Saturday 31st January 2009, Bala

We had dinner with Nick and Liz, old acquaintances we had bumped in to over new year and who had bought a campervan since we lat met. Very nice, very amiable. As we'd arranged to visit Allan and Norma in Colwyn Bay on Sunday we decided we should take the opportunity for our first overnight in The Rosabella.

It was the coldest night of the year as we headed for North Wales. We decided to detour to Bala and found a nice layby in a lane, a few yards from the lake - our first wild-camp on our first night, setting the tone for most of our nights in Rosabella.

We were definitely in overkill mode for staying warm, with thermals, sleeping bags and a double thickness duvet. We were roasting, although the condensation was horrendous.

Brekkie before we set off (including the now-legendary 'Princess Eggs' - see the recipe section) - on the wrong road! A twenty mile detour ensued although when we did eventually turn up Allan was almost as excited as us when he saw The Rosabella!




Survived! The coldest night of the year, and no frostbite related injuries!!

Sunday 25th January, Black Mountains

Our first trip out in The Rosabella was to Amanda's 41st birthday party at her house in Glaesbury. Lots of music, food and laughter - Amanda seemed surprised by the number of friends that she had!

We just had to take Rosabella up in to the Black Mountains, near Talgarth, just to make a cuppa, try out the cooker, play with electrics and generally fettle!

Rosabella's first trip

The Story Begins Here.........

The Rosabella is a 1994 SWB Fiat Ducato and she came to her new home on 17th January 2009.

It was a bitter-sweet moment - we were glad to have her, but sad for what it meant for Mom and Dad - his deteriorating health meant that he couldn't really drive again in the way that he used to. Mom helped by saying that they were glad she (Rosabella) was going somewhere that she would be used, and that they hadn't wanted to sell her to a stranger.

She didn't know she was The Rosabella by the way, and neither did anyone else. We've never felt the urge to name a vehicle before. This felt just right, and it tied in with a song we'd been singing at our gigs that winter.

She needed a bit of surgery to get her through MOT in February 2009, and the rain still comes in a little - she is getting on a bit though, so we can excuse her being a bit leaky!


The Rosabella arrives, Jan 09

January 2010
Sadly, T's father passed away just before Christmas 2009. He had built The Rosabella and there were plenty of references to 'The Van', as it was called before we took it over, in the eulogies that T and his brothers delivered at the funeral.
It makes it even more poignant now, when we find some little user-friendly wrinkle that he invented, and we hope we can do The Rosabella justice - if we have a fraction of the fun that T's parents had with her we're going to be very lucky people.

Derek Hedges, 1931-2009