Month: August 2018

De-snagging

After our stopover in Adriers we ordered up some parts. The parcel arrived on Tuesday whilst we were out cavorting but The Driver was able to start work on Wednesday. (The grey waste issue was previously sorted on our arrival home from Adriers.) The hab door is now firmly held back when opened and no longer prey to capricious breezes. The broken roof vent came off only to discover that no screws were included with the new one, necessitating a trip to the local Brico store on Thursday as overnight rain was forecast and the job was in need of finishing.

The roof vent is now completed.

The bathroom door problem has not been reproduced since we came home.

A cargo net is waiting to be fitted. Once that is done then the current ticky list is completed. Our next trip may reveal further issues but we can at least hope that it does not.

We should be away some time in the next couple of weeks for a night or two, then we will start packing for a larger adventure.

Adriers August 1st – 3rd

We had our first outing to try out the Hymer, keeping close to home in case of problems. 

The site details are here together with many photographs.

We stayed only two nights but will be happy to return in the future, just when the weather is not so hot.

A few snags were evident:

  • the catch on the overbed roof vent is broken
  • the grey waste decided to leak all over the aire
  • the bathroom door decided to lock me in 

Apart from these niggles,  the van is pleasing us. The over cab bed is surprisingly comfortable and the lounge seating area is very much so. The table, which I had initially liked for its size and sturdiness, is as big  pain as other B524 owners have mentioned. It makes getting in and out of the bench seats very difficult and because it doesn’t fold flat it cannot be stowed out of the way.

I particularly enjoyed the good fly screens on the windows and life was more comfortable than at home, with so many flies annoying us.

We attempted no cooking, so reserve judgement on the kitchen facilities. We were however impressed that the fridge kept up, with internal temperatures in the van exceeding 35°C and the van  not parked completely level. Also impressive was that internal temperatures remained tolerable  despite the heat outside. The breeze moving through the large windows was a great help but we think that there must also be excellent insulation.

As for Adriers – the presence of a leisure lake with fishing and swimming, plus a bar in the town doing a 4 course Menu de Jour with wine for €12, all topped off with many miles of good walking… We will be back for sure.

Our next anticipated trip will take us a little further afield, to the far side of Poitiers. A vineyard stay, a brewery trip and a good meal should all add up to an excellent break. Before we go we will hpe to fix some of  the snags with the van and civilise Cat, such that she may join us.