It was a dark and stormy night. The black clouds hung overhead like huge, grey water bags, bursting at the seams and slowly starting to seep small drops of rain as we stood on the harbour wall.
The two tugs were pushing at full throttle against the massive red hull of the roll-on roll-off ship, inching it closer to where we were standing. Behind the tugs was an interesting sideshow: the cold waters churned up from the tug propellers had the reflection from security lights dancing off the white lines of phosphorescence on the irritable waters. How does a ship of this size handle on the rough seas without its precious cargo breaking loose and causing the whole vessel to topple over?
‘They will be off at about 02:00,’ we were told by a dockhand bearing a clipboard and a green ping-pong bat. But so keen were the TravelStar guys to see their new ‘toys’ that we decided to wait out the cold and rain for our first glimpse of the latest recreational vehicles to reach our shores.
HYMER SILVERLINE EXSIS-I
First off was the smaller of the two Hymer motorhomes ordered, and it immediately confirmed my feelings: why must motorhomes always be white?
This SilverLine Exsis-I was, well, silverish in colour, with additional colourful decorative striping for good measure. Hymers are different from most motorhomes, though; they have a distinctive front-end styling that might take a little getting used to. For me there were far more exciting features to explore, such as the large rear side doors on both sides, big enough to take a small motorbike or two bicycles...
To read the full article, order a copy of the February 2011 issue of Caravan & Outdoor Life.
