Category Archives: My Motorhome

My Motorhome, Northland, Quirky things

The Homebuilt Caravan

2 Comments

While we were in a park in the north, Sculptor Nick and partner Tracy rocked in with their girls Mila and Ruby, and their Homebuilt Caravan.

matakoheThey found it in a barn in Balclutha and after recladding it and  modifiying their table so it could add extra beds for the girls, they’ve set off around the country for a year on the road.

Click on the images to see Hi Res or a slideshow

Tracy and Nick with their girls
They installed this heater as they didn’t really want the gas cooker to stay and the water is heated by the tank surrounding it.

They were not keen on going down the track of having a gas oven so they settled on a wood burner which also heats their water.

matakohe

Its all insulated and warm and toasty and it was nice to see them happy and getting around NZ.

My Motorhome, North Island road trip 2016

Bruces’s House Truck

This is Bruce’s second do up Housetruck and it’s a purler. It has everything that you’d need and is very well setup with a proper fireplace, a full kitchen and a very comfortable lounge.

Click on the images to see Hi Res or a slideshow

Bruce with his Truck
Bruce with his Truck

It started as a partly built 1976 Bedford Truck and he has done it up and finished it off over the last few years.

The Lounge
Kitchen with sleeping up Te top on the left.
The Boudoir
Kitchen
The Fireplace

It is called Beats Walkin, which was named by his young daughter and he currently uses it as his home and office for Caroline’s Outback Holiday Park where he is the resident caretaker.

The Bedford
The Bedford

It’s a very comfortable and spacious home with all the mod cons. He’s also one of the nicest camp ground people you’re likely to come across too.  Nice one Bruce.

Int'l Motorhomes, My Motorhome

A Monster Caravan But Beautiful Too

2 Comments

I woke up this morning and looked out of the window to see this. It’s huge but looks the business as well.

The view out of the window
The view out of the window

I first saw one in the flesh at the Covi show and photographed it as well. It turns out that Kel and Jenny had just taken delivery of their new baby and lent it to Jonas and the Dethleffs team for the Covi show. I had a think about this and thought, that would be hard to do. With something like this and having only recently got it, you’d just want to disappear in it 🙂

Click on the images for Hi Res

Kel and Jenny with their Caravan
Kel and Jenny with their Caravan

Kel and Jenny have sold their house in Auckland and are full timing in their 9.42 metre (incl drawbar) Dethleffs Exclusive caravan. Their first big trip was around the South Island early this year and it went well.

mirandaKel tells me he nearly cried when he marked one corner of it as he came off the ferry as the 4m back overhang swung out. I know how he felt as I nailed a corner on the back of Rafe not long after we got it and felt sick.. My new baby was injured ! Their parts are all here and she’s about to go to caravan hospital to made all better again so all’s well.

The Living area
The Living area
Bedroom
Bedroom

The Exclusive is 8.05 metres long(body) and its tare weight is 2040kg with a max of 2800kg.

One side of the Galley
One side of the Galley

I had a quick look through and can see lots of similarities with Rafe. The high standard of workmanship, the comfy feel, it’s all there. A very nice caravan and when I first met them both, they had smiles a mile wide so they’re obviously enjoying their freedom and their new home on the road.

Int'l Motorhomes, My Motorhome

Cyril and Gail’s Outback Trail

After many years of travelling with 3 caravans, Taupo caravanners, Cyril and Gail ordered a 5th wheeler from Michigan in the US. kuratauIt was a an Outback Trail all setup for NZ or Australia so no wiring issues. While they were doing that, they also imported their 6.4 litre V8 diesel Ford F350 4 by 4 and what a beast that is.

Cyril with the 6.4 l V8
Cyril with the 6.4 l V8

The whole rig looks amazing and Cyril says it drives really well.

Lots of space
Lots of space
The Bedroom
The Bedroom

With the slide outs there is plenty of room  and it all looks very comfortable with all the mod cons.kuratauThey’ve recently completed a 5 month trip around the South Island and although they’ve been around most of the North Island, there are still some new places to explore.

We caught up them at the recent Kuratau rally by Lake Taupo.

Friends, My Motorhome

Tracking the Tracker

1 Comment

Rob and Helen were in England visiting one of their daughters. While they were there, they had a thought, where they could buy a new AutoTrail from the factory, cruise around the Uk for 6 months or so and then ship it back to NZ. It was all going well until they found that Kiwis, Aussies and Canadians can only drive up to 3500kg GVM unless they’re on British drivers licenses.
matakanaTheir Tracker has a GVM of more that 4200kgs. Finding it was all getting unnecessarily stressful, they decided on plan B and decided to ship it brand new, to NZ to use and enjoy on NZ roads. By shipping it brand new, they avoided all the fumigating and cleaning that is required for importing a used vehicle😊. matakana3 years and 20000 k’s later, they’ve travelled through most of NZ with their daughter Chloe. Their AutoTrail Tracker is a  nice van which is well kitted out out with Truma heating, Dometic fridge and all the other nice things you’d expect in one of these vehicles. matakanaWe’ve shared some great trips and great evenings with them including last New Year’s Eve at Sullivan’s Bay (in the rain 🌂🍷😃).

Rob has also featured in a previous post where he added a fan to his fridge to make it more efficient with Aucklands humidity.

My Motorhome, Preparation

Softer underfoot

2 Comments

Today was a big day. We got new Carpet cut in to Rafe after going bare floors since we first got Rafe.

Before in the Galley
Before in the Galley
Before looking forward
Before looking forward

White nylon carpet came with Rafe but they could probably be called mats as there were gaps up to several centimetres around each piece and being white, they were impossible to keep clean.

Fiona and I managed to clean them then we wrapped them up in plastic and stuck them in the “tomb” under our rented house with some of our furniture to sell with Rafe if/when we sell.

The first bit is done
The first bit is done
Paul doing the Galley
Paul doing the Galley

In the meantime, I bought a 3 metre offcut of Schist Godfrey Hurst Nylon and I have to say it looks heaps more practical.

Click on the images for Hi res or Gallery for Slideshow

Spreading out in the carpark
Paul tidying up
Looking back from the front
I made some rugs too

Paul, my friendly carpet layer spent the morning here cutting it in and it looks the business. It should also be a little better in winter too with something softer underfoot.

All done
All done

After Paul finished, I made some rugs out of the leftover carpet.
I’ll get them overlocked and then we’re in business.

My Motorhome, Waikato

Tom and Erin’s retro Mitzi

2 Comments

Tom and Erin were my neighbours at Port Waikato holiday park and are based in Fielding. They bought their very Retro looking 1988 Mitsibishi L300 from some recently arrived South Africans who brought it with them when they arrived in NZ but then decided to buy a new Dethleffs.

The van with all its colourful awnings.
The van with all its colourful awnings.

For a small van, I was expecting not enough room to swing a cat but was hugely surprised by the amount of storage and little spaces being used really creatively. There is even a drinks cabinet!

More seating and easy to get at driving position.
Luton sleeping area
Neat little spot fit microwave and jug
Drinks cabinet !
Retro awnings

They’ve had this van now for more than 11 years and have been everywhere several times with no issues.
One of the first things they did was make it NZ CSC compliant by adding grey water tanks and fine tuning a few other things. They also changed the TV setup to digital from UHF, changed the lighting to LED along with some upgrades to squabs etc.

Spacious seating arsa
Spacious seating area

They plan to continue their regular weekend trips to their favourite Foxton Beach weekend spot along with more cruising around NZ.
A well kept, neat looking van with lots of charm.

Art Deco 2016, My Motorhome

Oliver and Noeline’s CI Munro / Fiat

On arrival in Taupo on the waterfront, we pulled up next to Oliver and Noeline from Hamilton.

The Fiat / CI Munro
The Fiat / CI Munro

They purchased their 2009 2.3 litre Fiat Ducato 2 years ago so they take away their grandkids. The ex rental with a CI Munro back had done 110,000 odd k’s but is in exceptional condition. They’ve added solar power and more battery power along with a bigger TV and are really enjoying it. They recently did a trip right down to Bluff around the South Island and enjoyed some time at former west coaster Noelines old  region.

Looking forward. Bed up stairs
Looking forward. Bed up stairs
The Galley are at the back
The Galley are at the back

The van performed faultlessly all the way around and they are planning a trip into new territory up to the Bay of Islands and beyond.
Bikes on the backA really nice  tidy functional Motorhome.

Friends, My Motorhome

Mark & Tina’s Travelhome

3 Comments

Mark came back from a Turners Auction about 8 or so months ago and surprised us all when he arrived with a 1995 CI Travelhome on a Ford Trader chassis.

The Exterior
The Exterior

Mark & Tina are old boating mates and knowing that he has his hands full with a car restoration, a bike restoration and still has his boat to look after as well, I wondered where he would get the time from to work on what was a do up !

Click on the images to see Hi Res

The galley area
The sleeping accommodation. Completely relined and insulated as it leaked and was rotten.
Mark & Tina with their new Motorhome
Above the Califont the vent was leaking. Vent no longer leaks.
The Galley area
Wee fridge.. a little beauty
The view
The Bathroom and Toilet
Driving area

My first observation  when I first saw it was rot, dampness  and a whole lot of work but what a transformation when I saw it just recently.

All the leaks are fixed, the rot has been removed, leaky hatches have been replaced and all the sleeping accommodation has been completely relined. It looks fantastic.

The weekend we spent with Mark & Tina at Rays Rest was great and for their very first trip away, everything worked well.

Mechanically, it just plods away with the 3.5 l normally aspirated Ford Diesel and Mark tells me it flew through its first COF.

The View
The View

Its looking really nice. Well done both of you.

 

Coromandel 2016, My Motorhome

Nana & Poppa Bus

After 15 years of owning their 7m 1990 Nissan Civilian, Engineer Dave and his wife Josy are finally enjoying their now completed Motorhome.
About 10 years ago, Dave and a friend got started on the restoration of two buses, a Hino for Daves Friend and the Nissan Civilian for themselves.
The NissanAfter years of using it while the restoration carried on, it now looks fantastic.
Daves friend had access to a CNC router which they used to make the Matai bench top and bathroom hand basin and the results are amazing. The floor was hand made using strips of native NZ timbers put together to look like parquet flooring but a whole lot nicer.

The Galley showing the pantries opened
The swivel tv above the bed
The Helm
Looking forward
The Bedroom

The swivelling drop down TV which can be watched from anywhere. Two slide out pantries.

The CNC routed Matai bench top
The CNC routed Matai bench top
The routed bathroom bench
The routed bathroom bench

With the centre island bed, it is very comfortable.
I met them both at Te Mata point as we enjoyed a cold drink. It’s great to see them enjoying the results of their hard work.

Te Mata point.
Te Mata point.

They tell me that although they’ve been all over NZ, there are still nooks and crannies that they’re yet to explore.