Let's Roll

Trading their rain-soaked tent for an old-school caravan has been the ticket to holiday happiness and magical memories for this Mt Maunganui clan

- Monique Balvert O’Connor

Background

Where do you live and when did you buy your caravan? Nicola: In Mt Maunganui. We bought it last October.

How did you end up being caravan owners? Ants: On Waitangi Weekend last year, we got flooded out of our tent at Sandspit Bay and had to evacuate at 10 pm. We packed the ute and trailer in ankle-deep water and headed off for the six-hour drive home with everything soaking. That’s when we decided “no more tenting”. We borrowed a friend’s caravan to give it a taste and were hooked. It was so easy being able to throw our stuff in it and most things are in there already.

Tell us about the buying process. Nicola: We got a bit overwhelmed on Trade Me, so we asked Ants’ uncle, who has done up a few caravans. It turned out he had a 1979 Oxford to sell to us with a mint-condition exterior and chassis. We were very lucky. But the interior was dated and had some bush-hack renovations. It had colourful curtains, wood veneer panelling, and blue lino, all a bit mismatched. We named it ‘Clyde’.

The reno

Where did you start? The planning was a huge stage. We marked things up on the floor with masking tape to get an idea of scale. We had a book of plans and looked at folding tables, fold-up beds and even the option of hanging the baby’s cot from the roof.