New 6.1 owner and member!

[StrictlyCali]

Hi everyone, we are the proud new owners of a 6.1!

First time campervan owners and had her just over a week. Adapting surprisingly quickly to the size when driving and slowly getting used to all the technology and gadgets. We were keen campers when our children were growing up but they are now late teens/early twenties and we have so much more time to ourselves we realised now was the time to buy rather than wait for retirement.

We’re both in our 50s and plan to enjoy using the van for regular weekends away, days trips and some longer one week/two week trips around the UK. We thought we wanted a Fiat Ducato style van but after months of looking, by chance we looked at a California at a show and we were surprised how much we liked it, especially as it didn’t have a bathroom! We did check out the T7 but felt the 6.1 suited us best in terms of kitchen, storage and how we plan to use it.

Already done a lot of reading on this site which has helped us immensely, especially sorted out the lack of a spare tyre, so thank you

Photo of our van on trip to Knole yesterday, still trying to come up with a name!

 

[KevH]

Nice looking van, I am sure you made the right choice over a Fiat
And yes, a name is compulsory.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Welcome to the forum and to Cali life!

As your nickname on here is StrictlyCali - how about Shirley as a name

 

[Up10]

We retired before we bought our first camper. Everyone said we would sell and buy a larger one. We didn’t. We enjoyed it so much and replaced our conversion with an Ocean. We spend about 3 months a year away in it and just book sites with loos and showers. We are currently in Italy having returned from Slovenia and on our way to Germany and we have never camped until we retired.
I love your van. You will enjoy complete freedom in it I am sure and here is a toast to you hoping you all grow old together in your new home away and have many happy times together. From another Starlight blue!

 

[StrictlyCali]

Nice looking van, I am sure you made the right choice over a Fiat
And yes, a name is compulsory.

Thank you! We’ve been trying to think of a name which relates to black and red (we have the red pop top!) … Minnie or Dennis are the front runners

 

[StrictlyCali]

Hadn’t thought of a Strictly related name … we’re debating if it’s a girl or a boy at the moment!

 

[StrictlyCali]

We retired before we bought our first camper. Everyone said we would sell and buy a larger one. We didn’t. We enjoyed it so much and replaced our conversion with an Ocean. We spend about 3 months a year away in it and just book sites with loos and showers. We are currently in Italy having returned from Slovenia and on our way to Germany and we have never camped until we retired.
I love your van. You will enjoy complete freedom in it I am sure and here is a toast to you hoping you all grow old together in your new home away and have many happy times together. From another Starlight blue!

Thank you .. you sound like where we want to be in 5 years We managed to buy a spare tyre through eBay this week and met a lovely couple who had just sold their last 6.1 Ocean after 15 years enjoying their vans. Sadly selling due to ill health but they shared similar stories to you and had explored so much of the uk and Europe. Like you, people said they would want to upsize after a while but they loved the Cali and the size/flexibility of it. I think it is going to suit us well, excited for what lies ahead. For now, we’re planning a trip to the coast tomorrow