Just saying hello...

knightons · Aug 26, 2015

As the title of the thread goes, we're just saying hello... Our names are Deborah and Cliff and we took delivery of our new Cali at the end of June. We've been buying a few bits (hook-up cable, campingaz907, Ikea mats etc) and plan to go to the Motorhome and Caravan show + NEC in October to pick up a few more ideas.
We took the plunge and have bought a new Sand Beige T5 SE 180 4Motion and Deborah has named her "Ellie". We've been stalking the forum for a few months and have picked up some great tips and hope that as we get to know Ellie better we'll be able to contribute a few of our own.
So that's all for now, we live in Northampton and although Ellie is new we've fitted a cherished '59' plate, so if you see a new(ish) looking T5 with one or both of us waving at you... its most likely us!! Hope to see you about,
Cheers, Deborah and Cliff

calikev · Aug 26, 2015

Welcome along I will look out for you :thumb

motacyclist · Aug 26, 2015

Welcome Ellie, Deborah & Cliff

Ellie is the same colour as our Pinky Ponk :thumb

GrannyJen · Aug 26, 2015

knightons said:
As the title of the thread goes, we're just saying hello... Our names are Deborah and Cliff and we took delivery of our new Cali at the end of June. We've been buying a few bits (hook-up cable, campingaz907, Ikea mats etc) and plan to go to the Motorhome and Caravan show + NEC in October to pick up a few more ideas.
We took the plunge and have bought a new Sand Beige T5 SE 180 4Motion and Deborah has named her "Ellie". We've been stalking the forum for a few months and have picked up some great tips and hope that as we get to know Ellie better we'll be able to contribute a few of our own.
So that's all for now, we live in Northampton and although Ellie is new we've fitted a cherished '59' plate, so if you see a new(ish) looking T5 with one or both of us waving at you... its most likely us!! Hope to see you about,
Cheers, Deborah and Cliff

Be careful how you wave.

Do a search under "waving"

Wave the wrong way you might get mistaken for a builder, especially if being lazy and using only one of five available digits.

Wave hysterically and enthusiastically whilst passing another cali and the response may be puffs of smoke from tyres whilst said alarmed driver screeches off the road to see what all the frantic waving was about.

Wave slowly and people will think you have come from the water company to investigate the latest sinkhole.

Borris · Aug 27, 2015

knightons said:
As the title of the thread goes, we're just saying hello... Our names are Deborah and Cliff and we took delivery of our new Cali at the end of June. We've been buying a few bits (hook-up cable, campingaz907, Ikea mats etc) and plan to go to the Motorhome and Caravan show + NEC in October to pick up a few more ideas.
We took the plunge and have bought a new Sand Beige T5 SE 180 4Motion and Deborah has named her "Ellie". We've been stalking the forum for a few months and have picked up some great tips and hope that as we get to know Ellie better we'll be able to contribute a few of our own.
So that's all for now, we live in Northampton and although Ellie is new we've fitted a cherished '59' plate, so if you see a new(ish) looking T5 with one or both of us waving at you... its most likely us!! Hope to see you about,
Cheers, Deborah and Cliff

Hi Deborah and Cliff,
Congratulations on buying your new Cali, Ellie.
My wife and I have also just bought a 180 SE dsg 4motion in black. Would have preferred beige though. Ours is a demonstrator as the order book had closed by the time we finally got around to taking the plunge. So we had no choice on colour and we can't pick her (Margot), up until the end of September! It did have all of our preferred options though hence our choosing that particular car.
It would be very interesting to hear your experiences/ impressions of Ellie so far?
Is this your first Cali and if so how long did you take to decide to buy one?
Best wishes
Paul and Paddy (Patricia)

knightons · Aug 27, 2015

Hello all, thanks to those that said hello...
Calikev, we'll keep a look out for you too. Motacylist..."Pinky Ponk"

. GrannyJen... we've been reading your coastal tour blog... some great ideas of places to visit in there!
Paul and Paddy... This is our first Cali, although we started thinking about one nine years ago. We've friends living in Brisbane so we decided to drive down from Cairns to Sydney in a motorhome and see them on the way down. Long story short - we didn't enjoy the journey much [it was the wettest that Aus had seen for many years] - but liked the idea of a van. As a motorhome needs space we decided to look at a van for this county. We decided to take the plunge a couple of years ago and visited Vindis in Northampton and got confused by all the different options... then we heard that a T6 was due... sometime... maybe... However we didn't want to wait [time is short and you're a long time dead] and placed our order at the end of January ('15).
Ellie was delivered in late June... funnily enough to coincide with our wedding anniversary... so Cliff thought Result! no need for another present! Christmas and Birthdays are sorted too for the next few years as we are looking at Duvalay (pricey)!
Its early days and as you know, taking delivery is just the start of the adventure but we are very pleased with our decision, both about the van and the fact that we didn't wait for the fabled T6. We pushed the boat out with the specification and so there's not much difference between Ellie and a T6 (with the notable exception of the engine of course). Hopefully by the time that you reach the end of this post yours will have been delivered too! (We do go on...) Anyway, mustn't hold you good people up too much with our drivel... Suffice to say that we are both chuffed to bits and should have done it years ago.
Cheers for now Ellie, Debs and Cliff

Hotel California · Aug 27, 2015

Hi and welcome....

Borris · Aug 27, 2015

knightons said:
Hello all, thanks to those that said hello...
Calikev, we'll keep a look out for you too. Motacylist..."Pinky Ponk" . GrannyJen... we've been reading your coastal tour blog... some great ideas of places to visit in there!
Paul and Paddy... This is our first Cali, although we started thinking about one nine years ago. We've friends living in Brisbane so we decided to drive down from Cairns to Sydney in a motorhome and see them on the way down. Long story short - we didn't enjoy the journey much [it was the wettest that Aus had seen for many years] - but liked the idea of a van. As a motorhome needs space we decided to look at a van for this county. We decided to take the plunge a couple of years ago and visited Vindis in Northampton and got confused by all the different options... then we heard that a T6 was due... sometime... maybe... However we didn't want to wait [time is short and you're a long time dead] and placed our order at the end of January ('15).
Ellie was delivered in late June... funnily enough to coincide with our wedding anniversary... so Cliff thought Result! no need for another present! Christmas and Birthdays are sorted too for the next few years as we are looking at Duvalay (pricey)!
Its early days and as you know, taking delivery is just the start of the adventure but we are very pleased with our decision, both about the van and the fact that we didn't wait for the fabled T6. We pushed the boat out with the specification and so there's not much difference between Ellie and a T6 (with the notable exception of the engine of course). Hopefully by the time that you reach the end of this post yours will have been delivered too! (We do go on...) Anyway, mustn't hold you good people up too much with our drivel... Suffice to say that we are both chuffed to bits and should have done it years ago.
Cheers for now Ellie, Debs and Cliff

Hi,
What a great story. Ellie sounds superb. Re the T6, far better a Cali in the hand than one in the bush! We hope that you thoroughly enjoy every adventure in her.
Ours is our 40th wedding present to each other but there is no significance in the black paint. They have been 40 wonderful years.
Best wishes
Paul and Paddy

Skylark2.0 · Aug 28, 2015

Starlight arrived within days of our 20th wedding anniversary too!

Borris · Aug 28, 2015

Skylark2.0 said:
Starlight arrived within days of our 20th wedding anniversary too!

And a perfect present they make to. Was it gift wrapped?
We love the name. We spent a hilarious Saturday evening in a Somerset pub thinking up names for ours after visiting Cali's on the farm this year. It was there that we had seen ours again and had agreed to buy her.
When I did my long and involved research before buying, I didn't really appreciate the extent of the affection that owners have for their Cali's. I suppose they are the modern equivalent of a gypsy caravan, with all the same freedom that appears to go with that lifestyle.