The story so far

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We have been tent campers all our lives, but during a trip to New Zealand in 2006 we hired a motorhome to tour the Southern Alps. We soon realised that for us this would be the ideal form of transport and accommodation for the extensive European travelling we intend to do during our retirement.

When we got home to the U.K., we visited an exhibition to find out what was on offer and after a fair amount of soul searching we settled on a Murvi Morello based on the latest model Fiat Ducato.

Why did we choose a Morello? It soon became apparent that from the myriad of choices we had, there were two main considerations. Firstly size and secondly practicability.

The Morello is a panel van conversion and we preferred this to coach built type because it seems to be less wide, of more solid construction and has the advantage, to our minds, of a large sliding door. We were originally going to have a small van with a lift up roof e.g. Murvi Mirage, but from our New Zealand experience and looking at the alternatives we soon came to the conclusion that a larger van would give far more comfortable living conditions during our planned lengthy trips without restricting us to where we could take it.

There is a wide choice of converters, both British and overseas based, providing the size of van we had settled on. We chose the Morello because:

• It has a light coloured fabric interior giving a sense of space.

• The sliding door is not obstructed by seating.

• The lounge area seems very roomy, has several different seating configurations and can carry up to five forward facing passengers.

• The kitchen area has plenty of working space and is separate from the lounge.

• With the use of programmable diesel fired heating, refillable gas cylinders and an inboard water tank, the van appears to be able to operate in remote locations and is well equipped to cope with varying weather conditions.

• It is provided with plenty of natural and artificial lighting which should help Wendy who has very poor eyesight.

• It is fitted with a Thatcham category 1 alarm (a big advantage when obtaining insurance quotes) to provide us with added security.

We have made several additions to the basic specification:

• A 3 litre engine, cruise control and air conditioning to make long distance journeys easier and more comfortable.

• A maxi van, solar panel, water purification and side awning to increase flexibility of use.

• Metallic paint to make the van prettier.

• Driver’s airbag, ESP,upgraded passenger seat belts and head restraint to improve safety.

• Parking sensor to hopefully reduce the likelihood of me backing into things.

• Bike rack because we always carry them when we go camping.

• TV, DVD and manual satellite system to keep us entertained and in touch with home news during our long trips.

• Curtained cab divider to make the bedroom conversion quicker.

• Upgraded roof light and SOG toilet because we thought they were worthwhile improvements.

Time will tell whether all these were worth the money.

We placed the order in June 2006 and have really enjoyed the intervening period deciding on the final specification for the van, choosing upholstery and carpets and purchasing bedding, kitchen equipment and all the other bits and pieces that we think we will need. It’s been like furnishing a second home. I have also spent many hours poring over motorhome magazines in the hope of increasing my knowledge of the subject!

One interesting exercise was the choice of motoring and breakdown insurance. I telephoned all the specialist insurers that I had seen advertising and soon discovered that most included restrictions in the annual mileage and length of time the vehicle could be used in mainland Europe. The two most flexible in these respects were Comfort and Safeguard.They also gave me the lowest quotes, probably because they were prepared to take account of the lengthy claim free period I have on my car which I intend to keep. In the end I chose Safeguard because they had unlimited mileage and included insurance for any driver over 25 at what I considered to be a reasonable additional premium.

Tomorrow we take delivery of our new pride and joy. Read this blog to keep up to date with our adventures using it.

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