Phase 1 - Planning (or not).

It was originally going to be France, however, I'm a great fan of the UK, and persuaded Mrs Doyle that the South West would be beautiful at any time of year, and especially in August.  We didn't need to waste money on ferries and fuel to France, let's support the UK.  Mrs Doyle was persuaded.  We both managed to sort out the whole of August off work and so Devon and Cornwall it was.  We decided to book sites for the first couple of weeks and 'risk' it for the last couple.  That way, if we discovered a hidden gem, we could park up the Cali' and spend the rest of our holiday enjoying it.  Enter the planning stage, we couldn't resist it, week one of The Vw California family tour...California Cross camping and caravaning club site, South Devon.  Week two, Langstone Manor campsite, just outside Tavistock in mid Devon.  Weeks three and four....the world's our lobster!! (well Devon and Cornwall anyway). 

Phase 2 - blagging!!

I also wanted to try a few accessories out for the van.  Mrs Doyle will tell you that I suffer with OCD. Everything needs a home in the van and it has to be neat and tidy. I can't stand the thought of a porta potti in the kitchen cupboards (sorry to those of you who have) and so I looked around for a few storage solutions.  I thought that a microwave would be handy.  Not because we can only cope with microwave meals...honest...but with a 2 yr old and a 5yr old who still insist on having  warm milk before bed, and in the mornings, our kitchen microwave proved very useful on a previous trip. Only problem was it's size, and the fact that you needed to be hooked up to plug it in. I scoured around for a solution, thinking how neat it would be to have a little microwave in the kitchen cupboard. I looked at the caravan 'type' microwaves, however, they were still too big to fit in the cupboards. Then one day I stumbled across 'Wavebox'.  Billed as a revolutionary 'tri-powered' portable microwave, measuring just 15" x 10" x 11", it would fit neatly in to a California cupboard, and not only did it look funky, but it could be powered by mains, 12v (cigarette lighter socket) or crocodile clips directly on to a battery no less...perfect...I don't even need a hookup!! I contacted Wavebox and they very kindly agreed to supply one. That gave me an idea, what else can I blag?? Magcode was a bit of an unknown for me. I'd seen the forum discussions but hadn't actually used the sockets.  I wrote to magcode, they put me in touch with their UK distributor 'Ring automotive' who again, were very helpful, and sent through a couple of products so that I could utilise the magcode sockets.  It was only when they arrived that I realised that there is only one Magcode socket fitted to the California, in the luggage compartment at the rear (I'd always assumed the 12v socket at the end of the kitchen unit, next to the two pin european socket, was Magcode (as a cigarette lighter doesn't fit it). I now know that this is a din socket.  Why on earth Vw felt the need to fit a variety of different sockets, none of which are 3 pin UK style I don't know.  Anyway, I was running out of time and luck with freebies and so I bought my other accessories, which were basically storage solutions in the form of a Thule 'easybase' towbar mounted rack with a 420 litre 'back up' box, which fits neatly under a bike rack, and hugely extended our storage space.  It's like a roof box, however, a roof box on a California is not very practical as you either need to be 8' tall or have a set of stepladders with you permanently.  The final 'accessory' was a Cobb bbq, as seen on hairy bikers etc. and fits perfectly in to the cupboard (OCD remember). 

Here's a couple of shots of the 'Wavebox' perfectly sized for the California cupboards!!

    

Phase 3 - packing.

Before we knew it, the end of July was with us and it was time to pack. Top left kitchen cupboard had the Cobb. Top right cutlery draw, washing up bowl and crockery. Bottom right the Wavebox and bottom left we stuffed with children's toys. The wardrobe we tend to leave pillows, sleeping bags and bits of bedding in. The top pull down cupboard we packed toiletry bags wet wipes etc. The under seat drawer was the pantry, packed full of as much food and supplies as we could manage. The fridge was stocked.  I then needed storage solutions for my Movelite awning, porta potti, outside kitchen, pushchair, baby bike seat and a months supply of clothes for four!! I decided that the Thule back box might be a good place for everyones clothes, boots, shoes, towels etc. I don't tend to use the California wardrobe for clothes and it was too small for this mission in any case.  Everything else fitted neatly in the rear luggage compartment under the shelf. That was that, we were packed up and everything had a place, just how I like it.  Sitting in the van, you'd never guess we were embarking on a month long tour in a vehicle little bigger than a people carrier, the only give away, the bikes strapped to the back sitting nicely above the backbox and easy base.

The California, fully laden with Thule towbar mounted easybase and 420 ltr back box, underneath a Vw bike rack.

 

 Phase 4 - Action.

M5 Southbound it was. Our van's got a 174 tiptronic, and cruise control, it's at home motorway cruising and in no time we reached the end of the M5, followed the satnav and there it was, California Cross. Yes, the Vw California had arrived at California Cross Caravan and camping club site in the village of California Cross in sunny Devon...perfect....only thing missing was the sun, but hey, it was August, this was no doubt just a shower and the sun would be with us the following morning. The site looked nice, level pitches, we had picked a grass one as it was August, with no hook up, as I wanted to properly assess the independence of the California.  We put the awning up in no time.  Attached it to the side of the van.  We lifted the rear mounted box (complete with rack) straight off the towbar and put it in the awning as a wardrobe. The Thule easy base is great in my opinion for giving that extra storage. It's simple to put together and comes complete with lights and electrics etc. so you plug it directly in to the tow bar electrics. It fits perfectly under the bike rack (Vw or Thule). The biggest draw back with this set up is that you can't open the boot of the California with a tow bar mounted easy base or back box fitted, however, it wasn't a problem for us to take it off, or failing that, as I had previously removed the 'stoppers' in the seat rails (see tips and tricks page) with the rear bench forward the luggage area can be accessed from the side door. Day one went very smoothly, everything nicely unpacked and in the awning.  We were home from home.  I decided to try out the 'Cobb' that evening.  You can use the Cobb like a bbq, but also for much more cooking, such as pizza's, cooked breakfasts, even roast dinners.  I shied away from being that adventurous for it's maiden voyage though, and stuck to good old fashioned bbq food!!  With the Cobb, you can get what are called 'cobblestones' as an alternative fuel to charcoal. These are funny looking round things that are made out of coconut shell I believe, require no firelighters and are hot within two minutes. They also provide a good couple of hours cooking heat, if the manufacturers claims were to be believed!!  I lit one up, and just as described, it smoked for less than two minutes and was then red hot and ready to cook over.  You could even put it in the awning to cook as it was pretty much smoke free.  I was most impressed, and even better, it fitted nicely in the California kitchen cupboard.  Talking of which, the Wavebox.  I loved the look of this funky little microwave.  If I was paying for it I'd have bought blue to match my van, but red was what they sent and beggars can't be choosers!!  From it's position in the cupboard, I could plug it in to my three pin socket on the side of the kitchen unit, however, as we were raw camping, we had no hook-up and so no mains electric. The lead wouldn't reach the 12v cigarette lighter  by the sliding door or in the dash, bring on my latest acquisition, a magcode powerclip pro with adapter. This basically attaches to a very unassuming 'socket' at the rear of the luggage compartment. You then unravel a nice lengthy lead which has a cigarette lighter style socket on the end of it..hey presto..I could now plug the Wavebox in without getting it out of the cupboard. The food 'cavity' in the Wavebox is quite small, which is to be expected as the external dimensions are quite small, hence why it fits in the cupboard.  The type of use we were intending for it though, meant that this wasn't an issue.  It even comes complete with a handy little coolbag.  I placed two half cups of milk in, for the children's bedtime. I pressed the 'coffee' button, thinking they should take about the same amount of time as a coffee. This brought up three minutes, pressed start and it whirred away nicely.  I sat back feeling pretty pleased with myself.  I remember thinking, I've got this off to a fine art.  The California looks neat and tidy, the awning is nicely set up, we've all eaten well from our first 'cobb' bbq meal, I've even got a microwave on the go, plugged in to the elusive magcode socket!  This month is going to be great, especially when this bit of rain stops.  After three minutes I took the children's milk out...and realised something was wrong...it was stone cold. Very strange, there was obviously power, because it was lit up and making noise, I could see on the California's display panel that the power being drawn from the auxiliary battery increased as the Wavebox was operating, and so I tried again, and again. After twenty one minutes, the children were twenty minutes past their bedtime and the milk was just warm enough. I was rather disappointed as I had been so pleased with the Wavebox until now, but the one function I had brought it to do, it had failed miserably at.  The children were put to bed, up in the California roof, and we sat down for a relax.  I took out the Wavebox instructions to see where I was going wrong, and the only clue was the fact that it said that cooking times may need to be increased if operating from the 12v source, and for optimum performance it should run from the mains or directly on to a battery.  Determined to try these claims out, I then decided to connect the Wavebox, via it's crocodile clip power supply, directly to the terminals of the auxiliary battery under the passenger seat.  An experimental cup of water went in (the microwave that is) and after three minutes it was hot.  A result, but not as easy as I had been hoping.  The next trial would have to be with hook up.  The following few days at California Cross passed without incident.  The Devon rain failed to cease, however, we made the most of it, visiting the local coastal towns of Kingsbridge, Salcombe and Dartmouth. This, I think, is where the California comes in to it's own. There's a lot to be said for caravans, however, during the day if you're out and about, then you're in your tow vehicle and you either have to go back to site for lunch and tea or else eat out (or I suppose if you were really organised, which isn't us, do pack lunches etc.).  We could spend all day out and about exploring without having a prior plan.  When you want a cup of tea, ( we are British of course..well I'm Irish but still enjoy my tea) you just find a nice view, which isn't difficult in Devon, park up, kettle on, and your away.  Lunch the same, and on some occasions, when we got carried away crabfishing in Kingsbridge harbour, we even got the Cobb out next to the van and cooked our evening meal on it, on the harbour side.  It was great, and attracted much envious looks from fellow tourists in the area!!  We were having great fun, and were keeping optimistic that the unusually damp weather would improve.  We met a family one night on the site who arrived in an imitation California.  They were forgiven when they explained that it was hired, because they were considering purchasing a 'real' California and wanted to try it out first.  Unfortunately for them, the hire company had let them down and were unable to supply the genuine article, so they made do with a van conversion.  I took them on a guided tour of ours, and when you compared the two vans, there was no competition, the interior appearance and finish on the California's are far superior and just made the brand new imitation look dated inside.  Apparently, they didn't even have a button to make the roof go up!!   As the rain continued, my decision to have a grass pitch with no hook up was not looking so good. The tyre marks in the grass were getting deeper and muddier to the point that I had to start parking the other side of my awning for the last two days for fear of getting stuck.  The magcode connector in the back, again proved useful for plugging the laptop in to downstairs and watching evening DVD's as the rain continued.

Thule Easy base and back box in the awning.                                  Cobb bbq cooking in the awning.

                                               


Phase 5 - Emergency action.


Week two and it was time to move to mid Devon.  Let's hope the inland weather will be better.  A very nice site, called Langstone Manor.  Very wet though, seems the weather all over had been poor.  Still no hookup, but as most days we used the van to be out and about this didn't matter.  We explored the lovely market town of Tavistock .  Drove down to Bigbury on Sea.  These were all beautiful places, even in pouring rain.  Just think how good this would be when the August sunshine arrives!!  It didn't, and the relentless rain started to take its toll on our optimism...and equipment.  The canvas sides of the California's elevating roof reached saturation point and started to let water in during the heavier downpours.  I remember thinking about the discussion forums relating to mutze caps, and wishing I'd paid more attention. The movelite awning also gave way to the elements.  Several leaks appeared and very quickly, pretty much everything we had was becoming sodden.   I thought a peak at the weather forecast may be a good idea to lift spirits.  We had no TV, and despite having a '3' mobile broadband stick, coverage in Devon was pretty non existent, and so we had to find an Internet cafe to check out longer term forecasts and give us something to look forward to.  Unfortunately, the outlook was bleak. The 7 day forecast for Devon and Cornwall was continued heavy rain.  Mrs Doyle intimated that the next move was going to be M5 northbound and home.  No way!  We were only less than two weeks in to our 'four week tour', we'd all got another couple of weeks off  work and school, and I wasn't going home whatever. Mrs Doyle was not so stubborn, however.  It was pointed out to me that that we had used our months supply of clothes, as we'd changed so often due to the mud and rain.  Despite washing, nothing could be dried. The awning was wet, the roof was wet and every other belonging not safely stowed within the van was wet. The bicycles, secured outside, were turning orange with rust, and Mrs Doyle was going to get the train back without me if I didn't want to accompany her...I did briefly consider this as an option, but when she said that the children would remain with me I knew that drastic measures were called for.

  The awning, otherwise known as a Chinese laundrette.

The next morning, a day trip to Plymouth....in the rain.  I pulled in to the port, went to the Brittany ferries office and enquired, when, where and how much to get out of this place??  Booked there and then, one way crossing, Plymouth to Roscoff, £194 leaving the following day at 1230hrs.  Mrs Doyle was now happy and the children excited again (although the 7 day forecast for Northern France still not particularly good).  We went back to site and started packing up.  It then dawned on us that we needed passports to travel to France.  Oh dear, no passports, they were 200 miles away at home as we had only intended touring Devon and Cornwall.  An emergency call was put in to the mother in law.  She gained entry to the Doyle residence and located four passports and posted them on an overnight delivery.  All happy again, I asked the owners of the campsite what time the posty arrived.  The reply somewhat unnerved me, 'it depends on how many tea stops he has' she replied with a broad grin.  This was not the answer I was looking for, as we had to be at the port by 1145hrs, which was half hour from the site!!  This would just about top it off, I thought.  £194 down the swanny, no ferry to France and still in a soaking wet UK with a long drive home and a Mrs and kids with even longer faces...fingers crossed eh.  The following morning arrived and nervous anticipation grew.  Our five year old was sent to stand guard for the postman's van entering the site.  We finalised the packing, when at about half past ten, he came running down the drive to our pitch screaming "the Passports are here, the passports are here". I don't think the rest of the site were that amused, as it continued to pour down, but we gave a smug wave and were off, our spirits lifted with anticipation of our new adventure. 

Goodbye UK                                                                      Bonjour Francais!!


                     

True to form, Mrs Doyle managed to feel sick as a parrot on this huge vessel that the rest of the passengers could hardly feel was moving??  Another £30 quid down the drain so that she could suffer in a cabin instead of on full view.   A mere 5 hours later and we arrived.  My no.1 purchase on the ferry was the French phrasebook, and a European atlas, as our Sat nav was UK only. The only plan we had was to head South.  We picked a route, the roads seemed pretty good, and I soon got used to driving on the 'other' side.  The California was easy with it's car like dimensions, even when we took a wrong turn in to the windy backstreets of a town.  It was even better on the motorways and main roads of France, which I found very well signed and easy to navigate.  We drove late in to the night. The children fell asleep and so we decided to make as much progress as possible.  Mrs D even had a go at driving!!  We eventually stopped near to La Rochelle, where we saw a sign for 'camping a la ferme' or similar.  We rocked up in the blue beast, along an unlit dirt track at about 2am. I reversed on to a bit of hard standing at the entrance, put the roof up (with the push of a button of course) and turned in for the night.  We were awoken at about 8am by loud talking outside.  Mrs Doyle peaked through the 'window' in the roof and could see an elderly French couple talking.  We hadn't a clue what they were saying, however, it was clearly us or the van that they were referring to, as they kept pointing.  I'd like to think they were admiring the California.  When I got out I realised it may have been the fact that I had reversed in to their plant pots.  Despite being a highly trained and skilled advanced driver (I'd like to think) this was an easy mistake with the 'Easy base' on the back.  The parking sensors on the rear don't work with it fitted, it sticks out 2-3', and you can't see it in the mirrors.  Coupled with the fact that it had been pitch black and I was knackered when we'd arrived, it was probably lucky that I hadn't reversed over their house!!  In any case, as I pointed out to Mrs D when she brought up the subject of my driver training, "They never assessed me at reversing, I can't help it if I'm only good going forwards".  Anyway, out came the phrase book "bonjour, est-ce que vous parlez anglais?  I directed towards the farmer and his wife in my finest brummy French.  This was met with a blank look and a shake of the head. Oh dear,  I had to rack the memory banks for a bit of GCSE French, "C'est combien pour dernier nuit, sil vous plait?", I was very proud of this, especially as the old farmer seemed to understand.  He wrote '11 Euros' on a scrap of paper and passed it to me.  I paid, we used their facilities and headed off South again.  Next stop, after a whistle stop tour of La Rochelle was Toulouse for another overnighter.  We were still sun seeking, as the weather was a little indifferent and we had decided that we were going to get sun whatever now, as we'd come this far.  We continued down until we reached Perpignan.  At last, the elusive sunshine, the Pyrenees (Yes, we had almost reached Spain) the Mediterranean and heat..oh yes!!  Not a lot of choice on campsites, as many were booked (we discovered it was main holiday weeks for the French as well) and I think that the majority of the French population had also chosen to holiday in Perpignan.            

Phase 6 - Sun, sea, sand and surf (well kayaking anyway).

We chose the first place we found with a vacancy, apart from the naturist site we made the mistake of pulling on to.  It was an easy mistake, looked like a beautiful setting until we met an 80yr old couple, dressed in nothing but flip flops walking towards us...why are they never 20yr old Swedish girls who particularly like each others company, I asked myself??  A hasty retreat was made and we soon found a more traditional site.  I've got to say though, it wasn't quite up to the standards we were used to on UK pitches, in terms of facilities and cleanliness, however, we'd found the sun, the beach and we were going to enjoy it.  My French came on leaps and bounds.  We had hookup, the wavebox worked a treat when plugged in, the magcode adapter was working great, life was good.  The Cobb was proving to be particularly useful for broadening our menu options, although, the sites did have a no bbq rule, which  we may have broken.  I justified this to myself on the basis that when the Cobb is going, it is still cold to touch on the outside.  You can pick it up and place it on a table and so I convinced myself that it would be OK (and it was).  We had cooked fish, pizza's, curry, roast Lamb, superb roast potatoes, fried breakfast, you name it, it really was very good.  I'd used the Wavebox to cook jacket potatoes, heat croissants and warm plenty of milk.  We really were getting this 'comfort camping,' as I call it in the California, off to a tee!!

Mrs Doyle showing off her culinary expertise with the Cobb.

After about a week on the south coast, we decided to head in land and explore a different aspect of French camping.  Not wanting to leave it as much to chance this time with the campsite, I had a flash of inspiration when out and about one day.  I had noticed a 'Wi-fi' sign on a McDonald's, yes, good old Ronald McDonald.  He seemed to have got all over France, I'm no great fan of McDonald's cuisine, however, if one pulls up in to their car park, you can sit in your van, with a laptop in hand, and connect to Ronald's Wi fi for free.  Beautiful, I was back in touch with civilisation, found a UK campsite review site and a recommended place, just outside of a village called Ebreuil, just north of Clermont Ferrand.  It looked perfect, sat right along side a river, the village was within walking distance and the facilities had a good 'write up'.  Off we headed immediately.  After another few hundred miles of French motorway, across one of the most spectacular bridges I've ever experienced, Viaduc du millau, we were there.  A beautiful little campsite, just outside of a typically French village.  The site was on a rivers described, lovely facilities, very lush and green.  Even better than anticipated in my opinion.  Not only that, but the English speaking owners would even cook an evening meal for you if required (for a fee obviously).  We originally booked in for one night, however, the weather was glorious and the area so nice that we ended up staying for another four and doing a bit of kayaking on the river, sampling the local vino etc. and just relaxing.  It was that good that I almost regretted spending the first week on the south coast.  We met a lovely retired couple from Ross on Wye, John and Mo, who had been touring France in various forms of transport for the last 30 years (currently on a two month tour in a large coachbuilt mobile home).  It was the tenth year they had been to this particular site.  They gave us loads of advice and tips, only wish we'd met them at the planning stage rather than the end of our tour...then realised we hadn't actually had a planning stage...never mind!!

 The California on a deserted beach in the south of France, near Port-la-Nouvelle.

Kayaking in Ebreuil.

Phase 7 - Homeward bound.

And so we were nearing the end.  It had been three and half weeks since we'd left home.  We had no return trip booked.  We hadn't even decided what port or form of cross channel transport to take.  In typical Doyle/California style, we headed off north towards the coast and played it by ear.  If necessary, we could pull in and find somewhere nearer to the ports to park up and spend a last night or two in France.  As it turned out, we made really good progress cruising up the motorway towards Calais, in fact, that good that we just kept driving.  The only stop we made was for some provisions for supper.  We arrived In Calais, followed the signs for the Tunnel (as recommended by John and Mo, the retired couple from Ross) and there we were.  We enquired at the booth as to the cost of the ticket, was told 200 odd euros one way.  Mrs Doyle then had a flash of inspiration, I'm still not quite sure where from.  She enquired as to the cost of a return ticket, leaving now and returning at 8am the following day??  I was a little bemused but pleased when it came up at less than £100.  I'm still not quite sure how that works, but I wasn't going to argue.  We drove down on to the train, turned the front seats around and all sat round the table for supper.  Numerous other passengers, who had got out of their vehicles for a leg stretch looked amazed, as they could see us in the only first class dining cabin on the Eurotunnel (I stopped short of lighting the Cobb Though).  I couldn't believe it.  I had literally just placed my last mouthful of food in, when the children shouted "daylight daddy"   We were in the UK, less than half an hour after leaving Calais.  This was the only way to cross the channel.  Even Mrs Doyle could find an ailment....although, come to think of it, her ears did pop.

We just had time to turn the seats around and we were off.  Straight out of the port, on to the motorway.  The sat-nav worked again, not that we needed it as there was motorway from the Tunnel, all the way to within two miles of home...M20, M26, M25, M40, M42.  The kids fell asleep and so we kept rolling.  We didn't have a single hold up and were back in Worcestershire in just over a couple of hours.  Much as I love the California, it was nice to be home.  We had after all, driven from central France to central England in pretty much an afternoon. 

Conclusion.

We were about a day under four weeks, of four of us living 24/7 in the family car.  We'd had no TV and the children (or us) didn't seem to miss it.  We'd traveled through two countries, numerous counties and regions, on a ferry, a train under the sea, and covered 2000 miles in our van.  We'd been on walks in the cold, wind and rain, cycle rides along the beach front in blazing Mediterranean sunshine, and paddled through white water rapids on inland waterways in picturesque central France.  We all still loved each other, and despite the British weather doing it's best to ruin the first couple of weeks, we had had a truly wonderful time.  I don't think we'd have had the flexibility to 'jump ship' from Devon to France on the spur of the moment if we'd been caravaner's or tent campers.   This overpriced and oversized family car that we had, was home to us for four weeks, and I can't even think of any negative points about it really. If we'd have had to stay in pouring rain for all four weeks in the van, it may have put a 'dampener' on things perhaps, but that's the point of the California I realised.  You don't have to do anything.  If you don't like where you are, you move on.  If you're in search of sun and the sun won't come, then you can go to the sun.   It's as simple as that.  The van will do whatever you want it to do, you just need imagination.

As for accessories, I'm on the lookout for a better awning (although, if I was in sunnier climes all of the time,  I'd just have the fixed, pull out awning and wouldn't bother with a drive away).  I think I'll invest in a Mutze cap of some description for our next tour.  The Wavebox, despite the issues of power from 12v and internal dimensions, I'd still definitely buy one.  You'd think it was made for the California cupboard, it looks funky and if you look at is as a 'dual' power rather than 'tri' power, it does the job perfectly.  Magcode power clip pro, does exactly what it should and allows owners to utilise an otherwise unused power source in the van, always a bonus.  Vw could do worse than provide one of these for every owner, and fit another one on the end kitchen cupboard!!  The cobb speaks for itself, I wouldn't personally have it as my sole source of cooking, however, it again stows nicely in the California and greatly increases the range of cooking available.  Finally, Thule.  They did exactly what they were supposed to.  Perhaps the only product that we wouldn't have been able to manage without, as we needed the extra storage for a trip this long, otherwise the interior of the van would have been just too cluttered.  The biggest drawback with this is the fact that the tailgate will not open with the towbar mounted easy base fitted.  As I mentioned earlier though, we overcame this by, first of all taking it off when we arrived at site, and then in France we left it attached for the duration and accessed the rear from the side door with the bench right forward.  We also had a change around, and decided that clothes would be better in the van, probably in bags or a suitcase for this length of trip (stowed under the rear shelf) and the rear box used for all of the other stuff (awning, porta potti, foldable kitchen, buckets, spades etc.etc).

Thanks for taking the time to read about our lengthy tour.  If anyone would like to know more about anything mentioned, feel free to ask either via the facebook forum or e-mail.  I reckon we hold the record for longest period four people (well 2 adults and two children) have spent in a California .  If anyone would care to challenge me on that I'll stand corrected!!  If anyone wants to have a go at it, I'll post a blog of their tour on the site (so long as you write it yourself). 

Incidentally, Wavebox have responded to my comment about the 12v functionality of their product as follows;

"Thanks for the honest feedback. I do have one question on the 12v operation. Do you know the amperage on your interior power connection? We don't recommend using the "cigarette lighter" power cord in vehicles with lower than 20 amps, due to the very issue you mentioned. There is definitely a sacrifice in power (175w vs 660w) when using the vehicle power outlet cord, but I'm wondering if the vehicle amperage was more of an issue here."

Perhaps they are correct, however, either way, in the California this was an issue.  Having said that, once I was aware of it, it was easily overcome either by using a hookup or the battery terminals.  Newer vans also have an inverter now I believe, which would probably also solve the problem!!

Thanks again to Ringautomotive for supplying the Magcode accessories and  Wavebox for the microwave.  Congratulations to Cobb and Thule for making excellent solutions for California owners, in my opinion.

Websites for the items mentioned are listed below; if you click on them you will be directed.  If you haven't got a California yet, get one, you only live once, enjoy life!!  Don't forget to give my Vw California sponsors first refusal when getting a quote!!

http://www.thewavebox.co.uk/                            (microwave)

http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/                       (Magcode)

http://cobb-bbq.co.uk/                                           (bbq)

http://www.thule.com/default____5232.aspx  (Thule vehicle accessories/storage)

*******Incidentally, as we were not satisfied with the local range of Thule products and knowledge of staff about compatibility with the California, we're going to start supplying genuine Thule products ourselves.  This service will be coming soon, however, any Thule products (for any vehicle) are available to order immediately, at very competitive prices.  E-mail for details or look out for the forthcoming link on the site. vwcalifornia@hotmail.co.uk*******