Baptism of fire in Amarillo

[Amarillo]

Having taken delivery of Amarillo on Tuesday, we set off with little trepidation on Friday for a three night camping trip to Corfe Castle.

Never having used Sat Nav, and believing the teething problems of drivers being sent down railway tracks and such like, had been resolved, I set the destination - a field in Dorset - and set off: A20 - M25 - M3 - M27 - A31, then wholly unexpectedly, along the A338 towards the sea and a road which the Sat Nav presenter called the B-three-thousand-and-sixty-five. Much to the delight of my three year old, we were taken on the Poole to Swanage ferry.

Typically, just as we arrived at the campsite, at 5pm, the lightning flashed and thunder rumbled across the Purbeck Peninsular. Never mind, we are in a car... But three adults, two excited toddlers and two hyperactive border collies cannot be cooped up in a car for long after a three hour road trip, so I was turfed out to put up the awning. And up it went, astonishingly quickly, even if not very well. This was only my second attempt at putting up the Kela III, and it is an amazing piece of kit. I think I did a reasonable job considering it was in the middle of a torrential downpour. However, there was a large gap between the tent and the van.

Of course, as it was still raining heavily, my next instruction was to dettach the awning and drive to the local pub.

On our return, I found that in my haste I had forgotten to fully do up the awning, and rain had ingressed making the awning carpet damp. Oh well...

I popped the roof up, shifted half a ton of bedding and made up the downstairs bed, and as planned, Clare and I went upstairs and our au-pair and the boys slept downstairs. Not as planned, the dogs slept downstairs too - they were supposed to sleep in their crate in the awning.

There are several options in making up the downstairs bed in the six or seven seat Beach:

Option 1. Use the bench seat only and children lie along the bench.
Option 2. Part drop the multiflex, move the extra seat(s) as far forward as they will go, and two adults can use the extra seats, the bench and the multiflex as a long bed.
Option 3. Move the front seats as far forward as they will go, remove the floor rail stoppers, push the extra seat(s) all the way forward, part off the rails, and with the fully extended multiflex, make up the bed.​

With one adult and two children in the lower bed, we chose Option 3. As we had taken just one additional seat, the dogs slept in the lobby area by the sliding door.

Soon after bedtime it was clear that the boys were not happy. Ben came upstairs with me, Clare slept downstairs with Jack and our au-pair.

Despite from the howling gale outside, we all slept soundly. Similarly on night two, but if anything the wind was stronger. It was calmer night three.

By Monday morning the inside of the van was looking very muddy, despite best efforts to keep shoes off inside.

Packing up was a bit off a faff, taking until 12.30 - then back to the ferry, over to Sandbanks and lunch in the van, until out meeting with Denise from Jackyards to discuss seat covers. Uneventful trip home.

MPG is a little disappointing at 33.8. I think I'm a fairly cautious driver.

Adaptive cruise control is amazing.

Entering postcodes into the sat nav is not immediately obvious, and the sat nav itself is not as good as I hoped it would be.

 

[Hotel California]

Seems a lot of feedback to work on.
Witch is normal with a large family and two dogs.
I was told the new sat nav in T6 was better than the RNS510 witch i have and not worth the money imo

 

[bigmac77]

Did you enjoy yourself?

 

[Velma's Dad]

MPG is a little disappointing at 33.8. I think I'm a fairly cautious driver.

Considering the weight you were carrying, that doesn't sound so bad to me. The manufacturer's figures are for an empty vehicle, obviously, and without lots of other small factors (like having aircon on, bike rack, tyre inflation, using cruise control) that add up to why we're unlikely to achieve the published figures in real world.

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

For a first time weekend I reckon it was a success!!

Three adults, two kids, two fairly large dogs and lots of rain, blimey, you deserve a medal

The chain ferry to Swanage is awesome, my kids love it as much now (they’re 13) as they did when they were toddlers, such an adventure! And Corfe is lovely, the Dorset coast has always been a favourite with us.

You’ll get there. The Cali isn’t a small vehicle by any stretch but even with just me and the kids, organisation is paramount, less is definitely more! You’ll soon all get used to moving around each other when the bed needs making up, or dinner needs to be cooked. Even just getting dressed can be a mission! We’ve been camping for years in all manner of VW buses, and even now, every time I come back from a camping trip, I take something out that I don’t need, and usually then add something that I think I do, but probably don’t...

Awnings are brilliant. However much I tell myself I can't be bothered with the faff of lugging it in and out of the van, putting it up etc, anything more than two nights and I reluctantly have to accept that it's essential if you have kids and/or dogs, especially if it rains, as mud is simply horrible and gets everywhere, despite all my best efforts! Being cramped with lots of damp kit is just miserable, so having an awning to chuck it all in is ideal.

My only criteria now with an awning is that is has to be lightweight, not take up too much room in the back, easy to put up and does not attach to the van. I can't be bothered with all the faff of 'lining up’ after coming back after a day out, and I’m paranoid about the awning against my paintwork!! So I bought the Decathlon Air Base XL shelter, and that works for us.

And yes, the adaptive cruise is amazing. I still find the fact that it will make the vehicle come to a complete stop at a roundabout terrifying and brilliant at the same time!!

 

[Amarillo]

Did you enjoy yourself?

Most of the time.

I woke up in the middle of the night on several occasions, convinced that the whole van was about to blow over. I also lost the bag for our new maroon topper and searched the campsite field hedgerow for it. It then turned up at Fleet services after a confused driver asked what that black flappy thing tucked into our bike rack was.

 

[bigmac77]

Most of the time.

I woke up in the middle of the night on several occasions, convinced that the whole van was about to blow over. I also lost the bag for our new maroon topper and searched the campsite field hedgerow for it. It then turned up at Fleet services after a confused driver asked what that black thing tucked into our bike rack was.

I find it amazing how we constantly loose things in such a small vehicle.

 

[GillianC]

Having taken delivery of Amarillo on Tuesday, we set off with little trepidation on Friday for a three night camping trip to Corfe Castle.

Never having used Sat Nav, and believing the teething problems of drivers being sent down railway tracks and such like, had been resolved, I set the destination - a field in Dorset - and set off: A20 - M25 - M3 - M27 - A31, then wholly unexpectedly, along the A338 towards the sea and a road which the Sat Nav presenter called the B-three-thousand-and-sixty-five. Much to the delight of my three year old, we were taken on the Poole to Swanage ferry.

Typically, just as we arrived at the campsite, at 5pm, the lightning flashed and thunder rumbled across the Purbeck Peninsular. Never mind, we are in a car... But three adults, two excited toddlers and two hyperactive border collies cannot be cooped up in a car for long after a three hour road trip, so I was turfed out to put up the awning. And up it went, astonishingly quickly, even if not very well. This was only my second attempt at putting up the Kela III, and it is an amazing piece of kit. I think I did a reasonable job considering it was in the middle of a torrential downpour. However, there was a large gap between the tent and the van.

Of course, as it was still raining heavily, once up, my next instruction was to dettach the awning and drive to the local pub.

On our return, I found that in my haste I had forgotten to fully do up the awning, and rain had ingressed making the carpet damp. Oh well... I popped the roof up, shifted half a ton of bedding and made up the downstairs bed, and as planned, Clare and I went upstairs and our au-pair and the boys slept downstairs. Not as planned, the dogs slept downstairs too.

There are several options in making up the downstairs bed in the Beach with one or two extra seats.

Option 1. Use the bench only and children lie along the bench.
Option 2. Part drop the multiflex, move the extra seat(s) as far forward as they will go, and two adults can use the extra seats, the bench and the multiflex as a bed.
Option 3. Move the front seats as far forward as they will go, remove the floor rail stoppers, push the extra seat(s) all the way forward, part off the rails, and with the fully extended multiflex, make up the bed.​

With one adult and two children in the lower bed, we chose Option 3. As we had taken just one additional seat, the dogs slept in the lobby area by the sliding door.

Soon after bedtime it was clear that the boys were not happy. Ben came upstairs with me, Clare slept downstairs with Jack and our au-pair.

Apart from the howling gale outside, we all slept soundly. Similarly on night two, but if anything the wind was stronger. It was calmer night three.

By Monday morning the inside of the van was looking very muddy, despite best efforts to keep shoes off inside.

Packing up was a bit off a faff, taking until 12.30 - then back to the ferry, over to Sandbanks and lunch in the van, until out meeting with Denise from Jackyards to discuss seat covers. Uneventful trip home.

MPG is a little disappointing at 33.8. I think I'm a fairly cautious driver.

Adaptive cruise control is amazing.

Entering postcodes into the sat nav is not immediately obvious, and the sat nav itself is not as good as I hoped it would be.

Great write-up Tom - it did make me chuckle and I totally agree, you are one brave man with three adults, two children and two border collies in a van!!!!
Had a similar experience trying to find my way to a site in Corfe - there were diversions in place and heaven only knows where I went!!! It was very busy, very narrow and very steep. Coming back I used the map book.
What colour seat covers did you get from Denise? I love mine - pleased that she fitted them though, I think it would have taken me ages.

 

[Jabberwocky]

All in all Tom that sounds more like success than not, especially for a first trip out. Congratulations!

We have yet to make our Maiden Voyage. Rough plan will be Poole (walking on the Jurassic Coast), Portsmouth (Historic Dockyard & Pubs), Chitchester (Chitchester Harbour), Brighton (Pavillion and Peir), Beachy Head (cliff walking) and home - over Easter.

Only downside? Got to wait so long but need to earn a few pennies first

 

[Seaside Sussex]

What a great write up Tom @Crispin Family. Memories are made from this

We've got the VW Satnav in our Golf. I'd agree that it is not particularly user-friendly, thus did not specify on the Cali.

 

[Amarillo]

Considering the weight you were carrying, that doesn't sound so bad to me. The manufacturer's figures are for an empty vehicle, obviously, and without lots of other small factors (like having aircon on, bike rack, tyre inflation, using cruise control) that add up to why we're unlikely to achieve the published figures in real world.

It was better than I reported. At the campsite, when I had time to play and found out how to read the MPG, it read 33.8. This afternoon it read 35.8, implying an MPG of 37-38 for the trip home yesterday.

 

[T6 CFO]

If your getting that sort of MPG with a new tight engine that's excellent.


Mike

 

[Amarillo]

Great write-up Tom - it did make me chuckle and I totally agree, you are one brave man with three adults, two children and two border collies in a van!!!!
Had a similar experience trying to find my way to a site in Corfe - there were diversions in place and heaven only knows where I went!!! It was very busy, very narrow and very steep. Coming back I used the map book.
What colour seat covers did you get from Denise? I love mine - pleased that she fitted them though, I think it would have taken me ages.

We haven't chosen yet, and are still at the digging in heels and refusing to compromise stage.

However, if past experience is anything to go by, Clare will have her way and it will be a greyish base colour so as not to show up the dirt, and as recommended by Denise, with a maroon secondary colour to match the roof topper.

 

[Meoncoast]

Well the sun came out for Portland Bill looking at your lighthouse picture

Are you going for jackyards we have had the for about 5 years and although expensive we would not be without them Denise fitted ours but we tend to wash them a couple of times a year and fitting back on is not an issue once you get the hang of it

Wet and windy with kids is about as bad as it gets.

 

[Amarillo]

However, there was a large gap between the tent and the van.

Here is the gap:

Somehow it doesn't look so bad in that photo, but the awning does look very saggy.

 

[bigmac77]

It was better than I reported. At the campsite, when I had time to play and found out how to read the MPG, it read 33.8. This afternoon it read 35.8, implying an MPG of 37-38 for the trip home yesterday.

Don't trust the onboard computer for your MPG can be out by as much as 10%.

 

[Hotel California]

Agree with @bigmac77 , for a longer trip i always leave home with a full tank , before heading home fill up at 3km from my doorstep .
Hold the tickets from the gasstations and distance then simply do the mats....

 

[Lewis]

Here is the gap:
View attachment 19614
Somehow it doesn't look so bad in that photo, but the awning does look very saggy.

That yellow and red combination looks really good!

 

[GillianC]

We haven't chosen yet, and are still at the digging in heels and refusing to compromise stage.

However, if past experience is anything to go by, Clare will have her way and it will be a greyish base colour so as not to show up the dirt, and as recommended by Denise, with a maroon secondary colour to match the roof topper.

Sounds good! Matching the yellow might be tricky...look forward to seeing photos of them.

 

[Amarillo]

Sounds good! Matching the yellow might be tricky...look forward to seeing photos of them.

I hope something like this, but with a maroon stripe and no lettering (and our seats are black not grey):

But we are unsure about what to do with the middle row. We have integrated child seats, and Denise says that she cannot make up covers that will cope with the pop up part of the seat. We can have standard middle row covers, and just remove the seat part of the cover when using the child seat. What I don't yet understand is how easily the seat part of the cover comes off.

 

[hirsty]

Sounds pretty good considering, you have a lot more patience than I do!

I think the T6 satnav is the best I've ever used (and there have been plenty). There are some annoyances around address entry & memory functions, but for actual guidance, accuracy & clarity I think its excellent once you get the hang of it. I love the 3D birds eye view, the touchscreen itself & the dial to zoom in/out.

 

[GillianC]

I hope something like this, but with a maroon stripe and no lettering (and our seats are black not grey):

But we are unsure about what to do with the middle row. We have integrated child seats, and Denise says that she cannot make up covers that will cope with the pop up part of the seat. We can have standard middle row covers, and just remove the seat part of the cover when using the child seat. What I don't yet understand is how easily the seat part of the cover comes off.

Very smart it will look too! Not sure about the seat cover removal as haven't taken mine off yet but would think that they would be the easiest bit to remove.
Here are mine

 

[Amarillo]

Very smart it will look too! Not sure about the seat cover removal as haven't taken mine off yet but would think that they would be the easiest bit to remove.
Here are mine

View attachment 19640

They are fun, and completely transform the feel of the interior: less car-like and more boat-like.

 

[Meoncoast]

Denise fitted ours but we tend to wash them a couple of times a year and fitting back on is not an issue once you get the hang of it

They just velcro together seat back and base + the base have velcro straps than go under seats - just need to be aware of airbag wires

 

[Verity]

Such fun! I think you are very brave tackling three days with all those bodies on a stormy weekend a long way from home for your first outing. Your au pair sounds like a complete star - I never liked sharing a bed with my own child, let alone anyone else's!!! She's a keeper for sure!

Re: mud. We have cotton rugs in the van which can come out and go in the washing machine. By the end of a muddy weekend they look a bit manky, but it's so easy to clean the van up once they are taken out. I also have a blanket over the seats (a) because the seats are very boring and grey and I am a girly girl and (b) like the rugs, the blanket can just go in the wash when I get home if necessary.

The awning thing sounds interesting. Our awning arrives tomorrow, and is not a super one like yours - we opted for an el cheapo teeny tiny Khyam as it won't actually get used much, so it'll be fun to see how we get on with it.

Sat nav: it takes a bit of getting used to. To enter postcode you need to click on the city and then it has some initials (something like ptd - can't remember exactly) in the bottom left corner. That foxed us for several weeks! One thing I've learnt over the years of driving around with my husband is that it's always a good idea to take a good map book with you as well. When there are unexpected hold ups/cock ups/roadworks, sat navs seem to go a bit spanner and without a paper map you can go a long way out of your way for not much benefit. I may be a luddite, but you really can't beat a good old fashioned map. Sat nav is great for most journeys though.

Once you've done a few more trips out, setting up and packing away will work like clockwork. Think of a couple of little jobs the boys can help with - when our little one (now a big 17 yr old) was small and we had a caravan, he always liked to be part of the 'crew', which was lovely and, despite the fact that it would probably have been easier to leave him sitting in the car with his DS (!), we always assigned him some things to do when we were setting up our caravan. As he got bigger, he got more useful. Sadly, he thinks the Cali is uncool and much prefers to stay at home at weekends now and let his aged parents bumble around on their own.

You're going to have so much fun!