Trial and error (without the error)

Its been over 18 months since the last time we went camping, and the long-distance survivability of the Previa is also an unknown quantity, so we decided it was worth going for a test run.


We needed a location that was a decent test of driving duration and a good variety of roads, so we decided that lands end was a good choice.  The route would take us down via Dartmoor for some more interesting windy roads, and then onward to the camp-site.

We the main run down the M27 and then onward through the new forest and around Bournemouth was fairly uneventful.  While we were using the sat-nav for most of the the route, we reverted to "dead tree edition" to find some of the more interesting roads.  Once we got to Dartmoor,we went a little off-piste to get more of a feel of the countryside and test the bus down windy roads

We did make a quick stop somewhere for lunch.  Mike purchased a mandatory Cornish pasty (when in Cornwall..... ) .  We also stopped in the middle of Dartmoor just for a look around.  There's lots of space... and a horse or two.

We eventually arrived at the camp-site.  Total time for the run down was around 7hrs, but then the windy roads in Dartmoor were quite slow.  The term camp-site is perhaps a little generous.   It was a field behind a pub.  They did had toilets and a shower available, so there's that, but the site was pretty basic.  It was only for one night so it was fine.  It was cool, and fairly calm although it was going to be quite cold over night, with the wind picking up a bit, so we made sure to anchor the guy-ropes down well.

 Then off to the pub for a pint, and dinner.

When I said it would be cool overnight... it seems weather forecasts can never be trusted..  It got down to -2.  It didn't stay there long enough for ice to form, but it didn't warm up much above 0c. Thankfully my sleeping bag is a 4 season one rated down to -18 so once inside it was actually pretty warm.  I also made use of the drinks bottles we used up on the run down, and filled them with hot water from the showers.  Not boiling, but enough to take the edge off the cold and warm up the bag before getting in.

The following morning it was also blowing a gale.  The tents were being heavily buffeted so thankfully the guy ropes were in place.   The wind did, however, mean it was next to impossible to get the gas stove to heat up anything.  We have some wind breaks on order for the actual run but they hadn't arrived.

After swiftly packing up the tents (and stopping them from flying away in the process) we headed down to lands end for an obligatory photo op, before heading home.   On the way back we stopped into the harbour side cafe in Penzance for breakfast.  Adam and I opted for the Large, but what arrived was a little bigger than we anticipated.  Still, it was dispatched with gusto, and then we were homeward bound.

The return journey wasn't as circuitous, making use of the major A roads, meaning that the trip only took about 4hrs.

All in all it was a success.  The wagon seems to hold up to a long trip without too much bother, although it seems to be running around 25mpg at best which isn't ideal, but to be expected for a car of this size and vintage and is no worse than the GTO from last time.

For anyone interested I did a time-lapse video of the whole run.  We will try and do this for each day on the full run.  Cheers all..

Update: Adam has also uploaded some of the footage he took while we were passing through dartmoor: