A most Awesome Awning

Now that we are a family of four, the already tight living arrangements in the camper van were going to be even more squeezed so we decided it was high time we got ourselves an awning.  We were convinced this was a top idea after our last summer holiday in the van, when our friend's camper van awning proved mightily handy for lobbing pushchairs and toys in.

We did some research on various forums as not many drive-away awnings are suitable for our camper as it has rear doors rather than a side sliding door.  The Movelite XLF seemed to come up trumps, with long straps going over the top of the van to seal the awning to the van.  It also had ample space for all of our stuff.

We purchased a second hand one via eBay and took it on our latest trip to Wales without checking it first, crossing fingers it was all ok. On unpacking, it was happy days as everything was there...apart from, we soon realised...tent pegs...  Unfortunately the campsite we were on wasn't well inhabited and the few other campers there didn't have any spares to lend us. Fortunately we travel with a mega tool box which includes a variety of useful screwdrivers, files and crowbars - we found a new use for these as temporary pegs for the awning...see below!!

Thank goodness for a well stocked tool box!

See below for a better view of the awning - you can see here that the big yellow straps secure it to the campervan. When you want to drive away you simply unpeg these and zip up the awning to secure it.

And here's the other side - this has the extra pod which has an inner tent creating two bedrooms - or the 'playroom' and the 'store room' if you're us!

The only downside was the unbelievable driving wind (and rain) that we had over the weekend at the campsite - the front strap which secures the awning across the top of the van vibrated loudly, and one of the sides wasn't tight into the van which meant there was some audible flapping one night. [Husband found solutions to both of these: twist the straps so they don't resonate in the wind; and take the straps to opposing sides of the van to pull it in tight]

Apart from that we consider it a great success and so useful - we are really pleased with it! Now to dry it out....