Traveling in Honey, my VW Campervan

Clondorkin Touring caravan park

2008-07-24T05:39:00.000-07:00

Stayed at the Camac Valley touring Caravan park in Dublin.

Good facilities, about 8km from the city with a bus right outside to take you directly to Temple Bar - where all the night life happens.

This picture facinated me - Rotel Tours. Only the Germans would think about towing a shoe box behind them compartmentalised into tiny little boxes for their tourers to snooz in...

The OomPaaa Band that went with it was grat though...

Golf - Corrstown Golf lub (15 July)

2008-07-24T05:32:00.001-07:00

A game of Golf with Irish Kelly...

One good thing about plying Golf with the Irish is that generally they hold the club the wrong way round. Fortunately Mike Held it the right way round and could hit a mean ball!

This was a practice swing...

Scored 88 for my round which I was chuffed with!

Hearty Irish Breakfast

2008-07-24T05:01:00.000-07:00

Potato bread, eggs and coffee!!

Dublin - 12th July

2008-07-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

After Galway I shot up to Dublin where I met with a friend of mine, Michael Kelly.

Michael is your typical Irish Man... he knows everyone... and can get you anything you may need... so long as its financial services.

This is Michaels alarm clock... Klara, gets him up bright and early every day.

This was pudding! hmmm...

MK was very kind to put me up for a night and show me some sites. Namely the local park... although its more like a forest.

But the highlight was definitely going to Oxygen festival on the Sunday... 13th July.

Bus ride to the festival...

The VIP entrance...

I would say the highlight of the show was watching "Rage against the machine!". They simply rocked! Although very scary to be in a mosh pit with 5000+ crazy fans!

Making friends in Ireland (12th July)

2008-07-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

You know its really easy to make friends in Ireland...

Google map of road trip

2008-07-21T03:15:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post a link of my Google map of the places I have been to and the places I still wish to see:

Google map

Opening the above link should take you to Google Maps.

Bye Bye Broekkies!

2008-07-20T04:06:00.000-07:00

We went to Gallway for a night. I had washing to do and as you can see in this picture I had to hang the washing up.

Broekkies was so embarrased about being in a washing up picture that she simply refused to show her face...

We drove around and Broekkies autistic eye saw this picture and had to snap it up!

From the campsite while we where having a braai and a three hour conversation to Danny O'Riely Broekkies saw this picture and took it as well... I don't think it is as nice as the beach picture though.

The next day we went to see my Auction business in town... I think I chose a nice sign!

Next we went to the place where they have food all day!

Then Broekkies took a picture of me, I think so that she could remind her self in the future that she should never come traveling with a mad man again!

Then she said bye bye! And ran to the nearest plane to take her back to London!

Day 5 - More coffeeeeee!

2008-07-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

Day 5 was the 10th of July... :) My birthday! If you are reading this and you forgot to phone, email or text... don't worry... I will get my revengie later on... Ahem... Kim.

Karyn had specifically told me that I was welcome to sleep in until noon. Ja right! At 6am I was booted out of bed with the cry for coffee! By 7am Honey was packed and I found myself driving to the closest town... no surprises there was no coffee to be seen and so we continued. The next place was a garage... which was not good enough... and finally we arrived in Ireland's third biggest town, Galway, and low and behold folks they had a coffee shop!

At this point Karyn was so tired that she went to sleep:

*Snort!*

And the following image came to mind!

:D

For my Birthday I was going to driver her lady ship to the Cliffs of Mohaer... Fondly nicknamed the Cliffs of Ball Hairs... On the map it looked close... in reality it was bloody far!

And we had no idea which sign to follow...

On the way we found a wishing well:

I wished that the cliffs where a little closer and the roads where a little bigger... it did not come true.

Since my wish did not come true... I hatched a cunning plan...

And soon Broekkies and I had enough petrol money to get us to the Cliffs of Mohaer!

On the way we found my boat conveniently located next to an internet cafe so I could tell the world that I had found it!

Unfortunately we missed the turn off...

The landscape to the Cliffs of Ballhairs was like I would imagine it to be on the moon...

There where nice stone walls on the way too...

And when we finally got there... late afternoon, lightly grumpy and a bit tired after 6 hours of my birthday stuck in honey.

.

Karyn refused to get out of Honey... I think her bum had fused itself to the front seat...

So I went to check out these cliffs that we had driven for hours and hours to see... And they where rely big and high!

I found some sea weed, junk and a beer bottle between the rocks. They where definitely a highlight.

There where some waves as well... nice big waves, but I did not have a surf board so I did not go in for a surf... I wish I had a surf board.

And i found some more seaweed... this time with no junk... So I called some of the oakes I had met there and they came crowding over to see what it was all about...

They where amazed and I think we where all proud to see the seaweed.

I went to check if Karyn wanted to buy season tickets to come and see the cliffs when ever she wanted to see them but she just told me to bugger off.

I think Broekkies was dreaming of golf...

Anyway so we decided to go to the pub and celebrate our 6 hour drive to the cliffs of no hair...

Here I am in front of the pub... on my birthday... after driving for 6 hours and seeing the amaaazing cliffs... I am a good looking oak!

Here I am with my stew and large coke... Broekkies refused to let me take a picture of her knocking back 3 tequilas... I think to hide her joy of being at the cliffs of Mohaer...

and this is Honey flying off at light speed to put as much distance between us and the cliffs.

And before I forget... here are some self portraits of me at the cliffs of no hair...

On the way back we found a funny sign...

But we could not try them out as we where stuck in traffic!

End of Day 4!

2008-07-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

At the end of a long day of coffee and driving we found our selves in a little town called Knock... Apparently a hundred years ago or so some people in the town saw the virgin Mary... personally I think they where smoking crack but anyway, since then this place has become a pilgrimage... We decided to make this our base camp for two days so we could explore the local area.

As per usual we made a braai... hmmm...

Day 4 - Coffeee! Now, now now!

2008-07-15T13:22:00.000-07:00

Okay so most mornings I would wake up to Karyn wanting coffee... well more to the point, she would be demanding coffee. At first I cooked her coffee from Honeys little stove however this was not good enough... maybe it was due to the stale milk I was using?

Anyhow so each morning I would be woken to the cry for coffee and we would go searching for the perfect cuppa... Of course this was never to be found.

Above: Karyn found the local MacDonnels although they where not servicing coffee due to pending litigation.

When we did find a coffee shop and on our return we found this lovely couple taking pictures of each other. It turns out that Patrick and Mary once owned a campervan and
had many fond memories from the experience namely: Gary, Neil, Patrick jnr, mary jnr, Paddy and Bob.

Above: Horses and some posing before we make our way into the second coffee shop for the day!

Above: Today was pretty much the half way mark between Karyn and my birthday so we decided to celebrate with some cake and some blowing.

On our way down the west coast we discovered Table Bloody Mountain! Well at least the Irish version... naturally they forgot to put in Lions head... anyhow this little beauty was found more or less outside a small Irish Town called Sligo...

Above: Karyn found a church to capture as we zoomed past and when the traffic got too much behind Honey we decided to call it a day and practice some golf!!

Karyn felt she was getting the hang of hitting sheep and so we made our way to the real deal!!

(well almost the real deal, call it a little 9 hole mashy type par three course...)

And Broekkies say: "Ag man I get my distance just roite".

And Broekkies say: "Ag man I missed the ball!"

And Broekkies say: "Dammit Brennen, I missed the ball again!!"

And Broekkies say: "Ag man I am gonna bliksem the duiwel out of you now!!"

Karyn posing with her bottom.

Brendan Tee's off into the distance, a perfectly shapped golf shop landing just next to the pin.

Karyn gets a ball on the green! Whooo hooo!

Day 3 - Northern ireland on our way to Derry

2008-07-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Karyn was very pleased with this picture - she felt it represented fantastic composition and made the most of the golf course that I would sadly never play at... :(

Above our first taste of the city of Derry... As it turns out it would take under ten minutes to circumnavigate it on foot. And even at Karyns tortoise pace!

After a snack in the only coffee shop in Derry, we decided to do a tour and find out more about the city. This is after spending an hour checking out the local talent that mostly looked as if they had been working out at MacDonalds.

Our guide, Patrick, was a charismatic Irish Man with a wealth of history behind his years and he was very passionate at getting to the gritty of all the events that had happened in Irish History.

Derry it seems was an important port and has been the bone of contention for many years in NI. The english where first chased out of this part of the world by the Irish clans and eventually returned with all their money and wealth and built a city that is still a maiden and has never been breached.

It was quite an exciting day and Karyn got hot under the color when a bunch of Catholic 'youfs' threw stones at some Protestant 'Youfs' who where busy building a bonfire for their celebrations. The marching of the troops around the walls of Derry.

In this picture you can see the flags on the wall in the background that represent the four nations united... Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England...

This is Karyns contribution to my poor representation of the bonfires. She took this through a canon hole in the wall... as it turns out the walls are littered with canon hole and musket points for soldiers to hide and blast the enemy away from.

Another interesting point which I failed to photograph was the church. All the gravestones where laid flat during the great siege of Derry and where never turned up again... Perhaps they forgot?

In addition to that the church has a hollow canon ball that held a message from the King demanding them to surrender... Patrick proudly announces that this was the worlds first "air mail".

This cannon is known as Roaring Meg and has a sad history behind it. It was so big and powerful that its recoil would drag the cannon a good few meters back from its stance. The problem with this cannon was lighting it, you had to push the fuse into the hole to get the gunpowder to burn. The problem with this was that the person lighting it would be killed instantly by the recoil of the cannon. The Irish found they where losing too many soldiers this way and thus took on dying children to do the job. The children would be held over the canon to light the fuse and would be killed with the recoil.

This is the view where roaring meg would shoot... It would easily throw a massive canon ball well over the trees in the distance.

This is the plaque on roaring Meg...

This is a photo of the bog lands... in the distance you will notice one of the many murals that have a lot of meaning to the irish in this part of the world.

Here Karyn can be seen looking out for her blue eyed Irish boy!

In this picture we have our guide, Patrick, and Phil from Holland and Nick from Australia with his wife Samantha and kids Jenny and Alice.

Here are some more pictures of the Murals in the city. I can't remember the exact history behind them but the one on the left is of a school girl who was killed in a bomb blast. And the one on the right is of a very feisty Irish Politician...

This picture is of a small church... and its not small because the Irish are small... its small because the belief was to do with buildings touching the trees or something like that... strange huh?

The top picture is of a plaque that sits below a platform where the below statue used to sit. The IRA apparently bombed the statue with the help of Munition experts to ensure that the statue imploded so that the pieces did not fall on anyone below. Apparently a couple of kids stole the statues head and sold it for a few quid to buy sweets. It was eventually bought for around 15000 pounds from a museum that had collected it. todate the hand is still missing...

Now the only significance about this picture other than it being a great big phalic symbol is that Karyn told me that I had cut off the top statue... She was right!

Happy birthday to you!

2008-07-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

It was Karyns birthday on the 7th of July, and I am honored that she chose to spend it with me. On her big day we drove about and saw some awesome sites, we played some golf and talked loads of shit... I sincerely hope you had a fun day.

In the evening we braaied and I played her happy birthday on the Ukulele... and all Broekkies could say was...

"Ag man Brennan - shut up with that noise and get into your bunk and go to sleep"

Signs of the Temple

2008-07-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

We stopped on the road because Broekkies needed to put on some make up and I was using the rear view mirror to 'drives'. When we stopped we saw this sign, "Ja the one in the pictures just down there...".

And so I say to Broekkies: "Man, what do you think this signs is all abouts?"

And Broekkies looks at it and scratches her head and say: "I don't knows."

Then we both 'sits' and 'scratches' our heads like two 'peoples' thinking very hard... although I 'knows' I am really not thinking very 'hards'...

And then Broekkies comes up with a bright idea: "Maybes it means we should go somewhere?"

And I say: "Ja, maybes you are right!".

And then we both turn around and its like there are signs everywhere!

And I turn to Broekkies and I say: "This signs makes me moss worry..."

And Broekkies say: "Why?"

And I say: "But looks, do you think we are going to moss drive into some deep waters?"

And Broekkies say: "No I don't thinks sos."

And I say: "But whys do you not think sos?"

And she say: "Because, the picture is of a small cars and your cars is a BIG cars..."

'I are so relieved when I hear this news, Broekkies is so clever and smart and all that stuffs that I know she is telling the truths... And then before my heart can stop racing another signs show up.'

And I say: "But what is this?"

And Broekkies say: "I don't knows".

And I say: "Maybe some cars are going to multiply?"

And Broekkies say: "Dammit Brennan, stop talking shit and lets follow this signs!"

So I 'says': "Okays..."

'Now the signs must be like moss magical signs because they lead me to every desire that my body has ever wanted... First it takes me to this moss bench where I says to myself: "I thinks I want to sleeps"... But before I can sleeps...'

Broekkies say: "No Brennan, you can not moss sleeps here..."

And I say: "But Broekkies, whys not?"

And Broekkies say: "Because you will become like rips van winkels, you know the guy at the corner shops who is always behind his till and never gets up..."

So I say: "Okays, I don't moss want to never be able to get up again..."

'And so Broekkies and I carry on deeper into this mysterious garden... until we come upon this most beautiful blue flower...'

'And I am abouts to picks and eat it as I are moss hungry but before I can...'

Broekkies say: "No!"

And I say: "But why?"

And Broekkies say: "Because I are Dietitian and that plant has too many calories in it..."

And I say: "But I are hungry..."

And she say: "Just listen to me Dammit!"

'And so I do listen to Broekkies because she is moss clever...'

'And then this beautiful bush speaks to me...'

And the Bush say: "Come sit down Brennan and stoke my flower..."

And I say: "Okays..."

But as per usual Broekkies butts in and say: "No Brennan, you can not sit there and stroke that bush's flower..."

And I say: "But the Bush want me to moss stroke its flower?"

And Broekkies say: "I are woman and I are dietitian and I can tell you that the bush wants to use you to stroke its flower and once done it will discards you and never speaks to you again..."

And I say: "But I don't minds stroking its flower and never talking to it again"

And Broekkies say: "Ag man, just listen to me..."

'And so I do... and I don't stroke the bush's flower...'

'So Broekkies and I walk among the trees ignoring the plants and the little gnomes and fairies'

We pose for a picture or two and then make our way to the temple.

Somewhere in the 1770's Frederick Augustus Hervey, both Bishop of Derry and Fourth Earl of Bristol, decided to create an estate and to build a country house at Downhill.

Frederick Hervey was a clever and cultured men who had spent some time in Italy and France and had travelled through Europe. Beside spending his fortune on the Downhill estate he was a well-respected philanthropist, he has financed several roads and agricultural projects, and supporter of the Crown as well as Catholic emancipation. After he was arrested in the 1780's for his call for rebellion he took no part anymore in politics.
Bishop Gate near Downhill (Co. Derry, Ireland)

The mansion was renowned for its treasure from all over Europe. Unfortunately these treasures were lost in 1851 due to a fire. The house was rebuilt and lived in until after the Second World War and it fell in decay. Beside the mansion there is a Mausoleum, built by Hervey in 1778 in memoriam of his brother, an icehouse and a so-called Lion Gate at the estate.
Despite the ruined condition of the buildings, only the icehouse and the Lion Gate are more or less intact, there is still a sense of old money and past glory.

Strangely the Lion Gate is the main entrance to the site and not at the better preserved Bishop Gate. If you enter the site via the Bishop Gate you walk through a garden with nice lanes and lovely smelling flowers.

Read up more about the mansions here.

Golf - Mashing it up, Golf Lesson

2008-07-15T09:52:00.001-07:00

After the beach Broekkies said she wanted to learn how to play golf. Now this pleased me very much because I smaak to play with my stick and balls.

So I asked Broekkies: "Are you sure you want to learn how to play with my stick and my balls because I don't just moss let anyone play with them..."

And Broekkies said: "Ag man please can I mos play with your stick and balls, its been a dream of mine now for many years..."

So I say to her: "Okay..."

And she say: "You wont be disappointed, I will play and will play till I are got it all worked out."

And Broekkies promised that she would be gentle and so I agree to let her have a play.

And it really was a bargain, it only cost me 7EUR for the play.

Broekkies was beaming with anticipation as she had always wanted to hold my 9 Iron in her little hands. And although my club was a little too big for her I told her to just hold it a little lower and to keep her eye on the balls. She mos listened and was soon swinging the club up and down... and although she tried very hard, the balls would simply not go anywhere...

Take a look and see for yourself!

So I tell her: "No man... you are doing it all wrong!"

And she say: "But its my first times..."

And I tell her: "Okay get behind me and put your arms around me and feel how it feels to hold the 9 iron in your very hands and then I will swing it up and down for a bit so you can get a feel for what it should feel like..."

So Broekkies get behind me and I put my hands over her hands onto the 9 Iron and we gently swing back and we gently swing forward...

And Broekkies say: "Ja, that feels mos very nice... I think I am getting the swing of it..."

And I say: "Yes, it feels good too."

And then Broekkies gave one almighty swing, and I must admit I thought it was all over, and it was... it was magnificent... an explosion of passion and pride burst forth from me as she completed the final drive and when the stars cleared and we opened our eyes the balls was no where to be seen.

So I thought maybe I should look in the bush to see if thats where the balls had gone to... but no matter how hard I looked I just could not find it...

And Broekkies said: "Ag man, don't worry about it."

Ireland beaches

2008-07-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

After seeing dozens of signs pointing to the beaches we decided to go have a look and see what all the fuss was about...

So I asked Broekkies: "Where are all the peoples? You are like a loan wolf on the brown white(ish) Irish beach of lifes with no sheeps to make friends with and thus no wool to make a Jersey with or even some lekker chops to braai with..."

And Broekkies said: "Well you know Brennan, its a very sad state of affairs... I was dreaming of this beech moment wheres I would find for me mos a nice Irishes with dark hair and a pale tan and with deep penetrating eyes. But look at me... here I are on this here mos beach and there is but not a single Irishes... Where are they I ask?"

And I tell Broekkies: "I really dont know where are the Irishes... Maybe they are at homes?"

But Broekkies is not convinced and she look at me with her dark and piercing eye, and it is as if she are staring right down into the very depths of my soul, and although I feel violated by this obvious intrusion into my personal space, it excite me to have someone look so deep down there and then come back and say: "Man but you need to clean your socks..." Which is true because I have not done my washing for at least a month now...

So I tell Broekkies: "Man dont worry... there will be plenty of Irishes waiting to wish you birthday happy tonight at the next campsite..." And this seems to make her happy (and maybe just a little excited!).

But the gods must have been listening for as we where leaving some Irishes arrived and set up shop on the beach on this wonderfully warm and windy day. They may have only been little Irishes in the picture but that is because Broekkies is quite tall and they only look small because of this.

So as we leave Broekkies does not let the opportunity escape her to show me how tall she is! Look just right here how she can lean on the sign that Honey and I have to crawl under...

You know if it where not for the sign that said "height restriction" I am sure Broekkies would have tripped and twisted her ankle on it!

Giants Causeway

2008-07-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

On the way to Giants causeway we drove straight past Dunluce Castle. It was so much fun driving past it that we turned around to do it again... which we did... and this time we took a few snaps as Honey whizzed by and to make sure we recorded the pleasing feeling it gave to us!

But Broekkies I asked: "What happens to the oakes that live there when it rains?"

And Broekkies replied: "Ag no man! I think they just get wet."

And I was pleased with this answer for it had to be true because Broekkies is so smart and after all the Castle had fireplaces in every room which meant it would be cold when it rained and thus they would more than likely be wet...

And now... Giants Causeway

We where certain we where on the right path to Giants Causeway as the three witches we met at Dunluce Castle had given us a sign... they said: "You 'two' will find 'a' sign on the road 'to' the North where though shall happen upon 'a' sign that shall lead you 'two' 'to' the Causeway of the Giants!

Now if I take my crayon and highlight just the right words I came to the conclusion that there where many 2's and A's mentioned by the witches and when I saw the sign I knew we where on the right path as it said: "A2". And broekkies for once agreed that I was being very bright and so we decided to keep following the A2 until we found some big people, ya just under 5ft 2 and a half inches.

Above: See mom, we found some Giants...

Above: A Giant in the Flesh... See how much taller she is than the cliffs in the distance... At least 100 meters tall! Rhaaaa!

Above: I probably took this underexposed picture, so please do not think that Broekkies is a kak photographer...

Below: Broekkies and I posing in front of the double breasted hills at Giants Causeway. Notice how the one hill is slightly bigger than the other. Broekkies tells me this is a common thing with women that one hill is bigger than the other. And when I think about it... I can remember this time when I was climbing a hill and it took me longer to get to the top than the hill next to it so it must be true...

Below: Now while I was not looking Broekkies took some pictures of Giants up on the hill... I thought she was must be mad because we all know that Giants don't come out during the day. But it was true because she sent me this photograph of the giants up on the hill... and whats more the big red giant threw a rock at Broekkies... I was shocked and amazed to see this. I even sent the Giants to The Guiness Book of records in Dublin however they must have thought I was mad because they sent some black beer back to me... Ag man!

Giants Causeway was just so lekker... I don't understand how I managed to miss all the Giants while I was there but thank goodness Broekkies was there to capture their every move. They where peeking out from the water, they where hiding behind mountains...

Broekkies even captured then eating a tourist right where we where!

And this was just out of this world... Broekkies managed to catch one of the rocks that the Giants threw at her. And to prove it you can see her sitting right on the very rock where she put it down. She tells me they did not mean to throw it at her, they just thought she was a spider and they like throwing rocks at spiders, maybe thats why Broekkies is called a rock spider? But this just got me thinking, Broekkies is big, she is five foot two and a half inches in sheer height so imagine what sort of spiders they have at this Giants Causeway place, Giant Spiders! It sends icy chills from America right down the back of my spine!

My liewe Hemel - kyke hoe groot Broekkies is!

Now this picture is very interesting. You see the Giants get the people to jump on the rocks. And when they jump on the rocks it makes a tune. So the Giants make rock tunes - this is how the tourists 'pay' for being at Giants Causeway... I must say I am a little bit deff and I could not hear the music very well... but Broekkies tells me thats okay because rock music can do that sort of thing to you.

Here Broekkies and I are posing on the Causeway rocks. We even got Honey to join us and a grave stone from the Friary we visited the other day. A giant hiding let off some balloons to make it that extra special.

I told Broekkies I had to go but she would not believe me... so I filled this 5 meter deep hole right to the brim, any higher and I would have got my shoes wet.

Above: Broekkies posing.

Below: Now Broekkies got very excited when she read in the tourist brochure that there would be a Giant Organ at the Causeway and on display nogal... I must admit the idea of seeing a Giant Organ was not one of those life changing things that I could picture myself wanting to see but Broekkies insisted and when the Broekkies insists I better listen else there may be snot en trane en pap Broekkies that need changing.

And as it turns out the Giants Organ was as solid as a rock... it was magnificent and very very big... it took my breath away. Broekkies insisted on jumping up and down on it and she even got to the very top. I told her it must be dangerous up there and to come down this very instant, I mean you never know... something like that could erupt at any second and blow poor old Broekkies se Broeks right up into the stars. And even if there where no stars in the day time, she would certainly have seen some stars by the time she entered the earths orbit...

Ag and you know what, Broekkies even took a picture of me at the causeway. I thought that was very kind of her considering how ugly I am and how protective she is over her camera lens staying in one whole piece of glass rather than in lots of smaller pieces.

Day 2 - Northern Ireland

2008-07-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

The day started off with Broekkies birthday... and like a true South African Gentleman I gave her an almond cake and she made me coffee and breakfast :D

And although Broekkies was making coffee and breakfast on her birthday, she had a smile through it all!

For Broekkies birthday I offered to buy her this house so she could go surfing everyday... but she would have nothing to do with it... She said the house was the wrong colour and the waves where too small.

Our first excursion was to visit the almighty rope bridge! So we did! And it was Great! And ropey! There where alos cliffs there which where even better cliffs than the cliffs of Mohaer that we saw later on in the week...

No thats not my tummy hanging over my belt buckle...

Behind Broekkies you can see the Frog men that came from Yorkshire to visit the rope bridge!

Now if it where not so cold... this place would have even more tourists...

It was at this moment that I realised if I wanted to keep Broekkies camera I would have to throw her off the bridge. But it seemed she was too feisty and smart for me and with octopus suckers on her feet I was unable to pluck her up and throw her off the bridge like a rag wielie wallie doll...

So Broekkies made it across the bridge... saving her own skin and all that of all her followers... (Ja those 29 punks following her).

I decided to rest... and think about life...

And then something happened...

An evil plan was hatched!

(If I had more time I would photo shop this image to express what I am thinking, so please do me the favour of imagining a set of devil horns and a great sweeping forked tail whipping away in the background... or if thats too much for you a simple devil on the shoulder will suffice... thanks!)

But unbeknown to me Broekkies had hatched a plan of her own (she is moss smart) and while I was stomping like a cleft footed devil basking in my own brilliance...

She goes and throws me off the bridge...

Man I was like lekker upset...

Day1 - Northern Ireland

2008-07-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

The idea for day 1 was to drive the east cost of Northern Ireland and to visit a number of sites. Now being South Africans and used to driving long distances we kind off misjudged how close everything was and ended up having to turn around to get to our first outing spot...

These are pics of the drive

Above: I hate profile pictures of myself... I look like an alien with my big head. Thanks Karyn...

Driving...

Driving...

Moooo!

It was at this point when I checked the map and discovered that we where almost at the north coast...

I can't remember this towns name but we drove through it about 3 or 4 times trying to find these amazing waterfalls we had been told about.

A derelict house...

Some sheep... baaaaa!

And a quick pit stop

Even more sheep...

Another derelict castle/building/brewery/thing...

And then... finally we get to the Waterfall... I am sure the Liesbeek River has a bigger waterfall than this one?

Next we made our way to our next extravaganze... The Vanishing Lake... My only concern was that if it was in a vanishing phase... we may not find it at all!

We spotted some more sheep on our way...

Baaaaa! You will notice that even the Irish mark their sheep like golfers mark their golf balls.

And eventually we came upon the lake...

And if you can see beyond these two tall people you will notice that it is indeed there. I will have to go back and get a picture of it when it is not there, unless that means I am not there as well so then I won't have a picture to show.

The next adventure was to make sure we did not miss anything else lest we should fly past them at light speed which in Honey and on Irish roads is about 25MPH.

On the way I spotted a Golf course and Broekkies spotted the Bonamargy Friary. There was no chance that I was going to get a game of golf in so I made do with visiting the Friary...

It was made of stone... and had grave stones... so I was not soo disappointed. What really impressed me was that some of these guys dies in the late 1780s... Pretty cool when you think that the 1820 settlers had not even thought of putting their ox wagons into South Africa at that point in time.

The stones where perfectly weathered to climb and so I thought I would test the walls... this place had been here for hundreds of years and was still standing so a bit of extra bulk on the walls was not going to do them any damage. Also I heard a rumour that Friar Tuck at the time would monkey about the walls as well so in the spirit of the times I gave it a go, just so I could know what it was like to be a Friar.

I know someone who would have loved to have pulled this baby fern off the Friary wall and nurtured it at home... or killed it by forgetting to water it...

Now this is a brilliant picture, I would love to say that it was my creative eye that sought it out and snapped it up by lovingly getting my only pair of jeans dirty at the knees and water between my toes but I cant... as I will get into trouble. So nice pic Karyn.

This final picture is of the Viknor, a ship that sank off the coast of Ireland. What is interesting to note is that the sailors where buried where they where found so many of the dead are in grave sites all over Ireland and The West coast of England/Scotland.

After zooming to Giants causeway and not wanting to see it in the rain we decided to make camp. we made a braai read some books and I practiced some more Ukulele tunes...

An introduction to some good old South African Broekkies!

2008-07-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Now I am not talking about those old fashioned fart catchers that doubled as a girdle and that your granny more than likely wore... I am talking about - Broekkies... First name Karyn... From South Africa with Irish decent, 5ft 2 and a half inches with a short fuse and rather nice to look at, here she is:

Broekkies was brave enough to join me for a bit or a jaunt around Ireland and with her came her super cool digital camera which about 10,000 more pixels per inch than my poor old mobile phone. So for the next short while all "good" pictures hold a Broekkies trade mark and are not to be touched, downloaded, used etc. unless you wish to enrage the monster. And of course all the bad "good" pictures where taken by me...

On Broekkies arrival we celebrated with a few drinks:

And a good old fashioned braai, or wanne bee braai on a tin foil thing...

Now broekkies is quite smart and she showed me how to braai green stuff as well other than meat and more meat... her favourite was asparagus on the braai dipped in olive oil or butter... hmmm.

The artful William

2008-07-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

My first impression of Belfast was that of a rough city where people don't take any shit and are mostly grumpy. Well at least this was reflected in their driving habits.

Eventually found the campsite I was supposed to be staying at... it was typically well hidden.

The first thing that happened to me was to meet William and his family from Port Stuart up near Giants Causeway. A very friendly Irish man and his family. As it turned out William enjoyed playing the guitar and drinking and I enjoyed playing the ukulele and drinking... a perfect combination!

That night I recruited sisters Lenka and Petra from The Czechoslovakia. Lenka was a good guitar player and promised to sing us some tunes. William recruited a French couple who's names escape me however I managed to spill red wine on her new jeans...

Above: Lenka and William.

Above: William, Lenka, Lucy and Ally

Above: William, Zoe, petra and the French

Above: William and Petra

This was a memorable evening with lots of cheer and new friends in the making.

Stranraer to belfast

2008-07-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

There where no camp sites anywhere near to Stranraer so I decided to find a lonely farm road where I set up shop. I parked next to a field and watched a farmer zoom up and down it in his tractor collecting the wheat chaff and making large bundles out of them... this made me tired and so a little spot under some trees made for my nights accomodation.

The following morning after an unsuccessful search for a coffee shop I parked in the outskirts of Stranraer and watched the locals feed the swans while I did some work and waited for the ferry to arrive.

The day was spent doing some work and tinkering on the Ukulele. I also took a little excursion onto the beach to make some footprints in the brown sand.

and then my Ferry could be seen in the distance and my time with the swans and the sand where up. If you need to catch a ferry to Belfast I would suggest using: Stena Line, while their website sucks and does not always work... their prices seem to be reasonable... the earlier you book the cheaper your ticket.

Seaweed, shells and sleeping...

2008-07-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

I was quite delighted to find this little guy lying on the beach on the road to Stranraer.

And after further investigation I came up with a plethora of shells...

This took about half an hour to collect and I would be forgiven to make my way from the stony beach back to Honey...

For a well deserved nap!

To find seaweed and shells amongst the stony pebbles of a beach so far away from life. Makes me wonder so deep that I have to sleep in a mellow yellow can on the sea...

Scottish Erection

2008-07-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

Where every you happen to go in Scotland there is always an Erection ready and proud.

Ruins on the Road

2008-07-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

Traveling on Scott lands roads will deliver an ongoing experience of ruins along the road. All you need to do is follow the Scottish Heritage routes to get your hands on some history...

The ruins of this relatively little known abbey are remarkably intact, and stand in a part of Ayrshire steeped in history. As well as being historically interesting there are many enigmas associated with the abbey, which could well be worth further research. There may have been a Pictish site here, and some people suggest that the abbey may have a Templar connection.

You can read more about crossraguel here.

Glasgow - repairs and the VW Van club!

2008-07-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

In Glasgow parts where acquired for Honey (new tie rod end and cv joint bolts) and the guys at GSF gave me the details of a local VW Specilist: Capaldi and Milliken who where recommended to help me out (if you are in Glasgow and need help with your VW give them a call, they where very helpful and although they where busy they let me work on the car and helped between their spare time: 0141 554 0113, they are located at 27 Anson Street, Bridgeton [just off London road]).

I only bashed my thumb a couple of times while pulling the old tie rod end out and then inserting the new one. Fortunately Neil the mechanic at the shop was there to help out where he could. Shot Neil! Also as it turns out Neil has some excellent fishing spots a little North of Glasgow worth investigating.

In the early evening I joined with the local Glaswegian VW club for a chat and made some useful contacts. http://www.vwscotclub.co.uk/

The above vans belong to Ricky and his brother Andrew. The blue one is a 73 if I remember correctly and Ricky has been doing it up slowly over the last couple of years. Its in good condition.

This little beauty is a LHD 1969 Bay. The suspension on this guy has been raised and the owner suspected that it was due to the previous owners being overly large...

If you compare this little guy to Honey you will notice that the indicators are lowered on this van and the back air intakes are half moon shaped, a little more retrto...

Fabulous office on the Loches

2008-07-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

A few hours spent working with the following view - magic!

Fort william to Glasgow

2008-07-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is my second time to Fort William. The first time a few months back was a midge infested nightmare. To do anything I had to wear a packet on my head with two little holes poked into it so I could see. The only advantage was getting invited on a few dates...

Anyhow - this time round I decided to stay at the foot of Ben Nevis and at the local youth hostel. Midge free and with a proper kitchen and people to talk with it seemed like a good deal. Ben Nevis as you may know is a Greek God of a mountains in the UK - so big in fact I added it to my list of mountains I would like to climb in the near future...

But I got plenty of stories to wet my appetite from the weary mountaineers trooping in at all hours of the night.

From Ben Nevis my goal was to reach Glasgow to find some bolts for Honey and then make it on time to catch my ferry to Belfast so time was the essence and not knowing how badly damaged th ecv joint was made me a little jumpy to say the least.

Here are some pictures of my trip to Glasgow:

Some of the above pictures are of traffic lights... The section of road from Fort William to Glasgow is under repair and thus plenty of roadworks and detours are on this section of road to the point where my GPS had me driving in the middle of no man lands (HBD).

The best dammed breakfast on the plannet - Loch Leven Hotel

2008-07-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

On a bad day I could cough up around 12 pounds for a really horrible breakfast. Burnt toast on stale bread with 3 week old kippers, under cooked egg and off bacon. And although I have been to cooking school (I often wonder if this was a pliy by my parents to get my brother and myself out the house) I am can still be a little dozy in the kitchen, especially if it is 1 foot by 2. So I can be forgiven if I on the odd occasion hang up my wooden spoon and swiss army knife for an eating marathon on the side of the road (not road kill).

In this particular case I was pleasantly surprised at having possibly the best breakfast I have eaten over the last 33 years and on whim and at a hotel called: Loch Leven Hotel. I arrived grumpy and hungry and 30m later rolled out feeling like a snake with its snack for the winter.

When i am next in the fort William Area I will most definitely make a little pilgrimage back to the Loch Leven Hotel for a sample of the full Scottish breakfast that made my day.

I have become immune to

The cheeky tourist trap

2008-07-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

The above picture is of some random statue that I passed on the road. The annoying thing however is that to get anywhere near it you need to cough up a few pounds. In this case a few squids for parking... Now you are probably thinking... cheap bastard. However I have this affliction of converting everything into Rands and when I am faced with the Dilemma of coughing up nearly 45 Rhond for a five minute parking extravaganza I do tend to get cold feet...

The really really annoying thing is that for the next 10km either side of this mysterious statue, monument, pole in the ground there is no where to park should you wish to save those pennies for the dismal 6 miles per liters Honey honey affords me! And to add insult to injury the only free parking space the owners of the shop that seemingly has usurped the location have pasted cheeky signs in tacky pen (come on at least use a stencil) saying private parking (ahem on a public road).

So a picture to remember the statue I did not get to see... probably some wally anyway.

The best office in the world

2008-07-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

There are pro's and con's to traveling in the manner that I am traveling. Probably the biggest challenge is getting over the hurdle of missing 4 solid walls to return to and hide from the world between. If you believe in star signs, crabs like to withdraw and are known to enjoy their own personal company and space for extended periods of time...

On the plus side every day is different, sometimes for the best and sometimes for the worst. In my case - some days I have internet access and other days I don't. For a technology freak this would be seen as a bad day however for a Luddite this would be seen as a good day.

After zooming off the ferry to much smoke,dust and fan fare honey and I found the best possible view we could in the tiny village of Malaig.

A great office for the day and of course Malaig has not gotten around to getting mobile phone towers installed in their little town...

Leaving Skye for greener pastures

2008-07-14T09:37:00.001-07:00

The pastures I was heading to would hopefully be a lot greener and warmer than Skye. With honeys pop top having sprung a few leaks, getting wet was becoming a daily occurrence!

Now the uneducated eye may perceive the above picture as being random. However there is a single word that brings tears to my eyes... just imagine you where in the bush downing a few beers and a coil of worse, a farmer brown chicken, and not to mention the potatoes and veg that mom always insisted I have with my meal as it will make me big and strong and all washed down with a lemon merang pie fedexed over by gran ma...

The ferry arrives amongst a dazzle of rain drops!

Blurry Sat nav. image showing the Armadail Malaig ferry route.

The Isle of Sky and beyond!

2008-07-07T13:42:00.001-07:00

After a night above the Loches I crept down to the local hotel: Lochalsh hotel and set up shop for some breakfast, some work and to prepare my sky trip.

Some locals and the hotels proprietor gave me some tips as to where what and how and I was on my way.

Sky is a very beautiful. I drove past some incredible scenery on my tour around the island whih included amazing and wild views of lochs and the sea, mountain waterfalls, steep mountain passes and the occasional sheep.

It was at this point in Sky that the thing about the sheep that had been bothering me for some time finally struck me... the Scots mark their sheep exactly the same way that I mark my golf balls!

After I had tired of the sheep I decided a little knock around the local golf course was called for. I found a lovely hotel with a par three course in their back yard and donned my gear for a quick game. While I parred most of the holes I did happen to lose a couple of balls on the last hole which was inconveniently places right next to a water hazard. My 7 Iron found the water a number of times before I cut my losses and continues with my journey.

After my game The Isle of Skye became more and more miserable with wind hail and sleet battering me and honey. My plan to camp at the West most point was abandoned and I so I drove to Mallaig where I found the a fantastic camp site on the side of a forest where I was sure there where bears and goats playing darts as it was Wednesday night which is darts nights in the forrests in general where ever you are happen to be.

Here is the campsite, in the back ground you will notice the wild animals playing darts and stuff.

The opportunity for mist and rain in Scotland...

2008-07-03T01:11:00.000-07:00

Are plentiful!

One second the views are far reaching and spectacular and the next second the mist is rolling in followed by rain, hail and sleet!

These pictures where taken on the back roads between Inverness and Skye... For the first time in my travels I felt I had left the beaten path. The roads where single track roads with "passing areas" and "Police Notices: Let cars behind you bass...". and while you would think there would not be too much traffic I was forever letting the Scottish racing drivers pass me in one of the little "passing areas".

I decided to stay the night at the local back packer. I arrived in the pouring rain to find a lone cyclist huddled outside the hostel. Check in was in 30m time and this poor sod (Richard from Philadelphia come sailer and traveler) took my invitation to wait out the storm in the car where we swapped some stories.

Eventually the proprietor meandered out of the establishment to let us in. The hostel was again a bare mountaineering type of dorm room thing and on top of having to hire your bunk you could hire bedding as well... As it turned out they could not accept plastic and I was told the nearest machine was 10 miles down the road! The plus side was that I could get some quality fishing in... as soon as I had my hands on some cash.

So - Honey and I shot off down the road to get cash and a license from "The Butcher". But it was not to be... It was around this time that my suspicions where aroused that Honey had something up her sleeve... And then she stopped... although the engine was turning and she idled perfectly "she no go forward!".

And when Honey does not want to go forward the next best thing is to set up camp, make some coffee, write a few notes and have a nap. Which I did in precisely that order.

She could not have picked a better place to have a fit. As it turnd out there was deer at the side of the road. Looking this up later I discovered that Scotland has both rein deer and red deer.

Unfortunately I was evacuating my bladder at the time and could not quite juggle my camera out my pocket at the same time to get a snap shot... so you will have to take my word for it!

Later on I poked my nose under Honey and inspected her cv joints and it appeared that she had spat some of her bolts out. There was one left in the joint and walking down the road I found another one (half bent). So with a single cv joint bolt I called my insurance company to get them to find the nearest specialist to pop out with an alan key. Two hours later the local handyman was at my aid and he removed some bolts from the other joint and Honey was back on the road! The guy was kind enough to take me to a spectacular stop for the night overlooking the Kyle of Lochalsh.

Private golf club

2008-07-03T01:02:00.000-07:00

I figured Scotland would be littered with cheap places to golf - but on my way to to Inverness and Skye I stopped of at what I would call a one horse town figuring golf in the outback would be cheap.

I inquired the price at the pro shop and was told 40 quid... While tempted for the game I opted instead to park on the side of the road, enjoy some peace and quiet and do a bit of work...

The best office in the world.

St Andrews to the Cairn Gorm

2008-07-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

If you are into Mountain climbing, hiking, windsurfing (in the summer) and Snowboarding/skiing in the winter then the Carin Gorm region rocks!

I made my way to Avimore to see what the place was like and the prospects for a long weekend here looks promising especially if you are into activities.

Below: The mountain where all the action happens (and this is a small spec of it in the scheme of things). It may look tame in this picture but believe me, Honey struggled to get to the base station.

Speaking to one of the locals - apparently this year the snow season lasted until early May... not bad for the die hard skier.

Stayed at the local Youth Hostel which had the smell of an old mountaineering hut. And it was filled with fit looking hikers of all ages.

I think the best part of it was the giant gas stove which cooked me a pasta dish in the evening and eggs in the morning! Hmm..

A picture from a poster on the wall:

Ski boots at the local ski school:

Beginners ski ramp:

Getting up to the base station. Unfortunately it was cold and miserable at the time so I did not bother going up. At close to 20 quid for the privilege I figured I would get plenty of free opportunities in Scotland to see walls of mist!

At the base of the mountain it was quite sunny and the windsurfing school had a few students zipping up and down the lake.

St Andrews - Golfing and visiting!

2008-06-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

From this map you can see St. Andres is not exactly the largest megalopolis you will encounter. The town is so small Honey and I circumnavigated the town at least 6 times before finding the hostel I was going to stay at (which conveniently was hidden behind a well stocked pub).

Nevertheless we found the St. Andrews Hostel (for young people such as myself) and Honey found a parking spot at the student union across the road (much to their horror).

When in St. Andrews there is really only one thing you should be doing... playing golf and thats exactly what I did on my second day after arriving.

1. Driving range and hit 200 balls.
2. Played the aim and shoot par three course, Balgove (18 holes) .
3. Played 18 Holes of the Strathtyrum course golf (shot 81).

My score would more than likely have been a lot better had I noticed that my driver head was lose... After hitting a number of magnificent fades to slices I realised something was amiss!

In addition to the lose driver head I also discovered the strong Scottish wind and possibly the reason why most Scots players hit low shots.

Driver went to the local doctor for some glue and I went out for supper with some friends and sampled the local brew... The night was ended off with a fantastic Thai at Scotland's top Thai restaurant. I had to laugh though, I ordered gin tau Beer and they kept brining me Ginger Beer! At least it was over half the price!

Above: me in the hostel.

Above: I felt this picture pretty much summed up St. Andrews for me.

Front disks and ball joints - the silencing of honey!

2008-06-24T03:42:00.000-07:00

Me and anyone who has driven in Honey where fond of her charm and character. While driving she would squawk and squeak and when coming to a halt she would hummmm.

Her most recent operation was to look at her front disks, Calipers and her ball joints. As it turned out her front disks needed to be replaced and her ball joints where pretty much knackered (not having much experience in vw campervans I failed to check these when I bought her and of course this was not mentioned to me by the dealer).

Above: Old disks and Caliper. Honeys unique hummmmm was caused by the severely degregated disks. We converted the front brakes and disks to a 1972 - 1979 set (Below).

The following is a picture of the ball joints we took out. Take a close look at the center joint - one hard bump and that could very well have popped out causing the front wheel to fall sideways and the vehicle to swerve off the road... Very dangerous and should be on the list of things to check when buying these vehicles.

Below: An easy way to remove the rubber housing of the ball joints is to burn them off!

Synopses: After replacing the ball joints and the brake disks Honey is driving a lot better. While she does not have as much character as she did when I first bought her - I certainly feel a lot safer on the road!

Edinburgh at night

2008-06-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

Edinburgh in the summer is a wonderful place. You will find an eclectic bunch of people walking the streets; tourists with maps clutched in hand, local business people suited and booted and looking important, loads of students as you can well imagine, the ubiquitous hobo outside a popular store or a bank machine with his skeletal dogs and not to forget beautiful lasses where ever ye shall look!

Of course if you are out late(ish) you will encounter what I refer to as the Edinburgh yob. I met one the other day as I got off a bus... over sized jeans, hoodie and seemingly unable to pronounce English words or Scottish words for that matter. Instead he expressed him self by lighting the litter in a bin and then chucking another into the road strewing a mess across the street and causing a car to swerve around it dangerously. It was a single occasion however it made me realise that even in this smallish community you will find your problems.

On a night out on George street you are bound to meet youngsters from the university going out and having a good time. I went to Fingers Bar where they have a man playing a few chords on a Piano and belting out popular songs for everyone and all the patrons join him in singing them... There are other clubs/pubs in the area as well and if you have a foreign accent you are bound to attract some interest from the locals.

Pictures: The pictures where taken on my phone and on Princess street.

Graveyards in Edinburgh

2008-06-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

Not being in the mood for a walk a friend pretty much dragged me to a secret graveyard site in Edinburgh. Apparently the only way into the site is through a hole in one of the ancient walls - where we found a well trodden path made by those residents in the know.

The first thing to greet me was a bunch of gravestones seemingly tossed to the side of the path. I don't think this was out of disrespect for the dead but merely from age and gravity having their toll on the ancient stones.

Later I heard a story about the graveyard. Apparently it was/is frequented by those looking for same sex conveniences of passion. And then on the spin side of things it is also frequented by those who disagree with such arrangements and go along to hand out a good bashing or two. Nevertheless I can see why this is such a hot spot as there are plenty of nooks and crannies to vanish into...

Above: Perhaps an opium based facade would consider this to be the stairway to heaven? Of course that all depends on what heaven is to you. For me - it was the tranquility of the place and the seeming isolation from the city with only the dead as my witness.

Above: A ghost or a Skim seen skimming across the path fleeing from the unknown. Note the pale complexion and the horror in her eyes.

So if you are into grave robbing, old stones, overgrowth, moldy stones, gay bashing or simply an alfresco quickie... then this is definitely the place to come and visit.

But of course... I am not going to tell you how to find this tranquil spot!

Panoramas of Edinburgh

2008-06-17T06:20:00.001-07:00

While Honey has been getting herself sorted out I have been staying at the local backpackers (Globetrotter.com) in Edinburgh. The following panoramas where created by Peter from Slovakia. He spliced the pics together in photoshop.

Here are some photos of some sites in the city:

Above: 180 degree picture of the market square in Edinburgh.

Above: 4th road bridge Edinburgh

Above: Another panorama of the amazing Edinburgh Sky Line... who could ever blame the Scots for loving this city!

Just chilling out!

2008-06-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have found a favourite spot on Marine Drive in Edinburgh... Awesome views and sunsets (although late this time of year).

Today a friend and I parked off, made some tea, went for a walk along the beach and then came back to Honey to cook some supper! Hmmm... pasta, crisped bacon and a yummy pasta sauce!!

Master brake cylinder replaced

2008-06-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how long master brake cylinders are supposed to last for however after 36 years I guess its okay if Honeys needed to be replaced...

Garry at John Forbes automotive did a great job in changing the brake lines and putting in the new cylinder.

Rear Drums replaced

2008-06-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

I use Just Kampers to get my vw parts in the UK. They have a very fast turnaround time and can get your parts to you within a couple of days of ordering (where ever you are in or outside the UK). Fabulous!

Above: parts...

Here are some shots of the rear right drums being replaced by a friend in his home garage.

Below: The other drum replaced:

Taking out Honeys Engine

2008-06-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

On lucky Friday the 13th of June, Honey was taken to John Forbes, the local Air Cooled Specialists in Edinburgh www.forbesautomotive.co.uk.

Garry Burgess is Johns senior mechanic and has been working closely with John for over 17 years and is trusted by most of Edinburgh's VW owners and enthusiasts. And I met a lot of them while honey was being serviced. From the likes of ScoobyCampers.com (with over 10 campers entrusted to Garry) and of course all the individual enthusiasts who want their vw's in the best hands (from the latest models to some over 50 years old!).

If you are in the Edinburgh area and looking for help with your VW, I would highly recommend John Forbes and Garry. NOTE: While I was having Honey serviced John was in the process of shutting down shop so contact Garry directly for any VW help: 07834600725.

Above is Honey, her engine and Garry. the problem - leaking engine. A "hidden" o-rings (not all mechanics know about it) and seals where replaced (both of which had seen better days).

Top: Old clutch
Bottom: Clutch pressure plate

Above: Picture of the engine bay. Not bad for a vw van that was built in 1971. The body work is as strong as the day it was built. In this picture you can see the right side CV boot needs to be replaced.

At the top of the picture you can see the petrol tank cover, that came off and a small rubber hose was replaced (this sorted out the fumes that I was smelling in the cab each time I filled up).

Above: Close up of Honey's engine, notice the dark oil in the carb due to excessive retardation.

Above: Oily carb!!

Above: Engine back in, I took the liberty of "borrowing" some old pipes lying around the workshop and connected them to the carb and the air inlet pipe (next to the oil cap). I just felt it would be nice to give the carb the opportunity to have some fresh air rather than air and fumes from the engine compartment.

Above: Engine - no leaks! Yay!!

Golf in Dundee

2008-06-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

Drove up the coast to Dundee, Monifieth (12th June) and spent a night at Tayview Caravan Park [Red Dot in the picture] http://www.tayview.info. The owner of the park was kind enough to wait for me to arrive which I was great full for as Honey was driving a little sluggishly...

After spending a pretty cold night in the van I made my way to the local golf course (Monifieth Golf Links) where I had a game with Donald (an elderly Scottish Gentleman with the uncanny ability of hitting the ball straight down the middle of the fairway!

Was very happy with the game - managed to drive the Green (par 4s) on three occasions and missing all three eagle putts! Hmph... While the course may have seemed on the short side, I would imagine it would be welcomed with a stiff Scotish breeze blowing!

Sooo Cooooold (its supposed to be summer!!).

Cooking in a vw campervan

2008-06-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

Honey comes with a gas stove which lives under the passenger seat.

Pasta is my favourite dish and this is cooked very well on this little stove.

Camping with a vw campervan

2008-06-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

Honey is equipped with a big tent that hooks up to her side which creates an extra two bedrooms and storage space. If the camp site is safe, non essential stuff can be stored here while I shoot out to explore the local area.

On the road I don't always set up the tent as I am on the move the following morning.

Honey's engine

2008-06-10T09:02:00.001-07:00

Not knowing much about VW engines I have been doing some reading and trying to figure out exactly what she has under her hood:

Carburetor: Brazilian Carburetter, 30/31 PICT
Distributor: 009 Distributer
1600cc

Getting to know honey - on the way to Edinburgh

2008-06-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

I have come to the conclusion that Honey is like a beautiful woman. Nice to look at and a great way to burn a hole in your pocket. To have both in your life would be suicide.

Honeys Master Cylinder went on our maiden ride. I had just collected her from the dealership, chucked all my stuff into her and zoomed off! I thought the breaks where a little spongy and when stopping became an issue I realised something was amiss. It was my cousin (who is in the trade) who pointed out that she was pissing out brake fluid... he gave me a bottle and the next few weeks I had to fill the brake chamber almost every day.

Next I noticec oil pouring out the engine. Now the guy at the dealership did mention that vw's like to leak a little bit, so I called him up to find out just how much a "little bit" was. Turns out not THAT much. So my daily tasks became filling up brake fluid and filling up oil! Of course the oil "had to be" Morris 30 oil, "as anything else would be like putting in cyanide", which I soon realised was somewhat like searching for the holy grail!

In Edinburgh I found my Morris 30 oil at John Forbes and for 13 quid I felt I had found life's elixir - I could now go anywhere, anyhow and at any time and nothing could stop me... unless of course the carburetter fell out, which it did.

One minute she is driving like a dream, the next she is behaving like a strumpet. Backfire, misfiring, shuddering to say the least... finally it all ended with a very indignant and surprisingly incombustible fart which left me somewhat anethatised and calling for a tow.

Of all the motor cowboys in Edinburgh I met Mo, who likes to see himself as the only Indian in the industry (and yes he is Indian). He put the carb back together and Honey and I where on our way after parting with 40 quid.

Next John Forbes happened to have a spare Master Brake cylinder in stock. One new brake cylinder, brand spanking new brake lines and one Haynes manual - Honey was fit to hit the road again! I coughed up 210 quid for the pleasure!

Next to go was the back shelf. Driving along, minding my own business and then whomp! The back shelf and all my books where lying on my bed and in a pile of rust... turns out the shelf was screwed into a rusty panel (mental note to ask the guys at theoldvolkshome what they where thinking when they put the shelf in).

Found a good panel beater who although hung over put the back shelf back for me with some nice new mettle. I forked out 130 quid and went on my way again.

Next I went online to buy some parts, new brake cylinders and backing plates, spare clutch and brake cables, little knobs, screws, a bulb replacement kit, brake hoses, clips, split pins and brake cylinders. Chaching! - 350 quid.

Now all I need to do is get this stuff installed!

The idea of Honey

2008-05-29T15:16:00.000-07:00

I arrived back in the UK a number of weeks ago and after spending a dismal time in London I happened upon the idea of seeing the sights in an old campervan.

It all came about while looking for accomodation - my budget was around 1000 quid per month for a two bed flat or 12K per annum... It simply seemed daft to stay in one location spending that sort of cash when I could be mobile, seeing different cities and making new friends.

So I went out and bought Honey.

And here she is, born in 1971 she is a Bay window van with a Devon Conversion. Listed as a historical/vintage vehicle she is full of character and charm.

Now I know she looks innocent and sweet however she is black hole when it comes to keeping her on the road!