Spring Clean Fever

With our shakedown run to Bodmin getting closer, now seems like a good time to start working on the list of jobs that are still left to do!

A good vacuum of the interior was first order of the day, making sure nothing was missed.

The Aqua roll was filled with water, and Puriclean powder added to clean the fresh water system and pipes, this was left in for 24 hours to do its stuff.

The power hook up cable was connected, to enable the electrics to be fully tested and the water heater to be run up to temperature, the vacuum doubled as a handy means of testing the wall sockets!

Grease was added to the brake override system with a grease gun

And finally.....

It took a while for the water to flow from all of the taps....

But eventually it appeared!

Good news! Everything seemed to work as it should, however I did find some cracks around the shower tray drain plug that are in need of repair. We hadn't noticed them before as they were covered with a carpet mat!

I'll repair this, and connect and test the gas system over the next couple of weeks and fill you in on how it goes soon....

Until next time ...

The First Attempt At Towing

As we bought our vara from the place where we are storing it, I have not, up until now had the chance to tow it.

I'd done all of the maths, and established that I was at optimum towing weight for my car, but was very nervous to say the least about actually pulling it!

Mike and Sally~Ann called us to see if we wanted to go to Penrose this morning as they were having an open day with Bailey Pegasus, the caravan manufacturer, and the bonus was they were offering free bacon butties.

I never say no to a good feed so we jumped at the chance of joining them!

Whilst there we took the opportunity to purchase the aqua roll handle that was missing when the chap handed over to us, and then we all made plans to meet up later for a meal at ours in aid of Mike's birthday in the week.

Prior to coming over, I said I wanted to try towing over the weekend, and Mike said he would join me. We suggested this afternoon as the weather was so good.

As my scenic is a lowly 1.5 dci I was a little concerned as to how it would tow. I needn't have worried. A trip up the A30 and hamburger hill near Fraddon, which is the worst incline I could probably expect in the future, allayed my fears. it coped brilliantly.

I was very grateful to Mike for coming along and giving me moral support, but now a nice glass of red was in order!

We then headed back for our lasagne that the ladies were cooking whilst we were off galavanting.

A very successful day.

#2 The Electrics

To be able to tow anything you have to have power that reaches the towed vehicle so that the indicators etc are live. I already had the basic set up in order to tow my trailer, and just needed to top it up a little.

Pulling a caravan also requires auxiliary electrics in order to power the fridge, charge the leisure battery and power the reversing lights.

I purchased a universal kit, so that it can be transferred to my next car, as and when I swap this one.

It was not a hugely complicated job to take on, but in order to do a 'good' job I wanted to make sure that all of the wiring was hidden inside of the car underneath the interior trim, this meant removing it very carefully to route the cable.

Having fitted it all, I nipped over to the storage unit where the vara is kept, and made sure that all of the power was getting through to the right places.

Success! and onto the next job.....

#1 And so it Begins.....

There are many, many jobs that I have to take on before we can try our first trip away. I decided to begin with something easy!

Because I have one spare number plate and now need it to fit 3 different requirements I decided to go for these sprung loaded number plate brackets, so that my plate can be removed or added as needed.

I found them here, on one of my many Internet searches for parts that I will be needing to purchase.

They fitted really easily, with a couple of rivets for each bracket. Not bad eh! Needless to say, my number plate does actually have my car reg on it LOL

In the beginning......

We made the decision to sell our beloved static caravan towards the end of last year and the compromise was to purchase a very old second hand caravan that would see us through the next few years of holidays.

On the 29th November we took ownership of a little 1993 Avondale Sandmartin.


We got a great deal, as the chap who sold it to us included the awning (the dirty great big yellow thing in the middle of the picture), and a lot of the items that we would have had to purchase separately to get us started on our varacanning adventure.

Varacan? you ask yourselves.... well that's down to my barmy wife and her varacan memories of her childhood - needless to say she could not say caravan at the time, and the name stuck!

Despite its elderly age, this little van is in great nick and will hopefully give us a good grounding in the early days of our caravan holidays.

There are a few little jobs that need to be done, but anyone else may not notice them - I'm just pernickety!

This blog will be about the antics that we get up to and the jobs that I take on in the restoration of my little Vara.

Until my next post..... Paul