Golden HOUR

IN THEIR NEW BOOK, THIS OLD VAN, CARLENE AND MICHAEL DUFFY INTRODUCE US TO THEIR LATEST VINTAGE BELLE, GOLDIE

- CARLENE & MICHAEL DUFFY

Our most recent vintage belle is named in honour of our hometown of the Gold Coast, and her colour scheme pays tribute to golden hour, our favourite time of day. We purchased Goldie [a 1970s Viscount caravan] back in 2017, and until recently she'd been sitting under our house.

There was nothing to retain in this van, so we had little choice but to take her back to her shell and start from scratch. We used the opportunity to come up with a layout that worked for us and our two tween kids. We prioritised comfortable sleeping conditions (beds and window dressings) and sufficient, accessible storage space. Apart from the vintage wardrobe, Michael built every piece of joinery from scratch in this van.

Anyone who's renovated a van will tell you it's nothing like renovating a house, and you need to be prepared to make changes on the fly. We considered a whopping six floor plans for Goldie. In all cases, the kitchen pulls out from the outside of the van [opposite, bottom right], meaning we were able to free up space inside and also create a camp-style kitchen. For us that means the first person up in the morning can go and put the kettle on without risking waking up the entire family. We've also found that with the kitchen inside, we're inclined to feel a bit cooped up during meal preparation, when we have so much more space to utilise outside.