Undeceivable - Moonraker Zen

Campervan Song by Neil Hannon and co.

Why? Who Cares?!

Driving back after having watched Paranormal Activity (quite good and quite scary!) I was trying to work out why it's so much fun driving a T25.

And then I relaxed again and continued to sing along to Homeless by Paul Simon:

"Homeless, homeless
  Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake"

Rain and Wind - Second Camp in the Moonraker

Despite the rain and wind and cold, I had a good time in my van.

This time I went even more local to a lovely little camp site in Stoke Hammond. I was surrounded by 5 caravans but no-one was about and it felt like I had the place to myself...and the barking dog...and singing birds...canal boats passing...walkers...bikers...horses...and cows. 

I pretty much followed the same routine as last time - set up the pop-top, make some lunch, do my Zazen, watch some TV I'd downloaded, do more Zazen, go for walks along the canal, and make far too much mash potato but eat it all very fast! I'd taken along my guitar and recording equipment but didn't really feel like making music so like last time, I went into the pop-top at around 9 and got ready to sleep. After about half an hour, the rain and wind came, so rather than risk being blown away, I took the pop-top down and got out the rock 'n roll bed. I slept so well down there, from 10-7!

When I got up it was still pretty cold and miserable so I had a nice hot shower followed by a coffee. Then sat my Zazen.

Then I had a craving to write a nice tune on the piano/keyboards - well, actually, during Zazen I started thinking up some lyrics. So I set up my Mac and did some music for an hour or so. It was lovely to play music with the door open and the pop-top up. When I got back I added some vocals. So here's my first Moonraker song (watch out because the bass is VERY loud and the drums might explode your ear-drums):

It Was Always Gunna Happen This Way

Anyway, enough about me and my blah, blah adventures. Here are some pictures:

3.5C Start: Check!

My van has to be able to start in the mid-winter in the middle of the countryside, so today was a good day to test it - it's freeeezing!

Well, it didn't start first time, but it did start second time! Oh, yeah. It sounded like someone would feel if they'd been left outside all night and then told to wake up quickly - it grumbled a little, but eventually got itself up and running.

Today I'm off to a nice little camp site near Stoke Hammond, by the river Ouzel. I gave up on the wild camping idea round here as I'm pretty sure I'd be sharing any spot with a gang of boy-racers...

And I'm going Japanese for dinner - rice, fish, and soup.

A Desktop Too Far?

Cruising in the Moonraker...

Well, I think I'm starting to get used to the commute in the Moonraker now, although I still much prefer the open road where it's not about the destination but more about enjoying the journey.

In the evenings I like to go out for a little adventure in it, get the pop-top up and have a smoke outside while looking it over. Today I went up a 12% incline with no problems, through the woods, and down some pretty narrow and bumpy roads. I stopped off on a lay-by on the way back and parked in front of a big lorry with the driver sat in the driver's seat. He'd be much better off in a huge campervan, I thought to myself - he could make himself a coffee, have a lie down, or even cook himself a meal. Instead he has to eat at Little Chefs and make do with a flask of coffee...

I've got to plan my next adventure for this weekend. I think I may wild camp just to see what that's like or go to another camp site and take my EMU, guitar, and laptop and pen my first Moonraker song.

1st Camp in my Moonraker

It doesn't really feel like I've been out camping during high winds and heavy rain - the Moonraker makes it all pretty comfortable really.

I arrived in Sharnbrook at 12:30 and met the friendly camp site owner. He was impressed with my shiny new campervan - he's a motorcycle mechanic and many years ago used to drive old Bays and Splitties to tow his motorcycles!

After setting up my pop-top and listening to a bit of Paul Simon's Graceland, I made my lunch - sausage toasties and some Lilt. After lunch, I cleaned the hob and grill, did the washing up, had a smoke (outside of course!) and then chilled. After a bit of Zazen, I headed out for a walk and bought the Guardian.

When I got back I did my 30 minutes of Zazen - which went very quickly - and before I knew it, it was time to eat more food again! For dinner, I made a massive portion of Smash and 4 sausages...and drank some more Lilt! After dinner, I cleaned the hob and grill and did the washing up - with such a small living space, I can't leave the washing up till the next morning! After setting myself up in the pop-top sleeping area, I started to watch the Wizard of Oz, but by the time the Munchkins showed up, I started to fall asleep and drifted somewhere over the rainbow...

I ended up falling asleep at 9pm - I'm mad me! I woke up at 10:30pm thinking I'd slept for years, then woke up again at 3:30am and again at 5:30am. Then I finally got up at six and did some more Zazen - there's not much else to do! The rest of the morning was spent walking round my van checking it was OK, or just generally admiring it like some campervan obsessed weirdo...which I have become!

My van didn't miss a beat either: it drove well, started first time in the morning, kept me pretty warm during the night - only slept under a thin duvet in the pop-top - and thanks to the grill, hob, and fridge, kept me well fed too! I paid the extra two pounds to try out the electric hook-up but didn't need it really - the leisure battery kept the lights fed, my Mac had 3 hours worth of battery power left, and the rest is all gas! Pretty good really.

The only thing I felt I could have done with, was an awning - just a roofed area where I could get outside without getting rained on, but I was OK sitting on the floor of my van with my legs poking out...

Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

 

Wake Up, It's Christmas!

I don't usually wake up at 6:30 on a Saturday, but today I had a strange feeling it was Christmas day: I woke up excited and felt in a hurry to go downstairs and see all the presents under the tree. But there is no tree...just a van waiting for its first adventure.

A Formula for Happiness

(Graceland + Trompe le Monde + Doolittle + Devon Moonraker + Guitar) x Zazen - (Excitement divided by packets of crisps consumed too fast)  = Happiness.

Keeping it Cool

Today I got the fridge up and running. It's a weird feeling to know that this van I drive to work and back in, actually has 2 beds, a fridge, 2 hobs, a grill, a CD player, and a water pump and sink. If on the way to work, the universe exploded apart from the road I was on, I could re-start civilization from the back of my van!

Anyway, the fridge is pretty easy to get going and works off the main battery when moving and then off the gas bottle when stationary. I've just set it up and will have a look later to see how cold it gets.

I'm planning to go on my first proper adventure in the van this weekend. It's lovely to drive anywhere, but it's not really made for going round roundabouts all day, so it'll be fun to cruise down country roads, get the pop-top up and cook some food - not all at the same time. I'm going to make a proper dinner too - not sure what yet - and then cook a full English Breakfast in the morning. And of course, do a bit of Zazen.

Oh, the simple things!

You Drive a Bus!

On the way back from work today I stopped off at the petrol station to fill up, and met a lady from work. She pointed at my van and said, "You drive a bus! Do you have a large family?"

Nope it's just me.

Moonraker is Back!

After a week off the road with a snapped alternator-belt, my Moonraker is back.
I'll be glad to be rid of riding on public transport, if I'm honest. Here's a sample conversation I heard the other day on the bus: (I've put asterisks in the place of swear words)

Guy 1 - *********** ****** ***** *****!!
Guy 2 - Yeah, ****** ***** ******!!
Guy 1 - Yeah, but you're a ****** as well!
Guy 1 - You really think that you *********!! You're a complete ******!
Guy 2 - You're a bit vexed today, aren't ya?
Guy 1 - **** **!!

Instead of listening to that, I'll be happy in my Moonraker, perched slightly above the world and leaning on my quite large steering wheel which I quite love.

Too Young To Drive?

My little nephew having a drive of my Moonraker:

Moonraker Pictures

Finally, I had daylight to take some pictures of my Moonraker:

 

 

My first night in the Moonraker was pretty cool - it was blowing a mighty gale outside and was raining sporadically, but inside it was nice and cosy.

I watched the final episode of Collision before getting into my van with my sleeping bag, pillow, blanket, laptop with Holiday on DVD, Zafu for night Zazen, and some water. With the rock 'n roll bed rock 'n rolled and me tucked up inside the sleeping bag, it was warm and I didn't feel cold during the night, although I could have done with a duvet for just general cosy factor. I didn't sleep all the way through because the wind would rock the Moonraker every now and then and I kept thinking I was being burgled! Great fun though and really felt like a little home away from home - a 10 second walk.

I generally - for the past 3 years anyway- avoid shopping. Well not anymore! I managed to spend over an hour walking around Halfords. Got myself 5L of diesel oil and some Velcro pads. I also found a nice 12V cigarette lighter inverter, so I can charge my laptop while the engine is running, which will be good for times when I'm not staying on a campsite or just don't want to pay the hook-up fee. It's £40 so I might wait before I invest in that.

All in all, a perfect, rainy and windy day.

Camping on the Drive

Well, Mr. Mechanic was too busy this week, so it's going to be Tuesday. It's a shame because if I had the guts, it's an easy thing to fix really - I had a look on YouTube and a little kid of 4 was putting on a fan-belt with his dad. Looked well easy! But I don't think he bled the radiator...
Anyway, so because I can't actually go anywhere in my Moonraker this weekend, I'm going to try sleeping in it tonight. I'll have some hot water, maybe take my guitar in, sleeping bag and blanket, and see what it's like being in it all night. Quite excited! If it's crap I might take it back...(obviously I'm joking)

Taking the Wrong Bus to Work

On Monday night, I took Dad out for a spin in the Moonraker and after ten minutes or so, the temperature gauge went up to three quarters and the red light started flashing. We pulled over, checked the water tank behind the number plate - which seemed fine - and set off again. For five minutes or so I kept my eye on the gauge which was still pretty high and then just as we were a mile or so from home, the red light started to flash again.
I parked up and Dad noticed a boiling sound from the water tank. When I checked an hour or so later the tank was empty!
The next day, I filled up the tank with a mixture of coolant and water and thought it was safe to drive my Moonraker into work. I managed a few miles before the gauge went right up and the light started flashing again.
I limped back home and took the wrong bus to work - an MK Bus as opposed to my Moonraker bus!

Anyway, I'd snapped the fan belt. How do I know that? Because it was dangling from the engine! It should be fixed tomorrow and me and my Moonraker will be back on the road. Although I was a bit nervous when I saw the needle go up and the red light flashing, this is all to be expected from a campervan, and I'm cool with it...like totally! I also take great pleasure in telling people 'yeah, I snapped my fan belt and need to get the radiator bled.' It's like being a proper bloke.

It's funny though, it hasn't been long, but I already miss driving it and can't wait to head off this weekend.

My Devon Moonraker VW T25 Campervan

On Saturday I drove up to Co.Durham to view and possibly buy a van I saw on Ebay. It was a 1984 VW Devon Moonraker Campervan conversion with pop-top and a 1.6 Turbo Diesel engine taken from a 1991 Golf. This van I saw is now mine. All mine... Take a look at my brother having a go as we drove to Bishop Aukland to pick up my car (it's a long story...):

After we'd gone to pick up my old car which I've passed on to my brother, I was alone to drive the 186 miles back home. And it was to be the most joyous 5 hours of my life. Driving it was a breeze: I sang along to Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire and Ben Kweller's Magic, looked down on all the little cars that rushed past, saw some nice fireworks over Leeds from my own special vantage point, entered some pretty dense fog and felt like I was in a dream world, and encountered lots of nice drivers who were accepting of my cruising speed of 55mph - it's nice to see there's some respect for my Moonraker and me!

I've just got back from an evening showing it to a friend: First we went to Ikea to get a nice throw for the back seats which are looking a little too 80's for my taste, then we ventured into the woods, put the pop-top up, swivelled the passenger captain seat round, turned the lights on, and had a drink. It was easy and brilliant.

There's something incredibly liberating about having a campervan and being able to venture into quiet spots and still have a bit of comfort. And this Devon conversion is incredibly well thought out - everything has its own place, its duty, and it all works perfectly, from the easy to erect and close pop-top, to the table leg neatly stored at the back of the Moonraker in its own tight slot.

All I need now is...nothing.

The Little Things

While eating out at a Yoshinoya the other day in Tokyo, Yoski sat opposite a fat guy who reminded him of Daniel Johnston. Take a look for yourselves and see if you agree. First, the real Daniel Johnston:

Now, the guy who Yoski thought looked like Daniel Johnston:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Having just finished this wonderful book, I bought Blade Runner on DVD. I've never been into Science Fiction but the philosophical aspect of this book in particular, the scope of the narrative, and the sheer ease of the writing has got me hooked on Philip K. Dick. He's my new Murakami...

I'm slow when it comes to reading between the lines of a book and I think I'll need to read it again, buy the study guide, trawl through the web, and speak to the spirit of Philip K. Dick, to get it. But I loved it nonetheless.

And the film looks pretty good too. Am I bit late watching this? You never know, I might sit through 2001 Space Odyssey next!

The Imaginarium of Doctor Pernassus

The last Terry Gilliam film I watched was Tideland. I didn't like it much but it was interesting. Brother's Grimm I couldn't even be bothered watching. And then there's Fischer King and 12 Monkeys, two of my favourite films. And then there's 'The Imaginarium...'

It's not perfect but it has an almost perfect amount of perfect scenes. It's not a masterpiece, but there are masterful pieces of mastership. If imagination were superimposed onto film, it'd look like The Imaginairum of Doctor Pernassus: A film in which pretty much anything goes and yet, Terry Gilliam manages to stay in control and give the viewer something substantial to get hold of. And it even has a proper ending!

I'd give it a liberating sixty four thumbs up out of a possible seventy two. It's that good.