We've been used to driving around in 'Julian'...a small (4.7m x 1.8m) 23 year old Talbot Symphony Express campervan. Without power assisted steering the driving was heavy so both driver muscle and concentration were needed. The two front seats were not the most comfortable in the world either. Internally the loo was a porta potty, which needed emptying regularly by removing the whole unit from the van, and the cooker consisted of two gas-powered rings. With so little space available internally the setting up of sleeping arrangements was also struggle. On the plus side, the van was the size as a car, so we were able to park in village and small town car parks with fair ease. Julian also had the 'cute' factor which attracted smiling comments from those we met and cheery waves from other Talbot drivers.
Wilby is an entirely different matter. She's a hefty van in comparison with Julian and she makes her presence known! The very first things we noticed when test driving the vehicle was that other drivers gave way, simply because Wilby is big and white and 'in your face'. Notably at that time, the general comfort of the seats and the power assisted steering offered a pleasant experience for both driver and passenger. Internally two single beds are permanently in position, the cooker, oven and sink are both of 'normal' size and there's space for a microwave oven too. The shower is full size and the toilet facilities comfortable, with cassette toilet emptying externally. The amount of storage space at first appeared amazing!
Having made these initial comparisons...we will continue to the day when Wilby Fyne came home.
We had removed all our possessions from Julian, so these were transferred to Wilby, based upon the assumption that everything was needed and that it would all surely fit into the new cupboards and with room to spare. In fact, although this was the case, we discovered a lack of useful fittings within the new cupboards. Whereas Julian's cupboards had fitted plate racks and pan supports at convenient eye-level, Wilby had bare cupboard space positioned well above the eyebrows or else well below the knees. Julian's display shelves being narrow were convenient for holding CD's and books...whereas Wilby only had a couple of small rounded corner shelves that were of no practical use.
So I went out and purchased some baskets to fit into the new cupboards. These can easily lifted out to peruse contents. Without these, I would have simply been stuffing things into the bare cupboard spaces and felt confident in assuming that whatever stuff went in would slide around during the journey and fall out the moment a cupboard door was opened!
However...all this said...everything we need has been fitted in now and there is more storage space in Wilby than in Julian.
When travelling, and overnight, our dog had a sectioned off area by the rear kitchen when driving in Julian. We'd made a simple slide-down Perspex board between the wall and fridge which kept her secure. It worked well...so with this in mind we've just fitted two strips of conduit to the sides of the shower cubicle externally for a similar Perspex screen. Roxy therefore has a bigger space than previously, and it's easy to remove the partition and her cushion from the area when we need to use the shower.
We move on now to our first outing. We went for a run locally and upon visiting a Leisure Park found that the free car park area was pretty full. Looking around we'd have found it difficult, though not impossible, to park Julian. However, there certainly wasn't an available space large enough for Wilby, although a few motorhomes had already parked, so on a less busy day this wouldn't have been the case. Anyway...we drove on a bit further and found a car park near the sea front where Motorhomes were welcome (although paid for).
On the second outing, again locally but in a different direction, we were able to park on the roadside within parkland without any charge or difficulty. In actual fact we're becoming used to the size of Wilby now. Although she's noticeably bigger than Julian she's not actually huge...we see a great many vans that are far bigger. So far so good!