Hello,
Even though we had the van since end of November last year, because of work and family reason we only managed to get out for a 2-day overnight stay last weekend.
I was reading a lot about the California, how to use various options of the van, saw many YouTube videos and heard that people take many month to get use to the camper. But the reality at the weekend hit me a bit, so I thought I put
my thoughts together of what I have learned and what I will take away from the first overnight stay. More for myself let me break down the various topics to review my experience:
Driving
To drive the VW California is a wonderful experience. My wife and I feel that the seats are very comfortable, the noise level is very low (at least on good roads).
What have I learned? = VW California Ocean is a very good travel vehicle
Camp site
For the first overnight stay we decided to go for a good camp site, so we chose a site in NI not so far away from Kilkeel. With a 5-star rating I thought we have a bit of space around us and so a bit more of privacy. I was looking for this because there is so much we are not familiar with that I didn't fancy a lot of spectators watching me.
This was not the case. The camp site was very clean, facilities ok, but very cramped. There was barely any room between the different spaces.
What have I learned? = To put more research into choosing a camp site (my mistake)
Setting up camp
In general this is done quickly. Connect to power, put up the roof, get the chairs and table out. What I disliked was to swivel the drivers seat. That should be easier.
What have I learned? = I need to practise more to swivel the drivers seat (more practise)
Prepare for the night
Here came the real shock. Everybody has their own way to organize the storage, but I feel there are different storage areas with different usage:
- Boot = storage for cloth and personal belongings
- Above the boot = storage for the cushions, blankets, mattress protection etc.
- Shelf beside the boot = bits and pieces (general)
- Shelf beside the fridge = Wardrobe
- Cupboard = food, dishes and cutlery
We decided to sleep downstairs. To make the bed means that the only storage area for our belongings is in the boot. To get at these things is cumbersome. This really bother me. It is inconvenient. I must admit that I was a bit unhappy about this part of the usage of the camper.
What have I learned? =
- To be more organized. I need to save money to get the boot drawer, which will help to get access to this area
- Take less. Think more of what is needed and take that minimum. Less is more
- Not to go shopping during the trip. We had no time to go shopping so we did it in Newry. So on top of everything we had the shopping bags in the boot too
The downstairs bed is not that bad, but a bit too small for my wife and me. So my wife decided to sleep upstairs. Because she is not very tall, she struggles a bit to climb up.
What have I learned? = get some arrangements to help her to climb up.
Day tours
Preparing for day tours meaning to put everything back. This is no problem if the organization is well done. We suffered a wee bit for this.
What have I learned? = Be more organized
Was the 2-day trip an overall positive experience? No it wasn't. We need to organize ourselves better and do more research of camp sites. The van itself was brilliant to drive, just a pleasure. Set-up camp was easy, set-up for night was frustrating (I don't know what I expected). Prepare the van to move on, was OK but can take about half an hour (if the downstairs bed were used).
These are just
my experience over our June bank holiday weekend. So there is a good bit to learn and to improve. Never the less I thought that would be interesting for people using the camper the first time (of course well knowing that everybody is different).
Regards,
Eberhard
