Finding Neverland

Buying a run-down caravan was a spontaneous decision for this young couple, but their belief in its potential has resulted in a magical home away from home

- Sally Conor

BACKGROUND

Where do you live? Jade: Tauranga.

Why did you buy the caravan? We noticed it parked up for sale at Ferry Landing (at Cooks Beach, Coromandel) two years back. We had recently got married and decided to use some of our gifted wedding money to buy it.

We had been talking about buying a caravan and turning it into a food van for a while, but once we bought it and realised how epic a little home-on-the-road it would be, that idea went out the window. We were going to call her Ferry Land due to where we found her, but Dad suggested Neverland – after the mystical place in Peter Pan – and it stuck.

What was the caravan like when you bought it? It was usable but pretty grotty. It was painted maroon and cream, had ugly old cupboards painted maroon as well, and at one end there was a table with two couch-type seats on either side that weren’t at all comfy. The lino was stained, there were watermarks everywhere and quite a bit of hidden rot.

What did you do to it to make it roadworthy? We ripped off all the wall lining and stripped it back to the aluminium – that exposed at least 50 holes in the roof and walls! We stripped the exterior and water-blasted it twice as there were three layers of old paint. Then we bogged up the holes and got it ready for painting. We made a spray-painting booth at home and a mate did the painting for us. Then the sign writer put our ‘Neverland’ name on.