The Motorhome, Caravan and Camping Show at the Excel in London takes place between the 14th and 19th February 2012.

The event will be the biggest Motorhome, caravan and camping showcase to take place in London for over five years and is the only one taking place this spring where you can see the new 2012 Motorhome models.  Tickets are best purchased in advance if you want to go and start at £7 per adult with children and parking free.

The exhibitor list is huge and as usual you’ll be able to get anything you want to buy, or didn’t realise you wanted to buy until you got there, and presumably at discounted prices especially given the recession we are in.

I’m not sure how this show compares to one at the NEC size wise but the Excel is a pretty big place.  If you don’t fancy the drive by the way then there is a train service that drops you off outside.

Remember the health warning ; Buying a new Motorhome can damage your bank balance so unless you go there specifically to purchase one, don’t be tempted.

For more details about the show have a look at their website.

Related posts:

1. Top Dealers Team Up With Bentley Motorhomes at the National Motorhome Show
2. AA Caravan & Camping Guide 2011 Britain & Ireland; Great App for iPad or iPhone

I’ve just received a letter from Peugeot telling me that my Motorhome needs to have its spare wheel fixing system checked and possibly replaced to prevent the spare wheel detaching itself from the Motorhome.

This operation was launched on 21st July 2011 but they have no record of me having had it done but of course that’s because I didn’t know anything about it until today.  As usual with these things it will be completed free of charge.

The work will prevent any potentially incorrect securing of the spare wheel.  I presume from this that they have had a number of Motorhomes that have discovered that their spare wheels have been lost somewhere which will be a real blow if you happened to get a puncture.  Now, as far as I know, I still have my spare wheel secured under the Motorhome but to be honest I’ve never checked since I picked it up.  Hopefully I’m not in for a surprise!!

Here is a copy of the recall details I found on VOSA and a link to it if you need it.  Check your vehicle ID to see if this applies to you and if it does and you haven’t had a recall notification then ring the recall helpline on 0845 756 5556.

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The Low Emission Zone  in London regarding pollution emitted from old diesel vehicles has changed from the beginning of January and is now much stricter than before.  What this means is that in order to run any vehicle you will have to have it modified to ensure it passes the strict new anti pollution laws.  Previously this applied to lorries and coaches but now applies to other vehicles including Motorhomes that were registered as new before 1st October 2006.

If you are spotted driving a non compliant vehicle in London then you will be sent a warning notice giving you 28 days to comply or pay the consequences.

I’m not sure what the future plans are but undoubtedly other large cites will be taking this stance at some time so beware.  My advice is to check your local council website to see if they are also planning something similar.

The Transport for London website explains all about the Low Emission Zone and it’s implications so have a look here and see just what the effect will be on your Motorhome.

If you are outside of the limit it and you do nothing it will cost you £100 per day if your Motorhome is 3.5 tonnes unladen or £200 per day if over that weight.  Unfortunately if you do decide to have your Motorhome modified it looks like it will cost between £2000 – £4000 to have it done and it has to be inspected annually.

If in any doubt then use this simple tool to check to see if your Motorhome is compliant or not.

Please let us know if you live in London and you’ve been caught out by this change in the regulations.

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First of all I’d like to wish you all a very happy new year and I hope your xmas holiday whether at home or away was a great success.  We’re actually glad to see the back of 2011 for lot’s of reasons so it’s onwards and upwards for us in 2012.

I’m sure that like me you’re probably already thinking about the first trips away in the Motorhome.  We’ve decided to stick with our non membership of both the Caravan and the Camping & Caravanning clubs and we’re going to try more small privately owned sites this year.  Should be fun and of course I’ll report back as I go along.

The 2012 Camping Cheque book has arrived and the 2012 ACSI book is on it’s way so I’m already thinking ahead to France maybe in spring this year.  We both love the place and it has so much to offer and so much affinity with Motorhomes that it’s a must for us.

Whatever you do this year please let us know about it and and if you do find that very special place then no worries, I promise I’ll keep it a secret.

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The AA Caravan & Camping Guide 2011 is a fantastic app especially on the iPad where it looks great on the bigger screen.

You just enter a location and the app will show a map with all the campsites close to that location.  You can then zoom in and out of the map to get down to the finer details if you want to.  If you hover the cursor on a campsite flag then you will see it’s name and you can then click on it to get the information about the campsite.  From here you can click on the campsites website if it has one and then see even more details.  On the right of the screen you also have a listing of all those campsites and you can scroll through these until you see one you like the sound of, click on it and then see the detail behind it.  The details give you the address, contact number, email, website if it has one, detailed map location, description and a list of facilities.  It really couldn’t be easier.

I have both the iPad and the iPhone app but I much prefer the iPad app because of the larger screen and because you get to see the map.

On the iPhone you input the destination and then get a list of the campsites nearby and you can then scroll through these and again click on one that you are interested in to get the detail.  These details are the same as the iPad but without the map detail.

There are 900 or so campsites listed and the cost of the iPad app is £1.79 compared to the book at £9.99 and the iPhone app is free.

It’s a real bargain and once you get it you’ll realise just how easy it makes choosing a campsite in and around your destination.

Related posts:

1. Le Guide Official Camping & Caravanning – 10,336 sites listed throughout France

We recently had a mid week break in the Motorhome at Run Cottage Touring Park in Suffolk and it was an absolute delight.

Run Cottage is located in the village of Hollesley and is only a few miles away from the National Trust site at Sutton Hoo, Woodbridge and the bird reserves at Dunwich and Minsmere.

It’s a very well laid out campsite with around 20 pitches, an excellent toilet block, an information and wash up area and is a very relaxing place.  This feeling of calmness stems from the very friendly owners and seems to permeate throughout the campers and the whole place has a wonderful feel about it, so much so that you never want to leave.  I know from talking to other campers that they return again and again – as we will.

From Run Cottage you can very easily bike down to the beach which is covered in shingle and great for plodding around on.  We spent an afternoon there wandering and eating lunch which was great because there wasn’t a grain of sand to be tasted – I hate that about the beach – crunchy sandwiches!

We took the Suffolk Link bus to Sutton Hoo which is the ancient burial ground of Raedwald,  Anglo Saxon King of East Anglia.  He was buried in a ship in AD625 together with a vast hoard of treasure and this was painstakingly excavated in 1939. There is an exhibition area and you can go on a fascinating guided tour of the burial grounds which is an absolute must do.  It’s on this tour that you find out all the minute details about the burials that took place there and the grave robberies that have taken place since.  It’s a fascinating story and well worth a day out.

Woodbridge is a lovely little town to stroll around and there’s lots to see and admire.  We drove into Woodbridge in the Motorhome and got parked easily enough near to the railway station which is centrally placed between the estuary and the town centre, a five minute stroll in either direction.

If you want to visit a lovely tranquil campsite in Suffolk then you can’t go wrong with Run Cottage so give it a go, it won’t disappoint.

Related posts:

1. When you visit Suffolk in your Motorhome use the Suffolk Link bus service

When you visit Suffolk in your Motorhome and there aren’t any local buses to use then you can use the Suffolk Link bus service to get you around.

It’s a great idea and all you do is to give them a ring and book a seat on the bus on a particular day to go from the campsite to wherever you want to get to.  They will drop you off and pick you up later in the day to get you back to the site.  This service is available in many parts of Suffolk as outlined below and on the website you can get more information.

We used the service to get from our campsite, Run Cottage Touring Park, to Sutton Hoo and it was great.  The other benefit was that it meandered through the country lanes picking up other people so we got to see lot’s of the Suffolk countryside.

The booking number to ring is 0845 604 1802 and you can book a week in advance.

SUFFOLK LINKS – DEMAND RESPONSIVE TRANSPORT

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One of our readers has contacted me to see if anyone can help with a review on the Mercedes Burstner T Star 680 so please help if you can.

He and his wife have recently hired a Motorhome to try it out and see whether it would suit them or not and they loved it.  They now have an opportunity to buy a Mercedes Burstner T Star 680 but are having difficulty finding a review on the vehicle so have asked if we can help.

If you do own or have owned one of these Motorhomes then please tell us what you think.

Thanks very much.

Steve

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We’ve just had a warning from the Northamptonshire police about thefts of Catalytic Converters from 4×4 vehicles and Motorhomes.  They are running a campaign warning owners of vehicles such as ours that as they are high sided and easy to crawl underneath we are being targeted.  I’ve also seen a warning from a Motorhome insurance company saying a similar thing.

These Catalytic Converters are stolen because of the value of the precious metals they contain and can cost up to £2000 to replace.  The thief can disconnect one very easily apparently and they are targeting car parks  as easy pickings.

If you did have one stolen would you be covered for the theft on your Motorhome insurance, I’m presuming so but of course it wouldn’t surprise me if not.

These thieves will nick anything and of course they don’t care about the hardship they cause.  It does however seem to be a relatively new crime but it’s certainly on the increase in a big way.

The first you’ll know if yours has been stolen is when you turn the ignition key and hear the dreadful noise.  Now the huge inconvenience is that if it did happen then you’d be stuck where you are but what’s worse is that there are so many being stolen nowadays that they are in short supply and you will have quite a wait for a repair.  You’d better make sure your Motorhome recovery policy is up to date.

In the end it’s another thing to be concerned about when you do park your Motorhome anywhere, just make sure it’s in full view in order to reduce the risk.

If unfortunately this has happened to you then please let us know about your experience, you may save someone else from having the same thing happen to them.

Related posts:

1. Catalytic Converter Thefts From Motorhomes on the Increase

The greatest thing about having a Motorhome is that you can be spontaneous, you know the situation, the sun comes out at last and the weather forecast looks good so you decide to go off for a few days.  Ok, let’s see what’s available on the Caravan Club website . Not a lot.  Most of the popular sites are booked up way in advance and of course you always get the weird thing where Friday night is booked but Saturday night is free or vice versa.

Come December the whatever when the booking lines are opened for the next year the Caravan Club website has more traffic than the M25 on a Friday evening.  Some people block book for months in advance which I simply don’t understand.  How on earth do you know if you want to go to Broadway in 5 months time for a weekend in May; the Motorhome may be broken, you may have sold it, you may be ill, it may be raining, there may be a tornado looming, you might have visitors, maybe you can’t be bothered.  Ok, let’s cancel then, the Caravan Club won’t mind, there’s no fee for cancellation at late notice, won’t we be spoiling things for someone else, yes maybe but so what.

Come on, you all know what I’m talking about here don’t you.  Some of you may even have been affected because you really wanted to go away on that particular weekend but the site you wanted was full.

I wonder if the Caravan Club keep statistics of the bookings.  It would be interesting to know how many sites that are booked up weeks in advance suddenly have availability on a late Friday afternoon and how many no shows there are.

If only the Caravan Club would ask for a deposit on bookings this would all stop I’m sure, it’s only because you can book for free and there are no penalties for cancellation that this practise exists.

I for one refuse to join the pre booking on mass clan and I’ll take my chances with spontaneity even tough it means that I am using the Caravan Club less and less because of it which is a great shame.

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