Why?

There are probably lots of whys to ask? Why a motorhome and not a caravan, why a bus conversion, why a "do it yourself project", why blog it? Let's attempt to answer a few of those.

Why a motorhome? Our first motorhome experience was in the South Island of New Zealand in 2007. Our youngest son, who has an intellectual disability, was finishing school and since schoolies week was out of the question, we tried to think of an experience we could offer him. My wife and I love New Zealand (we have been a couple of times before) and thought the convenience of the motorhome would suit our son's needs perfectly. I liked the idea of the freedom camping concept, being able to stop whenever and wherever it suited us - so that was what happened. We flew to the South Island in September and spent 10 days doing a huge figure 8 of the South Island visiting some of the places we hadn't seen before. Let's just say I was hooked and the research began! My wife being the wonderful woman she is, went along for the ride!

History: I was raised in a family who camped. We weren't well off and camping holidays were relatively cheap in those days. Mum and Dad had an old timber frame box trailer with a canvas top pulled behind a succession of old Holdens to various parts of the country - from Cairns to Adelaide on various excursions. With the tent on top of the car and a mattress at the bottom of the trailer for Mum and Dad's bed let's just say setting up was not exactly quick. Since having my own family we've had a tent, an early camper van (push up - not wind up), an old caravan, a trailer sailer, a camper-trailer and back to a Goldstream windup camper. One of the things most of these had in common was the work required - the first camper needed the floor and canvas replaced, the old caravan had to be re-lined, the trailer on the camper was shot so a new hot dipped galvanized beast was built from scratch. Let's just say I like a project. Even though the Goldstream was in good nick with features like a rollout BBQ the customization was always fun - this time a rear rack capable of carrying a 15hp 4 stroke outboard which could then be wheeled to the zodiac.

Why not the caravan? I think the freedom camping in New Zealand hooked me. The ability to stop just about anywhere when it suited was wonderful. The ability to stop, put the kettle on, look at the view through large windows and not even have to get out of the vehicle has it's advantages but I'll admit that everything is a compromise. People choose the caravan because they can drop the van and go exploring in the tow vehicle. I decided if I wanted my wife to feel comfortable freecamping she had to feel secure and that's the big plus of the motorhome. I wondered whether we could experience the same freedom in Australia as we had in New Zealand and so with a borrowed Sprinter motorhome from the in-laws we spent a few days travelling not too far from home [to Warwick], taking secondary roads where possible and freecamping overnight. Success! Only problem was the sprinter was only built for two and we needed to accommodate our son. Time to look for a vehicle.

The project: As already mentioned I like a project so a bus-to-motorhome conversion sounded like a great challenge to me. I decided upon a bus because we needed a vehicle with sleeping accommodation on the one level. Our son struggled to get in and out of the luton cab bed in NZ and we had to make up our bed from the seating area every night - the bus seemed to be the answer - permanent bed made up for us, a bed for Blake at regular height and generally cheaper to get into than an existing motorhome. I'm also pretty handy, have a fair selection of tools, live on acreage and have a shed to work in. So why not?

Why a blog? One of the things best things about a project is the journey and not just the product at the end. I spend a lot of my spare time reading, internet browsing, thinking about and researching "the project" and have enjoyed reading about other people's experiences doing similar conversions. I found blogger.com when reading about a coaster conversion and it seemed like a good way to share my experiences. [Facebook looks far too busy for me] I'm not using this tool as a true blog as I have been working on my conversion for 18 months, but I have taken photos and notes along the way and this seems like an easy way of sharing my story. I guess if you want to read it in order you have to start here at the first post.