Photographers Chris and Moira Blincoe talk to Jill Malcolm about their decision to document their roamings around New Zealand in a motorhome they have had fitted out to their specific needs.
Although Moira and Chris Blincoe had never set foot in an RV, they’d occasionally been motorhoming in their minds. “We’d talked vaguely about hiring one to go to the South Island,” says Moira, “but we had never seriously thought about owning one.”
It was during the first lockdown in 2020 that the idea of owning a motorhome began to take hold. Although they had always been enthusiastic overseas travellers, the pandemic made it obvious that there would be no departure for foreign climes for a long time. “Our wings had been clipped, but we are adaptable, so we began to think about what we could do instead,” says Moira.
Chris became keen on the idea of an RV, but Moira was a little more reticent, as she wasn’t sure they would enjoy the change of travel style. And then one day, browsing in a bookstore, she bought a copy of Motorhomes, Caravans & Destinations magazine, took it home and read it from cover to cover. “That was all I needed,” she says. “It made me realise that here was an opportunity to explore our own backyard. So, when Chris came home that night, I said, ‘Let’s do it’.”
The couple are serious photographers and pursuing their art is a very big part of their lives. Because of this, they like to travel spontaneously, exploring and seeing where they end up, rather than planning and booking forward. Travelling in a motorhome, where they could be on location at any time of day and position themselves where they wanted to be, would exactly fit that purpose.
And so the research began. “I did most of it online and by reading RV magazine reviews,” says Chris. “In that way, I became familiar with the options and designs. We were able to work out, not so much what we wanted, but what we didn’t want.
“First of all, we didn’t want anything big. I couldn’t see myself in an eight-metre vehicle that might be difficult to manoeuvre or prevent us from getting to off-beat places. We knew we didn’t want a Luton, a home door on the driver’s side or a crowded interior with few windows, and we didn’t need a permanent bed,” he explains. “Once those decisions were set in concrete, we moved on to what we did want. That turned out to be a feeling of space and lots of windows, particularly a large rear window. Apart from that, we needed adequate storage space, a reasonable kitchen area, an easily workable bathroom and somewhere we could work.”
In between lockdowns the couple were able to drive to various outlets and examine motorhomes they’d only seen online. That is how they came across TranztecRV, a small motorhome building company in Thames that had been doing custom-made fit-outs in vans since 2001. When Chris went there, everything suddenly fell into place. The company didn’t just offer what they had, but, within reason, Moira and Chris could choose exactly what they wanted.
“I could immediately see myself in the van I saw they had built for another client,” says Chris. “It was a 6.4-metre Fiat Ducato with a 2.3L turbo, a nine-speed auto and a powerful 180 HP. There were plenty of large windows and the interior felt light and spacious.” The van’s sliding door had been converted to an open/shut door and was on the passenger side.
One of the deciding factors was the craftsmanship that had gone into the interiors. All the joinery and finishes were superb, and the design of the layout was very workable. Over the years the owner, Matt Donaldson (and his father before him), had listened carefully to feedback from clients and continually tweaked the interiors to incorporate a lot of features that were very user-friendly. “We also liked the fact that many of the choices would be ours and I felt that Matt would be easy to work with,” says Chris.
On 20 December 2020, Moira and Chris pushed the green light and the discussions and decision-making began. Upgrades for several features were ordered. They increased the size of the fitted solar panelling for a total output of 340 watts, added a 230 AH lithium battery and a reversing camera and chose a 140-litre, three-way fridge. Extra capacity was added to the fresh and grey water tanks, and a waste pump included.
“After that,” says Moira, “we picked out the timber cladding for the cabinetry, the finishes for the table and bench tops and the green-toned drapes and earth-tone upholstery that would complement the vision we had for the exterior. Luckily, we had made most choices before the 2021 August lockdown because then all work ceased. Thank goodness for phone calls and emails during this time.”
When the lockdown eased there was more inevitable delay as Tranztec got back up to speed with the project. “There were some frustrating moments when some imported items proved difficult to get hold of such as the windows, which were on their way from Germany,” Moira says.
Despite the setbacks, Moira and Chris are grateful for the lockdown in some ways. As visual artists, the aesthetic components of the exterior van were important. They had commissioned a graphic designer to come up with a livery design that reflected their love of landscapes and birds. They liked the draft they saw, but during the pause that lockdown afforded them, they had more time to reflect on the design and how it would look. “Thank goodness we did,” says Moira. “It looked good on paper, but when the overall effect was interrupted by the exterior lockers and fittings, it wasn’t going to achieve the look we wanted.”
It was back to the drawing board. Chris had seen motorhomes with their exterior bases painted in one colour, and liked the idea enough to incorporate it into their own design. They then used Matt’s graphics on the side of the van, and integrated the birds from the original design.
“During lockdown we couldn’t get out of Auckland, and so choosing the colour and liaising remotely with the painter in Thames was a challenge,” explains Chris. “We had no idea what the finished result would look like.”
Chatting about the motorhome with their grandchildren, Moira asked them what a good name would be for their new purchase. “‘Moti’, piped up the five-year-old,” smiles Moira. “Chris and I looked at each other. We liked it. We had no idea if it had a meaning but later discovered the word meant ‘pearl’ in Hindi. The acronym was ‘Mode Of Transport Incorporated’ – that could fit.”
Moira had the creative for the Moti name developed by her niece, who is a graphic designer. This design will be used not only on the side of the van, but it will also be incorporated in their social media platforms, which includes a website where Moira will document their journeys and post their photographs in named galleries.
After a Covid-inflicted five month delay, the couple finally took possession of Moti. The ‘settling in’ journeys they have taken so far have worked well; they cut their teeth with a two-night stay in a camping ground in Raglan, and have since ventured into Waipu, Whitianga, the Coromandel and Miranda. They are currently planning their first extended trip to the South Island.
Everywhere the couple has visited, the camper’s sophisticated exterior livery draws attention. The pair say there is nothing they would change about Moti, but they have added a nudge bar, had topper pads made for the beds and fitted a bike rack. The latter is a Canadian ‘swing-away’ type that Chris imported from the Australian agent. It doesn’t impede the rear view, and both the van’s back doors can be opened.
“The whole process has been exciting and creative and kept us absorbed during lockdowns,” says Chris. “Our motorhoming adventures really began way back when we pressed that green light.”
Follow Moira and Chris on their travels at instagram.com/motitravels/ and on their website, moti-travels.nz
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