Hello and a question

[Borris]

Gorgeous van.

We also sometimes tow a trailer and have a Vango Galli low. They are both very useful especially the Galli. Currently sitting in ours while writing this.

The heater might smell a little bit on start up but that soon goes away.

I hope you all have a great time in your new van.

 

[Ksar-el-kebir]

This has been years in the planning. As the kids got older and less interested in knocking about with us, we decided to get rid of the large tow car and caravan, dispense with site storage and seasonal pitch fees and trade up to a Cali. When our extension was build in 2017 I made sure the garage clearance was 2.01m to accommodate the baby once we got it. That and reading forums like those here and elsewhere plus drooling over auto-trader meant I pretty much knew what I wanted. So last week we planned a route around the south coast area taking in several VW and other dealers. And we found it pretty much at the first dealwe. A demo Beach in two-tone white and blue with 24 miles on the clock and every conceivable extra. Extras alone were c£30k list but I didn't pay that. So I picked up Saturday and I'm very happy indeed. The question - out of all the thousands of accessories out there from hi-tech to low tech, what Accessory have you found most useful on your travels. Cheers all.

VB air suspension. As well as off road, sport, garage and normal modes it has a self levelling function which is good for sloping pitches.

 

[Amarillo]

@slushf
If you are still stuck for accessories to spend your £1200 bonanza on, buy some low profile roofbars and I will buy them from you if you will accept 66% of the list price.

 

[bigmac77]

We've found much the same. We have a Fiamma rainsheet for the front of the awning and two side sheets (Brandrup copies Sshh!) and we have found that it's pretty stable in most winds. We have also toughened it up a bit with those yellow straps that fix on the side of the awning and are pegged down. The trick is to stop the wind form getting under the awning and lifting it. I keep thinking about getting those big flat heavy weights that stall holders use in markets for the feet. Heavy though.to transport.
PS have to be carful on Camping Club sites because they put a plastic sheet under the hardstanding and if the peg goes through the plastic it can be almost impossible to get out

We were camping in Interlaken last week and on the Tuesday the area was hit by a powerful squal, our awning was held down by storm straps and was fine the neighbours had weights on their awning legs and it was badly damaged.

 

[Gavinskii]

Firstly welcome and what a lovely van. We also have a 7 seater Beach - although the earlier 5.1 model.
I followed Boris's feedback in the Beach section and would say the 3 best things are :-
A compressor fridge ( I bought the Mobicool FR40) same factory as Waeco / Dometic
The Calicap sliding drawer
A pair of VanEssa window bags