Wow – what a summer that was! Can’t remember the last time I saw so much rain! As a result of the constant bad weather we didn’t get away anywhere near as much as I would have liked in the bus, and the bug barely made it out of the garage. Our first couple of forays in the bus ended up with the return journey being completed on the back of a recovery truck – and that’s never good! Fortunately John at Beetle People was on hand to work his magic yet again – although I’m not sure that’s what my wallet would call it……
Dubfreeze 2012
It must be over 12 years since I’ve been to Dubfreeze at the County Showground in Stafford, so I was eager to see what had changed in the time since I last visited. My main observation was that it was a whole lt busier than it was last time I made the trip – it was absolutely heaving! Due to the weather being pretty awful the night before – there was a fair bit of snow around – I decided to leave the bug firmly tucked up in the garage for the 250 odd mile round trip.
Postcards From Wolfsburg
Back in 2002 me and my good buddy Brad (now the proud owner of Carlos the Karmann Ghia) went on an 800 mille road trip around northern Germany. Our trusty hire car (a Seat Vario!) took us from Hamburg to Berlin, to Leipzig and then the home of VW – Wolfsburg. We might have got a bit excited in the gift shop, and bought really rather alot of postcards…….. Well, it’s all about the merch after all, isn’t it? Looks like another trip to Ikea for some more frames may be in the pipeline!
Cleaning Clarence
One of the first things my long-suffering other half said to me when I bought the bus was “I’m not getting in that thing until you’ve cleaned it!”. To be fair to her, there’s absolutely no way I would have spent a night in the bus in the state that it was in – it was absolutely filthy! I strongly believe that had his former owner spent some time cleaning Clarence (as he is now known) he could have added a reasonable chunk more onto the price he was looking for. The photos below will give you a good idea as to just how dirty he was!
The French Road Trip
Following the abandoning the of The German Job, we decided to take the bug over to France for a few days in mid September. The plan was to visit my Great Grandfather’s WWI grave at Guillemont Rd Cemetery on the 95th anniversary of his death. In the few days before we were due to sail the wind was blowing a gale, and not being particularly keen on the prospect of being on a ferry in that sort of weather, I booked us on the Eurotunnel instead, hoping that the fact that the car is lowered at the front wouldn’t cause us too many issues…..
The VW Family Grows
I’ve finally gone and done it. I’ve been hankering after a camper for a while now, and whilst I’d have loved a split, it just wasn’t a viable option. I spent hours browsing the forums, much to my other half’s chagrin, and it’s now become a reality. Quite a big reality as it happens, because I have no idea how the storage side of things is going to work! Yet again, John at Beetle People has been an absolute godsend, because I’m not sure I’d have bought it had it not been for him! But I have, and it’s awesome – I just can’t wait to get out and about in it! It’ll need a damn good clean first though……..