Motorhome fever

I seriously thought we would keep our 1989 Classic seven berth motorhome forever… But last weekend, I found myself on Caravancampingsales listing her for sale.

As someone who has owned three campervans and four motorhomes, I guess it was inevitable. No one bats an eyelid when ‘the Fonz’ turns up a new girl every episode of Happy Days right?

For me, it’s like ‘So many motorhomes, so little time’. I blame my parents.

When I was four-years-old -- just before my parent's D.I.V.O.R.C.E, my Dad bought an old school bus, which he then decked out as a camper.

I lusted after the adventures we would have in that bus and was absolutely devastated when my parents split up and the ‘camper’ was sold in the wash-up. I never did get to go in her and while 15 years of therapy has helped me come to terms with my parents’ separation, I never got over that motorhome.

So it's no secret that I’m a sucker for a nice motorhome. I see a pretty expanse of white bodywork and I can’t help but look.

I’ve been known to take a turn-off on the freeway to follow an interesting looking campervan and I don’t think I’m alone in my love of gleaming chrome hubs.  

My wife is used to these little quirks of mine and while a lesser woman might vocalise some discontent during the two hour crawl through traffic back to the freeway -- not my wife… she didn’t say a word to me for hours!

So you can imagine her reaction when I announced this weekend I’ve been thinking it’s time for a different kind of motorhome.

“What do you mean dear?”

“Gulp…. well, er I was thinking perhaps something a little sleeker…” My wife raises an enquiring eyebrow.

Because the fact is, I have been lusting after a different kind of motorhome for a while now. A newer one, to be precise.

The thing is, I am in media production and I use my motorhome for work. On the set, it serves as an office, a meeting room, a change room, a catering van, and of course accommodation.

The motorhome I have now does all this admirably but in terms of ground speed and maintenance, I might have made a slight error of judgement in seeking out a 25-year-old classic motorhome for work.

When you need to be in Sydney at 8am and your beautiful old motorhome likes to cruise at 90km/h, said beautiful old motorhome tends to get left at home and modern Volkswagen Golf with adaptive cruise control tends to be taken instead.

This is fine for arriving on time but it’s a tad tricky to get changed in the back and the catering ladies often get crumbs over the leather seats.

I probably should have sold my current motorhome a week after purchase (right after it broke down and before I spent $14,000 repairing the mechanicals) but that would have meant admitting I was wrong to my wife… and to be truthful, I wanted things to work out.

It’s just such a great van to spend time in when it’s stationary. I love that six people can be seated around the dinette and adjacent lounge while the intern can serve tea and coffee with fresh baked scones from the full size oven (please don’t tell my wife I called her an intern).

It also has two bunks at the rear (perfect for children or extra camera gear) and oodles of storage under the various seats and in the overhead lockers. So what’s the problem? I hear you ask.

If you’ve had any experience with ‘classic’ cars, you’ll know they like fresh oil every 5000kms. I live four hours, or approximately 400km north of Sydney so after five trips to Sydney I need to service the van and lately I’ve been to Sydney every other week.

Don’t worry; I’ve been taking the Golf but I do have to make a decision about this big white paperweight in my driveway.

Things came to a head this week when I needed to be in Sydney at the crack of dawn but I also needed to tow a trailer. Volkswagen in their infinite wisdom have not released a towbar for my 2015 Golf so I saddled up the motorhome.

Five and a half hours later, after being overtaken by every sleek motorhome imaginable, I pulled into Sydney with a heavy heart, knowing I’m finally ready to admit it’s time to sell up and upgrade to a new van.

I’m thinking Avida Diversion but the Swift Rio 340 looks pretty amazing, as does the Knaus Skywave 650. Oh boy!

Meanwhile my 1989 Classic seven berth motorhome is up for grabs and if you’re a family seeking adventure and don’t need to travel at the speed of light, it’s pretty hard to beat.

Of course, if you do the math here is a mini apartment you can buy for $48K, which spread over five years is just $180 per week.

Imagine renting in Sydney’s most exclusive suburbs for this, plus on weekends and holidays you get to head out and explore.

Sorry, I have to go…. Another nice camper just passed by and I need to get a closer look!