Understandably our needs changed over time. Moving to Victoria prompted the purchase of an old Millard van, which later became our base during an 18-month transition period before we finally relocated to Queensland. Soon after arrival we bought an older hard-floor camper, which had been modified by it's previous owner to include an extra-large storage box. We made other improvements since purchasing it but started more serious upgrade discussions in 2021.
We first encountered a Cub Spacevan during our Warrumbungle camping trip in 2012. Nick's had a similar model on his wishlist ever since! They aren't as readily available on the used market as other models - and as usual we had a budget, which further limited options. (Interstate listings were not considered, due to Covid travel restrictions at the time).
A local-ish listing seemed to be for a 4WD/spacevan package, so had also been crossed off our "list". On further reading though, Nick made a phone enquiry and arranged a viewing. We really liked the (now previous) owners and their sale price - so paid a deposit before heading home and then collected our new acquisition the following week!
What did we buy? A 2006 model, fitted with semi-off road transcontinental pack (which means a longer/stronger drawbar, reinforced chassis, high tensile axle, locking water filler and steel water tank protector). Nick and I were married in early 2006, so quite like the fact that our spacevan was built the same year!
Vaughan came with us for our first Spacevan trip, where we departed home just 4 days after collecting our "new" acquisition. We were away for 11 days and travelled 3,350km in total, looping up to Julia Creek and home again. It was a great test run, though we became aware of a few issues needing attention. New tyres were fitted and the struts were also replaced. A box upgrade was custom built and collected in January of 2022, then progress stalled due to weight issues - and moving house!
It was 18 months between our first-ever (2021) trip in the Spacevan and our second adventure in 2022. Nick had done some remedial work to the hard-floor/roof prior to departure, which had greatly improved our pack-ups. Our Carnarvon Gorge stay was great and we were very chuffed with how everything had gone - till we hit a bump in the road heading to Mitchell. Drat!
We had a couple of nights at Chinchilla, where we liaised with our insurance company. They booked an assessment inspection for the day after we returned home. We thought the van might be written off - and it was.
Updated: January 2024
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