Hello everyone - our Cali will arrive within a month!

[OxCal]

Hi all

Having ordered our brand new Cali (dark grey 140ps SE manual) in July we have just been told it should arrive within the next month or so, and we are getting very excited! I have been reading so much useful info on this forum in the meantime and to prepare, and thought with our new arrival finally reasonably imminent it is time to join!

'We' consist of me, hubby and our 6 year old son and we are so looking forward to all the adventures we hope we will have. In the meantime I have been preparing lots and making good use from all the useful info on this site - lots of things are in boxes ready to slot into the specific storage spaces so that we can pack up and go as soon as our cali arrives! We hired one earlier this year just to be sure we would like it as much as we thought we would - and we did.

My main concern at this stage is making the best use of the available storage (packing and organising being down to me). I thought some of you might be interested in the clever looking shelving and other solutions this german chap has come up with and sells:

http://shops.venditio.com/calitop/katal ... 1355233385

I like the shelving solutions for the big wardrobe and the over the kitchen unit clip in shelf in particular, especially as they require no screws or mean any permanent change to the vehicle. I won't invest until we have our van and a better feel for our needs, but think these look very promising. I am German so have no trouble with scouring the German web pages to see what they have come up with over there (but have lived here for 30 years now!).

Anyway, thought I would say Hello and hope to join in with various topics soon - in the meantime a big thank you for all the useful tips!

 

[calikev]

Hello and welcome

 

[OxCal]

Thank you!

I do have tons of questions but thought I would start with the Hello!

Oh and almost forgot: our options are rollout awning, bike rack, roof bars, driver pack, camping pack, fitted towbar.

We're in Oxford by the way and I would love to meet some local Cali owners to learn and exchange tips! Currently deliberating over portapotti, awning sides and awning carpet. And very pleased with my amazing new Tefal Ingenio stacking saucepans, fab quality and they pack down to nothing with the removable handle and flat glass lids.

Many apologies for jumping from topic to topic... It is all the excitement, plus my first time having joined an online forum so lots to learn!

 

[calikev]

Now you are a vip check out the partner list you can save a fortune. Comfortz do the awning panels plenty of good info on here to keep you busy until it arrives

 

[OxCal]

Great, thanks a lot for the list!

 

[nemo]

Hi and welcome!

I second Calikev, the Comfortz stuff is pretty good. Not sure about the awning sides though. We have some, but once you have them attached and pegged down packing up and moving feels like a real chore! It might be an idea to wait and see how you use the van and how much space you need. I think we are going to get a drive-away.

-Tim

 

[OxCal]

Thanks, Tim!

I think our trips are likely to be lots of short one or two night weekend trips where we are unlikely to travel much once arrived, but I take your point and like the idea of a drive away. My only concern with those is that they might take up too much precious boot space (I shall need to work on my light packing skills, not a current strength ), be tedious to set up and not allow us to make use of the factory fitted rollout we ordered. It sounds as if there is a case for having both for different types of trip... But then there is the small matter of the seemingly unlimited amount one could spend on extras (hubby getting increasingly concerned especially as we don't even have our van yet!).

Will heed advice and try to be patient and have some trips before we invest... Also hoping we will be able to find some sort of Cali meet soon so that I can see what works for other more experienced owners...

Thanks for the lovely welcome!

Susanne

 

[calikev]

I did have a drive away but now have just the 3 side panels they all fold up and store with the chairs in the tailgate. They take me about 5 mins to put on and take off

 

[OxCal]

Great pic, thanks, I love the simplicity of these and read on the forum there are some recent improvements for this too, such as cover for front window , nice to have light and privacy options in one pack. Will call Comfortz soon and maybe see if I can view grey colour option... the VIP discount will be good too!

Susanne

 

[calikev]

Yes nick is adding a few litte new tricks to the awning set plans for a skirt around the bottom and a piece to cover a small gap where the door is

 

[Silverfox]

Hi all

Having ordered our brand new Cali (dark grey 140ps SE manual) in July we have just been told it should arrive within the next month or so, and we are getting very excited! I have been reading so much useful info on this forum in the meantime and to prepare, and thought with our new arrival finally reasonably imminent it is time to join!

'We' consist of me, hubby and our 6 year old son and we are so looking forward to all the adventures we hope we will have. In the meantime I have been preparing lots and making good use from all the useful info on this site - lots of things are in boxes ready to slot into the specific storage spaces so that we can pack up and go as soon as our cali arrives! We hired one earlier this year just to be sure we would like it as much as we thought we would - and we did.

My main concern at this stage is making the best use of the available storage (packing and organising being down to me). I thought some of you might be interested in the clever looking shelving and other solutions this german chap has come up with and sells:

http://shops.venditio.com/calitop/katal ... 1355233385

I like the shelving solutions for the big wardrobe and the over the kitchen unit clip in shelf in particular, especially as they require no screws or mean any permanent change to the vehicle. I won't invest until we have our van and a better feel for our needs, but think these look very promising. I am German so have no trouble with scouring the German web pages to see what they have come up with over there (but have lived here for 30 years now!).

Anyway, thought I would say Hello and hope to join in with various topics soon - in the meantime a big thank you for all the useful tips!

Hi and welcome, with regards to the hanging shelves, IKEA do something very similar, have a couple and will be checking to see if they fit tomorrow, knew they'd come handy one day! certain I got four for £12:00 Kevin

 

[OxCal]

Him Kevin, thanks for the welcome.

Let me know how you get on with those hanging shelves from ikea. The ones I had my eye on from that German site are the rigid alu sheeting ones though (you can see the pic if you scroll down a bit from the link I posted). They look perfect for the three of us (a shelf each!) and seem to make really good use of the space. And they don't need any screw fixings and can be removed again - attractive option as we don't like the idea of making permanent adaptations to the van, at least not this early on.

I will wait until we have the van to see properly but don't like the idea is stacking stuff in the wardrobe or hanging things - we won't need smart clothes for the trips we have in mind!

Interesting to read about what everyone else is doing!

By the way, does anyone know if there is much of relevance to Cali owners at the NEC camping show later this month? We thought it might be worth going to get a good deal on caravan club membership and perhaps some of the cables we will need?

Cheers all,

Susanne