Useful items purchased etc

Whenever we go to the Caravan and Camping shows, and we do like to go each time they are on, we always seem to see somethings that we may use or may need.

We ended up buying a few things that we had not thought of or even knew that they existed.

One of the things that we put into use this trip that was extremely successful was this sponge.

We have, in the past been using an ordinary yellow cloth to wipe out the shower recess after showering. This thing is brilliant it just easily absorbs the water, literally slurping it as the name implies!!!

Another thing we purchased at the last show and put into use this time was anti flap devices. In the past, if it looked like the wind was going to come up and blow the awning we had to spend a lot of time putting up the top end pieces to attach to the awning. Attaching these is much quicker and simpler.

Another recent useful purchase was these lightweight flexible solar panels. These weren’t bought at the show but on line. Bill made some lightweight boards as backing for them and modified some old adjustable tent poles to fit into the boards, so that the height and angle of the panels could be adjusted.

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best for trapping sunshine, plus we were out every day so couldn’t move them to follow the sun. However they were obviously successful as they at least put back into the batteries what we had drawn out with the fridge etc.

Sadly on our last trip we left behind our useful stool that we kept in the back of the car to enable easier reach of things in the car. However we were fortunate to find an even better one at the last Caravan and Camping show. Sturdy that can take up to 135 Kgs 

One purchase at the show that was not successful was extension poles to support the corners of the pop top when it was up. Unfortunately they are too short. Bill may be able to extend them.

Because we were staying put for the whole week, we took the cover off the door to let the light in to the van, especially with the dull days it was quite dark inside. 

The other thing we did was put the end canvas wall up next to the fridge, quite early in our stay. Luckily we did because there was quite a lot of rain after that and it did afford protection to that end of the awning and in fact under the awning stayed quite dry

The other useful thing that we found in Aldi one day recently that worked really well for us. We have found that the lighting on the side of the van is not sufficient for under the awning, especially when sitting at the table with our backs to the van.

This pole LED can be placed anywhere in the ground and directed wherever we need some light. It can also be dimmed.

This clothes hoist is usually stowed in the front trunk of the van. It came in very handy here as we didn’t have to hang our soggy wet cycling clothes in the van or under the awning

This photo shows how we are often set up when staying in one place for a while.

 The Ikea octopus is very handy and can be hung up in various places to hook up anything small that needs to dry out

The white fold out two layer tray is useful for putting the dish drainer on and the bottom layer for pans. I usually bring a separate small tray for putting things on to carry inside.

The Gorilla is an extremely useful item as it can be used to stand on when the stool isn't high enough, especially when putting up the end canvases.

It can then be used as a food preparation bench at a good height, OR a bar when standing around drinking socially

This is the first time that we have taken our bikes with us on the van. This ingenious idea of Bills worked really well 


Even though we have had the van for several years now, we keep finding and thinking of improvements to how we do things and what we use.