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LoveBirds_1964

LoveBirds_1964

Messages
57
Location
Leiden, The Netherlands
Vehicle
T6.1 Ocean 150
Hello fellow motor home owners!

We are Petra & Gerrit, 50-ish, and fervent campers for years. We live in Leiden, the most beautiful university city in the Netherlands ;-). We camped with our motorbike (Ducati Multistrada Enduro 1200) + tent, car + larger tent, car + motorbike + tent. Because we want to have the ability to go out year round, and avoid as many hordes of people as possible (airports), we thought about owning a camper. To find out if it would fill our needs we decided to rent a camper in April 2019 (Possl). We then visited Wales for a good week. What happened was, which we always had comments on before (look, all those camper people are standing on the most beautiful places, and with the curtains closed they are watching TV!), happened to us too! Screeching winds and pouring rain around our Possl van, and we stayed cosy inside with the heater on, Ipad on my lap, a hot cup of coffee in front of our noses and reading the newspaper, delicious!). All that luxury gets used to quickly! Based on our positive experiences, we decided to purchase a Tonke bus camper on a new Volkswagen Transporter T6.1 base (low emissions was one of the requirements). Equipped with a solar panel, a towbar for our motor trailer and a bicycle carrier will be part of our palace on wheels. The camper will be delivered in April 2020.

As we are both as handy as a bunch of onions, and after seeing 10 kilometers of traffic jams behind a stranded "romantic" T2 camper in Andorra on the winding road through the mountains to the Pas de la Casa, we decided to go for a new one.

Originally the idea was to start looking for a motorhome around our retirement date, but because of our work in acute healthcare (nursing specialists), we know from our experience that every day can be the last one, so we have decided to go for it now under the motto: "All we have is now!"

Well, we hope to be able to exchange a lot of travel pleasure and tips&tricks with you here!

We hope to meet you on the road!

Happy miles!

Snapseed.jpg
 
Welcome to the forum!

I will be interested how you find the T6.1 compared to your Possl, i assume the Possl is slightly bigger than a T6? Look forward to hearing about your travels and your new VW. :)
 
Welcome allong , witch did you get ? Seems there's the van and the van XL?
 
Welcome.
I love Leiden, well the Netherlands generally. Visit often.
Looking forward to seeing pics of your van when it’s delivered.
 
Hello fellow motor home owners!

We are Petra & Gerrit, 50-ish, and fervent campers for years. We live in Leiden, the most beautiful university city in the Netherlands ;-). We camped with our motorbike (Ducati Multistrada Enduro 1200) + tent, car + larger tent, car + motorbike + tent. Because we want to have the ability to go out year round, and avoid as many hordes of people as possible (airports), we thought about owning a camper. To find out if it would fill our needs we decided to rent a camper in April 2019 (Possl). We then visited Wales for a good week. What happened was, which we always had comments on before (look, all those camper people are standing on the most beautiful places, and with the curtains closed they are watching TV!), happened to us too! Screeching winds and pouring rain around our Possl van, and we stayed cosy inside with the heater on, Ipad on my lap, a hot cup of coffee in front of our noses and reading the newspaper, delicious!). All that luxury gets used to quickly! Based on our positive experiences, we decided to purchase a Tonke bus camper on a new Volkswagen Transporter T6.1 base (low emissions was one of the requirements). Equipped with a solar panel, a towbar for our motor trailer and a bicycle carrier will be part of our palace on wheels. The camper will be delivered in April 2020.

As we are both as handy as a bunch of onions, and after seeing 10 kilometers of traffic jams behind a stranded "romantic" T2 camper in Andorra on the winding road through the mountains to the Pas de la Casa, we decided to go for a new one.

Originally the idea was to start looking for a motorhome around our retirement date, but because of our work in acute healthcare (nursing specialists), we know from our experience that every day can be the last one, so we have decided to go for it now under the motto: "All we have is now!"

Well, we hope to be able to exchange a lot of travel pleasure and tips&tricks with you here!

We hope to meet you on the road!

Happy miles!

View attachment 53676
Hello Petra and Gerrit
Welcome and thank you for a lovely post. I agree with your sentiments exactly and your Motto, all we have is now..... we did precisely the same as you. We were going to get our first camper when we retired but decided that life is too short and we never know what is around the corner so purchased ours this year, we are 55 and 57 years young. We are enjoying the van so much and it has given us many happy hours of fun so far, looking forward to more adventures in 2020.

Happy camping and exploring.

regards

Nick and Sara.
 
Welcome
Lots of advice and tips on forum.
I use mine as daily driver too so lots of flexibility in owning a Cali
:welcome:welcome:welcome:welcome:welcome
 
Welcome!
You went the best way: used to camp, rent and buy! Happy to have some experienced campers on here and look forward to see and hear more about your holidays and journeys.

Happy camping!
 
Welcome to the forum!

I will be interested how you find the T6.1 compared to your Possl, i assume the Possl is slightly bigger than a T6? Look forward to hearing about your travels and your new VW. :)

Hi Matt,

Yes, the Possl is quite a lot bigger! We want to use the Tonke Van as second vehicle, and we like the manouverability of the Van. On a few occasions during our journey in Wales we couldn't pass a bridge or even a narrow road because it was too tight ;-(
 
Welcome allong , witch did you get ? Seems there's the van and the van XL?

Hi Hotel California,

We ordered the normal version as we want it to park it in front of our house and we don't want to offend neighbours. The XL is 40 centimeters longer.
 
Welcome.
I love Leiden, well the Netherlands generally. Visit often.
Looking forward to seeing pics of your van when it’s delivered.

Hi Alison, nice to meet fellow Leiden lovers!

For you, and all our new Cali friends; if you ever visit Leiden, and you feel like having a (Cali)chat and a coffee, and maybe some fresh water, send us a pm and maybe we can have a meet and greet to welcome you in our city!

Regards,

Petra&Gerrit

IMG_4384.JPG
 
Hello Petra and Gerrit
Welcome and thank you for a lovely post. I agree with your sentiments exactly and your Motto, all we have is now..... we did precisely the same as you. We were going to get our first camper when we retired but decided that life is too short and we never know what is around the corner so purchased ours this year, we are 55 and 57 years young. We are enjoying the van so much and it has given us many happy hours of fun so far, looking forward to more adventures in 2020.

Happy camping and exploring.

regards

Nick and Sara.

Hi Nick and Sara!

Thank you for you're warm welcome! Feels like family already haha! We are so much in love with the island you live on; Wales, Scotland, The Lake District...and yet still so much to discover!

When visiting the Netherlands, please feel free to visit Leiden for a coffee or tea meet&greet and maybe fillup some fresh water ;-)

Best regards,

Petra&Gerrit

IMG_4519.JPG
 
Welcome!
You went the best way: used to camp, rent and buy! Happy to have some experienced campers on here and look forward to see and hear more about your holidays and journeys.

Happy camping!

Thank you Sapto for your warm welcome!

Yes, we sure hope to exchange some useful tips&tricks, and great holiday stories also!

Regards,

Petra&Gerrit

20ef502d-f92a-416e-826d-6e5706097aed.jpg

We stayed fort the night in Sango Sands Camping Durness (what a beautiful place!), and almost were blown of the cliff during the night! Crazy winds!!
 
Hello fellow motor home owners!

We are Petra & Gerrit, 50-ish, and fervent campers for years. We live in Leiden, the most beautiful university city in the Netherlands ;-). We camped with our motorbike (Ducati Multistrada Enduro 1200) + tent, car + larger tent, car + motorbike + tent. Because we want to have the ability to go out year round, and avoid as many hordes of people as possible (airports), we thought about owning a camper. To find out if it would fill our needs we decided to rent a camper in April 2019 (Possl). We then visited Wales for a good week. What happened was, which we always had comments on before (look, all those camper people are standing on the most beautiful places, and with the curtains closed they are watching TV!), happened to us too! Screeching winds and pouring rain around our Possl van, and we stayed cosy inside with the heater on, Ipad on my lap, a hot cup of coffee in front of our noses and reading the newspaper, delicious!). All that luxury gets used to quickly! Based on our positive experiences, we decided to purchase a Tonke bus camper on a new Volkswagen Transporter T6.1 base (low emissions was one of the requirements). Equipped with a solar panel, a towbar for our motor trailer and a bicycle carrier will be part of our palace on wheels. The camper will be delivered in April 2020.

As we are both as handy as a bunch of onions, and after seeing 10 kilometers of traffic jams behind a stranded "romantic" T2 camper in Andorra on the winding road through the mountains to the Pas de la Casa, we decided to go for a new one.

Originally the idea was to start looking for a motorhome around our retirement date, but because of our work in acute healthcare (nursing specialists), we know from our experience that every day can be the last one, so we have decided to go for it now under the motto: "All we have is now!"

Well, we hope to be able to exchange a lot of travel pleasure and tips&tricks with you here!

We hope to meet you on the road!

Happy miles!

View attachment 53676
Hi @LoveBirds_1964
This looks a lovely spot, possibly a very Welsh scene. Where is it please?
Welcome to the club, there are a lot of people on here that love exploring the more rural parts and be able to give you some more places to explore. Perhaps we will be able to see you at one of the Meets during the year.

Best wishes Simon
 
Hi @LoveBirds_1964
This looks a lovely spot, possibly a very Welsh scene. Where is it please?
Welcome to the club, there are a lot of people on here that love exploring the more rural parts and be able to give you some more places to explore. Perhaps we will be able to see you at one of the Meets during the year.

Best wishes Simon

Hi Simon,

Thank you for your kind reply. This location is in the middle of Snowdonia, what a wonderful place to be, so quiet, so remote, no people!

Snowdonia

Hope to meet you some day!

Best regards,

Petra&Gerrit

(Snowdonia also)

Snapseed (12).jpg
 
I agree Snowdonia is a beautiful place. I spend 8 weeks or more a year up there in the Cali as I volunteer as a track layer on one of the Heritage railways. Despite what people imagine it is not as wet as people think. The sunsets, views and sites are amazing.
In the first picture the village of Beddgelert is in the background. The second is taken from the A470 just North of the Cross Foxes Pub.
Simon
whrcl-test-140308-06.jpgDSCF0466.JPG
 
Hi people, last week was the first week we had the chance to get to know our beautiful Van! Toilets and shower facilities are closed on most of the campsites in the Netherlands, but we have our own Porta Potti, great invention by the way! All fellow campers we met during our trip behaved very Corona conscious.

Here are some pictures we promised!

First campsite in Friesland!

IMG_5635.JPG

Preparing for the first night in our camper, but first check email!

IMG_5702.JPG

First meal in progress!

IMG_5659.JPG

Yessss!

IMG_5685.JPG

Preparing another meal behind our foldout kitchen!

IMG_5911.JPG

IMG_5910.JPG

Bon appetit!

IMG_5904.JPG

Goodnight my love!

IMG_5783.JPG

My digital nomad at work from her new office!

IMG_5752.JPG

IMG_5967.JPG
 
I li
Hi people, last week was the first week we had the chance to get to know our beautiful Van! Toilets and shower facilities are closed on most of the campsites in the Netherlands, but we have our own Porta Potti, great invention by the way! All fellow campers we met during our trip behaved very Corona conscious.

Here are some pictures we promised!

First campsite in Friesland!

View attachment 58343

Preparing for the first night in our camper, but first check email!

View attachment 58344

First meal in progress!

View attachment 58345

Yessss!

View attachment 58346

Preparing another meal behind our foldout kitchen!

View attachment 58347

View attachment 58348

Bon appetit!

View attachment 58349

Goodnight my love!

View attachment 58350

My digital nomad at work from her new office!

View attachment 58352

View attachment 58351
I like the pots with the red handles, where did you get them from?
 
Hi Guys, glad to see your baby arrived safely. I have to say those chairs look like a yoga workout when you want to stand up.
 
Take 2!

View attachment 58353

Our new love shining in the beautiful Dutch countryside!

View attachment 58354

We hope you enjoy our pictures! If you have questions please ask!

See you on the road!
Nice pics guys. Enjoy and thanks for sharing. Eagerly waiting for the lockdown to be eased to take Goldie (my t6) for a few night outs.

Take care and stay safe.
 

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