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Buses converted to campervans

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5 years 4 months ago #197061 by roKWiz
Saw this nice Prevost recently in Euroa. Didn't know any existed in Oz.


Heritage Stonemason
In order that the labour of centuries past may not be in vain during the centuries to come... D. Did
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5 years 2 months ago - 5 years 2 months ago #197965 by Roderick Smith
Roderick.

‘We were miserable’: The family who sold their house to live in a truck Jan 4, 2019 .
They had the old Mainfreight, curtainsider​ truck converted into a one-bedroom unit on wheels.
Adi and Logan Courtney took a leap of faith to do what they always wanted to do – sold their home, business and most of their possessions to live in a house truck.
The couple has co-authored and self-published a book, What You Have Always Wanted To Do, about their three years travelling around New Zealand.
Before getting the truck, they had been working 17-hour days to pay off a $450,000 mortgage, but it was killing them.
Logan was born in Auckland and served in the New Zealand Army before moving to Australia in 2005.
Adi and Logan Courtney have written a book about living in a house truck for three years. Photo: Joanne Carroll
He met Adi in 2011 and they ran a landscaping and gardening business together.
“We were living the supposed dream life in a three-bed house surrounded by our family and friends, but we were both miserable with the pressure and stress,” Logan said.
The physical labour was also wreaking havoc on his body.
“I had paralysis in one hand and calcification of my joints in the other. I saw an osteopath who told me I was going to die, and die soon, if I didn’t sell the business,” he said.
The house is a converted Mainfreight truck. Photo: Supplied
Logan suggested they go home – to New Zealand.
Adi had never been to New Zealand, but was keen to give it a go.
“I looked on Trade Me and there was this truck. We both said ‘we could live in that’. The guy said it was ours for $35,000 with only a $1000 deposit,” she said.
They had the old Mainfreight, curtainsider​ truck converted into a one-bedroom unit on wheels. It has a queen-size bed and full-size dishwasher, fridge and freezer, and shower.
The truck has everything the family needs, as they sold all of their unnecessary belongings. Photo: Supplied
“We put only our most treasured things into a 40-foot container and left. Our family didn’t think it was a good idea at all. They couldn’t understand why we wanted to be homeless or live like gypsies,” Adi said.
Their daughter, Mia, who was 18 months old when they moved into the truck, took to living in the small space immediately.
Not long after, Adi became pregnant with David, now 2.
He was bathed in the sink and slept in a portable cot in the back of the truck. With minimal toys, the children mostly play outdoors.
The house truck has a full-size dishwasher, fridge and shower. Photo: Supplied
Living in close proximity has not tested the family’s relationship.
“It forces you to work together. We actually fight less because what do most couples fight over – money – and that was no longer a problem for us,” Adi said.
The family travelled around New Zealand for three years. They worked on farms in Helensville, lived in a campground in South Auckland and worked for Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED).
“We took the term working remotely to a new level. We parked the truck at a campground in South Auckland and would go to meetings in the city in suits. We would take the truck to the South Island and go skiing while still working,” Adi said.
They have lived in the truck for three years. Photo: Joanne Carroll
When ATEED decided to bring the job in-house, the couple knew they could not work full-time from an office.
They took to the road again before settling on the West Coast, where they bought a section in Kumara.
They also bought an old run-down house in Blaketown, Greymouth, for $45,000 cash, but plan to rent it out and move back into the truck after renovating it.
“We fall in love with our truck more and more every day. We are lucky to call it our home,” Adi said.
Related: The couple living together after their break up.
Related: The family who downsized for a good school zone.
Related: The family living underneath their parents’ home.
< www.domain.com.au/living/couple-sold-the...a-house-truck-793170 >










Last edit: 5 years 2 months ago by Roderick Smith. Reason: added the photos

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5 years 2 months ago #198179 by Roderick Smith
The remaining three photos.

Roderick.




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5 years 2 months ago #198402 by Roderick Smith
190120Su Melbourne Age: Three of a cult classic: a VW Kombi.
These people weren't camping. It is a prop for a fashion-advertisement photo set.

Roderick.




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5 years 2 weeks ago #199380 by Roderick Smith
Why our young family moved from four walls to four wheels Mar 10, 2019
Jessica and Tim with their sons Zach (left) and River in their converted school bus. Photo: Tim London.
I don’t know what it is about a road trip and a van. The freedom, endless possibilities, timelessness, stillness of nature, hills to be climbed, books to be read, and space to be found.
For me, the idea for our family to build a tiny house bus and go on an adventure of a lifetime first came over two years ago, when I was looking out the window in hospital. We were waiting, then waiting some more.
One of our twin baby boys continued to have worrying results following numerous surgeries, so more and more tests were needed. This was after eight months as in-patients for our sons, seven of which were in ICU.
Looking out the window, I was dreaming of the time my husband and I bought a small van and travelled around New Zealand. How we had immersed ourselves in nature, and how much joy, fun, and healing we experienced. The trip was after a long illness I had been recovering from following a season living in south-east Asia.
The bus was finally ready for Tim, River, Zach and Jessica to move in just before Christmas. Photo: Jessica Dove London
Looking at our two beautiful boys, with so much continued medical and disability uncertainty for them both, the idea to take them on an epic adventure was born. A moment of clarity came – one that can perhaps only come when faced with death. The knowing that it is in how we spend what precious time we have together that matters.
At this point, we weren’t able to see people easily and were often in isolation due to risks of viruses to our son. We often dreamt that if we built our own tiny house on wheels we could have all we need with us, away from all the nasty bugs, and go off into the wild.
So a few months after our boys turned one and we were finally home from hospital, we bought a fully operational 11-metre-long school bus, complete with some kid’s hat and lunch they had left in it the day before. And so the bus arrived – a bus we didn’t even know how to drive!
Knowing how hectic our life was managing two babies with health issues, and with hubby working part-time among all the hospital time, our plan was to outsource the conversion work.
Tim with Zach and River. Jessica says they want their sons to ‘experience this wonderful world in all its wildness and wonder’. Photo: Jessica Dove London
Initially this plan went well, and much of the grunt work was done by a good friend who is a carpenter. But then money started to run out and I think, honestly, we developed a bit of cold feet for the whole project.
This was about the time our two boys were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and with continued hospital admissions and deep exhaustion, this dream became too much for us to pursue.
Converting a school bus into a tiny house is actually really complicated and hard – who would have known – so we put it on hold.
We tried to do some work on it on weekends, but with managing our boys and desperately needing quality family time, not much progressed. And so our half-converted bus sat in front of our house as a daily reminder of this dream we once had.
Then, at the beginning of 2018, both my husband’s and my mental health were struggling. Our relationship was in need of nurturing, and my husband’s job was really ramping up in both time and stress.
Friends, or ‘bus angels’ have helped Jessica and Tim realise their dream. Photo: Jessica Dove London
It was also around this time that the enormity of our boys’ disabilities began to become more of a reality, as decisions about wheelchairs, future surgeries, and seeking interventions began to pile up.
I remember turning to my husband and saying that this was the year we had to make a radical change. We had to choose space for healing, or none of us would be able to go the distance.
At the same time, this desire to open up the world to our boys really accelerated as we were realising that regardless of their mobility or ability, we wanted them to experience this wonderful world in all its wildness and wonder.
So, as the chaos of it all reached its peak in the middle of last year we decided to take a leap.
My husband went on long term leave from his job and decided to finish our tiny house bus himself – both for his own mental health, and for the dream that the bus was for our family.
Jessica and Tim are enjoying a trip of a lifetime around New Zealand with their young sons. Photo: Tim London
Starting in August, my husband worked on our tiny house bus every day.
Every single part of the project has been harder and trickier than we could imagine. From the carpentry, to installing a full plumbing system and bathroom, we have had to continually problem solve, and we have made lots of mistakes.
But we made it. A week before Christmas, we moved in – and I can’t believe it.
We have not got here alone. So many “bus angels”, as I like to call them, have helped us turn our dream into a reality.
One close friend secretly gathered funds for us, another came for a year to build a beautiful custom kitchen, while others let us park our big ugly bus (before the paint job) in their driveway and fed us at all hours.
The kitchen was custom-built for the bus. Photo: Jessica Dove London
This support honestly moves us so deeply. It reminds us we are not alone and that our crazy dream is more than just our dream.
I don’t know where we will be going on this trip of a lifetime, or who we will be at the end of our adventures. Hopefully we will be a little more healed, more present, more grateful, more rested, more zoned into one another after a

rough patch, and a little more resilient.
The bigger dream? To see how we can all continue to open up the world to those with different abilities, dreaming big and beautiful stories of healing and connection.
And it has just begun. I can feel the wind on my face and see the long road ahead.
To follow our journey visit our YouTube vlog, where we post new videos every Sunday.
Related: The full-timers making cash from their passions
Related: The woman investigating the strange history of homes
Related: The 28-year-old saving for a house by drawing yours
< www.domain.com.au/living/why-our-young-f...o-four-wheels-807813 >

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5 years 2 weeks ago #199385 by Lang
The following user(s) said Thank You: PaulFH

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5 years 2 weeks ago #199386 by Lang
The following user(s) said Thank You: PaulFH

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5 years 2 weeks ago #199391 by Roderick Smith
Some nice finds there Lang.
I'll get the photos for this new item eventually.

Roderick.

Furniture maker Christian Cole’s handcrafted holiday house on wheels Mar 11, 2019
Christian Cole and wife Fiona with their bus. Photo: Julian Kingma.
If you’ve noticed a Cooma Coaches bus edging its way around Torquay lately, don’t worry, it’s not lost. The same if you see it parked at caravan parks up Australia’s east coast. You’ve spotted the holiday house (on wheels) of cabinet and furniture maker Christian Cole.
From the outside it looks a little like it did six years ago when Christian and his wife, Fiona, and two kids, now 16 and 13, picked it up from Cooma, near Canberra, to drive it home. If you peek inside, you’ll see the incredible result of that work. Essentially, it’s a masterpiece of painstakingly-handcrafted everything.
First destination? The Cole family home in suburban Brunswick West. “We backed it in,” Cole recalls. “It took me three and a half hours to get it into the backyard. That’s how it started. Then I started working on it.” After finishing work at his Coburg North factory, he’d go home and “start tinkering”.
It was a complex tinker. “I had to reframe the whole bus, and I made all these little curved jigs out of ply,” he explains. “And steam vent walnut around all the windows, with 30 clamps on each window.” It took him a day to do one. He calls that the worst bit. The best bit? “The smell of the French oak from crushing vats. We straightened red wine crushing vats from Mildura, for the floor and ceiling,” he explains. “It was a shame to seal it!”
Christian and Fiona Cole with their restored bus.
Cole worked on the 12-metre by two-metre bus in his backyard for over a year, with Fiona working on the layout for the 30-square metre space, and the kids helping with the gutting of it, or just hanging around. “Since it was in the backyard, they’d come and hang out, play basketball, and have a chat to me while I was working on it.”
His vision for the bus was simple: “To be able to drive wherever you like for the weekend, go up to Byron Bay, and have some time in it with the kids.” But it wasn’t simple. “It got quite involved. I had to get engineering certificates:
I had to weld big plates underneath the seats, the seats had to come with their certification to say they’re up to Australian standards. Had to do all the water tanks, the black tanks, weld them all up.”
Still, years later, he’s got a bus that can go completely off grid. “It’s got solar power, panels on the roof, and you can plug it in as well. There’s a 750-litre fresh water tank, and diesel generator.”
Christian Cole with his restored bus.Photo Julian Kingma.
The first adventure for the Cooma Coach (it’s yet to be named, though they’re considering Trevor after a mate from Cooma who swapped one of Cole’s trademark tables and a bit of cash for the bus) was to Byron Bay. “It was interesting.”
Cole says. “We tried to do a couple of u-turns and oh my God, oh my God!”
“We’d get to a caravan park and not know if we were going to actually fit in there. So we had to ring them as we were coming into town: ‘Hi, we’ve got a 40-foot coach, are we going to be able to fit in?’” Cole says. And, once parked, the Cooma Coach became a caravan park curiosity. “A lot of people want to come and have a look,” he says. “It wasn’t the best sometimes, because you wanted to relax!”
Cole says he would have spent $50,000 on the bus in materials. “And that’s without my labour,” he admits. And it’s not exactly finished. “It got to a point where I had to accept that a little bit of wallpaper is not finished in the corner. Too bad,” he says. “It was creative and fun. There was a lot of that in it. So it was a bonus to be able to go away and have fun in it with the kids. The boys love it. They just kick back with seatbelts on … Barry the dog is in there.”
The family has since bought, and renovated, a historic home in Torquay, which gave him a different project. But you can tell he’s itching for his next one. Still, family holidays are sorted. Next stop for the boutique bus? The aptly named Eden.
< www.domain.com.au/living/furniture-maker...use-on-wheels-808378 >

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5 years 2 weeks ago #199396 by Morris
Not all large motorhomes are converted busses. Prevost and many other USA bus builders make a special motorhome version. Some of them cost up to a million dollars. Several years ago a friend who is into motorhomes showed me several copies of one of the American magazines devoted to them. Many of the new motorhomes shown had up to three TV sets and one I saw pictures of had two fully stocked wine and spirit bars. (that saved you having to walk from one area of the vehicle to another, to get another drink!)

I have my shoulder to the wheel,
my nose to the grindstone,
I've put my best foot forward,
I've put my back into it,
I'm gritting my teeth,

Now I find I can't do any work in this position!

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5 years 1 week ago #199425 by roKWiz
Morris, Prevost, One of my favourite websites I like to steal idea's from.
Quite a few country and rock bands have them built to specification.

www.prevostcar.com/

Heritage Stonemason
In order that the labour of centuries past may not be in vain during the centuries to come... D. Did

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