took around Australia rather than the van. Still counts though, doesn’t it?

I’d like to say that Vanfest was a great show but I can’t say that with hand on heart because, as I discovered, there’s a problem with exhibiting like this - you don’t get see much of the show. Sure, I wandered around the trade stands picking up some goodies for the van, but other than that I really didn’t see that many buses at the show (I hardly even took that many pictures at Vanfest, which is unusual for me). Admittedly I was only there for the day (no overnight camping) and also spent half the morning wrestling with door fittings (I’d started to strip down the cab door to replace the window winder mechanism only to discover that it was far from an easy procedure, and was made all the more horrible by the sheer volume of Waxoyl that I had previously sprayed inside the door cavity. Maybe next year I’ll make a weekend of it. And when/if I do, I’ll drive up there on a decent set of tyres that aren’t likely to blow out and cause a nasty accident en-route!

How’s that for a shocker?

I uploaded this a little while ago but neglected to post something here. It’s another self-edited video, this time of my own bus (aka Ethel) in some video clips that I still had kicking around on Mini DV tape from Australia. It’s held together with a Prodigy track (Memphis Belle) and I kinda like it. Admittedly, if you don’t have a VW or if you haven’t been to some of the places shown in the video, this won’t mean too much to you. But if you’ve ever travelled around Aus in a camper van, give it a try!

Download the video of Ethel in Australia - clips of the van in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia [14.9mb Quicktime movie]

(AKA - A real life test/review of the Garmin Streetpilot C320)

What are camper vans for if they’re not for heading off, on an impulse, into the country for a spot of exploration? And what better to help you with that than a bit of in-bus navigation help? By that I am referring, of course to RatNav.

OK, I really mean SatNav, but Eugene, the van’s newest mascot (named somewhat unfairly after the Big Brother contestant on account of the oversized chompers) needs somewhere to sit and I don’t want to let that get in the way of a cheesy pun.

I’d always wondered what use these systems were. They were something that "other people" used, generally people in BMWs with plush leather seats. But then one day I found myself in the back of a car. A BMW, actually. With leather seats. And I was watching Tim’s Satnav follow us and guide us all around the country lanes to John’s place in Sezincote, delivering us right there on that spot in the middle of nowhere. I knew it was only a matter of time until I succumbed and bought me one of those!

I got a Garmin Streetpilot C320 about a week ago but this weekend was the first time that I tried it out for sure. I looked at a map (the old fashioned kind) and decided a bimble around the Forest of Dean would be a good idea. The unit seemed to fail its first test when I headed for the M4. I knew that I needed to head west and go over the bridge into Wales, but it was suggesting I go left, heading for London. Er … OK, let’s let it recover. Because the good thing is that if you go off route, it quickly recalculates a route for you. I worked out later that it was guiding me the right way, as I had set the unit to avoid tolls, so it was suggesting a route other than the M4 route I had headed out on (because you have to pay to go across the Severn Bridge). I unset that option then carried on my way. Oh, and paid the toll when we crossed the old Severn Bridge.

I cannot praise these things enough. It took the stress out of navigating to such a degree it was laughable. I was making my way around little towns like I’d known them for years, not once making a wrong turn. When we got to our campsite (located using the GPS), we immediately headed out, using the nearby points of interest facility on the unit to good use. By selecting one point at a time and letting the unit suggest a route, we found ourselves driving down pretty routes that we probably would not have done had we tried to navigate using the large scale map. The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly Symonds Yat, recommended to us by some other people (kombi owners!) that we befriended at the campsite. I simply tapped in the town name, then looked for accommodation near to that town (on the basis that the accommodation closest to the centre would be a good place to start). It suggested a place called the Saracens Head Inn. Symonds Yat is a beautiful spot, and without the SatNav I might not have found it.

Bottom line - you may think that SatNav/GPS is for geeks (and I think I can qualify for that category) but it really was an excellent thing to have this weekend. I just know that it will help me find places I wouldn’t otherwise do and it will also make me feel happier about driving off down random country lanes because I know I’ll always have a guide to help me out. One that doesn’t get grumpy about being asked, too

Photos from Forest of Dean getaway are here