OUT & ABOUT | WINTER TOURING
Wrap up warmly and mull some red wine, now is the time to go winter cruising. By Frances & Michael Howorth
Winter warmers
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here are those who tuck their motorcaravans away, settling them up snug and tightly over the winter months, and there are even some campsites and CLs who choose to do the same. Fortunately for those of us who keep our vehicles in commission the year round, there are many who do not, and that offers us the world of opportunity. An increasing number of Club members are reporting that rather than decommissioning over winter, many are finding new and exciting ways to use their motorcaravans
when the leaves begin to fall and the evenings draw in. Making sure you can do the same is just a matter of proper preparation. For many, the winter season offers a chance to visit and stay in places where, because of summertime crowds, parking is usually not possible. Take the simple pleasure of sitting in your motorcaravan beside the sea as an example. If ever we want to park on the sea front promenade in the height of summer we need to be on the road before dawn and parking up just as the sun pops up over the eastern horizon! Fast forward three or four months and it is easy to find a great spot on the sea front in the
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Always partial to a glass of wine or two, we find that on occasions the opportunity to mull some red will present itself
middle of the morning. What makes that even more enjoyable is there are no queues at the fish and chip shop and surely there is no more simple a pleasure than eating a good takeaway lunch in the comfort of your own van with a cup of home brewed tea. Once fortified, you are ready for a bracing and sometimes blustery walk along the beach, secure in the knowledge that if it all gets a little chilly home is just around the corner. Yes, we do change our seasonal inventory of carried stores. Off goes the shorts, T shirts and sandals and in their place, we load wet weather gear and a woolly jumper or two. We change our lightweight bedding for something warmer but we also change other less obvious things before we hit the road in winter. An electric fan heater is a must for when we are lucky enough to camp on a winter site that offers EHU, but the real luxury comes from the 13 amp timer plug which we set for 30 minutes before the wake up alarm. That ensures we wake up to a toasty warm space. We always insulate the windscreen using a padded exterior >>
