hello from new member

[highroad]

hi folks,

Just a hello from a new member. Very interested in a California Ocean, although with a 2.5 year old and another baby due in July I'm just browsing at the moment. I'm thinking 6-12 months to decide, then another 6-12 months of waiting for delivery, it should arrive just in time.

We've never had a camper, motorhome or caravan, but have lots of camping experience (when we were younger, mind you). We live close to the beach and hills and I imagine the Ocean will be at least as useful weekends we don't go away as those we do. Looking forward to learning more in the months to come.

Nick

 

[MattBW]

Welcome to the site, you are certainly in the right place to help fuel your decision making.

 

[WelshGas]

hi folks,

Just a hello from a new member. Very interested in a California Ocean, although with a 2.5 year old and another baby due in July I'm just browsing at the moment. I'm thinking 6-12 months to decide, then another 6-12 months of waiting for delivery, it should arrive just in time.

We've never had a camper, motorhome or caravan, but have lots of camping experience (when we were younger, mind you). We live close to the beach and hills and I imagine the Ocean will be at least as useful weekends we don't go away as those we do. Looking forward to learning more in the months to come.

Nick

Before taking the plunge it might be a good idea to hire a vehicle for a short or longer holiday, during or outside the summer months.

 

[Hotel California]

Welcome , before we bought a Cali now almost 5y ago , i never had any camper or caravan and never liked sleeping in a tent....
The pop-up tent of our Cali however we been sleeping in a lot of nice places since we got it , current at Poland ....

 

[DM]

Welcome. I agree with WG's suggestion about hiring. The only downside is that it may make you impatient. We were so smitten when we hired that it just then became a question of what 0 not if or when

 

[highroad]

Thanks all. I have been planning to rent one for at least a weekend. I'd prefer a week (not least because week rates per night are so much better than if you're only renting for three days), but I don't know if that's a good idea with a wife that's 30 weeks pregnant (hard enough getting comfortable at home).

I've been reading the forums a lot lately and am a bit worried about all the reports of mechanical issues. My Honda is 2010 and I have had to do nothing but change the oil, tires and brakes in the last 7 years. I realise that people come to a forum to moan or to ask for help, but it still seems a bit odd that there are so many reports of mechanical problems.

 

[Seaside Sussex]

to the forum.

We did not hire prior to purchase but had family with a VW camper (though not a Cali) so knew the life was for us, and the last 3-4 weeks since picking ours up has more than confirmed that! Our only regret was not doing it when our children were younger.

Good luck with your decision making and the rest of the pregnancy.

 

[highroad]

Thanks. Could I ask how old your kids were (or how old you think is a good age to start, realising this will vary from family to family)? We have been thinking 2 and 4.5, although lately, thinking about day trips, I have wondered if getting it a lot sooner would be a good idea. It would be a good base for doing things during the day with a baby....

 

[Seaside Sussex]

Thanks. Could I ask how old your kids were (or how old you think is a good age to start, realising this will vary from family to family)? We have been thinking 2 and 4.5, although lately, thinking about day trips, I have wondered if getting it a lot sooner would be a good idea. It would be a good base for doing things during the day with a baby....

Ours are now teens. I would say 2 and 4.5 are perfect age-wise, perhaps once potty trained? Any earlier and I'd imagine the baby stage will be tricky, simply in terms of equipment, though breastfeeding and slings will make this a lot easier. For comparison, my brother got his van when his were 2.5, 4 & 7. A couple of years later they spent 6 weeks of the summer holidays touring across Europe. Go for it!

 

[Lewis]

Welcome @highroad

Our 2 y/o loves the Cali; she finds it so exciting. Not fully potty trained yet but not had any incidents.

We had 10days away this month and her development during that time was incredible. the Cali gets us outdoors and together as a family more which is priceless.

I wouldn't worry about having issues with a young baby. Maybe go for well serviced sites, hookup, baby washroom facilities. In many respects they're easier to travel with when very small.

Also a tip - the parcel shelf in an SE/Ocean makes a perfect baby/toddler bed leaving the cabin usable. Small travel cots fit on there when very young and we use a Sleepyhead Grande to make it cozy for a toddler.

Car seats fit well into the foot wells and isofix bases can fit in the gap between the two front seats so you can easily accommodate two children.

Happy hunting! (but don't leave it too long....)

 

[Teejay]

Welcome. We did the hire thing and it was the clincher for us. We were "lucky" because we managed to get all the UK weather in a few days, snow, rain and sunshine. If you do hire and you "unluckily" get only good weather think on how you would cope if the weather turned foul.

Hope that reads ok.

..message ends..

 

[highroad]

Thanks folks. I had noted that parcel shelf as a perfect place for a daytime nap. We will likely hire an Ocean for at least a weekend later this month. I'm also curious though about the Jerba Cromerty....I know the issue with conversions and so on, and am not that keen on one, but the long wheelbase is pretty attractive (it will be two parents, two kids, and a good sized labrador). We live pretty rural and are not that interested in visiting cities when we travel, so the longer wheelbase is probably not as big a disadvantage for driveability as it otherwise would be...

 

[MattBW]

That does look very spacious, would certainly tempt me too.

 

[Seaside Sussex]

Thanks folks. I had noted that parcel shelf as a perfect place for a daytime nap. We will likely hire an Ocean for at least a weekend later this month. I'm also curious though about the Jerba Cromerty....I know the issue with conversions and so on, and am not that keen on one, but the long wheelbase is pretty attractive (it will be two parents, two kids, and a good sized labrador). We live pretty rural and are not that interested in visiting cities when we travel, so the longer wheelbase is probably not as big a disadvantage for driveability as it otherwise would be...

We were tempted by the Jerba LWB, though ultimately we went for the Cali. My OH @zerofour was only saying this weekend when we were away how pleased he was that we went for the SWB. Most car parks (and no matter how rural you are, you will encounter these at some point!) are only just long enough for the SWB.

 

[Rupes]

Thanks folks. I had noted that parcel shelf as a perfect place for a daytime nap. We will likely hire an Ocean for at least a weekend later this month. I'm also curious though about the Jerba Cromerty....I know the issue with conversions and so on, and am not that keen on one, but the long wheelbase is pretty attractive (it will be two parents, two kids, and a good sized labrador). We live pretty rural and are not that interested in visiting cities when we travel, so the longer wheelbase is probably not as big a disadvantage for driveability as it otherwise would be...

We visited Jerba shortly before ordering our Cali. Having spent quite a lot of time looking at conversions we would definitely put Jerba close to the top of the list - very impressive quality, good designs and seemed to be a pleasant business to deal with. (By the way you can hire the Jerba vans to try them out too - I expect you know that). However, it also helped us to reach the conclusion that a good quality and well specced conversion has more or less the same cost and lead-time as a California. So on that basis we decided to go with the California. For us it had to be a SWB so that was one less reason for us to consider non-California options.