Greeting from Bruges, Belgium

[calibusje]

Hellow everybody.
We are Koen en Jennifer from Bruges, Belgium and we finaly got our dream for travelling: a vw california. It's the t4 model and he's from 1991. We've looked around for almost 2 years to find one that's not rust-eaten, payable and with everything on it that works We found it in january this year and planning to travel a lot with the campervan. We've been in the Ardennes and the Netherlands for now and in july we are heading for the Tour de France and... your meeting.
In former times, my parents had a motor home (Bedford) and we've travelled a lot. I've waved a lot in those times
We dicided to get ourselves a vw camper because it answers to al our needs for travelling: small, handy, manoeuvrable, low on the milage and its forefather is one of the most well-known cars in the world
Are there here on the forum more t4 california owners? If so, do you have tips or tricks connecting the t4 camper? Thanks in advance.
And yes, I still wave a lot in our california, especialy to other vw campers :hello
Dear reader: hopefully you understand everything I have written down because English isn't my native language
Greeting
Calibusje

 

[calikev]

Welcome along. Glad you finally got the vehicle you searched so hard to find .enjoy your travels
By the way your English is good

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Welcome along.

I love Bruges and have friends in Brussels so we go to Belgium quite regularly.

cheers

 

[Stu]

Welcome.

We like to visit Belgium quite a bit too. In Brugge we stay at Camping Memling. Last weekend we drove the car to Antwerp as well as visiting Brussels on one of the days too. I drove back from Antwerp on Sunday and then flew back to Antwerp on Monday for some work meetings :laugh2

 

[calibusje]

Thank you all for your reply
Greetz
Calibusje :hello

 

[Hotel California]

Glad to see some Belgian members!!
We are from te region of Antwerp .
Just bought a new T5 Cali in july 2012 and also new on te forum.

 

[T5WOB]

welcome .we allways camp at membling nice site .were are off to spa soon to racing of 50yrs 911.going to have some time on the cost .any nice camp sites you can recommend please .going to camp in gent for 2 nights . martin

 

[vwanorak]

welcome .we allways camp at membling nice site .were are off to spa soon to racing of 50yrs 911.going to have some time on the cost .any nice camp sites you can recommend please .going to camp in gent for 2 nights . martin

Martin
The Marriott in Ghent is awesome if you fancy a couple of nights "roughin' it smoothly!" Let me know and I'll see if I can sort some mates rates

Andy

 

[calibusje]

welcome .we allways camp at membling nice site .were are off to spa soon to racing of 50yrs 911.going to have some time on the cost .any nice camp sites you can recommend please .going to camp in gent for 2 nights . martin

hellow Martin

Sorry for my late reply.
And again sorry, but I don't know any campsites on the Belgian coast that I can recommend because I've never been on one :?
I can however recommend you a city: Ostend (Oostende): there's a lot to do and there are campingsites. If you go more to te west, you'll find more tranquillity and campsites off course.

Greetings
calibusje
Belgium

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Hi from another '91 Cali owner.

Haven't been to Brugge for a long time, but thinking of coming over for the Christmas markets, is that a good time to visit?

Cheers,
dan

 

[calibusje]

Hi from another '91 Cali owner.

Haven't been to Brugge for a long time, but thinking of coming over for the Christmas markets, is that a good time to visit?

Cheers,
dan

Oh yes it is! There are two places: the market and Simon Stevenplace; the second place has some realy good stands.
So, the '91 california is about the first of the california's, I guess? (except the t3 california)?
We have an oldie
Greetings
calibusje

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Thanks for the info. Hopefully we will get over this year for them.

I've seen someone saying that their T4 Cali was a '90, but I don't know if that was when it rolled off the VW production line, or was first registered. I think ours was manufactured by VW in September '90 (I guess yours will be around the same time) but then went to Westfalia and then wasn't registered until May '91 (in Munich).

There is a campsite in Nieuport. I don't know what it is like, but I remember that one of the guys I was on a dive boat with was camping there (we roughed it in hotels for that trip...). The town is okay, plenty of bars and restaurants around port area, plus some beaches and more touristy bit. A good tram system around town as well.

Cheers,
dan

 

[T5WOB]

my friend went to brugge xmass market .said it was the worse xmass market she has ever been to .we camp at camp site called membling .its ok .site .

 

[greyplague]

Hi Koen en Jennifer,
Welcome to the forum. We have a 1992 T4 Westy, which we bought in January 2012. Like you, we looked for months before finding this one - not perfect, but almost! Just what we wanted.

Just three months after buying it, we did a 2-month, 8,000kms trip round Europe, our last call before returning home was Camping Memmeling - a great site for seeing the city of Brugge. Our trip was through Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy (Tuscany), France, back into Germany and then Belgium again. We had a great time - only three breakdowns (quickly repaired), so my advice is to get some breakdown cover before you leave on a long trip. Remember, your T4 is not a new van! Things like accelerator cables can break, without any warning. Ours did!!!

Please feel free to contact me if you need any advice on the van or campsites in Europe. If I can help, I will .

Good luck and keep in touch on the forum.

Geoff

 

[calibusje]

my friend went to brugge xmass market .said it was the worse xmass market she has ever been to .we camp at camp site called membling .its ok .site .

Well, xmass markets, could be better, could be worse. I've been to worse If you're thirsty, it's a good one and not far Brussels is good, Lille also. And off course, a bad experience is never good
Camping Memling is at St.-Kruis, Brugge and that's not so far from where we live. It's small but it looks ok.
Greetings
Calibusje

We're just home from the Mont Saint Michel, never been there and it was nice!
By the way, thanks for the tip it is an old volkswagen and many can break down. I took an extra travel insurance, do not spare on the maintenance and hope for the best.

 

[greyplague]

Good to know you are well prepared. Go for it!

 

[greyplague]

welcome .we allways camp at membling nice site .were are off to spa soon to racing of 50yrs 911.going to have some time on the cost .any nice camp sites you can recommend please .going to camp in gent for 2 nights . martin

Have a look at Camping Spa d'Or - just down the road from the racetrack. We were there last year: nice site in the countryside .
See http://www.campingspador.be/

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Things like accelerator cables can break, without any warning. Ours did!!!

We carry a spare, plus clutch cable. These are both LHD specific, so I figure it will make life easier should we ever have them fail in the UK. Probably not such an issue in Belgium.

We also carry a spare alternator belt after ours failed on a BH weekend on the Isle of Skye.

Good info on Brugge campsites, thanks. Will probably give the Christmas market a go, it can't be worse than the one they have in Hyde Park.

dan

 

[T5WOB]

Things like accelerator cables can break, without any warning. Ours did!!!

We carry a spare, plus clutch cable. These are both LHD specific, so I figure it will make life easier should we ever have them fail in the UK. Probably not such an issue in Belgium.

We also carry a spare alternator belt after ours failed on a BH weekend on the Isle of Skye.

Good info on Brugge campsites, thanks. Will probably give the Christmas market a go, it can't be worse than the one they have in Hyde Park.

dan

think you will find it is worse .then hyde park .my friend said never do that one again ..brugge is lovely place to go .i hope to go next week or gent .on are way home from spa 6hours classic racing .

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

ta, then it truely is awful

I'd read up on Trip Advisor and it says small, mostly selling hats, gloves, food and drink. Can you ever have enough hats?

Will have a think about it.
dan

 

[calibusje]

hellow Dan
I also have the sparebelts with me in the bus.
Before we go to France in July, the california will go to the vw dealer for a maintenance.
We done some 4000 kms now since the end of January when we bought it and all is well... but you'll never know.

There's also a Christmassmarket at Monschau and they say it is lovely . Some years ago (but just after the xmass market), we were there and it's a beautiful, small town.
I hope they don't sell hats

To T5WOB: if you come to the campsite Memling, let us know if you want, we can come and say hello.

Greetings and see you all in France at the end of July :hello

Calibusje

 

[calibusje]

Hellow everbody
Just an update: we've been to the Christmassmarket in Monschau at the end of december and... it was nice No snow and a lot of people and yes, even there, they sell hats
So, I hope to see you all in the summertime in England for COTF! But first I have to practice my driving on the left side of the road
Greetings
Calibusje
Belgium

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Nice one. We ended up in Vienna in the end (didn't take the van), which is a lovely city and had many hats on sale at the various markets. Punch is a very nice alternative to Gluwine and Gulashsuppe served in it's own bun is just awesome.

 

[wim]

Nice to see that there are more Belgian VW California owners on this forum.

We are from Limburg and driving a VW Camper since 1979 (T2 - T3 - T4 -T5)

Regards,

Wim
VW Camper Site

 

[calibusje]

yes, indeed!
By the way: hallo en een mooie reeks campers hebben jullie al gehad zeg! :clap Content van de t4 geweest? Wij in ieder geval wel. Zullen hem waarschijnlijk niet meer wegdoen.
Groeten
Greetings
Calibusje
Belgium