My Essentials for a Camper Van Trip

We got given a copy of The Camper Van Cookbook for our first wedding anniversary (paper, you see) and there's a big section on getting sorted for your trip, with a list of essentials for the storecupboard (aka cupboards built into the hefty back doors).


Here's the list from the book:

• Tea bags, jar of coffee and UHT Milk (ick! Who wants to ever drink UHT! Far better to pick up a fresh pint from a garage on the way)
• Bottle of wine (agreed, and add Gin and Tonic too)
• Sunflower and olive oil
• Tomato puree
• Olives
• Jar of pesto
• Porridge oats (we take bacon, and eggs from our chooks)
• Biscuits
• Jar of peanut butter and jam (our jam's homemade, natch, and we always take some chutney)
• Nuts and dried fruit (we substitute haribos)
• Dried mushrooms (so rarely used at home, let alone whilst camping, so no)
• Pasta, couscous and rice
• Tins of chopped tomatoes, chick peas, beans, sweetcorn, tuna and coconut milk (yes to all except the last one, plus we take some tinned tomato soup)
• Fresh basics - onion, lemons, limes, garlic, ginger and parmesan (or if you're us, just wang in whatever's ripe in the garden)

There's a load of condiments listed too, but I tend to just take a spice box (paprika, cumin, coriander, chilli powder and mixed herbs) plus the essential BROWN sauce for fry ups and bacon sarnies. I also chuck in a loaf of bread and usually a cake. 

For our upcoming trip to Ireland I've whipped up the exceedingly easy and delicious (I know cos I made 2 and ate one already) golden syrup cake from The Pink Whisk. I loved Great British Bake Off and Ruth was my fave baker on the show, everything with a wacky twist and all in a blink of the eye - brilliant.  Here's a wee glimpse of some of the goodies coming with us this time around:

We won't go hungry, that's for sure!

Why breakdowns are better in a camper van

Becoming experienced in this matter, I can wholeheartedly say camper vans are great for breakdowns because:

1. You inevitably carry a full tool box so can at least have a look and try to get the thing working with a few bangs and bodges - see below:

(another) roadside repair

2. You can pop the top and put a brew on
3. You have games, cards, books and food in case the rescue service takes its time
4. As you generally travel on back country roads, you have probably broken down in quite a pretty spot, so you can go for a wander and pick some apples whilst you wait for the recovery van (yes, this has happened to us!)

My most memorable breakdown in the van was on our way back from Norfolk one bank holiday (we visit Norfolk a lot as my Irish family have an annual get together there).  The Husband was driving and as we pulled off a roundabout at our turning he said quite calmly..."Right. The brakes have just gone...".

My reaction? "WHAT? THE BRAKES HAVE GONE? OH MY GOD, OH GOD, SH*T!! THE BRAKES HAVE GOOOOONE!"

Whilst I was having a meltdown and bracing myself, he was firstly trying to pump some life into the brakes and when that failed he went down the gears and guided us to a very elegant and gentle stop in a layby.  I had just about finished hyperventilating to notice we had come to a halt.  We ended up having our tea in the layby and not even noticing that the AA man had arrived; until he popped his head in the window to say hello!

Sadly there was no getting Trevor going so this is how our trip ended that evening:

Boooo. But at least we saved some petrol money....

The Lovebus!

We'd managed to get Trevor looking ace for our wedding day (we drove off from the church in Trevor, and spent our first night in the van after our marquee/field wedding...romantical? No, but it was a 3 minute stumble from the marquee so convenience rating was high) - and he then had the honour of being our honeymoon vehicle.  It was nearly 2 years ago that we wed but the honeybops were a watershed Trevor moment, so here's a superquick run through 'em!

The start of our honeymoon was dead posh, spent at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford - don't you think we blend in? (the concierge's face was a picture):

only everso slightly conspicuous

 We then headed down to the south coast to catch the ferry to Swanage, which was our first stop. We were driving along the coast in glorious sunshine and the van was going great, and looking brilliant:

Spot the lovebus!

 We had a great few days at the Swanage carnival, the highlight of which was the wheelbarrow race - absolutely bonkers dash around 9 pubs (downing half pints at each one).  For most of the trip we stayed at lush wee campsites like this one outside Swanage:

Somewhere near Swanage in a field

 ...But for the night of the wheelbarrow race we wanted to be in town, so stayed the night in a car park:

Our car park overnighter, and the hallowed wheelbarrow which was taken home with us...
..that's right, it was carried round for a fortnight in the van...

 Following our lovely time in Swanage, it was off to Paignton and Torquay, where the food varied - we had some awesome champagne BBQs, and an amazing fish dinner at No. 7 in Torquay (I really rate this restaurant, I preferred it to Rick Stein's place) - but then we also had an evening where I cooked up an Argentinian stew from my charity shop purchase, the 1963 edition of the Good Cook's Encyclopedia - this stew involved boiling mince with pears, plums and raisins for about 2 hours....t'weren't good...

lovely job, nice champagne BBQ

And the contrasting 'Argentinian Stew'....we washed it down with a LOT of red wine

Unfortunately towards the end of our Honeybop, Trevor was making some nasty noises, and starting to develop a rattle. By the last day, this had become an all out bone shaking vibration accompanied by a constant drone which meant we couldn't listen to the radio or talk to each other. The gear stick was also decidedly shaky throughout any journey, providing a higher pitched rattle to go with the deep bass drone.  We were glad to reach home without a breakdown ride, even though it meant after 6 hours of driving through the noise and shaking we both had headaches and terrible back pain!

Update from the Husband: Apparently the problem here was the propshaft front CV joint - the bearings had disintegrated, so it was a joint rattling in its housing. Fixed the following day, after getting a new bearing for a tenner...and back on the road without the noise!

Interior Divine

Although Trevor's interior woodwork and surfaces were fine, and the structure was good, the soft furnishings left a LOT to be desired! These were our faded 70s floral print curtains and rough tapestry style cushion coverings - they had to go!

This needs a makeover!

My Mum stepped in to help us out and before long had whipped up new cushion covers from a hard wearing navy blue fabric, and some utterly lush lined curtains from a wide red gingham check (I bought double the amount needed by mistake, but this has come in handy for tablecloths for parties instead!).  The red, white and blue colours were crisp and vibrant and offset the warm wood tones (don'cha know). The new interior look is so cute!

Nice one Ma!

Pimping up the van

Now that Trevor was in running order, something had to be done about the dire state of him - all the welding had made him look like a patched up tin can, so drastic measures were in order.


I'd initially thought we'd get someone to do a full respray of the van in a vibrant colour, but as usual the Husband had a "better way" - that was also, naturally, cheaper...He suggested we paint it by hand (Rustoleum Combicolour) using small rollers. Hmmm. I was convinced...that it would look shocking...but at the back of my mind was the option that we could just get it sprayed afterwards if it looked rubbish.

So what colour?  Or as our thoughts evolved, what design? We wanted something cool and different, so opened it up to friends and family to gather their thoughts. A competition was launched:

 The winners were set to get tea and cake in the new improved van (ummm...we haven't actually done this yet...) and we chose two designs, which meant each side of the van was going to look slightly different. On one side it would be an English countryside scene and on the other, a beach landscape.  We tweaked the designs a wee bit so they would link better, and got to work....

We started by masking off large areas of the van which were going to be in a single colour, so we could roller on the paint and get the backgrounds sorted:

the sky's forming...

bit of the beach

base colours for the countryside done

 We linked the two sides by sort of creating a 'seaside bay' at the back doors, so it was a cohesive design:

you can see the sea now!

Masking tape was our best friend and we went through reams of the stuff, using it to block off areas done and to shape the next bits. Husband did really well at managing to create a deckchair using the masking tape:

The last bits to do were putting the hills on the country scene, and adding the fun bits - flowers, a snail, a flock of sheep, a sandcastle and bucket and spade. Lots of these bits we did with stencils, or just by hand. Because we wanted to get the van completed by our wedding day (cos it was our honeymoon vehicle) we often ended up getting up at 5am to do a coat of paint before work! This also meant by evening the paint would have dried, so we could do the next layer:

nice morning for painting!

So, after months of rollering, sticking tape and hand painting, Trevor was looking absolutely ace- and extremely distinctive!

the beach scene

The country scene, and me waving as we drove off from our wedding day!

We've now decided that each year we'll add another 'element' to either scene, so this year's addition is a beach ball. I'm keen on a tractor or a hot air balloon. Have you got any ideas of what we should do next?

Getting to 70mph, eeeeek!

One of our first long-distance journeys in Trevor was to Norwich for my cousin's wedding.  We were booked into the same campsite as my folks but had to get there by 8pm before the gates were shut for the night. Leaving after work, we knew we were going to be pushing it and by the time we got to the outskirts of Norwich it was quarter to 8.

Not wanting to have to pitch in a layby for the night, the Husband put his foot down and Trevor managed to rattle up to 70mph on the Norwich Bypass!  I was terrified but thank goodness, nothing blew up or fell off and we screeched round the corner of the campsite driveway bang on 8pm and got in - result!


It was quite a posh little Caravan Club site, so our van looked only everso slightly *cough* out of place *cough*.  Here it is in situ, later in the night after I'd had a few vinos to calm down!

The Ins and Outs of getting Trev's revs going

Here we are, for those mechanically minded amongst you, this is a run down of the work the Husband had to do to get Trevor on the road...in his own words (cos I don't know what the heck he's talking about):


Cut away inner and outer sills and sill rear closing plates and welded replacement parts (either obtained from Mr Collier in Kempston who hand makes replacement panels or hand bodged by me by cutting up old car bonnets to get the spare metal) -(you can imagine our driveway looked like Steptoe's yard with bits of old car stacked up ready for welding.) Rear sills (around the back corner of the van) also replaced in similar fashion, and bottom edges of all doors welded back up.

Structurally most things were OK except one plate in the Front wing outrigger. Several small weld-ups (front wing lower edge, A pillar to front wing joint, small holes in doors, gutter rail at rear etc.) and a fairly big job repairing all around the windscreen aperture. The Screen had to be taken out and patches welded in all around (as water was leaking into the cabin). Screen was re-inserted using the washing line trick with new screen seal (From Adrian Bailey Classics). Re-painted using Rustoleum combicolour and gloss rollers and lots of masking tape.

well good at welding!

Mechanical stuff: Initial problem was the fuel pump. It worked on the bench but not in the van. I found the arm was bent. I ditched it and bought an electronic fuel pump and adjustable pressure regulator (both from ebay). After lots of messing about with points I ditched them and got electronic ignition - that was the best thing I ever did and solved loads of issues. Completed new exhaust system including stainless rear section from ABC. Got the van running but still pretty rough so fitted new carb bought from Dingocroft (a Land rover supplier). It`s a copy part of the old Zenith IV made in India. Had to modify the choke mounting bracket to fit the old bedford one but only a 1/2 hour job. First one I bought had no float valve, second one worked (initially). All new brake lines (home made with flaring kit), brake cylinders (from ebay) and shocks fitted (ABC) and finally MOT achieved.

Further problems over the next few years with plugs sooting up turned out to be a leaky float valve in the carb, but it took a lot of diagnosing (intermittant fault). Led to many many sets of plugs being used and numerous oil changes to empty the sump which had becme diluted with fuel. Finally (fingers crossed) solved and van now running well.

Improvements: Leisure battery fitted with separate circuit for interior lights and fridge. Keep blowing fuse though so something slightly wrong... Maybe just over powering fuse (30A). Radio fitted and several immobiliser circuits.

New and improved Trevor!

Things to do: Having trouble with sealing the joint between the manifold and down pipe. Seems I`ve got the old type joint that requires a sealing ring but hard to come by exact size (80`s vauxhall equivalent 47mm I.D. is too small, need exactly 1 7/8 inch...) Rust coming through at top corner of front wing, suspect leaking from flange around bonnet top corner so will weld that up when I get a chance.

No doubt more updates in the future as our ventures with Trevor continue...

Why Trevor?

We decided we wanted something old skool, a name like a friendly Uncle would have, something to reflect the age of the van and its 'solidness'! Trevor was something we stumbled on and it stuck.  (The van is often called the lovebus too!)

Other lovely Trevors in the world:

• Trevor McDonald - news reading legend and all round good egg - I am a fan, and even have Sir Trevor McDonald's poetry book "Trevor McDonald's Favourite Poems".

• And there's the brilliant Trevor Eve too - gotta love Waking the Dead.

• Probably the best aligned one for our project is Trevor Baylis, the engineer and inventor of the wind-up radio - I think my other half would be jealous of his workshop! (Did you also know he was once a stunt man? Awesome!)

Welcome to the family, Trevor

This is the story of Trevor, our ancient (1973) Bedford CF camper van. It's been a labour of love with him but the hard work is behind us (we hope), and I felt now was the time I told the world about one of the greatest things we own, and all the top travels we are having in our lovebus!  This blog will be a diary of where we go and what we get up to in our van, and the various modifications and issues we come up against. A ride out in Trevor is never boring for sure (and there's always the slight fear we might not make it there and back)!

The story began in 2007 when my other half convinced me we should buy a beaten up, neglected campervan for £250 - he dazzled me with technical knowhow (or gobbledygook) about how he could get it on the road, and how wicked it would be to throw in some pillows and a bottle of wine on a Friday afternoon and take off for the weekend, and so I duly agreed. Collected from Southampton, Trevor arrived on the back of a trailer in the dead of the night and was an ominous looking, obviously beaten up and neglected white van which hadn't been touched for 5 years.  I wasn't sure we would ever get a go in our new camper, bar sitting in him on the driveway - Trevor looked so sorry for himself.

what trouble lay under that bonnet...

natty exterior!

Despite the decrepid state of Trevor, two years later a LOT of work by the other half (and lots of advice from the Bedford CF forums) had got Trevor working, just.  We took him for an MOT and the fail sheet ran to 2 pages - more on the mechanical side of things soon)...Husband was however, undeterred and squirreled away so that the next MOT only failed on two things - wow!  Eventually on 23 March 2009, third time lucky, Trevor was declared fit and well - what an achievement! Here he is in all his gloriousness!

We ventured up to Wing, near Rutland Water, for our first camp out. We had a break down 4 miles north of our house, but after a tweak, we got there (albeit by chugging at 20mph up some hills and reaching a top speed of 40mph) and it was awesome to pop the top, put a brew on and sit down with the crossword, all within a few minutes - I was a converted tenter and very content!

Trevor's back on the road! Yay!