Queen Elizabeth Park and Edinburgh ...

After the night in the bus with the duct tape and bed sheets for privacy we decided we needed blinds. Alex spent a day whilst I was at work putting the blinds up and we were a bit more set up for our trips. As well as that Alex had been to his parents and picked up a few more things to help us out. Having looked on the map we decided we wanted to go more into the trossachs and found a nice spot on the map which we decided to give a go. We set off after I got back from work on the Friday night. It only took just over an hour to get to Loch Ard which is just west of Aberfoyle and we couldn’t believe how lucky we were to find such a great spot. We pulled up to a car park which was empty and jumped out to take a look around. 

The place we parked up to was the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park which seemed to have a lot of trails to explore. I was annoyed we hadn’t brought the bikes but we thought it would be nice to take a wander anyway. We set off and loved our little walk. We ended up taking the wrong road to begin with but we eventually found the little loch called Lochan Spling. It was amazing, there were little sculptures dotted around the walk and we thought it would be a perfect spot to take a dip in our first loch. We weren’t brave enough that night but decided we would go back in the morning and see what we were made of. We headed back and started our bbq for dinner. The only downside to the night were the midges. They were out on force. We finished the night with a game of backgammon and hot choc before getting the bed set out and getting some sleep.

The next day we braved it and headed to the loch. Alex was braver than I was and decided he didn’t need a wetsuit but I was worried I would freeze to death and got the wetsuit out, just as well I don’t care what I look like though haha. It was another first for me when we sat down for breakfast. Spam, never had it before but Alex thought it was a must for the bus and I was pleasantly surprised, especially with some baked beans on toast. 

We spent the day with my family and decided we would go out for dinner with my sisters in Edinburgh. It was a struggle finding a parking space but we eventually managed it and off to dinner we went. Alex and I went to the Jazz Bar after and that night decided to park up in the Pentlands Regional Park. We have been to the Pentlands a few times for walks and enjoy going to thought it would be a nice place to park up for the night. We were surprised that there were actually other people with campers there already.

Overall, we enjoyed our first weekend in our camper and can’t wait to add our little kitchen so we can start being more adventurous with our cooking.

Our First Expedition - Loch Lomond ...

With the purchase of a "RocknRoll" bed we has everything that was needed to make this bus into a camper... well almost.

After a long days work for Kirsty I jokingly suggested we headed out to Loch Lomond for our first night in the camper. We had prepared nothing, planned nothing and knew nothing so the perfect start really. A quick trip to Morrisons and we were stocked up with a duvet, crockery, frying pan, steak and an full Scottish breakfast pack... what more do you need ?

The week before we had been driving around Loch Lomond with my mum and the dog so we had an idea of where we could park up for the night. We found a nice spot next to our own private beach with a park and picnic tables opposite so we got our new griddle pan on the heat and had a lovely (if windy) steak dinner cooked on the beach and eaten in the park.

One thing we hadn't quite sorted out was privacy, as you can imagine with all the glass that is in our bus it is not the most private camper but a few snips of some sheets and plenty of duck tape we had our makeshift curtains up and were ready for the night ahead.

We found it a bit strange how we were the only campers parked up in the area and Kirsty was getting a bit worried, but luckily as we drove around the corner we came across a line of 15 campers, we were now happy we had our private spot to ourselves.

After a chilly first night we woke up to a rainy morning but no problem as I opened up the side step and cooked our full Scottish breakfast in the shelter of the bus couldn't ask for a better view whilst having breakfast ! Next thing we know a coach full of French tourists turn up just as we take down our makeshift curtains so whilst we are sat there washing up from breakfast the French decide to stand the other side of the glass and just stare at us !

All in all it was a very spontaneous trip but it was so nice to get out for our first night and looking forward to many more to come, hopefully warmer and more prepared though !

The Work Begins ...

So the first thing to do to get this bus looking more like a camper was remove the chairlift, seats and hand rails... All in a days work (with some help from Dad) ...

The Big Blue Bus is born ...

Let the project begin....

After walking along Newgale beach together looking up at the hill where the surfers had parked up for the day we started talking about how nice it would be to see more of the UK and do it in a house on wheels. The freedom to park up where you want, take everything with you, cook inside and not have to sleep in a tent seemed very appealing.

As soon as we got back we started looking at the idea of doing our own campervan conversion, when you look at the price of an RV or campervan it is unbelievable even for an old banger. But then if you look at the price of an old van or minibus you can find some bargains !

After looking online we had an idea of what we wanted and were expecting it to take a few months to find the right one, I was back off to Nigeria and Kirsty was starting her new job so we thought the idea would go on hold for a while. But just browsing Gumtree I came across this Big Blue Bus, as with a lot of the minibuses I had seen it was ex-charity, low mileage and not in too bad condition = hard to resist. After some price negotiations and a short drive to Birmingham for my Dad this is what we came up with