When we were planning to do this trip, we wanted to sell our caravan and buy a campervan instead. I was getting a bit worried about John getting older, not being as keen on towing, as well as him having back problems. I am quite happy towing the caravan but I do find hitching difficult and pushing the bed up into position to leave would be too hard on my own. I had suggested that getting some kind of campervan would be easier as there would be no hitching and towing. Yes, there would be less space, and I would have to forego the ensuite, but I knew that our days of camping off grid and in remote areas were coming to an end.
We did put the caravan up for sale and even gave it to a dealer, but we had no luck in selling it. It didn’t actually matter because our Plan B was always going to be to tow the caravan if we had to. The van has seen a lot of use as we took almost 18 months to travel the country plus we have done other shorter trips in it. It looks well-used which I thought was a positive: I assumed people who wanted to buy an off-road van would be happy with some red dirt still underneath from our trips, and a bit of wear and tear. I was wrong! There are so many caravans on the market post covid that people want a new looking van for half the price of a new one. I was very offended when the dealer said to come and pick up the van as people weren’t interested in a caravan that had been owned by heavy smokers! I could not believe a caravan dealer did not know the difference between sun damage and nicotine!
We picked up the van and I decided that, if we wanted to sell it, we had to pretty it up a bit. So, I made it my project. I went about watching Youtube videos on how to make vans look pretty on a budget. We spent a lot more time getting rid of as much red dirt as we could from all the nooks and crannies outside and underneath the van and I used a lot of Gumption inside to do the same. But the sun damage really couldn’t be improved with extra cleaning. So, I bought some caravan wallpaper that I saw online, plus a nice big Australian map sticker, ordered up to date family photos that we always have in our van, and stick-on tiles to put around the sink. I cut up a white net curtain I had in the linen cupboard and made curtains for the windows and hung fairy lights back up (I like to have fairy lights on in the van in the evenings). To finish it off, I bought a new quilt cover. I was very pleased with the end result. The van did look prettier and less used. However, no-one came to view it. Which is why we took off towing the van after all. And it was great; we had a wonderful trip.
This was the caravan in the showroom when we bought it and then when we took off in 2021. Those of you who followed our travel blog then https://flannerysfootprints.com/ would know all the adventures we had in the van. It didn’t stay new looking for long!
Some photos of the van before updating it
And the van after I tried to update it and get it back to looking presentable –
Plan C was to put it up for sale in Darwin as we would be housesitting for Kyran and Vanessa for a couple of months. After the lack of interest in Western Australia, we did not have high hopes of selling it here. However, we had four couples come to view and all were very interested. Two put in offers very quickly and we sold it that day. The couple who bought it wanted to take it right away, so they went for lunch while John and I removed what belongings were still in there and packed it up. It happened so quickly and unexpectedly that we were a bit shell-shocked. Happy but sad. In fact I didn’t sleep that night. I almost felt traumatised. We have had so many adventures in the Emu.
So what now? How were we going to get back home? Accommodation is very expensive. We went back to our original thought. I had already researched camper vans and we had both agreed we wanted something cheap and simple, not a mobile home with ensuite. We wanted to try the hippy life! I looked through what was for sale locally and we went to look at a couple. We liked both for different reasons. We looked at ads for others but kept coming back to these two. The better of the two had the disadvantage of having less room inside and a big fridge on the floor which meant climbing over everything to get into bed. We wanted a simpler life so that was a definite negative. The other van was older with more kms on the clock but we liked the layout inside. Simple. We slept on it for a few nights, did a bit more research, talked to people about it and went back to drive them. In the end we felt that the older one had what we needed it. So we are now the proud owners of a “backpacker van” as Kyran calls it. A VW Transporter T5.
We have spent a couple of days trying to fit everything from the caravan (which had great storage) into the campervan which only really has storage under the bed. I have already done a trip to the Op Shops and will be posting clothes home. But we feel very pleased with our purchase.
And a footnote on the sale of the van…..the couple who bought it took their two children away for the weekend to camp in the Emu and try it out. He sent me a message saying it was just perfect for them and they love it. We feel so happy that a young family will now be able to have adventures in it.
What now? Well, we now have a campervan and still have the car! And we are heading home in a week or so. We had always planned to sell the Amarok when we sold the caravan but we had expected that to be at home. The car is now up for sale here. Fingers crossed we get some interest. If not, I guess we will have to drive both back to WA – maybe selling the car in Broome or Kununurra.
Vanessa and the boys fly in tomorrow to finally move into their new house here in Darwin. Kyran will drive in later in the week. Our plan is to have a few days with them before slowly making our way back home – hopefully with only one vehicle! The idea was to miss winter and we have heard that Kalbarri has been quite cold this year so, if we get back towards the end of August or early September, we will have missed most of it. In the meantime, we are very excited about spending time with the family!
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