Today is our final day and the van gets handed back.
This has been the only 'official' site we have stayed on. It's well set up, quiet, peaceful, with great showers and washing facilities. But you do pay for that, especially if you're not a member of the camping and caravanning club
This morning we go to Knaresborough, to a rug merchant that we discovered in January.
And then it's back to Manchester, unload the van, fill with £84 of fuel and return it to its base in Ancoats.
So what's the verdict?
Being used to backpacking and camping I find the van spacious and luxurious. As with backpacking, where you need to know the location of every item in your rucksack,moving in a small space needs a high level of organisation. It's very frustrating to find the detergent you need is in a cupboard only accessible by putting the bed away. After a week we were getting better at organising ourselves, but still a work in progress.
Being used to places with facilities, especially a toilet, Vera finds the van cramped and primitive. Our toilet consists of a bucket with a snap close lid. OK for peeing into but you would need to be quite desperate to use it for anything more serious. Vera lived in fear of tipping it over. Fortunately this never happened.
I had a vision of being able to park up somewhere fairly easily, but almost everywhere has restrictions against overnight stays, cooking, sleeping. I guess this is a reaction to a minority of people that cause a nuisance through noise and litter, etc. Perhaps by arriving late and leaving early you could to an extent ignore these rules, further research required on that one, but it wouldn't make for a relaxing stay. Unlike a small tent, a van is large and visible
Would we do this again? The overall experience was very positive, so I think the answer to that is a definite yes
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