We're all packing for a summer holiday...

We're back from a great camping holiday in Devon.

The T5 did us proud...packing in and transporting all our camping gear, cooking gear, sleeping gear, wearing gear, playing gear, 11 month old, 2.5 year old, 12 year old, 16 year old, 31 year old and 36 year old.

We had plenty of space to boot. Unlike some poor sardines travelling down a very busy M5 very early on an August Saturday morning.

We saw all sorts of packing techniques...

...kids squashed in the back amongst pillows and duvets, sweaty little heads popping out the top for air while the family terrier is spread out on it's back on mum's lap in the passenger seat upon its own personal doggy pillow.

...Ikea storage boxes rammed full of clothes strapped to roof boxes. (Really don't want to see your undies pal..even less all your dirty washing on the way back).

...Windbreaks (uh, optimistic!) getting shredded to pieces as they are tightly packed and strapped underneath bursting to the seams roof boxes.

...Brightly coloured towels and inflatable rings squashed up against the back window of boots. Buckets and spades too, inevitably cracked as harrassed parents slam and force and bounce the boots shut "You will shut. You will shut. You will shut.if.it's.the.last.thing.i.do" then "What do you mean you need to get the sun cream out for the journey down?! No. Just no!"

We had oodles of space. I comfortably sat in the back between the babies in their car seats, feet up on the cool box munching a holiday pain au chocolat. The boys sat in the front controlling the sound system.

It was a good job the toddler spotted an epic error half way down the main road on the way to the motorway. *Someone* had left one of the back doors of the van open.

Some poor souls would have been treated to our pillows and duvets, clothes and undies, wind break, towels, inflatables, buckets and spades littered all the way down the M5.

And we would have arrived at our holiday destination with more space in the van then we left with.

And before you ask. It wasn't me!

Tales from the tent

Before the VW T5 we had a T4, and before that we had a tent.

I love camping. As explained in one of my earlier posts it's in the blood. After all, I've been brought up on it from trailer tenting right through to caravanning.

In fact rather than swan off to some swish Caribbean lurve island for our honeymoon we decided to stay in the UK and tent our way along the North Cornwall and Devon coast.

I would like to say this was for environmental reasons and we wanted to keep our carbon footprint down, but I would be lying wouldn't I? I now drive a T5 as my daily commute after all.

No, we decided to camp coz we both love being under canvas. And it also meant our baby - our mad Springer Spaniel called Marley - could join us.

Now this would have been fine if it hadn't been one of the most tempestuous Septembers in years. The tent was soaked and two of our tent poles got snapped by all the violent shaking of the tent...(ahem!)

One particular stormy night in Padstow we were joined by some new neighbours in our quagmired section of the campsite. A nice, professional looking couple in a hired baby blue bay VW campervan.

Lucky buggers, we thought. Bet they will be nice and cosy in their van tonight.

After salivating over the coolness of the camper, pushing our wet faces up against the damp glass and fogging up the pane to try and get a glimpse of the interior, we donned our waterproofs to go into town for a Doom Bar (him) and a Cornish Rattler or two (me).

On our return it was plain to see the campers next to us were not happy.

Through lots of thuds, thumps and exasperated sighs came...'Oigh, get on your side! Your on my side of the bed!' Thud..thump...thud 'Seriously! How do you take up so much room!' Thud...thump...thump 'Oh my god. Will you stop moving and stay still so I can get some sleep?!'

Trying to hold in fits of giggles and guffaws of laughter (ok, we may have been a tad tipsy) we crashed out into our damp, soggy tent.

Through the howl of the wind and the slashing sound of rain on canvas we were woken up by the odd argument throughout the night about who had the most bed.

The next morning the sun made an appearance, and we were greeted by two very tired and unhappy looking campers.

'Want to swap?' We said cheerfully on the way to the showers.

Unfortunately not everyone is cut out to be a camper...whether under canvas or in a dream van.

We're not sure what happened to the couple in the cool camper. On our return from the shower blocks all that was left were tyre tracks in the mud. And our tent still standing (well, just).

One T5 and a little baby

We got our VW T5 just before I was due with the latest addition to the family.

I've blogged before about why anyone above the size of a normal nuclear family should consider one. But I wanted to share in a bit more detail why they are so bloody brilliant with a baby.

Firstly, it's a mobile baby changing facility.  Now I know you can change a baby on the back seat or in an open boot of a normal car, but its a faff and quite frankly freezing if you are changing little bottoms with the door or boot open.

In the T5 you can close the sliding door and change your little one in a draft free private zone.

Talking of privacy, the VW T5 also provides a perfect on the go breast feeding space.

Well, unless you have two builders putting their faces up against the privacy glass to peer in at the interior as you are sat feeding while your husband is busy buying yet another spare part in Cheltenham VW Van Centre (on yet another visit).

'Yea. This is just the right colour of red we need. Matches our logo perfectly. Oh wait. Flipping eck. There's someone in there.'

Now, are you referring to the red of your face, mine or the colour of the van, mate? Sorry. This van isn't for sale!

I also say private unless you are breast feeding in the back with the LED spotlights on in the dark. It turns out you can see everything through limo tinted glass in these conditions. The poor shoppers at Morrisons that night got a bit more breast then they bargained for!

There is also acres of space in the T5 for all the baby kit you need. Travelling to my mum's for the night with baby bouncer, activity centre, baby blankets and sheets, moses basket, bottle steriliser, tubs of formula, packets of nappies, suitcase full of clothes and muslin cloths, double buggy, bag full of baby toys, dog, toddler and baby in a car seat was never a problem. I did say night, right?!

And above all, it really is a home from home. Chuck in a play mat and some toys and add to this a handy picnic pod with gas camp stove and kettle and you can rustle up a bottle (or a much needed coffee) in no time while the kids play in their personal play pen.

As we come into summer the van is proving itself a fantastic addition to the family again. It's a beach hut...offering private changing and drying facilities at the beach. And it's a bolt hole when the sun gets too much, especially with a drive up gazebo on the side. The acres of space comes in handy again on day and camping trips as you can pack the kitchen sink without feeling guilty.

In fact the husband has added a handy little hideaway box on the inside of the back door so we can keep our camping stove and chairs tidily stowed away, taking them with us everywhere.

And as we enter the messy world of toilet training our toddler, the van has proved it's worth again acting as a WC on wheels. With a little porta potty in the back there is no stoopying on the side of the road for us!

The VW T5 is proving to be a great addition to the family, and one I am sure will grow with us as the babies grow.

One life. Drive it.

Stuff memories are made of

My parents used to take me and my sisters camping as kids.

Our camping adventures began in a trailer tent. Bright orange with brown and orange flowers on the curtains. Total retro hippy cool.

After a few fun filled years under canvas we upgraded to a caravan.

We loved the caravan so much we used to beg our parents to let us sit in there and play board games on rainy days so we could pretend we were camping with the rain hammering down on the roof...ding, ding, ding, ding. It's a sound that often used to send us to sleep on holiday (well you know what the great British weather is like!)

The best holiday I remember having as a child was when we took the caravan to a field in the Gower overlooking the vast blue sea.

There were no toilet blocks, no playgrounds. Just heaps and heaps of sun and freedom.

Me and my little sister spent hours flying kites and collecting shells on deserted beaches, then at the end of the day we would have a cold alfresco shower and collapse sunburnt and exhausted in our cosy sleeping bags.

I can remember the cool, fresh dampness of early morning dew between my toes, the whistles of camp kettles getting louder and louder. The smell of bacon bubbling on camp stoves early in the morning and the tang of early evening smokey bbqs.

This is the stuff great memories are made of, and I want to create those same cracking memories for my kids.

We made a start on that this weekend, taking advantage of the stonking weather we are enjoying joining friends with kids the same age as ours at a nearby camp site.

The kids loved it and we have got some wonderful new memories to cherish as parents. Watching our baby girl crawl around in the grass just wearing her nappy covered from head to toe in chocolate biscuit, then dunking her in the washing up bowl to clean her up and cool her off.

Seeing our toddler tearing happily along the road on his little red scooter, stooping down in concentration to collect pretty duck feathers around the lake, kicking a football as hard as he could and whooping with delight as he rolled around in the grass wrestling with his friends.

The view from our breakfast table, and the van, was pretty spectacular too.

It was a weekend I will never forget, and hopefully one the kids will remember and cherish too.

My boy is already asking when is the van taking us all camping again!

Soon, son. Soon.

Commuter shed on wheels

Hi ho hi ho. It's back to work I go.

This week I rejoined the world of work after ten months off with my gorgeous babies.

I'm two days in. Tired, torn with guilt at not doing enough at home with the kids and not doing enough at work for my colleagues. I think I just need to learn to live with the guilt of being a working mum.

I tell you what though. It's nice to have proper conversations and a laugh about grown up things compared to endless renditions of 'horsey, horsey' or 'the wheels on the bus' and blowing raspberries.

Eating a meal with both hands and drinking a cup of tea while it's warm is a welcome novelty too.

Before heading back to work we decided to have a massive clear out.
The babies are growing fast and shedding a mountain of clothes,  toys and baby equipment behind them. A mountain the house can no longer comfortably conceal.

The plan...car boot as much as possible and put the money by for our upcoming family camping holiday.

Unfortunately we didn't shift half as much as we wanted too. Do you know how much people try to knock you down at a car boot?

Much of the morning's selling (which started at the unspeakable hour of 6am) went like this...

'How much for this?'

'Fiver' (Which is a bloody bargain for a virtually brand new baby walker)

'Will you take two?'

'No. It's a fiver.'

'Two fifty then?'

'No. It's a fiver...'

'Ok. Three?'

'No. A fiver. I've just set up. Make me an offer later.'

After a hard morning haggling we came back with at least half the stuff, but I couldn't face bringing it back into my slightly clutter clearer home until we could donate it all to the local charity shop.

Instead, it remained in the van, which is where is still remains. Our travelling shed on four alloy wheels.

Over the past two days our car boot cast offs have been keeping me company on my daily commute to work (on which I've scored two VW waves) jingling and jangling in the back.

I will get round to dropping it all off at the charity shop soon but the van is so spacious I hardly notice its there. I guess I just want to hang on to the vestiges of babyhood that little bit longer too...

Sunday Roast Post; Cleeve Cloud

The blog's branching out to write about some of the things our family loves.

Namely family days out and camping (involving the van) and eating (involving my tum).

I love a good roast dinner. But I am not a fan of slaving over a hot hob and oven and then a soapy sink for hours when we could be spending precious time together as a family.

Instead, we often take a road trip in the van and pay to enjoy roast dinner delights cooked and cleaned by someone else. (Only if my mum's not cooking. And then we help clean up.)

Now, finding a family friendly restaurant that serves up a roast anywhere near as good as my mum's is the holy grail. (My mum's roasts are, after all, THE best).

We've tried, and are continuing to sample, a few in our quest. So I thought we would share our experiences in a regular 'Sunday Roast Post' review to give you an idea of where is good for families with little ones who want tasty, fairly priced, honest good food in a home from home atmosphere.

The first review goes to the Cleeve Cloud, Cleeve Hill, Gloucestershire.

We held a large family gathering here to celebrate our daughter's christening in their skittle alley come function room recently. Instead of the usual three kids we had nearer 10. A big test!

And here's what we thought:

Gravy Goodness
To me the most crucial part of a roast dinner and top of my review criteria...

Tasty but a little thin.
3/5

Menu options for grown ups:

Three roasts were on offer, each with tasty trimmings; chicken and stuffing, pork and crackling and beef and yorkies. All came with boiled potatoes, crunchy fluffy roasters and shared veg sides.

5/5

Children's choices:

Same as above, only kids sized, sharing the sides of veg. Nice and easy.
4/5.

Veg variety:
All good roasts are made up of more than meat and two veg! Oh, and tender carrots, not crudités or baby mush...

Huge veg side dishes with scrummy creamy leaks, cauliflower cheese, buttery cabbage, peppery swede mash and seasoned carrots. All served piping hot and cooked to perfection. This really was the gold star of the roast for me.
5/5

How good's the pud:

A cheese board and choice of coffee nicely complemented a selection of British pudding favourites for both adults and kids. Three flavours of ice cream too. The warm fudge brownie was a favourite.
3/5

Kid's things:

Ample outdoor space being atop the highest hill in Gloucestershire. Although I don't think the groundsmen appreciated the impromptu kids footie match on the putting green.

You can close yourself off in the function room, and the skittle alley shute and balls provided a great giant marble run game for the kids.
3/5

Changing children:

Being a golf club it has changing rooms with showers (although thankfully we had no need for them this visit!) and lots of space. Didn't spot a change mat, station or nappy bin on my visit though.
3/5

Highchair happiness:

Two available. Could do with updating.
2/5

The price's right:
Feeding a family of five is an expensive business, help us out here...

Straight forward, really reasonable prices at £6.95 per adult roast, £3.95 per child roast and £3.95 per pud. Drinks were reasonably priced too.
5/5

Parking:
A biggie for us, needing ample space for the van, and a short distance to cart changing paraphernalia,  buggies, toys and not forgetting children...

It's a golf club. And popular. So even though it has a huge car park it's always packed and trying to find a space can turn into a bit of a game of cat and mouse.
2/5

Warm welcomes:

Staff were super efficient and smiley even though they were super busy. (Not only did they have our large party to serve but the rest of the restaurant was packed too.)

The club house itself is a bit dated, but in my opinion this adds a bit of 'vintage' charm.
4/5

Total score:
39/55

Final Sunday Roast Post Review:
A straight up tasty home cooked roast in pleasant surroundings which offers REAL value for money, which is very rare these days.

We will be visiting and eating again!

Getting rubbed up the wrong way

Just what is it with our darn van?

We really have a love hate relationship. We love the van, but it seems to hate us.

It just feels like every other month there is another thing that needs to be fixed or is going to cost us more money then we bargained for.

It's beginning to really rub me up the wrong way.

This month I went to get a quote for bumper colour coding and found out that the rear bumper crash bar has had a whack, buckled up and is ever so slightly making our back doors rub the bumper. This means, without being fixed, our nice new shiny red bumper would get a great big dirty scratch from the doors rubbing.

I've had enough of bloody rubbing recently.

As you may know from my previous post here, our new super size 20 inch alloys are rubbing VERY LOUDLY when on full lock.

I forgot about the full lock thing the other day when trying to execute a swift three point turn in the road to avoid some roadworks and BRRRRRRRRRRRRR. 

Wouldn't be so bad if I was on my own, but I had an audience of a gaggle of road workers hanging around on their tea break who promptly turned around to see what was making the noise.

'It's me!' I smile sheepishly through the open window. 'Ahhhh. Big wheels' one replies as he puts his hands up, gesticulating like he just caught a big fish.

This means I now can't do three point turns and instead have to make pigeon point pirouettes, which frankly makes me look like a bit of a tit.

After being delivered the bad news of the bust bumper bar at the paintwork shop I had to get out of a really tight spot surrounded by big machinery outside a work depot on the packed industrial estate. And yet again a gaggle of road workers who were yet again on their tea break.

I provided them with great entertainment inching forward and back, then forward and back, then forward and back about 16 times in what could easily have been accomplished in six turns using full lock.

I wound down the window and employed the same gesture of the previous road worker. 'I can drive, promise! Can't use full lock. BIG wheels.'

I am hoping the rubbing will stop, in all senses of the word, but we have got the dreaded MOT next week. Oh, and I swear I can smell raw diesel when sat in the passenger seat, even when the window is up.

This can mean one of two things.

1. There is something wrong with the van. Again.

2. I am pregnant. Again.

Keep your fingers crossed the van sails through its MOT. And that I won't have to upgrade the van and change the blog to T6 for 6! (The husband has mixed feelings about this).

A growing obsession

I don't know how I got into VWs.

I have just always loved them. Beetles, splittys, campervans...

Family and friends have fed my obsession over the years by giving me quirky 'n' cute VW or campervan related gifts. You can see from the bottom of the page I have a lot.

From chess board games to salt and pepper shakers and from waste paper baskets to cookie jars. I have even framed VW related birthday cards given to me to decorate the house.

And my obsession, it seems, is rubbing off on the kids.

My little sister once baby sat for our toddler and let him loose with his older nephew's box of cars. Our boy, who must have been just 18 months at the time, went through the whole box (literally hundreds of cars) and found two VW campers which he would not let go of. All day.

Even at the park he wouldn't let them go, toddling around with a VW camper in each hand in a pudgy vice like grip.

We're nurturing our boy's love of all things VW. When his little sister arrived we gave him a present. A 'Happy Land' bright orange camper play set (which very aptly came complete with a 'mummy', 'daddy' and 'meewee' aka Marley, our dog) and a die cast VW Transporter.

It took me absolutely ages to track down the Transporter, eventually coming across one Down Under. (From the comfort of my own sofa on eBay of course, as I was heavy with child and by that time too fat to fly.)

And that's the problem. There's loads of vintage VW gifts on the market, but very little Transporter related.

Luckily, Campervan Gifts is doing a bit of new product development, with the backing of VW, which I'm really excited about.

Top of our gift list would be a cuddly transporter kids toy. Our toddler often goes to bed with his die cast VW Transporter clasped in his little hand after several failed attempts from mummy and daddy to extract it.  A cuddly version would be far more comfy, and safer.

Second on our list would be a Transporter bunk bed. Came across a wooden split screen camper bunk at Busfest last year and loved it, but not so much the price tag. Found a DIY Bay Window version on the net which I am sure the talented husband can knock up though.

We've also been eyeing up pop up campervan play tents for the kids, but a Transporter tent would go down a storm here in our house. Especially if it was red, like our van.

Thinking about it, a lot of my vintage VW trinkets are bright orange or baby blue. And I desperately searched for a red Transporter die cast model for my boy, but it only came in black, blue or white. What is the best colour for Transporter trinkets?

Campervan Gifts are scouting for people's ideas on what would make great Transporter related gifts, and in what colour. (Team Red, Team Red!)

They are also looking for T4 or T5  photos to adorn said merchandise. So if you fancy your van being immortalised forever get in touch with them. Unfortunately the ugly mug of Elvis the T5 for 5 is not quite beautiful enough to grace a coffee mug, just yet!

Share your Transporter gift ideas here on the blog, via Twitter @t5for5 or get in touch with Campervan Gifts.

We are looking forward to seeing the results, and fuelling the obsession a little bit further.

A wheelie great Father's Day gift

We've been eyeing up alloy wheels for the van for a while now.

It's the next big (and expensive!) step in our quest to convert our commercial van into something more worthy of a T5 Forum member sticker.

We've spent hours trawling through google, eBay, the Forum and numerous VW shows looking for the holy grail of alloys.

Some we liked, some we loved and others we had to agree to disagree on.

We've looked at deep dish, mesh, stormers, turbines, 18 inch, 19 and 20. We even checked out bandeds.

Finally, when it felt like we would never find a set of wheels we liked (without having to remortgage the house and feed our entire family on beans on toast for a year) we came across a nice set on eBay.

The husband liked them. And they came with new tyres, which meant our wallet liked them too. Get in.

Now I was a bit mean here and pulled the 'we can't afford these as I am still on maternity leave' card. But I was hatching a little fathers day related plan ;)

The next day I secretly ordered the wheels over the phone, but not before being given an A Level physics test first. What was the load rating of my van? What kg per rim was I looking for? Did I want to run them on 255/40/20 or 275/40/20 tyres. Next question please!

Thankfully, with a little help from the Forum and the dealer, I order what I think is right.

The new wheels arrived next day whilst hubby was at work. They were so big I didn't think they would fit, but the delivery guy (who was a Transporter fan) looked under the arches and assured me, 'There's bags of space love. Transporters look great with fat alloys like these.' Phew. Glad you approve. Hope the husband will! 'Let's hope he gets you more than a box of chocolates next year, eh?', he chuckles.

Luckily, our local Halfords Autocentre could fit us in that afternoon to get the alloys fixed on. Cheers guys! The plan was falling into place nicely ready for the big reveal when daddy got home from work later.

With the sparkling new alloys gleaming in the sunshine and a big grin on my face I put the van onto full lock to swing out of the car park. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

What the hell was that? My grin was replaced by a champion gurning face and a couple of mechanics came out to take a look under my front arch. 'Just rubbing a little on the plastic weather cover' they said, 'just don't use full lock'. Right.

Terrified it would rub again or that I would kerb the new alloys I drove home like a granny, parked up outside the house, decorated the van with daddy's day banners (I would say the kids did them, but they are all my own work. Physics and art were never my strongest subjects at school) then we waited.

Daddy pulled up with a look of bewilderment on his face. 'What's all this for?' he says pointing at the banners.

'Happy early Father's Day' I say, smiling. Surely he has noticed them. How can you not notice them? They are flipping huge!

Still a look of puzzlement.

Luckily at this point our toddler pipes up 'Wheels, daddy.'

And then he clocks them. And he likes them. Result.

And here they are.

Our van's great timing

What is it with vehicles and children?

You have something important to do or you need to get somewhere fast and they just go wrong.

It's like they have this inbuilt code that tells them to do something really bad at a really, really bad time.

For example. Quick! Mum's late for the nursery run. Let's both do a great big messy poo that goes right up our backs and all over our clothes!

Or, in the case of the van, let's belch out great big black puffs of smoke just before we are about to take the family and a quarter tonne of beautiful Morrocan pottery to our very good friends wedding in the wilds of West Wales.

Cue panic stations. Will the van get us there? Is the black smoke getting worse? Will the wedding guests have to eat their delicious scrumptious food off their laps?

Thankfully the van made it, but not without erupting a few cubic square meters of volcanic gases into the atmosphere and choking and blinding the unsuspecting motorists who were unfortunate enough to be down wind of us on our journey. Boy, West Wales is hilly and yes the black smoke is getting worse. Mostly when you drive up hill!

And the problem? Busted intercooler (read all about that here).

The van also tried to self destruct on our first family holiday away in it down in Dartmouth.

Me, heavily pregnant sat in the back with a tired toddler and two teenage boys up front are just about to enter Dartmouth when I start hearing a strange whining sound every time the husband shifts the van into third and fourth gear.

'Can you hear that?' I say.

All three boys in front. 'No.'

Husband adds. 'Stop panicking. You're hearing things. It's your pregnany hormones.'

Well I had heard carrying a baby gives you a super sense of smell, but heightened hearing was a new one on me.

The noise rumbled on and I begin picturing wheels falling off, engine blowing up and terrible accidents (now that is the blasted pregnancy hormones) until eventually even the boys (with the DJ Beats or whatever they're called muffling their ears) could hear it too.

Thankfully we get to the campsite and on inspection it's some loose hose, so off husband goes in search of the nearest garage who fit a jubilee clip to keep the pipe in place. How fitting since it was the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

But I could still hear the noise, and on our return home one test drive by the lovely vehicle technician at my favourite VW Commercial Van garage in Cheltenham confirmed it was the gearbox.

Gah. Great timing. Again! Just as I am about to go on maternity leave.

I suppose any time is not a good time for something to go wrong on the van, but is it just us that it always seems to happen at the worst possible moment?

A blown fuse...or two

Van conversion is a tricky business.

It can lead to lots of blown fuses. Of the electrical and neurological type.

Firstly, there's the mind boggling range of set ups. Do you want a full camper conversion with three quarter length rock and roll bed, or a day van for your daily drive with a snazzy little picnic pod for those peckish moments when out and about?

It's what makes the VW Transporter so versatile (check out my previous post on this here) but at the same time it can be the basis for some epic arguments.

Our first argument erupted when deciding whether to install very expensive full Caravelle seats and rail system (with inbuilt isofix to keep little treasures trussed up safely in their car seats) or a rock and roll bed which is cheaper and ideal for camping, but not as safe. That's fuse number 1 blown.

Thankfully the other half saw sense and our kids are now being stylishly and safely transported around on Caravelle seats (which may as well be lined with gold the amount they cost).

The next conversion consideration is interior styling, including things like carpeting and lighting. The husband did this all himself (well done, hunny) including the installation of recessed LED decking lights in the roof. These he very cleverly decided to hook up to the interior light.

The theory was that when the doors were opened the interior, as well as the swish new decking lights, would automatically come on dazzling everyone. I say theory as no matter what he did, he couldn't get the flipping things to come on just by opening the doors.

A few hours were spent scatching heads and re wiring, then re wiring and then un wiring followed by a few choice expletives.

Luckily us Transporter owners have access to a wealth of knowledge, experience and recommendations from other Transporter owners all across the UK in the T4 and T5 Forum. Check it out. It's quickly become my bible and best friend.

So, while the husband commandeered a neighbour and fellow VW Transporter nut to help him ummm and ahh and fiddle I did a quick search on the forum whilst feeding the new born and enjoying a cup of tea.

And ping! Some fabulous Forum member had shared a solution to our very same problem.

Yep, you guessed it. Blown fuse.

Not only this, they had uploaded a handy diagram showing exactly where the blown fuse was located. Thanks, buddy!

I left it a few minutes and continued to watch the head scratching in the van. Once the little one had finished feeding and my cuppa was finished I slowly sauntered out, popped the fuse compartment on the dash, deftly located said blown fuse and tossed it to the boys in the back. 'Here's the problem guys', I said. Their faces! Priceless.

Who rule the world? Girls! (And the T4 and T5 Forum).

With all our engine troubles since then (resulting in more blown fuses. Mostly mine.) this is as far as our conversion story has got. But we have plans ;)

Wave after wave of embarrassment

Did you know what the Shaka was in my last post, or did you look it up on Wikipedia? (Refresh yourself here).

If you did, then you'll know us friendly VW van owners give each other a little wave, flash or quick hands up as we pass each other on the road. It's like an imaginary high five recognising each other's mutual coolness.

Thing is, you only do it to proper bona fide members of the VW scene. You don't give the signal to any old Bob the Builder travelling by in his work van.

And that's where we get unstuck at the mo. Despite the DRL lights (devilish sporty looking Audi-like headlights with sparkly LEDs), fat steel side bars and tinted side windows, we have still got commercial steels and our bumpers are not colour coded. In short we are a builders ride with Botox.

As a result sometimes we get a wave, and other times we give a wave and are left hanging. Awkward.

Our daily commute takes us past, what I am told, is a well known dogging spot. I'm very careful not to give any sort of signal whilst driving along this stretch of road as I don't want to inadvertently give anyone some secret coded come on.

I don't just partake in the Shaka ritual. I also enjoy giving truckers' signals too. No, I'm not talking about flicking the Vs (although when the road rage takes me I have been known to give the odd two-fingered salute or two, or three).

Basically when a HGV flashes you to let you know it's safe to move back into the lane when overtaking you pull in then give them a quick left right left of your indicator. Usually your new HGV buddy gives you a flash back for your efforts.

I am far more successful at the truckers' signal than the Shaka at the moment. So to save the red face I might shelve Shaka-ing until the van is fully converted.

In the meantime if you see me, do give me a wave as I promise I will flash back.

The lights...the lights!  Jeez, you lot have dirty minds.

One life, drive it.

Quick quiz. How VW are you?

After a quick glance at my Twitter and Facebook feeds I feel like the only person not driving over hallowed ground down the M5 to Run to the Sun this weekend. Sniff.

To distract myself I thought I would write a quick quiz to find out how nuts you lot are for VWs. It's a bit of fun for the bank holiday weekend too!

Read the 10 statements coming up and give yourself one point every time you answer yes.

I'm sure you've done those psycho babble quizzes in mags and newspapers before. You know the ones. 'What on screen couple are you and your guy?' (Baby and Johnny Castle. Patrick can put me in the corner or in the play pen or wherever really) or even 'What type of biscuit are you?' (Toughie. If you've read my previous posts you'll know it would have to be ginger nut).

Make a note of your score then see how you measure up at the end of the post.

1. You make an annual pilgrimage to Devon or Cornwall (or insert your nearest available stunning, rugged coastline here.)
Give yourself a bonus point if you go more than once a year. Lucky so-in-so.

2. You bike, skate, surf, hike, kite surf, coasteer or kayak.
An extra bonus point if you do all of the above. Crazy adrenaline junkie.

3. You or your kids own at least one T Shirt or hoodie with a camper van emblazoned on the front. We are on 9 camper van clothing items in our household, and counting ;)

4. You still call Busfest Vanfest.
Minus one point if you don't know what either of the above is.

5. You are doggie friendly.
One bonus point if you have a dog and you kit it out with a VW neckerchief at every VW event you go to. Yep. Marley, our crazy springer has a fetching baby blue one bought at Vanfest some years ago.

6. You own a VW bus themed wash bag/key ring/mug/coaster/canvas/cookie jar/money box/salt and pepper shaker/VW camper van cook book.
One bonus point if you have all of the above.
If you have not got the VW camper van cook book by Martin Dorey check it out. It's a camper's cooking bible packed full of fuss free tastiness. You don't need a VW camper van to enjoy it either.

7. Your taste in music spans all decades and genres. From 60s Beach Boys to acoustic Jack Johnson and from reggae reggae moves with Bob Marley to rocking out with the Red Hot Chillies.

8. You bring out the board shorts and flip flops at the first flash of sun, no matter how bloody cold it is (this one is for the husband). And in true British bank holiday style he is sporting them this weekend. Well, I have switched the heating on indoors as it's that flipping cold.

9. You own at least one item of clothing from Billabong, Quicksilver, Roxy, Saltrock, Animal, O'Neil, Fat Face, White Stuff, Weird Fish...
One bonus point if you have at least one item from every brand. Moneybags.

10. You know what the Shaka sign is without checking it up on Wikipedia.
One bonus point if you are sat there giving one right now whether you had to look it up or not.

So, how did you do?

0 to 3 points - Vdub newbie
4 to 6 points - Vdub rookie
7 to 10 points - Vdub devotee
10 points plus - Vdub nutty!

Enjoy the bank holiday, whatever the weather peeps!

One life, drive it.

It's all in the name

Come on. Admit it. You have a name for your car don't you.

We love our cars (except when they break down and cost us lots of money. See my very first post here for the eye watering detail).

We spend an awful lot of time in them too. So it only goes to reason that we want to personify them by giving them a name.

Vauxhall have tried to play on this emotional attachment by launching their latest offering as Adam. Apparently it's a tribute to the founder of their sister company, Adam Opel. Personally, I am looking forward to the launch of Eve which I think will be much better model ;)

Our family fun bus has a name. It's Elvis. Why? It's red. And my toddler is obsessed with Fireman Sam. And, well, Jupiter was just too big a name to live up to.

Thinking about it now it probably wasn't the best choice of name. Elvis Cridlington in Fireman Sam is a bit of a calamity, always breaking things and generally ballsing up while the one and only Elvis died on the loo blowing a gasket. Hmmm, I hope the name doesn't turn out to be a self fulfilling prophecy.

My previous cars all had names too:

1998 VW T4 Transporter - Ron Burgundy. As in The Anchorman. As in 'Hey, everyone! Come see how great I look'. Pic below. No further explanation needed.

2002 VW Golf GT TDi - Vinnie. As in Vinnie Jones. As in one hell of a mean machine. It certainly was emotional having to watch him being driven away by his new, lucky, owner.

1996 Vauxhall Corsa - Cory (the Corsa). Original. It was my first car, ok, and my inspiration came from my first pet. A hamster, called Hammie. You'll be relieved to hear my kids do not follow this naming trend.

The folks at at VW Bus T4/T5+ Magazine today put a shout out on Twitter (follow them @VWBusMag or visit www.vwbusmagazine.com) to help a fellow T5 owner struggling to name his bus. The good people of the T-scene shared their van name thinking in droves; Farley, Betty, Dennis, Oscar, Scarlet, Vader, Mrs Slocome...

There really are some great, and inspired, vdub names out there. Wish we had thought ours through a little bit more, but we are stuck with it now.

Ah, well. Let's hope Elvis has 'A little less fight and a little more spark' next time I try to start him up.

What did you name your car and why? Let me know by tweeting me @t5for5 or posting a comment below.

One life, drive it.

What your car says about you

We all have stereotypes about what kind of person drives a Volvo or BMW, right?

Skoda have been trying for years to break down their brand's perceived image. Unfortunately even their very clever marketing in recent years has failed to make me forget the bullies in the playground yelling, 'Urgh! Your Dad drives a Skoda' when they could think of no new novel ways to taunt me for being the ginger kid. Eesh, even writing about it now brings me out in a sweat.

And just for the record, my Dad didn't drive a Skoda. He had a very tasty MG Montego. Remember those? Oh, and I am no longer ginger either. I bleach blonde for camouflage.

So what does your daily drive and even the colour of your car, say about you? This is a subject many a psychologist and car advertising guru has delved into and some studies have found:

Red - aggressive drivers who like to tear up the tarmac. Move out the way if you see me coming!

Green - hysterical tendencies. Jeez, just saying.

Silver - safe, sober drivers who are less likely to have an accident.

White - neat freaks that like cleaning. A lot. I mean why would you buy a car that gets dirty without even driving it?

Immaculate inside and out - anally retentive with an obsessive compulsive streak. And no kids.

Of course, I don't take any notice of these stereotypes. Except maybe for Volvo Estates. Bloody Sunday drivers, I told you to get out of my way!! (Sorry, there is just no suppressing the red van and hair in me!)

And I bet if you stopped and thought about it, you would have a stereotype about VW Transporter drivers too.

But you would be wrong.

This is what has really amazed me about the VW T4/T5 scene.

Everyone is welcome and everyone is friendly. From young single lads to retired couples, from hard working plumbers to creative florists, from young families like ours to busy business executives.

And I'm looking forward to getting to know more transporter owners, lovers and drivers as we convert our van.

*Disclaimer. If you drive any of the above I do not think these things specifically about you. I am just writing about image and stereotypes ok? Sheesh, now get back into your shiny big red car and get out of here.

One life, drive it.

Five and a bit reasons you need a Transporter

I suppose I need to go right back to the very beginning to explain how we ended up with our 'diamond in the rough' T5.

While heavily pregnant with our latest child I finally gave in to the husband's increasing demands to get rid of our trusty, speedy Golf GT TDi and replace it with a tatty around the edges work horse of a Transporter.

It was very calculating of him to play on my raging pregnancy hormones and primeval urge to nest, nest, nest.

I mean the Golf was great - sturdy and like the proverbial off a shovel when your foot hit the floor - but how would we fit in a rugby playing 12 year old, two child car seats with toddler and new born attached, a crazy springer and all the baby and toddler paraphernalia needed for our many family fun days out?

We needed a vehicle with space, style and speed.

I wanted to be sure a Transporter was the best vehicle for us, so we looked at Land Rovers, Shoguns and L200s but once a vdubber always a vdubber. Tourans and Tiguans were nice but the Transporter won hands down. Here's why:

1. Reliability. Ok. Ours may not be the finest example but generally speaking Transporters are robust vehicles. Why does the AA and RAC pick 'em for their patrol cars?

2. Versatility. Transporters offer luxury executive travel (last year's I'm a Celeb contestants were transported from the jungle back to their five star hotel in T5 Caravelles) right through to daily white van man runabout rides. What other car brand covers such a wide and diverse audience?

3. Driveability. I was terrified about stepping from behind the wheel of my lovely little Golf and stepping up into a Transporter cab.  But after a shakey practice run or two I have fallen in love with driving our T5. It's a pleasure to motor in. I can even reverse park with no rear windows. Get me boys, lol.

4. Space. We have oodles and oodles of space. Out for a picnic and it starts to rain? Spread the picnic rug in the back of the van and we can all dine al Volkswagen in the dry. We are planning getting a swivel base for our double cab seats in the front so we can turn round and dine with the kids in the back when we feel like it. Kids need a nap? We flip out our caravelle three seaters and hey presto, we have a day bed!

5. Endless options. Twin cab or single cab seats up front, swivel seats, three seats, twin seats, captain seats, rock n roll beds and tables in the back - some that slide in and out on rails. You can get pop tops, drive away awnings and even pull out pods to double the size of your van. (Check it out at www.doubleback.co.uk) It's an adult's pick n mix sweetie shop, albiet an expensive one.

That's five reasons already but before I sign off I really have to add one more. When you buy a VW Transporter you buy into a lifestyle.  One where on a sunny Saturday morning you can pack up the van, chuck in the kids and the dog and in a few hours time be parked up at the coast with bacon sarnies cooking and coffee brewing on your custom made van kitchen pod.

That's exactly what I plan to be doing once the husband has finished our bespoke kitchen pod with integral coffee machine.

Personally, I think any family above the size of the normal nuclear needs a VW Transporter!

One life, drive it.

It starts...well just

Today our VW T5 family van didn't want to start.

After three attempts I finally manage to get it started with a belch of white smoke, accompanied by a stomach churning chugging sound. Cue worried phone call to the husband on hands free with kids screaming in the back as we motor to granny's.

His verdict? It was cold last night so the engine wasn't warm enough. Really, darling? It is the middle of May. Granted, it's England so we aren't blessed with temperatures you would normally associate with spring but it wasn't freezing last night.

We motor on, van is running fine. Still worried I pull over, cut the engine, wait ten seconds like you would when restarting a smart phone (my only yard stick for anything remotely technical) and turn the van over again. I use my best ground control to Major Tom voice to manically count down blast off to ease my toddler's screeching.

All fine. No smoke. No noise (except the kids).

We drive on and thankfully there's no replay of last week when we had plumes of black smoke chucking out the back end and a bunny hop in second Bugs himself would be proud of. That cost us a princely sum of 600 quid to get fixed. Yep, 600 smackers up in smoke thanks to a busted inter cooler and turbo hose.

I feel like I spend all my spare time in the VW Van Centre in Cheltenham these days getting bits to fix the van. I know all the salesmen and service staff by name. The salesmen even wave when I amble past in our distinctive dinged red ex panel van. They purr by, taunting me as they take their swish Sportlines out for a spin with some lucky, loaded van purchaser. I just wave back and salivate.

I am worried the van won't start tomorrow. I am also a little worried this blog won't really go anywhere. I'm a vdubber at heart though so I'll just keep dubbing, and writing, and keep everything crossed nothing else breaks in the sodding engine.

Visit again to see if the van starts up and hear more about our journey transforming our van from crusty commercial carrier to fabulous family fun bus. I promise plenty of  van chat, insights into family life and not a lot of techie stuff.

One life, drive it.