Buying the van!

The best part about vanlife is the backyard

Buying the van has been a focal point of the trip thus far. For about a month Patrick and I have started the day by looking at trademe.com, backpackersboard.com and Facebook Marketplace while eating our breakfast. We really wanted a kitchen inside the van for rainy days, a van with relatively low kilometers and lots of storage (see the packing list post haha). A huge bonus for us was a van with a high roof and a long wheelbase since both of us are pretty tall. After looking at lots of different vans online we had an idea about pricing and models.

We viewed our first van the day after we flew in and it was a super good experience. It definitely gave us an idea of what living in a van would be like and the seller also gave us some tips about how to choose a campsite. He mentioned that we should always read the reviews on CamperMate (an app that shows you all the campsites in your area) and look for broken glass, which indicates there have been break ins.

Our second day of van shopping went equally well! We had one viewing cancel early in the day, but we had so many options in mind that we arranged another viewing right away. We ended up viewing 3 vans and by the end of the day had a front runner. The issue was this front runner was a little out of budget and our money transfers had not arrived in our bank so we really weren’t able to buy a van for another 2 days. 

Hoping our van is out there!

The third day of shopping was quite spontaneous! We had a viewing scheduled for 2pm but the seller mentioned, if it suited us, we could meet him at a car fair in the morning. We decided a car fair could be fun and maybe we would stumble across a van we really loved… and we did. We took a look at a 1984 Toyota Hiace pop top, and it was the first van that we could completely stand up in without touching our heads to the ceiling, what a feeling haha! We adored it and it was under budget. However, old cars come with some baggage. One really steep downside of this van was the safety, there weren’t any air bags and driving a car that is 35 years old, means that all the bolts are also 35 years old. After taking safety and resale value into account we decided to let this one go. 

The fourth day… no good. The van we were planning on buying was sold hours before we went to take it to the mechanic. Luckily, we had a back up. We took the backup van to a mechanic and the cam belt needed to be changed (~$1,500 NZD). Unfortunately, the seller was very firm on the asking price. We had to let that one go, but our hopes remained high. We know the van for us is out there! We returned back to the website grind looking for a home on wheels. 

The fifth day, we spent the majority of the day moving into a hostel since our stay was over at our airbnb. We got a private room because we have so many bags, and we actually got upgraded because the room we were supposed to stay in had a strange (bad) smell haha. We took a look at a van as well. This van was quite under budget and would need a considerable amount of work, but nothing too daunting. We would want to add a fridge, update the storage and it needed a paint job. But it was a younger van and the mechanics of the van seemed to be the best that we have tested. 

The sixth day. Today we didn’t look at any vans in person. We did some scouring online for vans, and then we took a break and went window shopping. We got ourselves excited about decorating our van at the H&M home store. It was nice to get excited about the van again because it has been a little tough to find the right one. Lizzie, my roommate from college, is from New Zealand so yesterday we met her brother, Matt, and it was fantastic! It really revamped our spirit, we got so excited about bungee jumping, surfing and maybe zorbing haha. But mostly we were excited to just live in the van in general. Matt also has a campervan that he uses to travel around New Zealand! So this summer we are hoping to travel together with him and Lizzie. We are ready to find our van already! 

We wouldn't mind taking one of these boats out for a test drive!

The seventh day. The day started with one van being sold before we could see it. This is always disheartening but we were really hoping for a reply to a very promising van so our heads were high and our fingers on the refresh button. We viewed an older van and Patrick thought it would be a good fit. I was not quite as thrilled. I think after seeing and filtering through so many vans my brain is overwhelmed and frustrated. Tomorrow we are going to have a fun day on Rangitoto island and we have a viewing in the evening. 

The eighth day we spent on Rangitoto Island. This is an island created by the youngest volcano in New Zealand. We hiked all day and got a much needed breather from the city and the van search. In the evening we viewed a van, and, I was really set on it. Tomorrow we will see a mechanic and hopefully be able to purchase. I am trying to keep my expectations low, because I don’t want to be too heart broken if something falls through, but, hopefully all goes well!

Taking a much needed break from van on Rangitoto Island

Day nine baby! Today was the day, we have a van and I am feeling both relived and filled with nervous energy! We bought a 1998 Toyota Hiace. It is red and ready to go. We met with the mechanic at 2:30 after visiting the maritime museum in Auckland. The mechanic was very thorough and explained in detail any issues with the van. We purchased the van from a person who was deaf so all negotiations were through text message. Once we landed on a price, we had to run and get some cash because an electronic bank transfer would have taken 2 days and we wanted the van on the spot haha! So we took an uber to the nearest bank got the cash as the bank was closing (not a minute to spare!) and bought the van right then and there. It was the most insane feeling driving away in the van. And as amazing as driving away in the new van felt, even better was knowing that we wouldn’t have to stay in the hostel that night haha! The sun was setting so we decided to stay in Auckland and park at Z-pier, which is a self contained camper parking lot with showers and a bathroom. We spent a solid 3 hours unpacking everything from our suitcases. When we had finally finished unpacking we were starving and we drove (in our brand new home) to some delicious pizza. 

We finally found our home on wheels

Overall buying the van was nothing like I expected. To be completely honest I was only going to get 2 days in an airbnb with the hopes of finding a van the day we landed! This was not the case. We were super prepared with a list of vans we knew we wanted to see, but, the vans were throwing us some curve balls. After day 5, I was starting to get really worried because we were living in an uncomfortable space and all I could think about was checking the van websites in the hopes of something perfect showing up. But, I checked so often that it was driving me crazy! I think the best thing we did was take a break and actually explore Auckland and the surrounding areas. This helped take away the sting of losing a great van and it kept us excited about the journey. As for the actual purchasing of the van, I found everyone we dealt with to be really willing to help and offer advice! The day we bought our van, I couldn’t think straight because I was so nervous about negotiations and the thought of losing another van. Of course these nerves were unwarranted but I welcomed them as a part of buying my first ever campervan. Once we had the keys, the nerves were replaced with pure excitement! After getting settled in the van I was exhausted but could not sleep, because I know there are so many adventures about to come our way! 

Check out the tour of our van at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usIR2HEbADM