Galician granaries, or “hórreos” as they are known locally, are elongated stone structures built to rise above the ground. They have been used for centuries to store grain and corn.
You know you’re in Galicia when you catch sight of “hórreos” at every turn. These unique symbols of traditional Galician agriculture are truly everywhere, and impossible to miss. Apparently there are around 30,000 of them!
We’ve seen them in towns and villages, in the mountains, and by the sea, and we’ve never seen two the same! Some are big, some are small, some are old, some are new, but always distinctive.
The history and design of Galician Granaries
Hórreos, or Galician granaries, used for hundreds of years for storing grain, corn and vegetable crops, are unique elongated individual structures built from stone and/or wood, and raised well above the ground on supporting pillars. This design was in an attempt to keep rodents out, and as a way to protect their harvest against moisture. The walls are constructed with slits to allow air flow and ventilation. Some of the structures are built on solid stone bases rather than on pillars.
They are so typical of the landscape and we’ve really enjoyed seeing them on our travels here.
We had spotted similar structures in Asturias and Cantabria, but they were usually square in shape.
Probably the only thing we’ve seen more of in Galicia is the way marker and milestone signs for the Camino de Santiago! And funnily enough they’re often right beside a Galician granary!
If you’re ever in Galicia be sure to check them out, you can’t miss them! Let us know in the comments below if you’ve visited any Galician granaries.
If you want to know how NOT to qualify for the Comrades Marathon, The Ultimate Human Race, then you’ve come to the right place!* This post is about our attempts at how (not) to qualify for the Comrades Marathon in 2024.
We have both run the Comrades Marathon before. Dave ran it in 2007 and in 2010, and I also ran it in 2010 – you can check out My Comrades Marathon 2010 story here.
*SPOILER ALERT – we did qualify for the 2024 Comrades Marathon, but we didn’t do it the easy way! Read on to learn more about the Comrades Marathon, and the lessons we learned during the training and qualifying period.
About the Comrades Marathon
First a bit of background about the Comrades Marathon. The Comrades Marathon is an ultra marathon run on the road between the two cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban in South Africa. It first started 103 years ago in 1921, and this year will be the 97th Comrades Marathon. The distance is approximately 90km/56 miles, but does vary slightly each year depending on the exact route used. The race starts at 5.30am and has a cut-off time 12 hours later at 5.30pm.
The Comrades Marathon, also known as The Ultimate Human Race, is iconic in South Africa, and is a challenge that attracts runners from all around the world. The modern era sees upwards of 20,000 runners take to the start line.
Up versus Downin the Comrades Marathon
The direction of the run alternates each year between “up” and “down”. The “up” and “down” effectively refers to the elevation levels of the starting and finishing points – Pietermaritzburg sits at an elevation of approximately 921 metres (3,022 ft), while Durban is pretty much at sea level.
The “Down Run” from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, is usually run in odd-numbered years, and the “Up Run” which starts in Durban and finishes in Pietermaritzburg is run in even-numbered years. There have been exceptions to this due to special events, for example the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010 meant that year was a Down Run. And due to the global coronavirus pandemic the Comrades Marathon was cancelled in 2020 and 2021. 2022 followed the missing years with a Down Run, before returning to the correct odd/even sequence for the 2023 race.
This year the Comrades Marathon is an Up Run and will be held on the 9th June 2024.
Qualifying Criteria for the Comrades Marathon in 2024
The Comrades Marathon is an ultra marathon road running race where you need to run at least one approved race no shorter than 42.2km in under 4hrs49min59secs to qualify. In essence you have to run a marathon in under 4hours 50minutes, and you have to do it between 1st September 2023 and 6th May 2024 in order to stand on the start line in Durban on the 9th June 2024.
There are some additional criteria (e.g. completing a medical questionnaire), plus other official distances and times for qualifying, but for the purpose of this post we will concentrate purely on international entrants (us!) attempting to run a qualifying time for the Comrades Marathon in 2024.
The lure of the Comrades Marathon
The Comrades Marathon has a way of pulling you in. Once you’ve done one Comrades, you want to do another, and that is despite the fact that after running the first 90kms most people say never again! 2024 will see one man, Barry Holland, remarkably attempt to run his 50th consecutive Comrades Marathon!!!
Dave started with a “Down” run in 2007 while we lived in South Africa, and I vowed at the finish line of that race that I was not going to endure the stresses of being a supporter/spectator ever again. Next time I too would run the race.
Dave running the Comrades Marathon in 2007
That next time didn’t arrive until 2010 when Dave was hoping he would get the chance to complete the “Up” run and have the satisfaction of completing one of each of the Comrades Marathon routes. But apparently due to the FIFA World Cup and the 85th anniversary of the Comrades Marathon, the organisers changed the race direction to a “Down”. We both completed that race in 2010, but it meant that we would have to return to South Africa again to take on the challenge of the “Up”.
Dave in the red vestSharon in the blue vest
It has taken us 14 years to find the right time to get back to South Africa for the Comrades Marathon Up Run!
Losing my running mojo
Dave has been fairly consistent with his running over those past 14 years, continuing to bang out a decent weekly mileage, but after finishing the Venice Marathon in 2019 I didn’t think I’d ever run another marathon again. (How wrong I was!)
Finishing Venice Marathon 2019
With the onset of menopause and all the changes that come with it, plus a diagnosis of osteoporosis in my hips, I lost my running mojo. The coronavirus pandemic also meant all running races were cancelled, and the motivation for me to run without a race goal was non-existent.
And so it was during a day in late September last year when Dave was training for the Rennes Marathon in France that I decided I will start running again. If he was going to fulfil his dream of going back to South Africa to run an Up Comrades Marathon, then I sure as hell was not going to be left standing on the sidelines! My running mojo was back, menopause or no menopause, and I was ready to give Comrades Marathon training a crack.
Starting training for the Comrades Marathon from scratch
I was aware that I was starting training for an ultra-marathon from a very low base. And I was starting late in the Comrades Marathon training programme calendar – most training plans for beginners like me start from June, not October! But even if it was only two to three short runs a week, it was a start, and more importantly I had the focus and motivation to keep trying. My aching knees that I had been feeling while walking and cycling had deterred me from running, but it wasn’t long before I realised I could run pain free! By the end of October 2023 I had managed to run a whopping six times covering the grand total of 33km for the month.
At the beginning of December 2023 when my average weekly total was hitting the glorious highs of 22kms, we paid the entry fee and officially entered to run the 2024 Comrades Marathon. There was no turning back now!
The road to qualifyingfor the Comrades Marathon
The road to qualifying for the 2024 Comrades Marathon has been a tad bumpy for both of us to say the least! We had already lost four months of the qualifying period by the time we actually entered so time was certainly not going to be on our side.
In October Dave contracted another bout of Covid 10 days before he was due to run the Rennes Marathon in France. He managed 35kms of the marathon before wisely deciding to bail out. No qualifying time there then!
Running in the Rennes Marathon, the first marathon out of 24 where Dave didn’t cross the finish line.
A last minute house sitting opportunity in the Canary Islands meant we would be based there for the winter months (November-March), and it was there where our training began in earnest. Our runs became consistent four times a week, building mileage slowly, and with help from Dave’s cousin Kieran we started a strength training programme in the local gym. Adding in a good sports massage every couple of weeks definitely aided the recovery process.
By the end of the year we felt we were on target to complete our qualifying marathons by mid-late February. Seville was the one we had our eye on. But then the first disaster struck…
Injury
In early January on one of our weekend long runs, Dave went over on his ankle and damaged the ligaments in his foot! No running for four weeks, and it may have been a lot longer had it not been for a great local physio working his magic.
We had to push back the qualifying marathon to March to give him time to build up again. The only workable option we could find was the Lentemarathon in Amstelveen (Amsterdam) on the 17th March, St. Patrick’s Day. Surely that would be enough to bring us luck!!!
The luck of the Irish, or not?
Unfortunately there was to be no luck for the Irish on the 17th March at the Lentemarathon in Amsterdam, but there was for the English one of us!
Race plan
I had felt as strong and as prepared as I could be come race day. My race plan was to join an official race pacer who I could follow to achieve my Comrades qualifying goal of finishing a marathon in under 4hrs 50minutes. Despite being told when we picked up our race numbers the day before the event that there would be race pacers, there were not! A slight wave of panic set in on the start line as I didn’t have a Plan B, but I still felt confident enough that I could run the necessary qualifying time by following my own run/walk strategy I had used in training.
All smiles on the start line at the Lentemarathon in Amstelveen
Now let me make it clear here that for anyone who doesn’t know me, numbers and mental arithmetic are not my forte. As I clicked through the kilometres on my Garmin sports watch I was trying to calculate, in my head, the average pace I needed to maintain in order to make the qualifying time. I didn’t want to run too slow and risk missing the qualifying time, and nor did I want to run too fast and risk not having enough energy to complete the race.
Suffice to say that I messed up on my calculations. With one kilometre left to run I realised I was not going to make it in time. I crossed the finish line, but missed the qualifying time by one minute!!!
Not so smiley at the finish line!
If I could turn back time
It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later after persistent questions to Dave on how I could possibly learn to pace myself that he realised I hadn’t set the average pace setting on my sports watch correctly! If only I could turn back time!!!
Meanwhile Dave had taken the sensible option in Amsterdam to not push too hard and risk any further injury. He chose to run slightly slower than his normal marathon pace to guarantee a finish well within the Comrades qualifying time. He qualified comfortably despite missing out on so much of his training. Looks like he had the Irish luck on his side!
Finished and off to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
At least one of us had qualified for Comrades Marathon 2024, but with time ticking by fast, and our flights to South Africa booked for the end of March, I was going to have to rejig my training plan and squeeze in another attempt at qualifying when we got to South Africa.
Altitude attempt in April
What were we thinking???
As soon as we arrived in South Africa for our three month stay we were on the hunt for another Comrades Marathon qualifying option for me to do. I really wanted to get it done sooner rather than later so that I could get back to consistent training without worrying about race preparation, tapering time, and recovery time. Plus, if for any reason the second attempt didn’t work out, I needed time to fit in yet another attempt before the final cut-off on the 6th May.
The South African running calendar is full of races with lots of Comrades Marathon qualifying options throughout the country. We wanted to minimise the amount of changes to our travel plans so opted to stay a little longer than originally planned in Johannesburg, and use the Irene Ultra 48km challenge on the 7th April as my qualifier. This was only three weeks after my first attempt in Amsterdam, and less than two weeks after arriving in the highveld which has an altitude of around 1,700m/5,577ft. Far from ideal preparation given that it was so close to the previous attempt, and that up until this point we had only ever been training at sea level!
The Comrades Marathon qualifying criteria for the Irene Ultra was to complete it in under 5hrs 50minutes. With Dave helping to pace me this time we thought it would be doable. Unfortunately that was not the case. Running at the higher altitude took its toll. We simply had not had enough time to acclimatise and breathing was a real struggle. Plus one or two negative thoughts after the halfway point meant I slowed way down and had to resort to a lot more walking than running. We finished the Irene Ultra together in 6hrs 1min, but that was 11 minutes outside the necessary Comrades Marathon qualifying time.
It was back to the drawing board!
The face says it all!
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again
Not to be deterred by two unsuccessful attempts at qualifying for the Comrades Marathon, I was determined to continue my training, and we flew to our next base in the Western Cape. But with qualification closing on the 6th May time was running out for me to get that all important qualifying time.
The best, and really the only viable option for me, was to plan to run the Buffalo City Marathon in the Eastern Cape on the 1st May (a public holiday in South Africa). We changed our travel plans once again and were excited about returning to the city of East London where we had spent two very enjoyable years as volunteers in 2006 and 2007, and where Dave had started his running career.
Recovery from the Irene Ultra was good. My training was all going well until five days before the Buffalo City Marathon when late on a Saturday afternoon I felt a sudden niggle in my hamstring. A panic stricken emergency call to our massage therapist ensued, and after finishing his work with the Stormers rugby team he kindly made a late out of hours visit to treat the sore spot. A follow up treatment on the Monday before we flew to East London made things feel a lot better, and it gave me the confidence boost I needed.
Third time lucky
The race campaign slogan for Comrades Marathon 2024 Up Run is “No Doubt – Nakanjani”, an inference to the firm belief held by those who take on the world’s biggest and oldest, and much loved ultra marathon. Any doubts I did have about qualifying had to be put aside on the morning of the 1st May as we lined up in the darkness with about 400 other runners on the side of a road in the Eastern Cape. This was not the time to feel any pressure!
It was the most relaxed race start we’ve ever experienced. An impromptu song and dance from some of the local Xhosa runners set such a positive vibe for the day ahead.
Dave and I ran comfortably together, and enjoyed the special camaraderie you get from runners in South Africa, keeping each other positive and focused. 4hours and 44minutes later we crossed the finish line in blazing sunshine. I was able to jump for joy at the relief of knowing that on my third attempt I finally got the Comrades Marathon qualifying time I needed!
Now all we have to do is get to the start line in Durban on the 9th June.
Qualifying for the Comrades Marathon at last!
Getting to the start lineof the Comrades Marathon
We have tried to give ourselves the best available chance to get to the start line of the 2024 Comrades Marathon Up Run on the 9th June. We’ve done what training we could in the time we’ve had. It has been far from ideal, but that’s life. We’ve overcome challenges and fears, and at times, we’ve definitely had our doubts. We’ve qualified to run the Comrades Marathon in 2024.
Our qualifying times determine our seeding position and where on the start line we will be. Needless to say I will be at the back of the pack in H seeding having qualified with only six minutes spare. Dave will start slightly ahead of me in G batch having qualified more comfortably in 4hrs24mins.
On the morning of Sunday the 9th June it will be a privilege to line up along with 20,000+ other runners at the City Hall in Durban. We will wait with bated breath, and our fair share of nerves, as the cock crows and the starter’s gun goes off at 5.30am to start The Ultimate Human Race. Like every other Comrade, we will do everything we can to get to that finish line before the gun goes off again at 5.30pm in Pietermaritzburg to signal the end of the Comrades Marathon. Of that there is No Doubt! Nakanjani.
Fundraising
We are running the Comrades Marathon to help raise money for two very deserving charities that are personal to us – Chai Cancer Care, and Alzheimer’s Research UK. If you would like to donate then please click on our JustGiving link here. Anything you can afford to donate will be very greatly appreciated.
Lessons learned trying to qualify for the Comrades Marathon
Start training early
Start training as far in advance of Comrades as possible. If like me you are starting from a zero to very low running base, or are a novice runner, then start training as early as possible, ideally a full year before race day. That will give you ample time and chances to complete a qualifying marathon without feeling the pressure and going down to the wire like I did!
Follow a training plan
Follow a training plan and/or get a coach. You will find training plans for all level of runners from Coach Parry, the official Comrades coach on the Comrades Marathon website. It is worth noting here that the training plans are very much based around the calendar of South African running events. We had to amend the training plan to fit in with what qualifying options were possible for us in the Northern Hemisphere winter. Things don’t always go to plan as we well know, so be prepared to adjust your training plan as you go.
Train consistently
Getting out there to run regularly 3-4 times a week at the start is more important than the distance you are running. Your runs will gradually get longer as you build the consistency.
Rest and recover
Listen to your body and know when to stop and recharge your batteries. A rest day is just as important as a training day. We added in regular sports massages with qualified sports therapists which we felt really helped to aid the recovery process.
Join a running group
Join a running group if you can. It is much more motivational to run with others, and perhaps you will find a running buddy who runs your pace. We were house sitting in a tourist resort in the Canary Islands for the first four and a half months of our training and there were no running groups to join. Training solo can be tough, especially when you’re getting up at 5am in the dark! Arriving in South Africa and being so warmly welcomed by local running groups gave us a real boost.
Do strength training
Including 2-3 sessions a week of resistance training has made a world of difference to my bones, they physically feel stronger to me, and I truly believe the strength work has helped keep injury at bay. We enrolled in a gym for 3 months, but we’re aware the costs can be prohibitive. It is still possible to do most of the body weight exercises at home (or in your camper van!) with very basic equipment. A couple of resistance bands and a few 5litre bottles of water for weights is all you need.
Stretch more
We still don’t stretch after every single run and training session, but we have gotten better. Sometimes you’re just too tired, too cold, too hungry, in a hurry, but to my detriment I know the importance of taking that extra 10-20 minutes to stretch the muscles (my hamstring niggle is still an ongoing concern). We use the Down Dog app which is a personalised yoga app. You can select your practice type, time, level, focus, voice and music.
Use a sports watch
Learn to use the functions of your sports watch in your training sessions – it is a great training tool if used properly. I missed my first Comrades Marathon qualifying attempt by one minute which could’ve been avoided if I’d had the right settings switched on!
Schedule races in advance
Enter any races and events that you are planning to do into your calendar well in advance. These days many marathons and half marathons sell out far in advance of race day. The Seville Marathon in mid-February was the one we were hoping to use as our Comrades qualifier only to find out it had sold out months in advance and had a humungous waiting list! Ideally you should work towards completing your qualifying race before Christmas so you can concentrate solely on Comrades Marathon training from January to June.
Race day strategy
Plan your race day strategy in advance, and have a plan A, B, and C just in case things change on the day. Had we known there were going to be no pacers at the Lentemarathon in Amsterdam, we would likely have run together to ensure we both got that qualifying time in the bag!
Acclimatise
If you’re running in a new country, a new time zone, on new terrain, or in a different season or setting, give yourself time to acclimatise to the new conditions whether that be altitude, humidity, or hot versus cold.
First up we had no experience and no idea where to start on how to build a camper van! That’s where YouTube came in handy. We spent hours sifting through hundreds of YouTube videos on how to build a camper van. Some of it was relevant to us and our van, but so much of it wasn’t. Our logic told us to start from the floor up. After all you’d never start building a home without putting some foundations in first!
Secondly we had no garage to work in! That’s where friends come in handy. A friend very kindly gave us the use of his brand new shed to work in. It was less of a shed, and more of a barn the size of a 5-a-side football pitch! We had oodles of space to spread out, and we could work on the build whatever the weather. And we can tell you it was cold! We take our hats off to anyone who managed to build a camper van in their driveway or on the street, especially if, like us, they built it during the winter.
Armed with the internet and a roof over our heads we started our camper van build the first week of December 2020. Here follows the very rough step-by-step process we used to convert a Citroen Relay panel van into a camper van. There is no guarantee that the same process would work for you, but it might give you a starting point.
It’s worth saying here that we did have at least a vague design of the layout we wanted before we started the build! We’d gone as far as creating a mock layout of the main features using cardboard boxes to get a feel for how it would all fit. Keep in mind our Citroen Relay van was brand new so we didn’t have to degrease it or treat any rust spots in preparation for the build.
If you want to know why we chose a Citroen Relay van for our camper van build then head over to this blog post.
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The first thing we did was we removed the bulkhead – the divider between the cab and the rear of the van. In our van design we wanted the area between the cab and the rest of the van to be open so that eventually we could have a walk-through area. This would mean on a rainy day (of which there are many in the UK) we could walk from the cab into the back of the van without having to open the side doors.
It also means you have quick access to the cab should you need to drive away from a park up in the case of an emergency, particularly at night time. Plus it gives you more space to work in during the build process!
Laying the floor
Next up for us was laying the plywood floor – having a level and insulated floor to work on rather than the cold metal corrugated van floor made sense to us. Plus it made it much easier to stand on in winter!
We laid a grid of 2×1 battens using Sikaflex 552 adhesive to fix them to the floor (we didn’t want to drill any unnecessary holes in the floor). We filled the floor grid with rigid insulation boards (25mm thick) and sealed them with aluminium foil tape to create a vapour barrier before we screwed the 12mm ply boards to the battens.
The top floor covering we left to near the end of the build process for two reasons – 1. it would likely get damaged while we work on the van build, and 2. it didn’t make logical or economical sense to us to lay a top floor covering the entire length of the van when at the end of the build you would only see a tiny portion of it.
Sound deadening
A tin van is always going to sound tinny, but adding sound deadening mats to the walls can help to reduce some of the noise, and provide a little extra insulation. We opted for Dodo Mat Sound Deadening and applied it to the wall panels, the overhead cab, the ceiling and the wheel arches. A relatively cheap and easy job to do, made easier by investing in a long reach mini paint roller to smooth out the mats and get rid of any air bubbles.
Installing the roof fan, sky light and windows
These jobs were scary! Cutting that first hole in the van is a tense moment to say the least. Make sure you measure at least twice as you can only cut once! We must’ve measured and re-measured a hundred times!
Remember as you cut into the metal, the jigsaw creates loads of tiny metal shards and it is best to clean these up as soon as possible before they create potential rust hazards.
We chose the Maxxair Roof Fan Deluxe 400x400mm with remote control, and the same size Maxxair SkyMaxx sky light with built in blind and flyscreen.
We wanted opening windows rather than glass panels, and shopped around until we found the Polyvision Aero windows we liked. They weren’t cheap, but are double glazed, tinted, and come complete with mosquito nets and blinds. We fitted one window (900x450mm) in the sliding door, and the other window (700x350mm) in the opposite wall.
This was definitely a job for the two of us! We bolted the solar panel to aluminium quadrant brackets and then used the same Sikaflex 552 waterproof sealant to attach it to the roof. The panel we fitted was a Longi 370W split cell solar panel from Plug In Solar.
Adding a swivel base to the passenger seat
Our Citroen Relay van came with a fixed double passenger seat, or bench seat as they’re sometimes called. Ideally we wanted to replace it with a single swivel seat, but finding one at a reasonable price during the lockdown of 2020 was proving impossible. Instead we opted for a swivel base for the double seat from Custom Shop Designs.
It’s a bit cumbersome and adds a bit of extra height to the passenger seat which means my feet can’t touch the floor, but it will do until we find a replacement single seat we can afford.
Ceiling battens & insulation
We used 15mm hardboard as battens widthways across the ceiling and glued and screwed them to the ribs of the van. We filled the ceiling with 40mm rigid insulation boards and sealed it all with aluminium foil tape to create a vapour barrier.
Installing a reversing camera & dash monitor
With no rear view mirror in the van, the reversing camera and dash monitor was an early priority for us. This was the first of many things we ordered only to find when they arrived they were not the items we ordered! Anyway when we did eventually receive the right camera, the installation was pretty straight forward. Although we have to admit it was a little scary when faced with the van fuse box and the decision of which wire to cut!
Electrical System – first fix
The next stage in our van build process was to do the first fix electrics so that all the cables and wires could be in place and hidden before we started ply-lining the van.
Our primary aim was to design and install a 12v and 240v electrical system as well as a solar power system so we could live off-grid. This is where being members of the Self Build Motor Caravanners Club came into it’s own. Dave was able to draw up a diagram of our planned electrical system and get feedback from some of the experts in the group before we started running cables and wires through the sides and roof of the van.
We have to say the folks at 12 volt planet where we bought the majority of our wiring products were also very helpful, and the expertise from Alpha Batteries was invaluable when choosing our lithium battery.
Rear doors
We used rolls of recycled plastic bottle insulation to fill all the gaps in the doors. We lined them with Dripex double aluminium bubble foil insulation sealed with silver tape to create a vapour barrier. We cut the rear door panels from 6mm plywood and used a router to create a tongue and groove effect on the upper half of the panels.
Walls
The same recycled plastic bottle insulation as in the doors was used to fill the wall cavities before we glued the timber battens to the ribs of the van. We screwed in extra reinforcements on the bed area – you never know it might see a bit of action!!! We covered the insulation from top to bottom with the Dripex silver bubble foil and once again sealed that with silver tape to create the vapour barrier. What was a tin can van was now starting to look more like a silver spaceship!
We cut our wall panels from 9mm plywood, and they took a bit of fitting and refitting after we realised we’d put a couple of the kitchen electrical cables in the wrong spot!
Wheel Arches
A relatively simple job in the scheme of things was to cover the wheel arches and box them in using plywood. The tops are removable so we can easily access the tyre jack tool kit stored in there.
Bathroom window
Time to cut another hole in the van! Instead of an extractor fan we opted to fit a tinted side slider window for our bathroom. We had it custom made (350mm x 180mm) by Caldwells Windows.
Garage
We laid the top floor in the garage (the storage area under the bed) using vinyl peel and stick tiles from B&Q. Every millimetre is important when it comes to your van build and these tiles were as thin and practical as we could find.
One of our essential requirements for the van build was that our bikes were stored inside the van for security & protection, but be easily accessible. At a later stage of the build we would add a slide out tray in the garage for the bikes.
Ceiling cladding
We’d prepared the tongue and groove boards by sanding, priming and painting them earlier in the build process. It was much easier to do this in the large open space of the shed rather than try and do it after fitting them. Doing it once they were fitted would’ve meant so much dust in the van and a lot or arm and shoulder ache from working above your head! Finding the right size white head screws for fitting the T&G was another task that took hours trawling online. Once the cladding was secured we were able to fit the covers and trims to the roof fan and sky light.
Lighting
We fitted seven touch sensitive recessed 12v LED lights in the ceiling (3 in the lounge area, 3 in the kitchen and 1 in the bedroom) that we sourced online from Vanwurks. Plus two 12v LED flexible reading lights above the bed area.
Painting
This first painting stage gave the van a new lease of life. We used brilliant white on the walls and ceiling, and Dulux Sapphire Salute as a feature colour on the bed head.
Electrical System – wiring
By week 8 of the build we, or rather Dave, was ready to wire up the 12v and 240v electrical system. Our system components, housed in the garage area, included a 200 amp hours lithium battery, a Victron MPPT solar charger controller, a Sterling battery to battery charger, the 230v hook up, a consumer unit/fuse board, a Victron Blue power battery charger, and a Victron Energy 1200W Inverter. Plus we had the Longi 370W split cell solar panel already bolted to the roof.
For peace of mind we had a local professional electrician complete a check up and reassure us it was all safe.
Plumbing & Heating
The next step was to get the plumbing and heating system in place. Earlier in our design process we had made the decision to go for underslung water tanks in order to save as much space on board as possible. We knew it was a long waiting list to get the custom made plastic tanks (82 litres fresh water tank and 63 litres waste water tank) from the very helpful Shaun at Barratts Tanks.
We ordered in October 2020 and had we been able to travel to England we could have had the tanks fitted in the December. We couldn’t travel due to Covid restrictions. Instead we had no choice but to have them delivered to us in Northern Ireland at the end of February 2021. We fitted them ourselves with full instructions from Shaun.
Before the tanks arrived we fitted the water pump, filter and accumulator, and installed the kitchen and bathroom water pipes and shower tap fitting.
At this point we also needed to finalise the positioning of our Truma Combi 4E gas boiler which we would use for space and water heating. We had changed our minds several times on the boiler position, eventually settling on the only really viable option which was under the sink. We positioned each of the heating vents – one in the bathroom, one in the lounge, one in the kitchen, and one under the bed in the garage.
Bathroom
At only 610mm x 915mm the bathroom is not a big space, but a very tricky job to do!
The first stage was to build the wooden framework for the walls, followed by cutting and shaping 6mm plywood panels for the internal walls, and 9mm panels for the external walls.
Once the frame was in place we installed the fibreglass shower tray we sourced from Wesley Marine. The first pilot hole we drilled for the shower waste was not in the most accessible location, so after resealing that we had to drill another before we could connect the waste water pipe.
We covered the walls in white gloss PVC panels, made and fitted the window frame, and installed a waterproof ceiling light we found on E-bay. Fitting the PVC to the ceiling was a job that tested both of us to our limits. There are no such things as straight lines in a panel van!
We designed and built a simple separating compost toilet to fit on the shower tray using a wooden box framework with a regular toilet seat on top. We attached a we-pee urine separator to the underside of the toilet seat. Inside the box was a bucket for the solids and a 5-litre container for the pee. We covered the box framework with the same gloss PVC panels as the walls.
The final piece of the bathroom build was cutting the folding door to size.
Bedroom
A fixed bed was our number one priority for the van. The size of the bed was dictated by the size of our bicycles which we wanted to store underneath the bed, hence we have a high and wide bed! We fixed six Ikea Skorva brackets and three bed beams to the timber wall battens and added the Ikea Luroy king size slatted bed base (we had to remove a couple of the slats to make it fit).
We both prefer a firm mattress and opted for a supportive reflex foam mattress from Custom Size Beds – the size is 146cm wide x 179cm long x 7cm deep, somewhere in between a double and a king size!
The next stage was building our kitchen framework. The kitchen design was based around our Thetford Triplex oven, a VitriFrigo 60ltr fridge/freezer, and a decent size kitchen sink! We’d seen so many camper vans with sinks you can barely fit a plate in.
We built the framework using 2×1 battens, and used a mix of leftover 6mm & 9mm plywood for the drawers and cupboards, while the cupboard doors we made from the leftover T&G boards.
For the worktops and table we recycled some old oak floor boards by sanding them down and finishing with natural wood oil.
Gas installation
Once we had the kitchen carcass in, it was time to get the gas in.
This was the one job we wanted to have professionally done and certified. We took the van to Leisure Technical Solutions in Lisburn who fitted the 25 litre underslung gas tank we purchased from Autogas 2000. They connected our Thetford Triplex oven and our Truma Combi 4E boiler, and fitted an external gas BBQ point. This stage would have taken us at least a couple of days in awkward spaces with limited tools, but out-sourcing this job meant it was completed safely and professionally in less than 24 hours.
Dave designed and built all the overhead storage cupboards with 2×1 frames, and 9mm plywood for the doors. We had just about enough room to squeeze in a bench seat, with storage underneath, in the lounge/dining area. Again this was built with 2×1 frames and fronted with leftover T&G boards. We topped it with a couple of foam cushions recovered and recycled from an old sofa we had.
Finishing Touches
There were lots of these to do! In fact there is no such thing as a finished camper van build – it is a constant work in progress!
After 16 weeks of blood, sweat and tears our van build is practically complete and ready for a trial run. It is full of imperfections, but they are our imperfections, and if anything does go wrong, as it invariably will, we should have a fair idea of how to get to it to fix it!
Building a camper van during a global pandemic and the coldest, darkest months of the year is not something we would recommend, or do again. We started our van build the first week of December 2020 when the days on the North Coast of Ireland are very, very short. There were no electric lights in the shed so we relied solely on natural daylight from the roof skylights. Nor was there any source of heating to speed up the setting process of sealants and adhesives, or the drying of paint. In fact for the first few weeks of our build process we were contending with below freezing temperatures on a daily basis!
What we didn’t add to the process of building a camper van was that at every single stage we spent countless hours either standing in it and just looking at it, or hours lying underneath it trying to work out where everything was going to go!
We learned a lot during the entire process and are very proud of what we accomplished together. We couldn’t have done it without all the fantastic resources we found online, in particular the YouTube videos by Greg Virgoe, The Restoration Couple, VanLife Conversions and CamperVibe.
We will be forever thankful for all the inspiration, advice and motivational support we received from so many great online van build communities. How people ever built their own camper vans before the internet is beyond us!!!
If you read this far, well done! If you want to know any more details on how we built our camper van pop a question in the comments below or drop us a line hello@schindlersontour.com
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It was after the Olympics finished in Sydney in September 2000 that we started shopping around for a vehicle that would take us not quite the length and breadth of Australia, but at least some of the way around this vast country. Our mission was to drive the west coast, from Darwin to Perth, in time to spend Christmas with friends.
Shopping around for second hand vehicles in those days meant hot-footing it around all the hostel notice boards searching the “for sale” ads, and then finding phone boxes to call the sellers and arrange viewings. No mobile phones for trawling the internet back then!
In early October we found “Spot”, a 17 year old (1983) Nissan Urvan pop-top camper van. Spot had already done a few miles around the clock, and he came complete with pretty much everything we needed for an Aussie road trip. There was a lounge area which doubled up as a bed, a fully equipped kitchen with gas stove, a 3-way fridge, and a microwave. He even had a tiny TV, and a CB radio! He had a 40 litre water tank, and the shower was a portable solar shower bag. The toilet was a shovel for digging a hole! There was a great big lockable box secured on the back of the van to store the awning, the camping table and chairs, and other miscellaneous stuff.
Spot the pop top camper van
We paid a whopping AU$7,000 in hard cash (the equivalent of about £3,000 back then) to a couple of backpackers who’d already had their time in the van touring around Australia.
We christened the van Spot because we picked him up in a place called The Spot in Randwick, an eastern suburb of Sydney, and plus what 17 year old doesn’t know about spots!
We hit the road on the 10th October, and by the 13th the van was in the garage for major repairs having lost the gearbox! Not a great start to our tour down under, but considering that was our only major mechanical issue in an adventure that took us almost 18,000kms (11,250 miles) wasn’t too bad in our opinion. We did get one puncture, and after an incident with a kamikaze kangaroo we suffered a bit of damage to our water tank, but those are stories in their own right!
Replacing the gearbox early doors!
After five months of adventure on some of the most remarkable roads we said goodbye to Spot in Perth in February 2001 when we sold him for around AU$5,000 to a couple from Dublin starting their Aussie road trip.
Spot next to a mining truck in Western Australia
Van Life Lessons
We learned a lot about van life and van travel in those five months in Australia:
A fixed bed is an essential for us. Despite taking only 5 minutes twice a day to put the bed up and take it down, it becomes the most detested chore! Not only do you have to find space for the bedding, but if one of you wants to go to bed and the other doesn’t then you have a stand-off!
Even with a pop-up top it is difficult for anyone 6ft or more to stand up straight.
Having the ability to survive off-grid and be self-sufficient opens up so many more places to you. It takes a bit of planning though especially when there are no services for miles and miles.
Water is the most precious natural resource. Always carry more than you think you’ll need.
Digging your daily toilet hole wears thin! Much easier to have a waterless or chemical free loo on-board that doesn’t need emptying daily.
Air conditioning is pointless as once you switch it off it is a lot harder to acclimatise. Keep the windows down and feel the wind in your hair!
A 3-way fridge will not work in very hot climates no matter what the power source!
There is no such thing as mosquito nets that work – there will always be at least one that finds its way through.
Before we launch into how we chose the base vehicle to use for our campervan conversion, let us tell you why we decided to take on such a crazy project!
Inspiration
It was one fine day in Portrush when the first lockdown of 2020 had been lifted, that we met an Argentinian guy who was travelling with his family in a van that he’d converted himself.
Our new found hobby since returning home from our unfinished cycling tour of Sri Lanka in March 2020, was trawling the internet, and, when permitted, walking the streets of Portrush, searching out camper vans. We had started toying with the idea of investing in a van for our next travel adventure. After getting locked down in Sri Lanka we felt so vulnerable and isolated on the bicycles. It made us think that for our next travel adventure we would be better being in our own self-contained vehicle.
Anyway little did we think that this friendly Argentinian would be the one to dissuade us from buying a ready made campervan, but he would be the one to inspire us to build our own! “It’s easy” he said, “everything you need to know is on YouTube, just watch the Greg Virgoe videos”.
Later that same day, and for many, many days, weeks and months afterwards, we spent an endless amount of hours watching YouTube videos on how to build a campervan. It looked so easy, surely we could try our hand at that!
The inspiration from our Argentinian friend was the impetus we needed to take on this new challenge. Up until this point we had not been able to find a campervan that was designed to meet our specific needs, so designing our own was the obvious choice. Plus with our bed and breakfast business decimated due to the global coronavirus pandemic, we had a lot of time on our hands and needed something to do.
We looked at lots of these types of commercially built campervans, but they didn’t meet our essential criteria.
Essential criteria
Before we could choose the vehicle to use for our self-build camper conversion, we had to consider what design features were important to us, and those that were less important. This would determine the size of vehicle we were going to need.
We were in the lucky position of having experience of living and travelling in a campervan so had a good idea of what we wanted, and what we didn’t want. Our six months driving “Spot” around Australia in 2000/01 had taught us a lot!
Our essential and non-negotiable top three criteria for our van build were:
Fixed bed
Inside storage for our bicycles
On board toilet and shower
In addition we had our list of what we would prefer to have in our base vehicle:
Enough headspace for Dave to be able to stand upright (he’s about 6ft)
A van big enough to be able to live in for extended periods of time (6-12 months) in all seasons
A van small enough to visit family and friends in cities and urban areas
A van less than six metres in length for ease of parking (and it means a cheaper tariff on ferry crossings – the prices go up if your vehicle is longer than six metres!)
A reliable, well-maintained van versatile enough to take us off the beaten track
Plus we had our list of what we knew we didn’t want from our base vehicle:
An old van with high mileage and high maintenance
A van so big that you have to get a special driving licence
A white van!
We saw lots of white panel vans that we didn’t want!
Research, research, research
It didn’t take us long to realise that there is no such thing as the perfect base vehicle for a camper van conversion. But there are definitely some vans that are more suited to converting than others, and that’s where your research is key.
As well as our endless hours of watching “how to build a campervan” YouTube videos, we started looking online at van conversion companies to see what types of van they were using as the base vehicle. The top two contenders at this stage were the Mercedes Sprinter and the Volkswagen Crafter. And that was the route we were going down until we found the very helpful online forum at Self Build Motor Caravanners Club (SBMCC).
This SBMCC forum was undoubtedly our best find during the entire research, and subsequent self-build, process. The £15 annual membership was well worth it for the valuable information and knowledge we gained. The forum was full of people who were doing, or had already done, exactly what we wanted to do.
It was on this forum that we learned that a Sevel van gives you a few extra centimetres width if you’re planning, like us, to have a fixed bed traversing the van. And you all know every inch (or centimetre) counts! We were completely ignorant as to what a Sevel van was and had to ask the question. The answer was a van from the Sevel factory in Italy which makes pretty much identical vans for Fiat, Citroen and Peugeot.
And so our mind was made up, we were going to start shopping for a good second-hand Fiat Ducato, Citroen Relay, or Peugeot Boxer van.
Shopping around
Shopping you think is the fun part, but no, it was far from it! Bearing in mind this was in the midst of the 2020 global lockdowns and the demand for vans, both old and new, was almost outstripping supply. The rise in vans needed by courier and delivery drivers during the pandemic was increasing daily. Combine that with the booming #VanLife phenomenon, and we were left with very slim pickings at very extortionate prices. On top of that we could only view vans located in Northern Ireland.
We were trying to find vans that were 2-3 years old with low mileage and the average price was coming in at around £14,000 +VAT. A lot of money for a second-hand vehicle with no guarantees.
A price comparison with brand new vans proved if we could stretch our budget to £16,495 +VAT we could get a brand new, pre-registered van and a clean slate from which to start our build. And that is what we did.
We chose a Citroen Relay 35 L3H2 2.2 Diesel Euro 6 panel van in Cumulus Grey metallic paint from Vans Direct. It was not a buying process we’d want to repeat, but maybe more on that another time!
We took ownership in early December 2020 and the build got underway.
Hi, we're Sharon & Dave an active and adventurous Irish & English couple who've been travelling together for more than 20 years. These posts are our travel stories and personal journeys. Follow our adventures to see where we've been and where we're going next!
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