Hi all
We are oldies yet newies! Oldies in that we have been caravanning for over 30 years and newies because I have only recently joined the Forum.
We have had four caravans so far, a Monza, Craftsman, Hymer Nova 530DB and now a Bailey Sentator Series 6 Indiana. We tow with a Nissan Pathfinder. We bought the Hymer in December 1999 and took delivery in March 2000. It was absolutely fabulous. The build quality was superb and we never had any problems with it in all that time. The Hymer was very heavy so in 2010 as we are both retired we thought it best to be practical and buy a lighter caravan. The cost of fuel nowadays is very high so obviously we had to take that into account. We saw the Bailey Sentator advertised and it was a great deal. Although it is a 2008 model it had only been used for two weeks, the owners deciding that caravanning was not for them. It came with two awnings, wastemaster, water carrier and many extras including a Tracker. It was an expensive way for them to find out that they didn’t like caravanning. It was too good an opportunity to miss so we bought it. It was a sad day when we sold the Hymer and I still hanker after it. The Bailey Sentator is a lovely caravan but it is not the same quality as our Hymer.
Over the years we have travelled to many beautiful places, both on package holidays and to Europe with our caravan. We have been to France and Spain with the caravan many times, also Switzerland, Netherlands and Italy. We have had lots of adventures, some scary and some very funny. A scary one was when we were parked for the night on an aire just past Lyon. My husband was woken by a strange noise. He looked out the window and there was a man trying to open the door. He had two look outs but when they saw my husband they ran away. In the morning it was obvious they had been trying to jemmy the door lock. Needless to say we don’t stay on aires any more. We overnight on proper sites as it is safer and much more restful. A funny episode was when we were driving through Paris with the caravan in tow. We followed a bus into an underground bus garage. We did a wide turn and drove straight out again. The look on the drivers faces was hilarious. They must have thought “those mad Anglais”!!.
This year we are planning a five week trip to Croatia. We went on a package tour to ex-Yugoslavia in 1991 and absolutely loved it. It will be interesting to see if and how it has changed. I will be asking some questions about routes and overnight stops soon.
Our routine is that we decide where we are going and then I do all the planning, routes etc. My husband does all the driving and the technical stuff and I do the navigating. It is only in recent years that we have started using the sat nav. I wouldn’t rely on it totally but it is great to have along with the good old AA routes. I love it and get a great sense of achievement when I navigate us to some far flung place. I blame our detour round the underground bus garage in Paris on my husband for not listening to my directions. Well that is my story any way!!
Caravanning is well and truly in our blood and we hope to continue for many years to come. Our grandchildren love coming away with us so hopefully they will be the next generation of caravanners.
Marilou
We are oldies yet newies! Oldies in that we have been caravanning for over 30 years and newies because I have only recently joined the Forum.
We have had four caravans so far, a Monza, Craftsman, Hymer Nova 530DB and now a Bailey Sentator Series 6 Indiana. We tow with a Nissan Pathfinder. We bought the Hymer in December 1999 and took delivery in March 2000. It was absolutely fabulous. The build quality was superb and we never had any problems with it in all that time. The Hymer was very heavy so in 2010 as we are both retired we thought it best to be practical and buy a lighter caravan. The cost of fuel nowadays is very high so obviously we had to take that into account. We saw the Bailey Sentator advertised and it was a great deal. Although it is a 2008 model it had only been used for two weeks, the owners deciding that caravanning was not for them. It came with two awnings, wastemaster, water carrier and many extras including a Tracker. It was an expensive way for them to find out that they didn’t like caravanning. It was too good an opportunity to miss so we bought it. It was a sad day when we sold the Hymer and I still hanker after it. The Bailey Sentator is a lovely caravan but it is not the same quality as our Hymer.
Over the years we have travelled to many beautiful places, both on package holidays and to Europe with our caravan. We have been to France and Spain with the caravan many times, also Switzerland, Netherlands and Italy. We have had lots of adventures, some scary and some very funny. A scary one was when we were parked for the night on an aire just past Lyon. My husband was woken by a strange noise. He looked out the window and there was a man trying to open the door. He had two look outs but when they saw my husband they ran away. In the morning it was obvious they had been trying to jemmy the door lock. Needless to say we don’t stay on aires any more. We overnight on proper sites as it is safer and much more restful. A funny episode was when we were driving through Paris with the caravan in tow. We followed a bus into an underground bus garage. We did a wide turn and drove straight out again. The look on the drivers faces was hilarious. They must have thought “those mad Anglais”!!.
This year we are planning a five week trip to Croatia. We went on a package tour to ex-Yugoslavia in 1991 and absolutely loved it. It will be interesting to see if and how it has changed. I will be asking some questions about routes and overnight stops soon.
Our routine is that we decide where we are going and then I do all the planning, routes etc. My husband does all the driving and the technical stuff and I do the navigating. It is only in recent years that we have started using the sat nav. I wouldn’t rely on it totally but it is great to have along with the good old AA routes. I love it and get a great sense of achievement when I navigate us to some far flung place. I blame our detour round the underground bus garage in Paris on my husband for not listening to my directions. Well that is my story any way!!
Caravanning is well and truly in our blood and we hope to continue for many years to come. Our grandchildren love coming away with us so hopefully they will be the next generation of caravanners.
Marilou
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