Buying a motorhome has been a life-altering experience for Georgina O’Brien and her wife Michelle. Alexia Santamaria asked the pair why.
Georgina and Michelle have always liked the idea of holidays. They used to have a beach property in Te Akau in the Waikato and also go away to other places, often renting from sites like Bookabach. While they definitely enjoyed getting out of town, sometimes it felt like hard work. “When you have a beach property, you’re always doing maintenance: chopping back trees, maintaining the house, renovating, upgrading. We loved our time in Te Akau but last year we decided it was time to sell up and take on something easier,” says Georgina.
That something was a motorhome – a Fiat Ducato Carado T447 2021 to be precise. They visited Wilderness Motorhomes with the intention of buying a small vehicle, but when they saw a flashlooking “mothership” for the same price, it seemed crazy not to buy it. “We took it for a test drive expecting it to be really hard to manoeuvre, but ended up thinking, ‘This is so easy, I feel like I could just keep on driving this for hours.’ At that point, the couple knew this motorhome was destined to be theirs. What they didn’t predict was just how much it would change their view on holidays. “Travelling around used to feel exhausting,” says Georgina. “We loved renting baches but didn’t really realise how much work going away was. We’d always be so tired the day before going away, organising everything we needed to take. And on the last day we were also busy making sure everything was clean before leaving. Holidays used to be hard work; now we just jump in and go. We have so much more freedom and flexibility.”
The ease of having a home on wheels has made them want to go away more, be more spontaneous and see all the exciting things New Zealand has to offer. Part of the joy of such a large campervan is ‘the garage’, a storage unit at the back. “We can put all our toys – boogie boards, barbecue, deck chairs, tables and e-scooters in there,” says Michelle, “so the actual cabin space is left pretty clear and roomy. If we decide we want to pull over for a cuppa we can do it so easily. Just put the jug on, rather than moving things that often have to be stored inside.”
“It’s all just so easy,” adds Georgina. “Way easier than we ever imagined. Even putting up the awning when we arrive somewhere – I’ve had bigger struggles with tricky deck chairs! It’s all so simple and in good weather we actually set the awning up as a whole other room, with our camp kitchen, coffee machine, air fryer. It’s a whole extra space and we love hanging out there!”
The Carado has twin beds that can be combined into a king, a separate toilet and shower, a full-sized fridge and a decent-sized freezer too. This really suits the couple who like to cook and eat a lot of fresh food. “We like eating from the ground up – fresh veggies take up lots of room, so a large fridge is important,” says Michelle.
So far they’ve taken their new acquisition to Taupō, Bowentown, Whitianga, New Plymouth, Ōhope and, most recently, Hot Water Beach. “Because it’s all so easy, and everything is all ready to go at any time, we’ve started looking for new and interesting places we can visit. We’ll read about something or somewhere and then make a plan to go,” says Georgina. “We go to Bowentown a lot because my sister lives there. Between visiting her and exploring new places, we haven’t had many weekends at home recently, it really has been life-changing!”
The couple have had a motorhome before. “In retirement we’ve hired small campervans, and we actually bought an old Ford Transit camper some years ago, but nothing can even come close to this beauty we’ve got now. There was a lot of hassle with that one – not like this where you just pull up and plug in and you’re ready to go.”
Georgina and Michelle mainly stay in Top Ten accommodation. “We’ve found them so good and clean and you know you’ll get a level of quality from the facilities. The one in Ōhope even had
a sauna!” says Michelle. “We haven’t freedom camped yet but might try that as part of larger trips in the summer. It might be nice to be off-grid for a day or two in between camping grounds,” says Georgina. “We have an extra solar panel that charges the house battery, so we’re okay to be unplugged for a while. In fact, recently we did a day trip to Raglan and met up with friends for fish and chips. It was nice to do some reading and have a nap in the afternoon without thinking of having to be near power.”
The couple are both looking forward to the arrival of spring. “It’s opened up all these new possibilities and life seems so exciting thinking of how easy it is to go wherever we want. It really is like having a whole new lease on life.”
