# 2nd weekend, 3 questions and LOTS of photos! :)



## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

Hi Guys!

Just had our 2nd ever motorhoming weekend, and I have more NOOB questions, and also some photos to share 

On Friday, we headed to Anstruther and enjoyed a fish and chips from the famous "Anstruther Fish Bar". It has won god knows how many awards, and has been 2nd several times in the "UK's Best Fish and Chips". It has won Scotlands competition several times I think.

After our chippie, we settled for the evening in a lovely "woodland setting" caravan and motorhome park, "Grangemuir Woodland park". I thought the layout was fantastic, and it felt small and intimate enough, even though it had room for maybe 30 to 40 setups.

Now my first question! We parked in our hard standing and were on a tiny slope. It means the SHOWER would not drain, and instead our toilet would fill with water if we used it. So, I reverse out, turn the van, and repark...same problem!!! Still not solved that one.

On night two, we stayed at a lovely site, Kinkell Braes Caravan Site - St Andrews. This massive resort had 400 statics, and room for probably 30+ tourers. Staff were super helpful and friendly, the site had a well stocked shop, and the on site bar, restuarant (I presume), and Club seemed busy. We did not go in, but saw plenty people through the windows.

Second question, related to the 1st! We picked up some "ramps" from a caravan supply shop, on route to the site, to help avoid the "shower problem". Now, when I tried to use them in the grass - the Motorhome more or pushed them into the ground, so they turned out a little useless. Luckily, the slope was a little more obvious, so I was able to choose the correct facing point to aid the flow of water!!!

last question!! I used a lot of gas heating, had the fridge powered by gas a little, and did over an hour of cooking with the gas....yet my LPG gauge still says "full"...???

Any help with regards to my "sloping problem" or my GAS usage appreciated.

Here are some photos from St Andrews, we were VERY lucky - the view from the campsite over the town was fantastic, and I have no idea why, but we managed to watch a 15 minute firework display close to midnight! With regards to my photos, A lot of these are handheld (in the dark!), so I used a high ISO. The ones I did use my tripod for are the beach ones. Enjoyed the camera this weekend, spend a grand total of maybe 15 minutes shooting.

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Thanks everyone, just to add, we managed 24.5mpg from EDI and back, if you are interested! Had a full tank of fuel and water...

Gary.


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi

Nice photographs Gary

stew


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## owl129 (May 21, 2008)

great photos

can not be much help on slope thing but we have just come back from 10 days in germany and used (due to weather) our LPG for heating every night and some times durinh the day and the cooking and its still reading 3/4 full so I guess lpg is good value I have not refilled my tank yet but the last time I did after a 8 day stint it only cost £6.90

regards
paul


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

artona said:


> Hi
> 
> Nice photographs Gary
> 
> stew


Thanks Stew 

Just spotted some "blotches" on my borders in the fireworks shots. How did I get my thumbprint their 

Must clean...

Gary.


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## Bubblehead (Mar 5, 2007)

Gary

Fantastic photos  Ill tell you how to sort your water flow out if you can tell me how to take phots like that!

Your van must be like our and has a natural nose down stance, although ours is a diffrent make. Your right with the use of ramps to get yourself level (or slightly nose up to help water drain). You need to use ramps that have a bottom on them to stop them sinking in to the ground or put them onto something like a peice of plastic or ply. We always check the pitch to see which way it slopes before driving on to it.

I used to live in Fife (Auchtermuchty) and loved the area along the coast and up by Glen Carse.

Andy


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

owl129 said:


> great photos
> 
> can not be much help on slope thing but we have just come back from 10 days in germany and used (due to weather) our LPG for heating every night and some times durinh the day and the cooking and its still reading 3/4 full so I guess lpg is good value I have not refilled my tank yet but the last time I did after a 8 day stint it only cost £6.90
> 
> ...


That's fantastic news, I always have a fear in my head "What if the has goes"...it literally looks full. I had the hot water heater set to 60 degrees the entire weekend, the heating was on and off and I cooked twice, for a total of an hour to 90 min.

Gary.


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

Excellent pics. We were in "Ainster" two weeks ago on a trip back tae the hameland, and enjoyed one fish supper & one white pudding supper from the self-same chippy - marvellous.

Dougie.


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

asprn said:


> Excellent pics. We were in "Ainster" two weeks ago on a trip back tae the hameland, and enjoyed one fish supper & one white pudding supper from the self-same chippy - marvellous.
> 
> Dougie.


The only blip on the whole weekend, was outside the chipshop. Our motorhome somehow attracted the attention of the local monkeys, and whilst I was in queue, my wife was in the passenger seat - some of the young lads game up and started "licking" her window, I kid you not. They then apparently started banging on the rear windows, whilst singing and shouting.

If it had been my wife in the queue, I suspect you would not have seen this thread until I was released from Custody after a weekend in the cell!

I have no time for little s**ts.

Gary.


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## ianhibs (May 1, 2005)

Well, your photos are not nice - they are fantastic. What are you using?

Re levels, buy yourwself a "level". You know the one with the bubble and try to avoid soft ground when using your ramps.

Ian


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

ianhibs said:


> Well, your photos are not nice - they are fantastic. What are you using?
> 
> Re levels, buy yourwself a "level". You know the one with the bubble and try to avoid soft ground when using your ramps.
> 
> Ian


Thanks Ian,

Nikon D3 and 14 to 24mm f2,8 lens mostly. Thanks for the tips, I have a big spirit level in the hut, can't find the hut key...

:evil:


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## Rislar (Aug 16, 2008)

Awsome Pics Gary, i'm very impressed


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

Rislar said:


> Awsome Pics Gary, i'm very impressed


Thanks Mate,

Got your van yet? Was it this weekend?

Gary.


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi Gary

Atmospheric photos... 

re the shower ... There will always be times when the slope means that the shower will never quite drain away, why don't the designers put in a hole at each end?.... anyway what you need is something to squeegee the water to the drain hole ... I discovered that the little dustpan that we carry has a rubber lip on the front and that works a treat at pushing the last bit of water down the hole You could try to find one the same or get a shower squeegee ( bit like a small posh window squeegee) :wink: 


Mike


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

spykal said:


> . . . . re the shower ... There will always be times when the slope means that the shower will never quite drain away, why don't the designers put in a hole at each end


Just for interest, they have done exactly that on our shower tray Mike. 

Not sure how universal this is, but it appears to be a recent "innovation".


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## asabrush (Mar 3, 2008)

Great photos Gary,Looking forward to touring Scotland, Easter time next year,wife has never been before.
Can't help on the shower drain thing,even on a big slope all my drains work well!


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## Rislar (Aug 16, 2008)

EdinburghCamper said:


> Rislar said:
> 
> 
> > Awsome Pics Gary, i'm very impressed
> ...


I did bud, the threads on here  picking it up on Wed


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

asabrush said:


> Great photos Gary,Looking forward to touring Scotland, Easter time next year,wife has never been before.
> Can't help on the shower drain thing,even on a big slope all my drains work well!


Enjoy Scotland  Have you a plan of attack - whats on your "must see" list?

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

spykal said:


> Hi Gary
> 
> Atmospheric photos...
> 
> ...


Thanks for the tip Mike 

Gary.


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Pics*

Hello

Stunning photo's but how do you add so many to one post?

Thanks

Russell


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

Hi Russel,

Without spaces:

[ IMG ] IMAGE URL HERE [ / IMG ]

[ IMG ] IMAGE URL HERE [ / IMG ]

[ IMG ] IMAGE URL HERE [ / IMG ]

[ IMG ] IMAGE URL HERE [ / IMG ]

[ IMG ] IMAGE URL HERE [ / IMG ]

Like so,

Regards,

Gary.


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## Braesman (May 9, 2005)

Hi Gary,

Love your pictures.

Funnily enough, we're planning a couple of days in the East Neuk this week together with friends (Cairngorm) and had thought about staying at Grangemuir Woodland park. Your posting settles it, -- that's our destination.

Regarding levels, what about this?


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

Braesman said:


> Hi Gary,
> 
> Love your pictures.
> 
> ...


Thanks very much for the link, placing one of them on the shower tray would be ideal, will just keep it in cupboard when not in use!!

Gary.


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

EdinburghCamper said:


> ...the local monkeys....


The last twice I've been Anstruther in the evening, Fife Constabulary have had their public order van parked strategically on the front with the biggest telescopic CCTV you can get, on the top. Nice & reassuring. 

Dougie.


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## kbheal (May 25, 2007)

Hi

we have the same van as you and have had the same problem with the water draining when using the shower if not level
the van does appear to be nose down and so we usually use the leveling ramps.
We don't seem to have had many problems with it as long as we are level or slightly nose up (we have a small spirit level).

love the photos by the way

karen


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## 115737 (Aug 19, 2008)

Great photos!

We've just got home from our second weekend, I left my SD card in my computer  so no photos.

I had the shower tray thing last week, solved it this time with plastic ramp blocks, next this we need is a squeegee type thing cos small amounts of water seem to pool in the unevenness of the tray!

Gas wise, the weather was terrible, so we had the heater on low throughout the night, did a bit of cooking and from what I can tell there's still quite a bit left. I only got a 4.5kg butane when I got the van, so that's already done us 2 trips. I bought a 6kg propane before we went though, just in case!

We stayed on a lovely CC site in Battle, former castle gardens, loads of hardstanding pitches, cordoned into sections by giant rhodedenrons.

Fun this, ain't it!

-Mike


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

kbheal said:


> Hi
> 
> we have the same van as you and have had the same problem with the water draining when using the shower if not level
> the van does appear to be nose down and so we usually use the leveling ramps.
> ...


Hi Karen!

How are you enjoying the van? We are still in the Honeymoon period  I have nothing to compare it with, except a Bongo, but it feels like a mobile Palace to me 

Have you found anything I should look out for or be wary with? One slight niggle so far, the shower screen can sometimes work its way off the rail mid driving...

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

MalphasWats said:


> Great photos!
> 
> We've just got home from our second weekend, I left my SD card in my computer  so no photos.
> 
> ...


Ditto! I had to stop at Jessops on Friday, as I left my CF cards in the office. Gutted, as they charge a fortune compared to online. I would be lost without my camera, I see all the sites and want to shoot myself as I cant shoot them 

Gary.


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## sylke (Sep 10, 2007)

Hi Gary, loved the photo's, I have never been to Scotland but on seeing your pics I really look forward to going.Like you this is our 1st year of motor homeing,we call it our mobile 5 star hotel. Keep taking the pictures & happy traveling.
Sylke


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

sylke said:


> Hi Gary, loved the photo's, I have never been to Scotland but on seeing your pics I really look forward to going.Like you this is our 1st year of motor homeing,we call it our mobile 5 star hotel. Keep taking the pictures & happy traveling.
> Sylke


You will have a ball up this way. When do you come?

Gary.


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## sylke (Sep 10, 2007)

Hopefully in the spring as we are looking to go to Spain for Xmas & New Year.
Sylke


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## davesport (Nov 12, 2006)

Gary, I've no idea which type of ramps you've bought but I use these ones here. Parking 4 tonnes of Hymer on them has'nt sunk them yet. TBH I've never found a spirit level to be of much help leveling the van. I bought one at the begining but I find the Mk1 eyeball a better aid.

I choose the pitch, park the van on it & then get out & assess the angle from the back & sides. Sometimes you can get away with one ramp & sometimes two are required. Other occasions you'll use two but they'll be staggered. The van's usually leveled before Mrs Davesport's got the kettle boiled 

D.


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

davesport said:


> Gary, I've no idea which type of ramps you've bought but I use these ones here. Parking 4 tonnes of Hymer on them has'nt sunk them yet. TBH I've never found a spirit level to be of much help leveling the van. I bought one at the begining but I find the Mk1 eyeball a better aid.
> 
> I choose the pitch, park the van on it & then get out & assess the angle from the back & sides. Sometimes you can get away with one ramp & sometimes two are required. Other occasions you'll use two but they'll be staggered. The van's usually leveled before Mrs Davesport's got the kettle boiled
> 
> D.


These look bigger and bulkier than the ones I have purchased, perhaps I should invest in a set, and use my others should I need additional lift.

Thanks for the link,

Gary.


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## Coulstock (Sep 2, 2008)

*Gas Utilisation*

Nice piccies of the Kingdom - and I'll note the 2 sites you mentioned for our grand 'relly' tour in May/June 2009. (I'm originally from Kinross).

Slopes: Yes get yourself a B&Q 'T' shaped spirit level - about £2.50 _we've just finished a 7 day round trip to the West Country and our Rapido 741F (proud owners for 5 weeks now ) has a 'nose down' attitude on level ground that I'd never noticed until we lived in it - so we coped with a variety of slopes on 5 different site but now I've got a set of Fiamma levellers - so next time - just wait and see !

Gas: I decided to be analytical about this issue and with a new 6Kg bottle fitted in the forward position of my gas locker ( I've got 2 x 6Kg bottles -I keep the aft one full) - I weighed the new bottle at 14.5 kg ( bathroom scales !) at the start of the trip and again when we got back home - 11.1 Kg - so we used 3.4Kg of gas in 7 days - approx 1/2 a bottle.

Now to substantiate the numbers ( ah- - mathematics ) I used the figures for grammes of gas/hr burn for hobs, fridge, oven, grill, heater given in the Rapido handbook and constructed a matrix ( in Excel) populated with hours used/per device/per day over a 7 day period. ( e.g 1/2 hour grill at breakfast, heater at 1/2 hour /day -it was reasonably warm weather apart from the mornings ) and got back to a figure of 3.3 Kg/week of gas - so on that basis - if I had to - then we could go 3-4 weeks ( with EHU) without scrambling for a replacement bottle - thats OK and that sets my mind at rest - but I'd still like to replace my 'forward' bottle with a 6 Kg refillable Gaslow bottle for France in 2009.


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## safariboy (May 1, 2005)

Superb photos...
If your gas gauge is a pressure type it will only show anything other than full if you are about to run out.
If it is a float type it will indicate full for the top half of the cylinder and only show less than that for the bottom part.


Hope that this helps.

Safariboy.


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

*Re: Gas Utilisation*



coulstock said:


> Nice piccies of the Kingdom - and I'll note the 2 sites you mentioned for our grand 'relly' tour in May/June 2009. (I'm originally from Kinross).
> 
> Slopes: Yes get yourself a B&Q 'T' shaped spirit level - about £2.50 _we've just finished a 7 day round trip to the West Country and our Rapido 741F (proud owners for 5 weeks now ) has a 'nose down' attitude on level ground that I'd never noticed until we lived in it - so we coped with a variety of slopes on 5 different site but now I've got a set of Fiamma levellers - so next time - just wait and see !
> 
> ...


You sir, are insane  Thanks for taking the time to share your methods of working out gas usage! I will get myself a calculator and excel and see if I can make heads or tails of what you have said.

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

safariboy said:


> Superb photos...
> If you gas gauge is a pressure type it will only show anything other than full if you are about to run out.
> If it is a float type it will indicate full for the top half of the cylinder and only show less than that for the bottom part.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the heads up. I will take it to the LPG station for a refill and work out usage.

Gary.


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## Suenliam (Mar 22, 2006)

Hi Gary - sorry can't help with gas as that is my OHs Dept. I just use the stuff  

The only contact I have with levellers is that I drive on to them - must have driven quite a number of metres during the 7 weeks we have just spent in France :wink: 

What I really want to say is that we one our 4th MH having started in 1991 and consider we are still in the honeymoon period, so you have lots of time left to keep on enjoying your new lifestyle if we are anything to go by.

Happy travelling

Sue


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

Suenliam said:


> Hi Gary - sorry can't help with gas as that is my OHs Dept. I just use the stuff
> 
> The only contact I have with levellers is that I drive on to them - must have driven quite a number of metres during the 7 weeks we have just spent in France :wink:
> 
> ...


Sue, thats excellent to hear. I hope I am as enthusiastic going forward.

Gary.


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## machilly (Feb 10, 2007)

Hi Gary, Nice Pics
Regards
your Gas, we fulltime, and in the winter in Uk a 6kg refillable gets me about 5 days, we use an oil filled 700w radior at night to keep place warm, with heating set low. Cooking we use an electric paella pan and a halogen oven and microwave (not at the same time & never shorted out)

As to the levelelling, along with the Jumbo Fiamma levellers get a pair of the yellow tyre grips thingies put these under the jumbo levellers (see Pic)and that will stop the sinking, if you get a second pair for the rear wheels they won't sink in either.

Did you park on the main street at Anstruther outside the chippy?


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## EdinburghCamper (Sep 13, 2008)

sandyhill said:


> Hi Gary, Nice Pics
> Regards
> your Gas, we fulltime, and in the winter in Uk a 6kg refillable gets me about 5 days, we use an oil filled 700w radior at night to keep place warm, with heating set low. Cooking we use an electric paella pan and a halogen oven and microwave (not at the same time & never shorted out)
> 
> ...


Thanks for the tips, and yes, just a few yards back from the chip shop. Lots of spaces available for a change.

Gary.


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## kbheal (May 25, 2007)

[/quote]
Hi Karen!

How are you enjoying the van? We are still in the Honeymoon period  I have nothing to compare it with, except a Bongo, but it feels like a mobile Palace to me 

Have you found anything I should look out for or be wary with? One slight niggle so far, the shower screen can sometimes work its way off the rail mid driving...

Gary.[/quote]

Hi Gary
we have had ours for nearly a year now (our first one ) and still love it,planning more weekends and hols away whenever we can.

I'm sorry but had to laugh at the shower door falling off as :lol: :lol: , you've guessed it, we had the same experience. Easily fixed but at the time, well all I can say is there where a few choice words floating about.
:roll: :roll:

Had to fix the front curtain around the cab to stop it coming apart when closed and moving the front seats around, but brill now its done.

we've also had a small table put on the side of the kitchen ( goes up and down) to make more room when cooking and washing up etc, my partners dad is good at that sort of thing but its loads better.

keep enjoying as we do, cant think of anything else, good sign :roll: 

Karen


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