So we did it!!! Cali 150 DSG Ordered yesterday!!!

Sacha · Nov 17, 2017

Hi all

Hello from us here in Leeds! We are a family of 4 (2 young boys) and after 2 years of packing up half the house for camping trips and serious camper van envy on the ferry back from The Basque Country last summer, we have finally taken the plunge (and drained our family savings as deposit) and ordered our very own Ocean. We are super excited and have everything crossed for Easter delivery.

Currently searching for campsites in The Lake District for May half term (we've never been brave enough to camp in the Lakes due to fear of rain, but now it doesn't matter :happy

).

Any tips for vanning with two super bouncy young boys? I'm guessing an awning is a MUST!

Looking forward to chatting with you all and maybe bumping into Cali owners in and around Yorkshire.

Sacha and Geoff

LadySmiff · Nov 17, 2017

Sacha said:
Hi all

Hello from us here in Leeds! We are a family of 4 (2 young boys) and after 2 years of packing up half the house for camping trips and serious camper van envy on the ferry back from The Basque Country last summer, we have finally taken the plunge (and drained our family savings as deposit) and ordered our very own Ocean. We are super excited and have everything crossed for Easter delivery.

Currently searching for campsites in The Lake District for May half term (we've never been brave enough to camp in the Lakes due to fear of rain, but now it doesn't matter ).

Any tips for vanning with two super bouncy young boys? I'm guessing an awning is a MUST!

Looking forward to chatting with you all and maybe bumping into Cali owners in and around Yorkshire.

Sacha and Geoff

Welcome guys

We took the plunge a few weeks ago too.... Now just waiting for that elusive build date! Keep us all posted

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

B J G · Nov 17, 2017

I'd suggest either a driveaway awning, day room or even a suitable tent (which you may have) as it'll give the boys elbow room and somewhere to leave things if you take the Cali out.
I assume you have ordered a wind out awning with the Cali.
There are various threads on here as to suitable types. Quencha and Kela being the ones that seem to suit specific needs. There is also an awning that fits the open tailgate, example below

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REIMO-UP...146667&hash=item4d6119b3cd:g:Ch8AAOSwd~RZXmNl

Have a good look at the types available then you can ask for experiences of the one you like on here pre purchase.

Losts of genuine and honest information available here that can save wasted purchases, talking from experience of errors I've made.

Sacha · Nov 17, 2017

LadySmiff said:
Welcome guys We took the plunge a few weeks ago too.... Now just waiting for that elusive build date! Keep us all posted

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Fingers crossed for you guys too

What colour did you go for? We started off wanting black and then were stuck between Beige and Indium Grey. Went for grey in the end

Jabberwocky · Nov 17, 2017

The wait all goes to build the excitement!

Sacha · Nov 17, 2017

B J G said:
I'd suggest either a driveaway awning, day room or even a suitable tent (which you may have) as it'll give the boys elbow room and somewhere to leave things if you take the Cali out.
I assume you have ordered a wind out awning with the Cali.
There are various threads on here as to suitable types. Quencha and Kela being the ones that seem to suit specific needs. There is also an awning that fits the open tailgate, example below

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REIMO-UP...146667&hash=item4d6119b3cd:g:Ch8AAOSwd~RZXmNl

Have a good look at the types available then you can ask for experiences of the one you like on here pre purchase.

Losts of genuine and honest information available here that can save wasted purchases, talking from experience of errors I've made.

Thanks so much for the advice. Will have a look at the awnings section. Our tent is HUGE so hopefully we can swap that for a pop up or an awning.

LadySmiff · Nov 17, 2017

Sacha said:
Fingers crossed for you guys too What colour did you go for? We started off wanting black and then were stuck between Beige and Indium Grey. Went for grey in the end

We stayed off wanting black or blue but then we saw the Mojave beige in the showroom and loved it..... Never did I think we'd buy anything called beige!

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

California7 · Nov 17, 2017

Congratulations on the purchase, we ordered ours a couple of weeks ago too! I don’t think there’ll be an issue with having it before Easter. Our dealer thought it would probably arrive sometime in February. Ideally I don’t want to have it before March! Only 104 sleeps to go...

Jason wallace · Nov 17, 2017

Welcome....it will be well worth it once the dreaded wait is over. Still waiting for ours also. :thumb

We are also a family of 4 with 2 soon to be 7 yo twin girls. We've talked about awnings etc but seeing as one of the major issues we had with camping was the time it took to set up and pack away we decided to initially not get one and look to reduce the amount of stuff we take with the aim being that we can rock up and pack away with as a little fuss as possible.

parrot2 · Nov 17, 2017

I Welcome and congratulations on your purchase . there are only 2 and a dog in our van but find a drive away awning most useful I bought one made by Kampa it has an inflatable frame and is easy to erect and is specific to a vw van.

Ocean Spirit · Nov 17, 2017

flying banana · Nov 17, 2017

cali beach at doncaster. where are you based.also love lakes. here's us 2 weeks ago. far better then Doncaster

Amarillo · Nov 17, 2017

We have a wealth of experience travelling with two little ones, ages 3;11 and 2;7.

We are travelling for a year around Europe, and have with us a driveaway awning and a safari room.

The driveaway pumps up and is used most of the time. The safari room is used for shorter stays when we are not going to be driving off anywhere.

The big disadvantage if you don't have a driveaway is you need to pack everything up if you want to go on an excursion. However, they are bulky.

Our favourite set up is with the wind out awning fully extended, and the driveaway attached to the wind out. It makes a huge area. If it's raining you can hang side panels from the wind out support bars.

Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Joker 1299 · Nov 18, 2017

Welcome, we’re in Leeds too.

Jo ho ho · Nov 18, 2017

Hi Sacha

We are in a similar position. Playing the waiting game in Leeds too !

I’m sure your boys will love it. Mine are 26 and 28 and are already asking when they can use it. Lol.

Exciting times ahead and we certainly look forward to bumping into you (not literally) in Leeds. So much to learn from so many people with so much knowledge.

phillme · Nov 18, 2017

love Leeds ... best city in the world x

larrylamb · Nov 19, 2017

Welcome and congrats on your order. :cheers

With regard to awnings we had a Khyam but found it a faff to connect all the time and took too much light off the Cali interior, swapped to a Quecha pop up tent that is so easy to use and takes very little weight/space in the Cali. We usually extend the side awning then pitch the tent at the end of it. Very easy to setup and leave for the day etc.