The New Camping Trailer

Yes... with bleeding heart I am giving up going on vacation with my trusty Eccles 1963 which my father purchased before my birth and of which I have thousands of fond memories from family vacations as a kid and young adult, and which have given my kids their first vacations abroad, namely in Italy, Spain/Catalonia, and Sweden.

The kids, notably Anna, have grown out of the bunks in the Eccles (Anna has a condition with the knees and cannot sleep with her legs stretched, so I slept under Lea on our trip to Sweden this summer), so it was time to find another solution.

I joined a couple of groups about camping on Facebook, and fairly soon I came across this Wilk from 1989 - which was for sale in Kirkeby, only about 10 kilometers from here.

The girls and I went there to have a look, and both Anna and Lea immediately took a fancy to it - especially the unoriginal upper bunk over the front seating area seemed perfect, as Anna in particular needs some space when sleeping.

We pondered a bit about it, then went there again, this time with my wife so that she could have a closer look.

In the meantime, I looked at a lot of other caravans, but most of them either did not have bunks (a definite must), had too short bunks, or were well outside our current financial reach.

The rear end

So, when the owners contacted us some days later to tell us, they had a couple of other interested parties, we decided to buy it.

As soon as we got it home (about a week later, because we had some firewood delivered and needed to get it into the shed to clear the driveway), Anna and Lea moved in.

They actually right away set about 'decorating' the bunk area (which can be closed off with a couple of sliding doors), and slept in the trailer several nights just at the end of their summer holidays.

The bathroom/toilet room

Lea in the top bunk

I never thought I would be the owner of a camping trailer/caravan with a bathroom/toilet room (which I, frankly, find a bit obsolete, as most camping sites I have ever visited have had sterling sanitary facilities). I may come in handy at those rare occations when no public toilet is available, and somebody really needs to go, but I expect it to be used mainly for storage, and/or changing clothes.

Being almost 30 years old, of course the trailer has some wear and tear.

I had to get a front light replaced before inspection (older caravans must pass an inspection when changing owner), and one of the support legs had to have a bushing or socket (not sure which term is right) replaced for it to work - but now only minor stuff needs doing, which we should be able to do ourselves.

My biggest concern with this is our current car. The trailer is about twice as heavy as the old Eccles, and we only sport a 1.6 motor in the Suzuki.

The former owners told us, they drove the trailer with 1.4 motor at first, and that it, of course, required using the gears a lot, so I expect that if we stay away from too many mountains, we should be fine.

I still intend to persuade my wife to get a car with at least a 1.8 motor the next time, though, as I fear that long trips may wear down the Suzuki a bit too much...