Weeks of scrutinising weather forecasts, crossing fingers and, I admit, blind hope for a fine fortnight in Scotland were shattered even before we had left England.

After a searing hot Friday, we awoke to a murky, although dry summer Saturday.

But as we headed in the Eldiss Autostratus CK motorhome from West Yorkshire to the outskirts of the Lake District to pick up the M6 for the journey north, the banks of cloud which clung to the hilltops became ominously dark.

An hour or so later, as we approached Carlisle, it started - first with a gentle pattering of raindrops on the windscreen then, quickly, into a full-scale blustery gale.

After ducking into a service station for a coffee break, my girlfriend Caroline, her son Christopher, 12, and my sons Jake, eight, and Sam, six, watched in near silence as the wind drove the rain almost horizontal.

It was an unfortunate prelude to what was to come.

Our grand plan had been to explore the Dumfries and Galloway coast, then head up into Ayrshire before travelling deeper into Scotland, taking in Glasgow, Fort William and Loch Ness before heading across to the east coast to travel down to Edinburgh.

I am happy to report that Dumfries and Galloway is indeed as pretty and unspoiled as the guide books boast.

But as for the rest of our itinerary I know not, as after a weekend of being buffeted by winds and soaked by rain, we were not brave enough to venture further and we voted unanimously to try pastures new.

The first hours of Monday were spent retracing our outward journey back into England.

And we continued heading due south as morning turned to afternoon and afternoon turned to evening until the Welcome to Weymouth, Dorset, sign was illuminated in our headlights - a trip of about 400 miles.

But, far from pleased to have reached our journey's end, we were cursing our luck as the gamble appeared to have backfired disastrously. It was pouring with rain!

We went to sleep clinging to the hope that things had to get better.

This time the gods were smiling as we awoke to clear blue skies which followed us about for the next ten days as we explored the beautiful Dorset coast moving from one campsite to the next.

As any seasoned caravanners or campers well know, basic common sense and a certain degree of organisation enable the most to be made of living on the move and even a well-equipped £30,000 motorhome is no exception.

You must remember, for example, to carefully pack cupboards so their contents do not spill out on top of the next person who opens them.

And when five of you are living in a fairly confined space, everyday activities like getting dressed/undressed need to be planned to preserve some degree of privacy - particularly if like us you are travelling with children.

But even if you are laymen caravanners like us, you will soon got used to the slight change of routines.

And we were spoiled by creature comforts provided in the Autostratus CK which would not disgrace many a home.

A four-hob propane gas cooker, a refrigerator, and yes, a kitchen sink, formed a neat kitchen unit along one side of the centre of the vehicle.

Opposite were facing double bench seats split by a table which can be quickly and easily transformed into one double bed while another double bed was contained above the driver and passenger seats.

A shower, washhand basin and chemical toilet was in one corner at the back of the motorhome opposite a seat which doubled as a single bed.

Electricity was provided by either a heavy-duty 12-volt battery in the motorhome or by a cable hook-up to a mains supply which was provided for a small supplement at most of the campsites we visited.

After a short time we had slipped into a comfortable routine where we could get up, be washed, fed and on-the-road in less than an hour leaving families who preferred to live under canvas still grappling with the first guy ropes as they started taking down their tents.

The freedom to roam quickly becomes addictive and we found ourselves eagerly studying the map every couple of nights to decide where our next port of call along the Dorset coast would be.

On the move, the Autostratus CK is powered by a 2.5-litre Peugeot turbo diesel engine which provides a respectable fuel consumption of about 25mpg. But don't expect to rush about because, fully ladened, the engine does need to be worked fairly hard to keep up with traffic particularly on inclines.

And those unfamiliar to driving a motorhome should quickly grow accustomed to it with only tight manoeuvres and parking causing a bit more thought to be required to make allowances for the length of the vehicle.

Motorhome sales are on the up (at a 20-year high, according to the Motorhome Information Service) and a prime reason for that must be the get-up-and-go ease they provide.

As being in one saved our holiday, we can certainly vouch for that!

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.