10th Anniversary of Bongo Fury: Forth Bridge Convoy

Bongo in Cornwall

Bongo in Cornwall

John o' Groats last summer, Land's End this summer for the world's quickest visit. Only stayed long enough to take a photo. We stayed in the same camp site all week which allowed for the optimum set up of big family tent, linked by it's porch to the bongo. Loads of space for everybody and everything

Perthshire Wild Camp

Wild Camp site in the rainy distance. The two white dots are, respectively, our frinds' T5 and our Bongo. The camp site gave us an early start on a quick munro, also in the rain, but the children didn't seem to mind getting wet and enjoyed the excuse to get inside the storm shelter on the summit.

Lake District April 2011

Just back from a fantastic few days in The Lakes- had to buy suncream whilst we were there!
Here's the Bongo at Carrock Fell (near Mungrisedale) waiting to be filled with Boulder Mats which, of course it makes a fantastic job of transporting even though we had full camping kit with us too.

Camping was at Keswick C&CC. The ground was incredibly wet on arrival but fortunately dried out during our stay. Campsite was busy but we were the only Bongo to be seen.

Worth checking your underseal?

We have had the bongo nearly two years now, and whilst the van is fairly young (in bongo terms) being a 2003 model, we were always aware that the undersealing which was carried out by the dealer where we bought it was not a ‘professional job’ (he made no claims that it was). With that in mind I wanted to check out the underneath of the van and get a top up done before another harsh winter of salt and grit took its toll. As suspected some of the underside had been missed and some was flaking off, so it was off to Campercraft in Kelty for some TLC from Bill. Bill gave the underside a liberal application of Hot Schultz to all the chassis sections, as well as painting front X members, wishbones, anti roll bars & diff. The interior wheel arches were showing some early signs of rust starting in seams, but have now been treated to a bath in Waxoyle, and particular attention was give to the more inaccessible areas around the rear arches and front sections. I Have had a look on the ramps and I am very happy with the job done.

The moral of the tale…. No matter how young the van check it over and top up on the under sealing, even if the it was given a paint over on import. Hopefully this will give us a few more years out of it!!

If anybody up here is looking for the job done…. I can’t fault Bill on his thoroughness.

A few pictures. (next a shiny new steel exhaust me thinks)

Glen Coe Meet

Great to meet everybody at the weekend, a few sore heads on Sunday I think! Brora and I managed to piece together the sorry tale of ‘The Munkeys’……On Saturday, and giddy from the intoxicating highland air, awe inspiring scenery and perfect weather, Mr & Mrs Munkey purchased two furry trappers hats, a bottle of single malt, logs and a case of Carling. Unfortunately the hats were one size too small…. They would not realise this until the next day! Armed with their bootie they headed back to camp. Logs on the camp fire and hats on the head, they settled down to a quiet evening of intellectual chat with the fellow bongo enthusiasts, unaware of the headache that was to follow…….As any of you whisky drinkers will know, at least one bottle in 100 is lost due to evaporation…. Known as ‘the angels share’…. Unfortunately this would appear to have been the bottle that Mr & Mrs Munkey purchased…. As Mrs Munkey recalls it, ‘it was opened for a wee dram in the afternoon, and when I went into the van to get it in the evening it had all evaporated!’ Unfortunately a similar fate also lay ahead for Mr Munkeys Carling….. it is a well known fact in Glencoe that Red Squirrels drink huge amounts of Carling and then deposit the empty cardboard packing case outside camper vans in the morning!!


The following morning all of the party who had been wearing hats which were too small for them woke up with sore heads……. You know who you are!

Mr & Mrs Munkey next time you visit Glencoe, beware of Red Squirrels and Angels!

Great time everybody, thanks… see you all soon.

 Bongo Etive Mor

 Not Sure about the 'Reserved' Bit

 Bongos Basking in the Sun

 Chilly Bongos at Dawn

 Dave Aber's Bongo has a quiet Puff as he sleeps soundly inside at 25 deg C

 The morning after the night before. Spot Mr & Mrs Munkey's chairs!!!

Dad's gone a Bit Picklelid

The Branston Pickle lid solution to missing alloy wheel centre caps

Method:

1. First buy 4 jars of Branston Pickle. Eat alot of cheese and pickle sandwiches or, if you're impatient like me, decant the contents into other jars so you can get hold of the lids sooner.
2. Clean lids and spray paint silver to match wheels. Decals courtesy of eBay. Cut three 10mm flaps in the inside face of the rim and fold them outwards.
3. Take the wheels off. Fit the lids from the inside using the flaps to hold in place.
4. Refit the wheels.
5. Submit yourself to the hilarity of your immediate family who now have a new euphemism for any perceived eccentricities in their father "Oh no Dad's gone a bit pickle-lid again!"
6. Have the last laugh, when 4 months later they are still going strong, without a scratch and looking very tidy.