ChrisandPenney52
VIP Member
After ten years (and pretty much a day one member of this forum when Martin and Kevin first set it up) we have swapped our much loved 2008 California 2.5 SE 130 for a Rapido Dreamer D55.
We had spent a lot of time at campervan shows over the past few years, initially just having fun comparing Californias with other T5/6-based vans, but lately spending more time considering what our fall-back would be if we could no longer clamber into the lovely roof bed.
We have always been fair-weather campers, and most of our camping has been done in benign climates. In our Cali we have travelled north to Durness, south to Granada, east to Prague and west to Portugal and NW Spain. We have also visited Corsica, driven to the Baltic coast, toured the VW Factory and Museum, and spent time in most parts of France and the Pyrenees and Alps. Our last long trip was to the German Alps.
For us the best use of the Cali has always been for outdoor living in the sunshine. And we’ve always been wimps and stuck to commercial campsites.
So, continuing travel restrictions, and the desire to be able to camp comfortably in more northerly latitudes out of season, have driven us to something a bit bigger and more cosseting. Permanent bed and an on-board shower and loo, backed up by solar panels and a much larger gas and water supply, and diesel and electric heating, should keep us mobile and independent and extend our season.
We originally wanted to stick to 5.5 metres. There are some great compact designs, but in the end these felt too cramped. So we sucked it up and accepted 6 metres as OK.
Our first trip was, thankfully, an affirmation of our decision, with plummeting temperatures, forty mile-an-hour winds at a site with all the facilities closed. Definitely Cali roof-down weather. Since then a couple more trips haven’t changed our minds.
In the best of all worlds we’d have kept our Cali too. Besides being a great camper, it was our mobile picnic table, sailing and walking support vehicle, load carrier and good friend. But we didn’t have the space, and for convenience at a time when selling is hampered by social distancing, we decided to take the hit and PX it. But we got a price we are happy with so all is good.
We will miss our Cali, and I think especially the compactness and anonymity of our silver van on the road, the ability to park almost anywhere, and fifty years of heritage. But this next step was always part of the game plan, and we’re just implementing it a few years early.
Thank you to everyone on the forum for the knowledge you’ve shared to help us when something needed fixing, and for some of the really useful discussions we’ve had. Thank you too to the moderators who do a stunning job of setting the tone and keeping us in order. I was never brave enough to step forward for this. I’ll continue to lurk if I could, as this is a very friendly and grown-up forum with good advice and interesting tales about all sorts of things, camping and non-camping.
I’ve left plenty of California Club cards dotted around our old Cali, so I hope the forum will soon have a new member to welcome. And if you see the driver of a Fiat Ducato camper forgetting himself and sheepishly waving at you, it will probably be me.
We had spent a lot of time at campervan shows over the past few years, initially just having fun comparing Californias with other T5/6-based vans, but lately spending more time considering what our fall-back would be if we could no longer clamber into the lovely roof bed.
We have always been fair-weather campers, and most of our camping has been done in benign climates. In our Cali we have travelled north to Durness, south to Granada, east to Prague and west to Portugal and NW Spain. We have also visited Corsica, driven to the Baltic coast, toured the VW Factory and Museum, and spent time in most parts of France and the Pyrenees and Alps. Our last long trip was to the German Alps.
For us the best use of the Cali has always been for outdoor living in the sunshine. And we’ve always been wimps and stuck to commercial campsites.
So, continuing travel restrictions, and the desire to be able to camp comfortably in more northerly latitudes out of season, have driven us to something a bit bigger and more cosseting. Permanent bed and an on-board shower and loo, backed up by solar panels and a much larger gas and water supply, and diesel and electric heating, should keep us mobile and independent and extend our season.
We originally wanted to stick to 5.5 metres. There are some great compact designs, but in the end these felt too cramped. So we sucked it up and accepted 6 metres as OK.
Our first trip was, thankfully, an affirmation of our decision, with plummeting temperatures, forty mile-an-hour winds at a site with all the facilities closed. Definitely Cali roof-down weather. Since then a couple more trips haven’t changed our minds.
In the best of all worlds we’d have kept our Cali too. Besides being a great camper, it was our mobile picnic table, sailing and walking support vehicle, load carrier and good friend. But we didn’t have the space, and for convenience at a time when selling is hampered by social distancing, we decided to take the hit and PX it. But we got a price we are happy with so all is good.
We will miss our Cali, and I think especially the compactness and anonymity of our silver van on the road, the ability to park almost anywhere, and fifty years of heritage. But this next step was always part of the game plan, and we’re just implementing it a few years early.
Thank you to everyone on the forum for the knowledge you’ve shared to help us when something needed fixing, and for some of the really useful discussions we’ve had. Thank you too to the moderators who do a stunning job of setting the tone and keeping us in order. I was never brave enough to step forward for this. I’ll continue to lurk if I could, as this is a very friendly and grown-up forum with good advice and interesting tales about all sorts of things, camping and non-camping.
I’ve left plenty of California Club cards dotted around our old Cali, so I hope the forum will soon have a new member to welcome. And if you see the driver of a Fiat Ducato camper forgetting himself and sheepishly waving at you, it will probably be me.
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