Addressing the years (Van life) ...

Nick's observation - "this caravan has served us well, though I didn't expect to be living in it". He paused and chortled, "if I had expected to be living in it, I would have bought a better one"! Vaughan's response - "it's not too late"! 

(March 2016)

There are some very pretty, restored vintage caravans.  Ours was not one of those.  It was a 16-foot Millard, built in 1974 (as verified by it's electrical certificate).  We bought it cheaply in 2014, with plans of using it for weekends away or holidays.  

By the time it came to us, it's dining booth and main bedroom had been removed.  The front bunks, kitchen bench and small wardrobe remained - as well as some upper cupboards.  It was more rough than ready.  And it leaked.

We had one or two nights in the van after exiting the original Hamby Home(in)stead and then we house-sat a beautiful home for a month, before starting caravan life fully.  

Our first caravan park was in Bacchus Marsh (60km south-west of our former home).  We stayed six weeks before moving another 24km west, closer to Ballarat (just 40km away).  

Nick commuted into Melbourne for his shifts and I spent four hours on weekdays (from September to December 2015), driving Vaughan back to his small school to ensure some stability for him.  He attended Ballan's primary school during 2016, just 5 minutes away from the caravan park - which was so much easier.

We were seeking a QLD relocation, though had expected it would happen much quicker due to restructuring at Nick's work.  We really thought we'd spend a couple of months in the van at most.  Instead it was our base for around 18 months.  The entire interior measured approx 2.75m by 4.5m (including our beds). The four of us shared the space with Bandit.  

It still amazes me that we managed for such a long time, under fairly tricky conditions.  Not only were we living at exceptionally close quarters (with Nick doing his usual shift-work) but we'd swapped rural life on a 5-acre property for a small site in a caravan park with communual amenities.  

Of course when living in such limited space there was even greater incentive to get out and about.  We often dined al fresco at a nearby reservoir or in the local forest for open-fire BBQing or camp oven dinners.  (The van/tent didn't have an oven and the park was too basic for a camp kitchen).

As a funny aside Erin commented late in 2015 that caravan park life wasn't as bad as she expected.  Seemingly she had visions of us morphing into foul-mouthed bogans!

At first we used our larger touring tent for storage and a gazebo as a cooking and dining area. By May the chef (!) complained often of being cold, so we bought a bigger, cabin tent to provide an indoor “kitchen”, dining area and walk-in-wardrobe / storage room. It was flash - with pseudo-Persian carpet (bought on sale at Spotlight)!  

Although the tent was larger, it was still warmer in the van on cold nights so we tended to retreat to our beds for reading, games and craft-work - or using the computer. (We didn't have TV). 

We were lucky to have an extended house-sit from July to early September 2016, staying in a lovely mud-brick house.  It snowed before we moved into that house and during the first few days there.  

A proper kitchen with plumbed sink, indoor bathroom and wood-fire.  Bliss!  So much better than tent cooking and walking to the amenities block!

When we moved back to the caravan park, Nick was officially confirmed for Brisbane relocation.  

There was excitement and special celebrations - cos the alternative was redundancy.  

We'd been in transit just over a year, so were keen to leave as soon as possible but had five more months of caravan life before we headed to Queensland.