So after many hours of repair work, rebuilding, painting and welding she is ready enough to use. There is more work to be done, small jobs really but the bulk of it is complete. We painted her green and white to keep it bright, airy and fun, the laminate cupboards were chipped and damaged so it really needed it. Grant built the bed frame which is a full queen and it has hydrolic hinges so the storage under it is easilt accessible. There is heaps of room under the bed. Its where all the camping gear like tarps, BBQ, chairs, outdoor table and so forth fits. I also have a clothes horse/pegs etc so the van is fully set up ready to be packed at a whim. I whipped up some curtains from some rubber backed curtain fabric I found at $7.0/m which toned in nicely.
Here is Grant working away. He spent many late nights out in the cold.
The queen sized bed, which has space around the sides and hydrolic hinges to help it lift with ease. We will pop a bit of storage in and there is also a gap for Henry to have a little mattress that links up to ours.
Busy sewing curtains - I got off lightly in this project!
A family member had a little old aircon we installed for free which is excellent for powered sites and also my parents were getting rid of an old queen mattress we grabbed for it. We just bought bits and peices as we could every week and eventually it all got done! We estimated we spent a total of about $2500 on it and it wont take many weekends away to get our value out of her!
old reclaimed timber tops for the benches. One side lifts up and it houses a little grill and electric stove top.
The dining area with the origional cushions. Grant build a new table out of ply and when it drops down it makes a bed the size of a king single so both the bigger boys fit with ease.
The old stove and grill was in good nick, she just needed a bit of a scrub and she is as good as new!
I plan on having everything in her ready to go. Fresh, clean linen in big plastic tubs washed and put away after every trip, all the bits and bobs so all we have to do is grab some clothes, some food and we are ready to go! We look forward to many weekend adventures exploring our local parks and forests with the boys.
We did our first little trip away on the weekend. It was a great little trip. We took it gently and stayed in a caravan park by the river. I even got an en-suite site, which was a luxury but totally worth it! It made for a gentle introduction into camping and caravaning. When we were younger Grant and I used to lots of rough and ready bush walking trips and camping but since we have had children we have gone for long weekends away in simple holiday houses for the ease. Frankly we have been too tired to manage much else! But as the boys grow older life gets easier and we are ready to explore these options.
Goodness the time away did both Grant and I some good. I cant say it was a relaxing trip, nor did I get much rest but despite that I have come back energized and ready to face the world again!
xx
