KOMBI Kaper 2015

I've just read this article in August's France magazine - it might be useful to reiterate what's needed to drive in France.

The first thing that Oli said to me this morning?

"Good morning Daddy" - no.

"What's for breakfast Daddy?" - no.

"Can I play on my iPad this morning?" - no.

"IT'S 17 MORE SLEEPS UNTIL WE GO TO FRANCE, I JUST COUNTED THEM!" - Yep, I guess he's quite excited...

Are we having a themed day? How about Where's Wally, as quite a few of us already have costumes from Camperjam last year? I'm sure it would entertain the locals!

AbsintheKombi wrote:

Are we having a themed day? How about Where's Wally, as quite a few of us already have costumes from Camperjam last year? I'm sure it would entertain the locals!

Not bananas then ....

Too soon, Keith, too soon...

We did Stripey Saturday Night last year.

Be good to have a theme that requires us to resource from the island.

You could wear your stripey jim-jams as per the donkeys,....... (originally typed 'like  donkeys do', but thought that might be misinterpreted) ..........


      Here

Oyster shells, it is then, Tim.

AbsintheKombi wrote:

Oyster shells, it is then, Tim.

Sounds a bit fishy to me ....

We've changed our ferry back so we won't be in the Konvoy for the return, I'm afraid.

We've got a family event on the Sunday and if we came back with the Krew we wouldn't get back to Lancashire until 3am on Sunday morning, having had to get up at the crack of dawn to get to Caen.

We're on the 8.30am ferry on Sat morning, which gets to Portsmouth at 13.15, so we'll leave you on Friday and stay one night close to Caen (probably in the Ferry line). The ferry is £169 cheaper too which is a bonus, and will pay for a nice meal on Friday night in Caen.  

Absinthekombi wrote:

Tim - any chance of using this route from Caen to the site? It avoids Rennes, passes close to Le Mans and also Wigan's twin town, Angers.

We'll also be able to go to Angers on the way back, on a Wigan town twinning mission.

Not long to go now.

Not a bad idea, it will be a very early start from the site on Saturday and you have a looooong way to go before getting home.

How can I tell how much gas we've got left in our cylinder? Will we be able to exchange it in France if we run out?

alderley wrote:

How can I tell how much gas we've got left in our cylinder? Will we be able to exchange it in France if we run out?

I've yet to find a useful device that gives you a clue, tried the magnetic one from JK (and others) but no joy.

Over time you get a feeling for how much you've used but obviously that's based on experience so you're best bet is to weigh the bottle.

A full bottle will weigh 6.5kg and an empty about 3.8kg. The gas without the bottle weighs 2.72kg (it's printed on the bottle) so you can do some quick maths to figure out how much you've used in what time frame and estimate how long you have with what's left.

We swapped ours towards the end of last August last year on a campsite and I weighed it last week before CamperJam so I know that there is (was) around 0.5kg left - we haven't used Tallulah much this year so the current one has lasted ages.

We'll have a nice new full one on board before we get to Portsmouth.

I've just just changed ours. It still had a little left but for the sake of £22 I felt it wasn't worth the hassle of running out in France and trying to find a place to buy a new one. I wish they would put a gas level indicator on them like the one I have for the BBQ.

Not sure how low ours is either but will be replacing before we go. Got our euros yesterday too! Holidays are coming....

I've just weighed the bottle at 4.9kg, meaning that we have about 1.1kg of gas left. That sounds quite a lot given that I haven't changed the bottle since we bought the van just over a year ago. I've just noticed that the valve wheel on top of the bottle is broken. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement?

Our friends hiring a T5 California for a trip to France who are joining us for the convoy and staying at Interlude with us for few days have just picked collected it from the hire company.

Unlike our happy T2 crew, their camper doesn't have a name (yet...) any ideas?

Van Persie?

AbsintheKombi wrote:

Van Persie?

Too quick to be called that.

Tommy T5

2 weeks today...

TimV wrote:

Tommy T5

or the French equivalent Tomah pronounced "ToMAH."

I just noticed that they only allow gas or electric barbecues on the pitches, but that there are some communal barbecues. Will it be a waste of time to take the Cobb?

alderley wrote:

I just noticed that they only allow gas or electric barbecues on the pitches, but that there are some communal barbecues. Will it be a waste of time to take the Cobb?

Absolutely not, technically speaking the Cobb is an outdoor oven, not a BBQ. A conventional BBQ comes with heat/fire related risks in a confined space like a camp site and once it is lit the is very little you can do, especially moving it. The outside of a Cobb doesn't get hot which means it can be moved at any time and with the lid on there are no naked flames anywhere.

alderley wrote:

I've just weighed the bottle at 4.9kg, meaning that we have about 1.1kg of gas left. That sounds quite a lot given that I haven't changed the bottle since we bought the van just over a year ago. I've just noticed that the valve wheel on top of the bottle is broken. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement?

Any advice anyone? Is 1.1kg of gas likely to be enough? If not, can somebody explain how to change the bottle please? Maybe the fact that the valve wheel is broken doesn't matter? I would give it a try, but I'm reluctant to mess about when gas is involved.