| My
name is Gail Bennett and I have owned and been interested in campervans
and motorhomes for the past 25 years. I have a husband and two children
aged 17 and 16 who also love to travel. We live on the Gold Coast in South
East Queensland. |
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| We
have travelled Australia extensively in our various motorhomes and built
and renovated a number of vehicles. In 1999 when the children were 7 &
8 we travelled 'around the block' as it is passionately known in Australia
for a total of 9 months. In 2002 when the children were 10 & 11 we did
it again concentrating on Queensland and Northern Territory. As well as
these two major trips we have done many other trips to all parts of Australia
(except Tasmania as yet) both before and after children. |
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Our
first campervan was a Ford Transit van which we remodelled 3 times in the
14 years we had it. When we first bought it and renovated it there was only
the two of us. We then renovated again some years later and upgraded the
motor to a V8 petrol. We then had children and had to modify it again to
accommodate them. We travelled outback and north Queensland for 7 weeks
with a 2 and 4 year old. It was then we decided we wanted to do this more
long term in a bigger vehicle. |
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| Our
next venture was a 37 foot Bedford bus. We took 12 months to rebuild it
to suit ourselves including building a "garage" for our mini moke
under our bed. We ended up with a very comfortable family home - Hobohome.
This is the bus we did our two big trips in. Hobohome now has two new loving
owners Gavin and Tracey. You can follow their progress in their travels
around Australia at hobohome.com |
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Our
next venture was a Coaster which we bought as a wreck. We lovingly restored
it and now is on the road with another eager traveller.
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| Next
was a 27 foot Fleetwood Southwind.Although
an 80's model the American certainly did it very well back then and the
motorhome had many featurse not available today in Australia. We thoroughly
enjoyed our time with this great motorhome but decided to build another
motorhome, so it is with reservation we sold it. |
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Our
current project is our GMC motorhome. Most people would not be familiar
with this one but it is an American purpose built motorhome from the 1970's.
It has Oldsmobile V8 running gear and is front wheel drive which allows
for a very low body.
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It
is a classic motorhome and has a huge following the United States. Although
a motorhome when we bought it, Mark deciced to do a bit of a redesign.
Things started coming out, then a few more, and a few more - until there
was so little left it was best to start again. It ended up completely
stripped on the inside - right down to electical wiring and plumbing
all gone. We have enjoyed the challenge of rebuilding and are very happy
with the result. Having now done it a few times we hope we know what
we want. When we started the kids were still young enough to be dependent
on mum and dad, hence we built a motorhome for four. Now that it is
almost finished the kids are independent and not interested in travelling
with the "oldies". We think this is great as the motorhome
is much more comfortable for two people rather than four.
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Whilst we have many
years of experience and a few motorhomes behind us I do not profess to
be an expert in every aspect of motorhoming. There are many people out
there who are experts in their specific field and the magazine welcomes
input from any of you who wish to input. I do profess though, to be passionate
about motorhoming and the lifestyle. I therefore have put this magazine
and website together for the enjoyment of all who wish to enjoy.
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