ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE

Hay, everyone meet Vera, Vera Bubbles. She was born in 99, is a former AA van and in general is a 2.5lt bright yellow shitbox of a T4.... and she is my baby.  

I first met her back in February 2022. It was an eventful process to say the least. I had done a lot of planning and research and I was torn between the T4 with its indestructible and dependable 2.5lt engine (provided you keep it serviced regularly and keep an eye on its timer belt) and the Ford transit that is roughly the same size but drives more like a car for people with less experience in vans.

I came across vera right back at the beginning of my search for listings but she was too far away, but her interior was already much how I wanted it. So, it would still be a project but a quicker and much cheaper one. But it wasn’t long before I found one in hull. It was empty inside but was only asking 6K. I already had 3 saved up. so, I got a 5k loan (to give me plenty of wiggle room getting it converted and the engine a very good service). I had the money and the plans, so the day before I was booked to view it and take it home, I called to check what time I could arrive and he informed me he had just sold it to his friend and they have just driven it away. Dick!

So, I had 8k in savings and for reasons I can't remember I had to spend fast. So, it was back to the drawing board and now I had a deadline. The vans in my area were either pre 95 or had already been converted and was well above my price range. Time was ticking and I needed a van. I had vera saved as an example of how I wanted the interior laid out and I noticed it was still available. So, I called in a favour with Alex and asked if I pay for everything could he come with me to Exmouth and driver her back for me (I had just failed my driving test a month or 2 before so I needed a driver and Alex has driven and worked with vans since he was 17-18 at his joinery apprenticeship).  

Getting the Van

The journey itself was eventful to say the least. Starting with booking the hotel. I decided it was best to go down the night before and drive back in one go. I found that literally all the hotels were fully booked in the town centre itself but I managed to find an inn just across a small river. Piece of cake so I thought. Firstly, we got to the inn fairly late in the day to find there was nowhere to eat. The bar downstairs didn’t serve food after 7 and the nearest take aways were an hour or so away. On top of that when we arrived the bar had a good 8-10 people in it, all laughing and talking happily. As soon as the bar keeper saw I only had booked one room the happy atmosphere dropped and everyone just seemed "off" ( I had only booked the one room as the pictures on their site showed the rooms had a sofa, so I offered the bed to Alex and I was to take that instead). That wasn’t the case the room was small, dingey, it slanted to one side so a ball would easily roll to the corner and the Tv was exactly like in that episode of the Office where Michael shows off his 17inch Tv, that "folds right into the wall". It was shit. 

Now if you look at me and Alex side to side, we don’t look alike. In Italy people confused us as a couple. So, I knew exactly what was going on. The place was also really homophobic. It didn't make much difference when I started talking a little lounder calling him "Bro" or saying things like "I'll call mum to let her know where safe". I was cemented when I was in the bar downstairs looking for a takeaway when I smiled at a woman that made eye contact with me walking passed and she gave me a confused dirty look. I felt like standing up and shouting, "He's my brother you set of backward hicks". But I really couldn’t care less about the opinion of people like that. 

After an uncomfortable night sharing a bed with my brother I decided to head down the news agents for some snacks and a few energy drinks to get us through the morning. we woke up early to make sure we had plenty of time and it was a good job I did. 

I headed outside to gail force winds, I had forgot my coat, so I headed back up to get it. When I got back outside, I was greeted with a young woman sat on the floor holding a poor old lady that had been blown over and bust open her face. I called an ambulance (and as it was the middle of nowhere, was at least an hour away) so I was tending to the Doris the old lady and thankfully some hikers walked by and offered their first aid kits. So there I was holding her face lacerations closed as the young woman knocked on the houses to see if we could get her indoors somewhere warm and out the wind. Eventually she spoke to a couple that lived next door to the Inn and literally just left me there with Doris. 

Doris had dementia and kept asking why I was holding her face. I calmed her as best I could but that was about all I could do at that point.  After some time of me wondering what to do, the couple finally came out to help. They had a lot of questions like when did it happen, who is she, when is the ambulance getting here? Unfortunately, I didn’t know half of it because I wasn’t first to help her. We manged to get her in safe and comfy waiting for the paramedic to arrive. About 50 minutes after I first found her the ambulance arrived and took over. I spoke to the paramedic and gave them my number so they can contact me on her condition. I called Alex to tell him what happened as I continued to the news agents. In there I was talking to the woman behind the counter, luckily she knew Doris and assured me she will go see her when she could. Apparently, Doris would go on the supply run in there for other elderly residents near her home. Thankfully from what I know everyone is ok now.     

Now good deed of the day done, it was on to pick up Vera. Me and Alex set off to the little harbour to get the boat across aaaannnnd, it wasn’t running that day. FFS

On to plan B. The bus, I was gunna take an hour or so to get around the river. But took us an hour and a half because my phone lost signal and I missed the stop we was meant to change at. Overall been an amazing trip. Eventually we got into town. I withdrew the last of the money I needed. Never felt more like a drug dealer, counting out 5k in an envelope in my inside pocket. We met the couple and they drove us around the town. I was so annoyed at how nice that side of Exmouth was, it was lovely, surfer on the beach, nice shops, great houses and everyone seemed really nice.

Vera was amazing and even though it had A LOT of miles on the clock 280,000 at the time it was still running spot on. It had Definity been looked after. I had to ask, why was the asking for only 5k they looked confused and said that seemed quite a lot in that area for its age. It wasn’t until we started to drive round and head home, I realised. Vera was and is a great little van. It was the area that was the reason. Literally every 4th or 5th car was a camper of some sort, usually the more modern VW T5’s. They were everywhere!! It seemed the main sort of transport. Probably the surfing community aspect. No wonder they only wanted 5k any higher and people could by a newer or more generically converted one in the next road over. But I didn’t live here so I was happy with my little Vera.

I planned originally to call the van Bubbles, but the couple had followed the car naming rules and used its reg as the starting letter. So, Vera stuck and bubbles is now a middle name. She only gets called Vera bubbles when she’s in trouble.

After that she spent a bit of time  in my parking spot at home, I was still doing lessons and wasn’t used to van driving yet. Unfortunately her battery has died a couple of times since due to lack of use but as of the end of this month (April 2023) I’m gunna treat her to a new battery and a bigger leisure battery now I’m one job away from her being completely finished.