Go North Campers!

When it came to selecting the best company for campervan hire this time round, it was a tricky choice. While there are some amazing companies local to Aberdeen who supply the vintage VW experience, there wasn’t too much on offer when it came to a modern camper in the region....so a little research was needed. 

While the retro camper was beautiful in all its own glory, chundering along at 45mph top speed wasn’t going to get us to the destinations of choice this time round without a whole lot of muscle – just turning steering wheel was no mean feat, not to mention the heart stopping brakes which seemed to have dementia on the odd occasion.

So, while our van might be slightly less Instagram worthy, Stuart and I were definitely on the hunt for something that had a bit of a modern edge, and after a search around the trusty World Wide Web we found Go North Campers.

Equipped with two fantastic Transporter based campervans (two berth & four berth), we were able to select and book our dates of choice easily online. Soon followed an email with booking confirmation with instructions on what to do next. Having supplied driver’s details, planned the trip and piled all our week’s belongings into my not-so-large Fiat 500, there was nothing left to do but to set off! 

After a trouble-free drive up to Elgin, we arrived to a fantastic welcome and were given a whistle stop tour of all the van’s mod cons and told how to work them. I was secretly hoping Stuart was paying more attention than me as I could almost feel the information shooting straight in one ear and out the other. 

However, to give you a brief run down of the things I did remember....it might give you a little bit of an insight into our little home for four days.

Hook-up:

We were given an electric hook-up lead to enable us to connect to electricity source at different campsites we visited. This is obviously how your van is topped up with charge and a necessity if you are on a longer journey. The van can wild camp off-grid for a night, but hook-up is recommended after that. We had to swap out our lead for our neighbour’s a few times as we found this lead too short, however, we fed this back to Go North Campers following our trip, who are going to see about getting a longer one.

Hob:

Stored neatly under a black glass top, the van is equipped with two gas hobs – ideal for cooking all sorts of camping cuisine. We were told to ensure gas is always switched off during driving – very important! The canister is located just under the stove in a little cupboard, so that was easy to remember. 

Sink:

Working sink was under a black glass top next to the stove. With the flick of a switch, the van provided a good flowing cold tap – ideal for a quick wash/rinse if you happen to be wild camping. 

Under the sink was a cupboard which contains the gas canister, as well as different items you might need like washing up liquid, hand soap, dish cloths, hand towel (with Go North camper logo) and a few other utensils.

Fridge:

Next to the cupboard is a mini fridge, which is still capable of holding quite a few items for your journey. Essentials being the Campervan Brewery beers and tea and coffee we were provided. 

Heating / Air Conditioning:

While you will obviously get the usual heating / air conditioning system while driving, the campervan also had its own separate unit for use while in camping mode. We were told it was possible to leave this running overnight – remembering to hook-up and switch the battery source to van.

Bed:

When the van is in driving mode, the back seats look something not dissimilar to two American diner chairs, kitted out in navy and light blue leather. When the time comes for sleep, the bed is simply pulled flat. Unlike some other companies, Go North Campers provided us with a sheet, a double duvet and two pillows, which made life an awful lot easier. These were stored neatly away in the mini wardrobe.

Extras:

What made Go North Campers stand out to me was the little extras which came along with our trip. As well as a few cold beers, the hosts also gave us a bottle of Avon's Skin So Soft – which is excellent at repelling midges! We also had a detailed folder of the North Coast 500, which detailed all the places en route and things to do at each place, which I thought was super useful. We also had a little mascot teddy who wore a t-shirt with Go North Campers on it...this helped us to up our Instagram and he became part of our little adventure! 

When we returned to Elgin to drop the van off for 11am, we were sad to see it go. 

We were delighted to hear that they have plans to add solar panels to the vans soon, making wild camping that little bit easier - fantastic idea! We can't wait to come back for another rental. 

Thanks to Go North Campers for such a brilliant adventure! Until next time.....

If you'd like to find out rates for the vans, click here to visit the Go North Campers website.