After making a life in Canada, Karen and Trevor Bradley made a bold decision; these days they now call the roads of New Zealand home. Writer Alexia Santamaria shares their story.
It’s a decision many empty-nesters face. The children have flown, you’ve worked nine-to-five for 40+ years, but the thought of sitting around at home doing crosswords and cross stitch doesn’t seem even remotely appealing. So what next? Karen and Trevor Bradley found themselves in exactly this situation two years ago and ended up making a life-changing decision to sell their house, buy a campervan and hit the road for a few years. While this was ambitious enough, what makes this story even more interesting is that ‘road’ was 11,000km from where they called home.
The Bradleys met in Canada in 1988 and got married there a year later before coming to New Zealand to live from 1991-95. They had their first child in Aotearoa, but eventually the pull of home got stronger for Canadian-born Karen, and they moved back across the world to Vancouver Island, where they went on to have another child and live for 26 years. “I had dual citizenship from when I lived in New Zealand, so it was always an option to come back and live here one day, but we had the girls and our life in Canada, so it was only in 2019 that we really started to think about it,” says Karen.
It felt a bit like it was meant to be when, despite a worldwide pandemic, the departure dates they chose two years in advance actually came to fruition and they were pretty much able to emerge directly from MIQ into their new home – a Bürstner TD727. “I researched the hell out of everything before we settled on the Bürstner,” says Karen. “I joined motorhome Facebook groups and followed people’s comments. We needed the right model if we were going to live in it – it’s different from when you’re just taking it away for weekends.” The couple eventually settled on this particular model because of its large storage space, separate living and sleeping areas and amazing payload of 890kg. “It meant it could sustain the weight of a full water tank, golf clubs, sun loungers, two foldable e-bikes, a freezer full of meat – and ice cream! – an inflatable kayak, plus the two of us, and still leave 250kg to play with,” Karen says. “I watched every video, read every single write-up, and this came out on top for what we needed.”
One of the first things the couple did was get solar panels installed by Wayne Hunt from Motorhome Solar. “It came with one panel, but we got three more big ones and between that and our lithium batteries and MaxxAir Deluxe fan, we don’t ever really have to plug in. We have two toilet cassettes, which lasts us six to seven days, and we can stretch our water for four or five, so we really have a lot of freedom,” says Trevor.
The couple have already had some great adventures since they drove their motorhome off the yard on 14 October 2021, with plenty more planned. “We explored the Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty pre-Christmas, and while we’ve been based with family in Bulls for a little while, we’re heading out next to Waikanae, Coromandel, Northland, Hawke’s Bay and Port Jackson. We’re then heading back to Canada for the northern summer to spend time with family and friends and as soon as we come back in spring, we’re going to hit the South Island for nine months. Trevor plays golf so we’ll follow some of the competitions. It’s actually really great that this is his chosen sport as it means we both have some time apart, doing our own thing. I remember so clearly our first night on the road; we parked up on the beachfront on the Firth of Thames and Trevor just looked at me and said “Are you kidding? Is this actually our life now? It was such a great decision and I’m so glad we made it.”
The Bradleys say that not being experienced motorhomers hasn’t been an issue so far. “It really hasn’t mattered that we hadn’t done a lot of this before as there is so much amazing information out there.” says Karen. “You can follow other peoples’ journeys on social media for inspiration and on a practical front, the NZMCA app is really helpful. Trevor tends to do the driving and I navigate as that plays to our strengths. It all works out well.”
While many of their friends thought they were insane when they announced they were making this big move, the couple could not be happier. “I don’t know what they thought we were going to do when the family was gone, just hang around the house?” says Karen. “I want to do this while I’m still young enough to cycle the Lake Dunstan Trail or enjoy time on the water in a kayak. We’ve worked so hard and are so happy we’re getting to enjoy these years doing such amazing things in this beautiful country.”
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