G
Groovygrandma
VIP Member
Just collected our California Ocean and have just completed our inaugural trip to the Gower peninsula. We filled the van up with necessities for 2 days (beer, wine, water, coffee, milk, bread, bacon, eggs, biscuits), fully intending to not cook in the van at this time of year. We had to make a detour to the vw dealership as we couldn’t move the heat level up and down on the continuous aux. Heater. VW did a reset and it appeared to have fixed the problem. We rocked up at one of the few sites open in March in Llanelli, which was in a lovely spot overlooking the sea and apparently 5 minutes cycle ride from the local pub for dinner. Perfect we thought! We took our electric bikes and went for a lovely cycle ride through the town to the Millenium cycle path along the coast. The town has obviously heavily invested in well designed, accessible outdoor recreation areas - most impressed. We thought we had better get back up the hill before darkness - that probably took 20 minutes from the pub going uphill (even with the electric bikes!). Note to self - must get fitter!
We decided that cycling in the dark, up a very steep hill, after having dinner and a few bevvies was not a good idea so we ventured out into town for pub grub. I have to say everyone we spoke to, whether it was for directions or ordering food in the pub was just so friendly and hospitable. After dinner we went back to the van to cosy down for the evening. We set the lower bed up, turned the front seats around, poured a drink and set the ipad up to watch a downloaded film. We went to turn on the auxiliary heating, which was stuck on level 7. It was like an oven. So we used the immediate heating button and managed to change the heat level to 2, which was much better. We watched our film then tried continuous heating again. No, it was having none of that! So we thought we would be clever and preset immediate to come on at 2.00 am, 4.00am, 6.00am for half an hour at a time. The first setting came on but then the next 2 didn’t work. We had exceeded the maximum time of 180 minutes on immediate heating! it was cooooold (3 degrees) and windy that first night and my thermal hat came in very useful.
We survived our first night, woke up at 7.30 am, packed the bed away and prepared for breakfast. We thought we would cook the bacon on the cadac bbq, rather than stinking the van out, but it took ages as the wind was blowing the flame everywhere! Note to self - Maybe use the stove tomorrow! Breakfast complete, washing up in cold water (not ideal), finding what clothes to wear, showers and get ready to go to the Gower. Looked at the clock - it was 11.30 am! Where had the time gone! It seemed to take ages to get everything organised.
Drove to Worm Head point passing wild ponies, castles, beautiful Rhosilli beach, watching the surfers (must be mad!). It was such a lovely day for a walk - gorgeous. Went round to Oxbridge Bay but the wind had picked up and the sand was blowing everywhere so we headed back to llanelli for dinner and round 2 of the heating fiasco In the van. Nope! Having none of it On continuous heating. So we used up our 180 minutes of heating and hunkered down for the evening. Thermal hat on! Warm socks! Extra fleece blanket! We have since learned that you have to drive at 4mph for 30 metres or so, which isn’t practical at night!
All in all, we were so pleased with the ocean and had a lovely two days away. It drove well, had everything we needed (except heating) and will be fabulous when it is a little warmer and we can sit outside and enjoy some sunshine. Perhaps early March was a little optimistic - but we were just itching to give it a go! The fact that most campsites don’t open until April should have been a dead giveaway. Going back to VW on Monday to hopefully get the heating fixed, ready for our next adventure!
We decided that cycling in the dark, up a very steep hill, after having dinner and a few bevvies was not a good idea so we ventured out into town for pub grub. I have to say everyone we spoke to, whether it was for directions or ordering food in the pub was just so friendly and hospitable. After dinner we went back to the van to cosy down for the evening. We set the lower bed up, turned the front seats around, poured a drink and set the ipad up to watch a downloaded film. We went to turn on the auxiliary heating, which was stuck on level 7. It was like an oven. So we used the immediate heating button and managed to change the heat level to 2, which was much better. We watched our film then tried continuous heating again. No, it was having none of that! So we thought we would be clever and preset immediate to come on at 2.00 am, 4.00am, 6.00am for half an hour at a time. The first setting came on but then the next 2 didn’t work. We had exceeded the maximum time of 180 minutes on immediate heating! it was cooooold (3 degrees) and windy that first night and my thermal hat came in very useful.
We survived our first night, woke up at 7.30 am, packed the bed away and prepared for breakfast. We thought we would cook the bacon on the cadac bbq, rather than stinking the van out, but it took ages as the wind was blowing the flame everywhere! Note to self - Maybe use the stove tomorrow! Breakfast complete, washing up in cold water (not ideal), finding what clothes to wear, showers and get ready to go to the Gower. Looked at the clock - it was 11.30 am! Where had the time gone! It seemed to take ages to get everything organised.
Drove to Worm Head point passing wild ponies, castles, beautiful Rhosilli beach, watching the surfers (must be mad!). It was such a lovely day for a walk - gorgeous. Went round to Oxbridge Bay but the wind had picked up and the sand was blowing everywhere so we headed back to llanelli for dinner and round 2 of the heating fiasco In the van. Nope! Having none of it On continuous heating. So we used up our 180 minutes of heating and hunkered down for the evening. Thermal hat on! Warm socks! Extra fleece blanket! We have since learned that you have to drive at 4mph for 30 metres or so, which isn’t practical at night!
All in all, we were so pleased with the ocean and had a lovely two days away. It drove well, had everything we needed (except heating) and will be fabulous when it is a little warmer and we can sit outside and enjoy some sunshine. Perhaps early March was a little optimistic - but we were just itching to give it a go! The fact that most campsites don’t open until April should have been a dead giveaway. Going back to VW on Monday to hopefully get the heating fixed, ready for our next adventure!
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