As an admirer of classic VDubs you can imagine my excitement when my Girlfriend gave me a 30th birthday present of a long weekend in an O’Connors van. The van in question was ‘Wolverine’ who along with his own unique personality became the 3rd person on our trip along the rugged Cornish Atlantic coastline. Part of the excitement was surrounded by the freedom (something that no other trip to Cornwall has ever provided) that such a trip gave us – where shall we go? We both love the north Cornwall coast, so although we looked at other options there was no other real contender. So the planning started, setting off early from the Midlands on that Friday morning with the excitement of a child on Xmas day. Arriving at O’Connors early in anticipation we saw three lots of very emotional hirers (customers) returning their vans all with the similar feeling that we would later feel ourselves ‘We don’t want to give them back’. Following our brief induction, we set off destined for Bude, along with our iPod for the weekend’s soundtrack. Driving down the slope we first experienced Wolverine’s personality and realising that my leg was in for a workout with the braking and my arms with the steering, but this all added to the fun and uniqueness of the driving experience. Upon arrival at our campsite in Bude (Wooda Farm Holiday Park) we found our pitch and this was the moment we found out how stubborn Wolverine can be ‘Reverse?’ we could not find, eventually after numerous attempts we got on our way to explore Bude. The sense of belonging was evident straight away with other VDubbers waving and flashing (their headlights obviously) and people stopping in the street to take a look. We parked on Crooklets Beach car park, on our return, what can only be described as a monster ‘American Style’ Winnebago was parked right beside us (how times and modern technology have changed) as we got closer to the van a man was looking into Wolverine, it was a French gentleman and the owner of the Winnebago, getting around the language barrier he told us how he once owned a VW Camper like Wolverine and it was obvious how much affection he still had for them. As the beautiful summers evening drew to close we had decided to have a BBQ and a glass of wine sat next to Wolverine overlooking the bay. The next day after some early morning fishing on the on-site pool we headed off towards Polzeath, along the way we stopped off in Boscastle for some lunch and have a walk down to the harbour and up the cliff path. Once we had re-fuelled, we then headed off to the mystical Tintagel and had a wonder around the castle ruins. On to Polzeath taking in the stunning coastal scenery we arrived at our campsite (Valley Caravan Park) and went for an evening meal in a restaurant overlooking the beach watching on as the surfers enjoyed the swell as the sun was setting in the background. Another early morning on the Sunday we decided to park on the beach at Polzeath and go for an early morning surf, and then it was onto Padstow, although to enjoy the driving experience to its fullest we decided to have a drive down to Newquay along the sometimes very narrow coastal road. Stopping at Fistral beach for a short period we decided to go on to the Bowgie Inn for a drink overlooking Crantock beach. We then made our way back to Padstow and had a drive through the town where we parked up and enjoyed the joys of some of Rick Stein Fish and Chips in the Van whilst overlooking the Camel estuary. We then made our way up to our campsite for the evening. The next day inevitably with the disappointment that our holiday was drawing to a close, we made our way back to Okehampton with the sadness that we had witnessed upon our arrival by the other customers. As I have done for many years, I dream and long to own a classic VW campervan and this adventure has only added further to my desire – until that moment comes I will no doubt be visiting the guys at O’Connors again to visit and enjoy a holiday with an old friend ‘Wolverine’. Thanks to all the guys and girls at O’Connors!
