Getting Smaller ...

You've probably noticed from the header photo that the campervan I bought is a little Mitzi L300. She's all of 5 metres long, so can fit into a supermarket carpark - bonus!

The camper was advertised locally on Trademe. The interior desperately needed a make-over and the asking price reflected that. The wallpaper was black and the interior surfaces were roughly painted a dark grey colour. It needed a lot of TLC. We decided it would be a good project for us over winter.

Little did we know, we had a few surprises in store. First, we discovered a leak under the rear window so the entire wall had to be removed. Luckily Bernie is a handyman.

And then we discovered that the awning must have been left out at some stage and been hit by wind. After Bernie removed the awning, this is what we found underneath! 

It was more than Bernie could repair so 'Nelson Motor Homes' covered the three holes with fibreglass. 

After a week the wee camper was fixed. They did a great job!  

And, then there were hours and hours of sanding. Every door was removed, sanded, painted with 3 coats and put back with new hinges and handles.

We got a quote from an upholster to get new foam squabs and have them covered. The quote was much more than we'd budgeted for, so we decided to have a go at doing it ourselves. We were spoilt for choice on the upholstery colours at Spotlight. In the end, we went with a speckled grey.

The curtains were also replaced. I've never made curtains before but thanks to watching a few YouTube tutorials and a few errors along the way, I'm happy with the result.

We added a new benchtop and a new gas stove. Bernie removed the sink so I could give it a good clean. And clean it I did! I used so many different products and kept scrubbing until it looked like a new one.

For finishing touchs, we added a new black tap and black light fittings. Plus, painted the front of the fridge with blackboard paint so our wee granddaughter could draw pictures on it with chalk. 

Ready for adventures!

Even Awah, our cat is keen!

Sold The Bus

We've owned our Toyota Coaster bus for two years and have had two years of trouble free motoring, along with many adventures. During that time we made a few changes - a new diesel heater, new flooring, changed the upholstery, added a vent & fan to the bathroom, plus other bits and pieces. Although we're sad to see the wee bus go, we know the new owners will enjoy it.

So, why sell the bus? Motor-homing is more my thing and Bernie is keen to buy a few acres of land to develop over on the West Coast. So while Bern is busy making and creating, I'll be out cruising around in a little camper with the dogs. 

Isn't life funny? Before I met Bernie I owned a Mitsubishi L300, which I adored. I sold it because it was too small for the two of us. Then we bought an American fifth wheeler, and after that the bus. Now I'm looking at getting an L300 again or something similar. Seems I'm back to where I started!

Now I need to get cracking and write some blogs on our recent trip down south before I begin blogging about adventures in camper number four.

Motorhoming With Pets In N.Z.

Yesterday I created a new group via Facebook, called "Motorhoming With Pets In N.Z." After only 5 hours I had 100 members. Today there are about 160 members. Its fantastic knowing there are so many people who are traveling with pets.