Solar power and more? There's always room for some smart thinking.

Welcome to the festive season. With Christmas just about on us, and then party, party, party until the New Year (for some, at least), I thought it an opportune time for even me to lighten up a little and share some thoughts with you. So, please bear with me while I expound on some of my Big Ideas for leisure vehicles, be they caravans or motorhomes.

My campervan, like lots of motorcaravans, has stick-on insulation panels rather than curtains for cab windows. Apart from a tendency to come unstuck sometimes, they work very well. They’re effective at night as well as during the day, when they prevent too much heat build-up inside. Wouldn’t it be great if such screens could, in future, also incorporate the latest solar power technology?

Wellhouse's Hyundai i800 (shown here in high-top form) - a VW-beater?

I recently spent a whole week with Wellhouse Leisure’s Hyundai i800-based campervan. It’s really rather good. But, don’t just take my word for it. It’s already picked up a clutch of key prizes, awarded independently. Top of the lot is arguably the 2012 Caravan Industry Motorcaravan Award.

It’s now available in both elevating roof and high-top format. There’s also a choice of manual or automatic transmission. And five-year warranties cover both the Hyundai side of things as well as the conversion. Don’t under-estimate this – it’s positively market-leading when it comes to campers. And it’s a viable alternative to any of the latest Volkswagen-based campervan conversions.

Gene's new friends.

Well the campervan season is now shutting down for the winter and it’s time to start fixing various things in the campervan before they turn into big headaches.

For instance the fridge isn’t working, there’s a hole somewhere in the roof on the passenger side but I can’t figure out where, the sink isn’t pumping water, the reserve battery has died, the hub caps need a polish and the CD player has a mind of its own and has decided to stop playing music now that it’s turned cold.

Any advice on where to get these jobs done will be gratefully received. I’ve really enjoyed writing this campervan blog over the summer and hopefully you’ve enjoyed reading it.

Teddy Bear - an entertaining addition to my postcard collection.

So Kath and I woke up in Burton Bradstock on day 2 of our mini campervan adventure. Sadly we had failed to find any milk the previous day for our morning tea so
preparations for the day began earlier than normal.

We de-popped the pop top and ventured out into the big wide world of the campsite to find the teeth brushing facilities.

Bathroom facilities on a campsite seem to be very sociable places so it wasn’t a surprise when a stranger decided to strike up conversation about the weather.