Beachbuggin - the show must go on

Pippa writes to tell me of her Palomino trip to Beachbuggin

Firstly, I think I deserve a medal for being the most dedicated Palomino owner of all time - I didn't realise that Southsea was nearly 500 miles away!( I think you need to invest in satnav - I've checked and it's only about 250 miles from Lincolnshire) Despite his mammoth trek from the very north of Lincolnshire to the very south of the country, Claude behaved well all the way there - just a pity the weather didn't!

By the time my sister and I reached the camping field at Horndean, the weather was just about at typhoon status, and half the campsite had to come out in the pouring rain to help us two damsels in distress battle with an awning that was trying to drag us all off in the general direction of the English channel. The organisers gave up with the entertainments marquee, and fearing the band would be electrocuted, we all decamped to the local pub for what turned out to be a great evening.

After a bit more awning-wrestling in the morning, we joined the line-up and drove down to Southsea in a big VW convoy, just as Alex described a while ago - vans, beach-buggies, beetles, Karmann Ghias, everything - a really diverse group of about 80 vehicles. Miraculously, when we got there, the rain stopped and it stayed dry and warm all day - it even got a tiny bit sunny at one point! Joined everyone else at first wandering around the parking area nosing at all the other vans, beetles etc, looked at a few stalls and bought some new shiny wing mirrors, then we went back to Claude for our lunch.

After that, we couldn't get away for ages - people were literally queuing up to ask about Claude and have a look inside, from a group of blokes with notebooks asking technical questions I couldn't answer (and yes, I can swear to you they DID have anoraks on!) to other van owners interested in how I'd done the interior, to several families and couples thinking about getting a van of their own - the Palomino's unique looks certainly get some attention! Claude attracted loads of compliments, and quite a few people were taking pictures inside and out, which does wonders for your ego, for some reason! The only down side was that there were no other Palominos there - pity Alex and Co couldn't go - next year maybe!

When we did get to look round the show, I really enjoyed it - it was small, but I loved the mix of vehicles, and there was even a collection of Vespas and Lambrettas, which I had to go and see, because I've just got myself a '61 Italian 150cc Vespa. I can't ride it yet, but I'm working on it!

Just one thing spoiled the weekend - despite behaving so impeccably on the journey down, Claude started playing up as we were heading back up north. In the end, we had to stop just 35 miles from home and the old boy finished his journey on the back of a recovery truck. I'm now £277 poorer, but all in all, Beachbuggin was a really enjoyable trip - let's just hope for better weather next year!

Thanks Pippa. If anyone fancies joining this exclusive club, you can. The membership fee? A mere 14 grand. Actually, if anyone wants to pay that much, I could be persuaded to part with my near original example!