Hello from Bolton
Hello All
My wife Emily, our nearly 3 year old daughter and me have just got our first caravan and we are looking forward to getting out and about. We live in Westhoughton, close to Bolton.
We have hired motorhomes on a couple of trips to New Zealand. Our daughter loved spending 3 weeks in March exploring New Zealand in a Carado motorhome. We thought that a caravan would be more practical and less expensive for us to go exploring in back home in the UK.
So, last week we collected a 2012 Sprite Musketeer TD from a local dealer. The unit feels like it should be perfect for us (I hope!). For a first caravan, we didn’t want to spend too much and I also had to find a van with a low-ish MTPLM, as my 2L Seat Leon Estate doesn’t have a particularly high kerb weight. It towed nicely home from the dealer, but I haven’t taken it on a motorway yet. Before collecting, I did a half day caravan towing course with Towing Solutions in Macclesfield- I would definitely recommend them.
We are heading out for our first trip this weekend. We originally planned to stay local, but there’s a family gathering to attend in Scarborough, so we have decided to make it a trip to the wrong side of the Pennines. At least I know the route well and I know which google maps shortcuts would be a mistake with a caravan! The Cayton Village club campsite looked lovely, but my wife grew up a five minute walk away and her parents still live there, so we have decided to go a tiny bit further away. We have booked a pitch at Browns, down by Cayton Bay. It’s a lovely beach for a walk, and The Tow Bar beer garden is a nice place for a pint.
Anyway, that’s enough waffling from me! Happy to be here.
Mike
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Welcome to the club, hope you enjoy your first time away in your recently purchased caravan, and that you have no problems towing it.
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Welcome to the forum and to caravanning. We had the same idea as yourself when buying our first caravan back in 1990, a Swift Silhouette. Didn't spend too much on it just in case but 35 years later I think we might addicted.😁 Now have a small camper van (PVC) due to carer duties. Caravanning opened up a whole new life for us, to visit places we didn't even know existed. Helped at the beginning with weekends away to de-stress from work. Later on to explore Europe.
Hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as we have.
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Hello and welcome from the drier side of the Pennines😁 It’s lovely around Scarborough, especially the North York Moors. Hope you enjoy your new caravan, and have a good first holiday. Lots more nice places to explore, and a really nice holiday with a three year old, sure she will have some exciting times.
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We made it to Scarborough! The drive was great and it seems like the van is a decent enough match for the car. Although, I was a bit surprised by how awful it made the fuel consumption (26 mpg ?!?).
Glad that I checked the noseweight before setting off - it was coming in at 100kgs and the car is only good for 80kgs. Moving the empty waste master out of the front locker and sticking it near the back was enough to bring it down to 80.Mike
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26 mpg, eh. Not bad! Our Shogun used to drop to 16. Towing is always bad news in terms of MPG.
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Welcome to the world of towing😁 Yep, mpg can be a bit of a shocker, we towed ours with a four litre Jeep Wrangler, and it was tiny compared to yours. A massive 19mpg most tows, but we dual fuelled the Jeep to run on LPG, and at the time LPG was a third the price of petrol, so we got a much more economic run. Plus it was a fun holiday vehicle once we arrived.
Glad you got to Scarborough, always a good visit. Hope the weather is kind, I think Yorkshire is due to hot up again this coming week. 👍😁
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The secret is to go to Norfolk. Our 16mpg increased quite a bit in East Anglia. Then we had to come home…..
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