About

It all Started Here in 2015

Introduction
After spending several years with a horse box  van conversion it was decided that Sue wanted to continue camping but with a Motorhome instead of the Horse and a Tent. It took two years and retirement for the idea to make any progress, to be honest I was tired and my excuses had run out, plus a financial opportunity came to light.

The next step was have a look for the elusive Motorhome
On a spur of the moment decision we jumped in the car and headed for Newark, although when I suggested a drive out, I had envisioned the coast.the first stop was SMC in Newark and two MHs were singled out. The fact that we nearly bought one there and then, just shows how persuasive women can get. Luckily we held off because once home it soon became apparent that 7mtrs was too long to reverse into the drive.
After another evening researching outlets we found Oaktree MH in Ilkeston,notes. With our new spec decided, 6 mtrs  max length, fixed bed, we found 4 MHs at Oaktree that were of interest.. In the end we went for the youngest although it only had two seat belts as standard and nowhere for traveling passengers.

Matilda Arrived

The day finally came to collect the beast. And after what seemed like a lifetime we drove across the road to fill up with diesel and start the Motorhome journey home for the first time .The journey home went well and apart from using the cruise control lever to indicate direction, otherwise driving ‘Matilda’ , as Sue named her, was very good with plenty of power.

The next few days were used to try all the buttons, test the heater for the water and heating. I did notice that the Webasto drain valve was not closing properly but the first trip out seemed to fix that. However I did create our first battle scar. I put some plastic drums near the garage ,the idea being that when I hit them they would wobble and I would not hit the doors. What I had not taken into account was the height of the rear valance, and it was not until they became wedged underneath that they moved with a crack, I had split the plastic skirt. Two hours later the split had been repaired with an inner patch and some resin glue. Hardly visible from the outside, and only if you were looking for the damage. I think I got away lightly.
Our full blog for Matilda is here https://matildastravels.wordpress.com/

After two years with Matilda we have decided to upgrade our motorhome and in February 2017 we took delivery of Iona, and started to record our travels here.

Iona