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| Need a bigger driveway |
Our First Problem
When we first started to plan our trip, we thought alot bigger than this particular van. We thought that 6 months inside of a caravan with 2 small children would be hard to handle without the creature comforts of a home.
After chatting with a few people that had travelled before us, they all had the same idea that a huge van would be hard to tow and difficult to maneuver in and out of the caravan parks, not to mention heavy fuel costs. So we started to think smaller. The problem was that no small van had what we needed. Which was the following:
* Bunks for the kids (space saving which allows for more other fittings)
* Obviously a double bed for us (storage underneath would be a bonus)
* Kitchen for meals (fridge and cook-top necessary everyday items)
* Toilet and shower (the most difficult feature to find in any small van)
We had almost given up hope that our budget of 25-30k would never buy us the van we needed. Many phone calls to old travelers selling 1975 model 28ft millards etc that we thought we could refurbish to our liking. But when would we find the time. One day i clicked an ad somewhere for this one. Located in a place called Sunny Hill, near Bathurst.
I decided it was worth a look because people may not want to travel there to look at it. The price tag was $40k.
I jumped on the bike at 6am and rode the 3 hours to the location early on a freezing winters morning.
As soon as i arrived i knew i would buy it. A middle aged couple that owned horses and never got the chance to use the van in the 18months that they had owned it for. They were the second owners.
the price was negotiated and i stole it for $37K and that included delivery. ( we never owned a tow vehicle at this stage.
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It has everything that we need and in all the right places. The kids are at the other end of the van to us, and with the privacy doors between each room we can still be active in the other rooms without disturbing them. Toilet and shower is separate which means no wet seat in the middle of the night. Woo Hoo! A toilet and shower with 3 women on a 6 month trip was one of the most important features we needed to find.
All in all we found it to be perfect for our needs. We blew the budget a bit but we know it will return to us when and if we sell the van.
