09Apr 2024 by The Mahojos No Comments
Our exciting list of must see places in Wales

Our exciting list of must see places in Wales

Latest posts, Walks
Hi! We are Ali and Amy, also known as The MahoJos and we live on a farm in South Wales. On our farm, we have a Motorhome Aire where we host campervans and motorhomes for a 1 or 2 night stop over. One thing we often get asked from the people that stay with us is "Where should we visit?". So we've put together a list of our must see places in Wales to give you some inspiration. The Capital city of Wales We are about 15 miles north of Cardiff which is an amazing city to visit for different reasons. For one, there's a castle in the City Centre which is right next door to a beautiful park. Secondly, it's got a brilliant range of shops, bars, restaurants and…
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07Apr 2024 by The Mahojos No Comments
This Is The Ultimate Bike Ride Through All 22 Counties Of Wales

This Is The Ultimate Bike Ride Through All 22 Counties Of Wales

Cycling, Latest posts, Walks
Hey! I'm Ali, one half of The MahoJos. Me and my wife Amy live on a farm in South Wales and in March 2017 we went on an epic bike ride through all 22 counties of Wales. The Route When planning the route, I wanted to try and achieve the shortest distance possible between all 22 counties. Our journey started in our home town of Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf before heading north towards Merthyr Tydfil, then east across the 'Heads of the Valleys' route towards Monmouthshire. We then headed south towards Newport before heading west to Pembrokeshire. From there we went north, right up to Anglesey before turning west for the final leg to Wrexham. Time and Distance I estimated that the bike ride would be about 450 miles…
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01Apr 2024 by The Mahojos No Comments
Everything you need for an easy Static Caravan diesel heater installation

Everything you need for an easy Static Caravan diesel heater installation

Farmlife, Latest posts, Static Caravan
In November 2023 we made the game-changing decision to instal a diesel heater in our Static Caravan. We've been full time in our Static Caravan since August 2020 and have gradually been making upgrades. The main upgrades we've made have been to improve our life in the winter months. Over the years, we've made some YouTube videos highlighting our upgrades including: Installing Double Glazing Fitting underfloor insulation Installing a Diesel Heater We've had lots of questions about what parts we used to install a Diesel Heater in our Static Caravan, so here's a blog post all about it! Which Diesel Heater did you use? After a lot of research, we chose the Lavaner Pro 5kw for just over £200. It's a middle of the road diesel heater which kicks out…
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15Feb 2024 by The Mahojos No Comments

5 big ideas to diversify your farm this year

Farmlife, Latest posts
With increasing costs and increasing pressures on farms, you might be thinking of ways to diversify but aren't sure where to start. That's certainly the situation we're in at the moment. Subsequently, we've been looking into farm diversification options to see how we can secure the long term future of the farm. ABOUT OUR FARM We live on a farm in South Wales (UK) and moved back here in 2020 before the birth of our son. Surprisingly, the earliest records for the farm date back to the 1640s. Therefore, we are really keen to safeguard the financial future of the farm as best we can. We have approximately 11 acres of grassland with a small flock of Black Welsh Mountain Sheep. In addition to this we have two donkeys, three…
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15Feb 2024 by The Mahojos No Comments
Everything you need to know about setting up a profitable Motorhome Aire

Everything you need to know about setting up a profitable Motorhome Aire

Campervan, Farmlife, Latest posts
In August 2023 we opened up an Aire on our farm in South Wales and to be honest, we wished we'd done it a lot sooner! Since we received our official licence, we've had 30 separate bookings (as of December 2023) which isn't bad considering that we missed the main summer months. We've really enjoyed having people to stay on our Aire, so we thought we'd provide some information on how we got our set up and how its going to be profitable. Our Aire What is an Aire? An Aire is an approved space to stay for one or two nights, but it's very different to a campsite. Only motorhomes or campervans are allowed (no tents or caravans), and Aires very in what facilities are provided. We first came…
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01Feb 2024 by The Mahojos No Comments
How to avoid freezing in a Static Caravan in Winter

How to avoid freezing in a Static Caravan in Winter

Latest posts, Static Caravan
OUR STATIC CARAVAN STORY Hey! We are Ali, Amy and Ollie and we’ve been living full time in a static caravan in South Wales (UK) since August 2020. Prior to that we were living in a 2-bedroom flat that we rented in the town of Pontypridd. We sited our van on Amy’s mum’s farm and we’ve just lived through our 4th winter! So thought we’d do a quick blog post on what life has been like so far. DETAILS OF OUR STATIC CARAVAN We bought a Willerby 'Summer' 2011 model for £6,500 (including delivery) from a company called Static Caravan Repairs near Swansea in Wales. It's not a 'residential' spec van, meaning that there isn't much insulation as this van is really built for summer use. Residential vans tend to…
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21Aug 2023 by The Mahojos No Comments
Feathered Friends: 26 birds you’ll LOVE at the farm!

Feathered Friends: 26 birds you’ll LOVE at the farm!

Farmlife, Latest posts
If you love birds, then you'll love hearing all about what birds we see at our farm in South Wales. We have some lovely feathered visitors at all times of the year. Whether your favourites are birds of prey or little garden birds, we have an amazing range who come to stay. Here's our A to Z of birdlife at the farm - there's actually 27 birds on our list as we forgot the Eurasian Jays!: Blackbirds Blue Tits Buzzards (we often see them circling above the farm calling to eachother) Canada Geese Chaffinches Crows Eurasian Jays Goldfinches Green Woodpecker (we often hear them knocking on the trees in the orchard) Great Spotted Woodpecker (we often see the females with their bright red heads) Grey Wagtail Little Owl (we hear…
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13Feb 2023 by The Mahojos No Comments
What’s Life Like If You Live Full Time In A Static Caravan?

What’s Life Like If You Live Full Time In A Static Caravan?

Static Caravan
WHERE DO YOU LIVE? Hey! We are Ali, Amy and Ollie and we've been living full time in a static caravan in South Wales (UK) since August 2020. Prior to that we were living in a 2-bedroom flat that we rented in the town of Pontypridd. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram @themahojos if you'd like to connect or say hi! We sited our van on Amy's mum's farm and we've just lived through our 3rd winter so thought we'd do a quick blog post on what life has been like so far. DID YOU NEED PLANNING PERMISSION? No, we didn't need planning permission but this was for two reasons. The caravan was sited within the 'curtilage' of the garden of the main house (curtilage = an area…
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05Jan 2023 by The Mahojos No Comments
Is this the BEST European road trip ever?

Is this the BEST European road trip ever?

Campervan
Just before the global Covid-19 pandemic hit, we stumbled upon an incredible road trip in Portugal called the N2. When the world opened up again, we headed back to Portugal to experience the BEST European road trip ever. In January 2020 we were visiting family in a Portuguese village and did lots of fun stuff locally. We visited schist villages, spent a lovely day in Coimbra and headed to Nazare, famous for huge atlantic waves. On our travels, we stopped off in a tourist information centre and discovered a 'passport' for the N2. What is the N2? The N2, or the Estrada Nacional 2, is an iconic route that starts in the northern Portuguese town of Chaves. Built in 1945 it was once the main route through central Portugal, snaking…
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