Gone in for a shiny new exhaust, after much research we opted for one from VW Speedshop. Well made according to the forums and actually cheaper than an original full exhaust system. The old exhaust was pretty rusted on, but hopefully applying Plusgas over the last week as helped loosen the header bolts a bit!

Also in for a MOT whilst she’s at Volksworks – hopefully she’ll pass without too much of a hitch – but you never know with a 23year old vehicle. Should find out by the end of today. Watch this space..

News just in only three things wrong

• Steering gaitor split
• Front right brake sticking
• Fog light warning light on switch

So hopefully back in action tomorrow.

Parents are a wonderful thing especially those who have highly developed DIY and upholstery skills and who like a project so a couple of months ago we set mine a challenge with my Dad making some new internal wooden panels for our new rock and roll style bed (with foam ordered and cut to measure from Foam for Comfort) and my mum being in charge of re-covering the foam in a fabric of our choice – after many debates we settled on dark blue denim with cream piping around the edge.  Devastatingly my Dad passed away recently so although he had made a great start on the panels it will be up to Rich to complete the job but it’s nice to have some of Dads amazing handy work inside Bertha – when my Dad made stuff it really was built to last so I don’t think there will be any need to replace these again during Bertha’s lifetime and we will have a visible memory of my Dad and his many talents wherever we roam in Bertha.

The fabric seat coverings are coming along really well although my mum informed me that we hadn’t bought anywhere near enough denim so she has been on a mission to buy some more – oops! We promise we did try to measure but it may have ended up being a bit of a guesstimate.  Photos of the progress will be added soon.

We are also really looking forward to having new curtains as soon as we’ve sourced some fabric so this will be another winter job to complete whilst Bertha is in hibernation.  She’ll be a new woman by next spring!

Just dropped in on Bertha to make sure everything is good. She looked lovely dry and clean, unlike everything outside.

Even though she’d been untouched for 6 weeks  started without problems (Woot!).  Let her tick over until nice and warm and brought the battery home to give it a top up on the mains charger.

Good old Bertha was getting a bit creaky/rusty in all this rain and cold weather so we decided to get her wrapped up and warm, somewhere out of the elements.

A very kind friend of ours offered to give us free accomodation over the winter months in a farm near Bramhope.

So now she’s nicely tucked away in a hay strewn barn, but she’s not alone! a
A friendly caravan is parked next her to keep her company on those long dark winter evenings.

Well, if you’re lucky enough to have a Bertha, or a close relative to the T25, then camping in November isn’t half as bad as it sounds.  We had wanted to go to this beer festival ever since a holiday in April when we’d discovered The New Inn at Cropton – a fab pub with a micro-brewery attached so we roped in a few more willing participants (although they had to brave a chilly tent) and booked a free camping spot. Said camping spot was of the most basic type – actually we were just parked on a driveway and our tented friends were in the beer garden.  A couple of porta loos was the extent of the personal hygiene facilities provided but you can do a lot with baby wipes as all you seasoned campers will know and I did bump into one girl in the pub toilets having a full wash in the sink!

As well as large amounts of ale and cider (you should of seen the length of the bar with 88 hand pumps!) we had a new little gas heater to keep us toasty in the van which worked a treat but the potential hazard of an open flame made me a bit nervous.

On Saturday morning Bertha’s hob and grill were working overtime cooking a full English for 4 – unfortunately we didn’t have the eating utensils to cater for everyone having thinned down to the essentials when we visited Scotland and forgetting to put the extras back (well, we did find that 11 forks had migrated into the cutlery drawer which, for a 2 berth van, was a little excessive!).

Although this is a blog about our van it would be wrong not to at least mention the joys of real ale which Rich has introduced me to.  Altogether (between all 4 of us) we went a long way to tasting the full 80 beers on offer….. wish we could remember all our favourites but there are too many to list.  The St Johannesburg Pale Ale Porter stands out tho’ very strong chocolatey taste and a nice hoppy aroma @ 7.5% yummy! )

• Long queues at the supermarket?
• Parking spaces to small for your campervan?
• What to go environmentally friendly
• Have a spare supermarket trolley lying around?

I am sure there are another hundred or so reasons to get this genius invention – The Camper Kart!!

We all know that driving around in a 20+ year old campervan laden with water, gas bottles, fridges and all variety of camping comforts can play havoc on fuel consumption. Well dont’ worry click here for the answer to all your prayers

Today was our first visit to an official VW rally at Harewood House near Leeds. What an array of vehicles – we spent a lot of time gathering ideas for Bertha and drooling over beautiful vans. Rich seems to have become a real fan of the rat bus but personally I prefer my windows unbroken and my body rust free if possible. We also loved the furry bug and the amazing 23 windowed split.

It made us laugh that by far the most common van in the camping field was the T25 – a case of function over form some would argue!

Well I’ve been a bit crap at updating the website, probably something to do with spending all day working on clients websites puts you off working on your own.

Anyway just a quick run down of all the jobs i’ve completed on Bertha

• Wired in new leisure battery with alternator and 240v charging with seperate fuse box
• Wired fridge to run off alternator
• Fitted new stereo headunit
• Applied Wayoyl to front doors interiors
• Sound deadened front doors inside and out.
• Fixed 240v charging unit
• Fitted MDF speaker mounting rings to front doors.
• Fitted new front door speakers
• Fitted new front door cards
• Wired stereo to run off lesiure battery
• Wired internal lights to run off leisure battery
• Treated rust in front foot well seams
• Painted front foot wells in Hammerite to help prevent further rust
• Fixed Steering columng cowel
• Painted gear lever blue
• Sound deadened front cabin floor
• Fitted new rear exhaust silencer
• Cleaned contacts and fitted new spades to cabin earths
• Fitted new cabin carpets
• Fitted new tailgate card
• Fitted new rear speakers with MDF baffles
• Fitted new aerial
• Fixed dash lights
• Refitted boot wardrobe/cupboard
• Sterilised water container
• Fitted new tap spout

Phew tired just thinking about all those jobs!!!

Bertha hangin’ with some buddies at the Leeds Volkswagon Collective