Treading on eggshells

Treading on eggshells? Not us. But we're sleeping on eggshell foam now after numerous crafty old caravanners recommended it to soften up the standard no-nonsense firm mattress that Clover was supplied with. So now the bed is a queen size, pillowy sort of experience, very hard to stay away from.

We have had a request for pictures of the van. Those of you who have already had a tour of the real thing can look away now.

The picture above is of the bedroom. This bit folds out from the rear of the van once it is parked. It is basically a kind of cantilevered double wall tent arrangement with a solid base and a solid lid over the top. Very clever engineering. To the right of the bed is the wardrobe. We have two shelves each. This does focus your mind about what clothes are essential.

Next, the bathroom. This little space is next to the bedroom at the pillow end, and has a little basin, a little shower and a little Thetford. I am too polite to explain exactly what a Thetford is, but suffice to say it is a considerable improvement on the bedpan. We went to dinner at a regular house tonight and I have to say the separate bathroom and WC seemed overly, extravagantly large.

Continuing anti-clockwise, we come to the "Media Room" section of our Palais (below) where the computer, radio, various input and output switches and monitors and the TV antenna live. The thing above the fridge is a heater/airconditioner. The cupboards below contain the hot water service, pots and pans etc. We carry a little weather station. No washing machine, you use the park facilities, or put it in a lidded bucket to sloosh around while travelling.

Pointing frontwards is the kitchen with fridge on the right, sink in the middle, stove and rangehood on the left, built in rubbish hatch and pantry, plus drawers. All very compact but it works.

The "Lounge/Dining room" area, a masterpiece in miniaturization, it is actually a dinette with storage lockers under the seats. This can all be converted to a bed for short people. Anyone Sue's height or less will be perfectly fine. Longer people would have to bend, or otherwise sleep in the palatially proportioned annex (ie outside)

Outside, the awning pulls out to make a sort of little verandah along one side of the van, and you can erect the annex, comprising canvas walls and a floor to make it an extra living area. On the other side of the van is where you plug in power and water. The whole thing is a sort of compressed regular house, a bit like you see at Ikea, or maybe one of those T-shirts squashed into the size of a matchbox. It is small by comparison with some of the monsters we saw in Caravanland. Just over 4.5m in length, plus the towbar.

You might like to see the painting David did this morning of the view from our bedroom window.

Tonight we went out for a delicious roast dinner at Helen and Doug's who live on acreage about 1o mins from town. They grow lots of things and we came away with limes, lemons, lemonades and kiwis. Thanks guys!