Tent on a Roof Rack

 When staying in the Freshwater East campsite I spotted this unusual sleeping arrangement:

It's a roof rack sleeping capsule that collapses down to only a few inches thick. It's accessed on the other side via a short, extending ladder.

It's called a TentBox and would be brilliant for the Peugeot Partner, but costs over £2k.

You can get cheaper versions from other manufacturers, but they're still £1.75k, which is rather a rip-off. However, it's relatively new and therefore they're cashing in on the novelty factor early on. Doubtless prices will fall over time.

I wonder if I could make something similar as a project? What do you reckon - some plywood, a bit of canvas, some pop-up gazebo framing and some Superglue?

Thinking about it, you could adapt one of those Thule roof boxes. You can get them in various sizes, although not necessarily made by Thule.

The ones above are made in China and the 900L one is only $79. That's a base and a top for starters.

I also saw this VW van at the campsite.

It was of interest to me because I'd never seen a VW van in that colour. It was of interest to Hay because the owner had a Cinch Hub tent, which Hay also has.

We went for a meal in Lamphey and, bugger me, I saw what I though was exactly the same van, as there couldn't be too many light blue VW vans within a 5 mile radius. As it transpired it was indeed a different van, as it had, on closer inspection, rear windows.

The next day I queried the owner about the provenance of the van and she told me there are plenty of these light blue jobs around as they're retired British Gas vans; however, I've never seen them before.