The Grand Turn Around
Return to the Storage Container
Summer passes quickly at the storage container. Plans for a bit of local exploring are put aside as Godzuki! has suffered more wear and tear than initially suspected. There’s nothing serious but within days of our return he goes up onto axle stands and there he stays for the summer as parts are ordered, deliveries waited on and stuck bolts sworn at.
All his fluids and filters get replaced, his brakes rebuilt, ball joints and wheel bearings renewed, rust is battled although I doubt that war is won.
Rain stops play for a while then covid rears its ugly head and we barely move for a fortnight.
The final piece of the mechanical puzzle is a new timing belt, I know my limits and take him to a garage for that one and he’s returned with his wheels aligned and a fresh MOT as well as all his belts renewed.
It’s not just his mechanicals, our living space needs some TLC as well. The heating and water systems both need some attention. The Dometic stove has been giving a few problems and needs some remedial work. It’s really not fit for purpose at all, doesn’t like working in the cold and parts of it are disintegrating.
Suddenly it’s September, summer is ending and it feels like we only just returned but are already repacking the van and bidding the neighbours good bye again.
They’re probably quite glad really. Rosana persuaded me to buy an impact gun to help work on the van and I’ve been quite enjoying using it, if not quietly enjoying using it.
Showtime!
This year’s Adventure Overland Show is advertised as the last ever. This saddens but does not surprise me. There’s a whole list of reasons given as to why, none of which look like the reasons I might give as to why it hasn’t been as successful or been everything it could have been. Abentuer Allrad was a great example of what it could have been but Brexit did for any EU exhibitors attending and though there’s UK suppliers out there, many don’t seem to attend any more.
Still, the show changed our lives and despite my complaints we always enjoy it, so our attendance is not really a question. We stop at a 4×4 tyre supplier in Stratford to get Godzuki! some new boots. They’ve never heard of the show that’s happening on their doorstep, which comes as no surprise at all.
Camping opens on the Monday before the show, we arrive Wednesday afternoon and no one seems to know what to do with early arrivals. Eventually finding one of the organisers, we manage to hand over some money and mark out a space for us and the Çay Drinking Association using some plastic flowers that are supposed to be for decorating a wedding that’s happening over the weekend. That’s a new feature of the show.
Some twat in a tank runs over the flowers while screaming around the field. Why is there even a tank here? It’s not like he’s going travelling in it, unless he’s planning on doing something useful like driving it to Ukraine or somewhere.
In the end reserving the space is not really needed; despite camping being billed as sold out the corner of the camping field we are in remains mostly empty for the duration of the show. Only a couple of the marshals even realise it is a camping field, despite there actually being a event map this year.
Enough complaining though, the show is one of the best in years and the weather is mostly kind for a change.
Our friends Matt and Lucy arrive, along with Matt’s parents who we met in Slovenia. Paul and Terri who we met in Türkiye join us and Laurence and his wife, an American couple driving their RAM around Europe, whom Matt and Lucy met in Scandinavia.
There’s a great line up of presenters, including Jayne from Lizzybus and Marianne and Chris from Tread the Globe and there is actually a programme of what’s on and when published before the show opens. A miracle we’ve been wanting for years. There’s still no AV support for the speakers which causes some problems in most the presentations we attend. Still, little steps.
Around the campsite there’s fewer surfer rep camper vans playing drum and bass and more travel orientated vehicles, I’ve never understood the desire to become another camper van show, there are already many of those and it diluted the core nature of the event. Wandering the camping areas is really interesting with great variety. There’s a large number trucks, likely the largest gathering of expedition trucks in the UK. Sadly there are few motorbikes.
A good selection of relevant exhibitors are present, though some notable names missing and still stands selling hippy tat. The organisers have got to earn a living but they don’t really fit in. And there’s the wedding of the couple who run Fourby, a trade exhibitor that’s been a long standing supporter of the show. Unfortunately they’ve sold out of the UV LEDs, which is a shame as I wanted to pick up a spare as ours is a few years old and an important part of our water filtration system, but their wedding brightens the event and we return the tank bent flowers to decorate the tables.
The Show Must Go On
It turns out that while this is the last AOS, a new show will be replacing it – The National Overland Show. This all seems a little disingenuous, the show is well attended partly because it was the last one; but then an overland travel dedicated show in the UK is a good thing and not something that works when tagged onto an existing camper show.
Hopefully they will continue with the things that have finally been fixed (maps, schedules and presentations) and improve the things that have been lacking, the show layout, the disaster of a website and social media pages and the bizarre and near confounding pricing structure.
Most importantly, the show needs to decide what it is, is it a social gathering of clubs, or is it an event? And the running of the event needs decentralisation. Watching the organisers race from one end of the event to the other fixing fires is just madness. No one seems to have responsibility for their areas, which is why no one knows what’s going on. But then, constructive criticism has never been well received, which is a shame because everyone wants to see the show succeed. I hope the new one does.
But Ships Are Not Built to Stay in Port
After a few weeks bimbling around our old hunting grounds of the south east we arrive at the Channel Tunnel, swap the sat nav to kilometres and eagerly drive onto the train. It’s the beginning of October and a new adventure beckons.
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