Travelling NZ with 3 dogs and a truck
What would ‘Living the dream’ be for you? For Bernie and I, our dream was to explore New Zealand while living in a mobile home.
It seemed there were many positives and very few negatives to this carefree, nomadic lifestyle.
Perhaps a possible challenge could have been our three dogs. They’re our furry family members, so wherever we go they come along too. We were determined to find a way to make it work. Where there’s a will there’s a way – right?
Like many people life can throw reminders that this journey on earth can be cut short at any time. Waiting for retirement years wasn’t something we wanted to do. So we hunkered down, saved hard and figured we’d look for casual work when travelling.
And as for the dogs – with a bit of organising we came up with easy ways to manage them. Thanks to portable dog fencing, which is a quick to assemble makeshift enclosure, our dog management was well under way.
Next we had to find a suitable mobile home. Luckily there were many options, such caravans, campervans, fifth wheelers, house trucks or buses. After researching, chatting to various people, looking inside a variety of mobile homes we decided on a fifth wheeler.
For us, a fifth wheeler provided plenty of storage, lots of space (the one we chose had three slide-outs which increased the room inside), lots of headroom so Bernie wouldn’t feel closed in and another positive factor were the large windows providing lots of light and opportunities to admire our ever changing views.
After we’d decided on a fifth wheeler, we arranged with an agent in Tauranga to import one from Heartlands in America. Next on the list, was finding a suitable towing vehicle.
We had several choices of tow vehicles and after more research we decided on an Iveco truck. You might be wondering why we chose such a large truck? There were a couple of reasons, we wanted room to be able to carry extra water and waste tanks and Bernie wanted a shed for extra storage and a place to have a washing machine.
The deck on the Iveco was large enough to meet those requirements. After purchasing the truck, Bernie drove it to Tauranga where it had a hitch fitted suitable for towing.
The hard part was waiting for the fifth wheeler to be made and then shipped to New Zealand. However it was definitely worth the wait.
We spent a couple of years preparing for our new adventure. It seemed we had a never-ending ‘To Do’ list. A few examples of the tasks on the list were, getting a shed made for the back of the truck, selling and giving away household furniture, topping up our savings and finding the perfect tenant to rent our home.
Once that was done, we had to decide on a leaving date. We thought spring would be an ideal time. And after tossing around a few ideas we chose a route that we thought would be ideal for the first three months … then off we set.
However, it turned out our well thought out route followed wet weather.
Very quickly into this new lifestyle we learnt we didn’t need to stick to a plan, life on the road gave choices and lots of freedom to make them.
So the original plan was binned, instead, we followed the sunshine and warm weather. It was bliss! We stayed as long as wanted at each place exploring the area and enjoying our newfound freedom.
One idea we have tried sticking to, is to limit our travel between places to around an hour. We didn’t want to rush and miss things by covering too much distance.
For us, the beauty of having time to explore allows us to discover some places we didn’t even know existed. Also having the time to go on different walks and researching about an area and learning some of the history has enriched ‘life on the road’.
Another asset to living this lifestyle are the people we met. Most are friendly folk from all backgrounds, travelling around our beautiful country with inter- esting stories to share. People who are only too happy to recommend great places to stay and share treasures they’ve discovered on their way.
As for the dogs, they’ve been so much easier to manage than we thought. Portable dog fencing has been invaluable. Especially if rabbits happen to be in the area.
Bernie and I are so fortunate to be living this gypsy lifestyle, having time to explore areas, the chance to discover new places and an option to follow the sunshine.
If you are considering ‘living on the road’ and would like further information, you might be interested in our blog, ‘Paws Awhile.’ It shares our process of buying a motorhome, setting it up, preparing to leave, places we’ve stayed and things we’ve learnt along the way.
The blog is regularly updated and full of information, photos, ideas, adventures and our tikitours.
The link for ‘Paws Awhile’ is wooouptikeys@blogspot.co.nz