Last night we made a verbal commitment to buy a 2005 Nissan Caravan converted to a campervan. This morning purses lighter and title in hand we drove away as official Campervan owners.



She has a high top – I can almost stand up straight in her. She has an almost queen size bed that converts into a table and two benches, a small sink, dorm frig, and counter inside and a portable stove for outside. My big international travel size suitcase fits under the bed (an actual consideration when purchasing). She takes gas and not diesel and seems eminently road worthy.
First step was to register her as having a new owner. Super super easy and efficient; absolutely no waiting! Nothing at all like the Texas DMV. Next was to celebrate with a meal and then the hard part.: getting her ready for 3 month road trip.
Spent 3 days cleaning, detailing, and outfitting her. We scrubbed everything down. We disinfected. We took every item that would fit in a washer to the laundromat. Decide to replace all the bedding and pillows so a fun shopping trip ensued. checked the tires, the spare, the engine, the oil, the washer fluid. If it is on, in, or attached to Serenity, it was inspected, cleaned, and deemed worthy.
One of the fun adventures in getting her ready, was finding and replacing the window latch for the sliding window in the sliding door. It involved a trip to a Nissan dealer and a trip to a second hand parts store (it was supposed to be a junk yard, but it was too clean and organized to be called that). People in NZ are so incredibly nice that when I asked the customer service person if they had the latch in stock, he checked the computer which did not have one listed. He said “give me minute” and came back in a little bit with one in his hand. He went out in the yard and took it off an old van himself to give to me. I thanked him profusely and he said “no, thank you. You made my day more interesting for having found it for you.” The welcome and attitude is so friendly and helpful. I have not heard one harsh word directed at anyone since I arrived (except some hateful British guy chewing out the hotel staff, but every Kiwi has been beyond kind, helpful, and pleasant).
Part of this adventure was driving to a part of Auckland that most tourists don’t visit. It was industrial for the most part, but when we wanted to stop and get a Coke, it was clear that we were in or extremely near a red light district or as my friend called it a “whorey industrial” area. Needless to say we kept driving before stopping for a Coke.
Serenity is all kitted out. Groceries are purchased. Serenity’s every nook and cranny is filled with hiking, camping and adventure supplies (rum 😂). Tomorrow the road trip adventure begins!