Motorhome Thoughts

Recently I started thinking about what we might do if we returned to the far side of the world for another holiday and to see family.  Having followed a number of blogs where the writers own a motorhome I started thinking about a motorhome holiday in Europe.  My research was progressing quite nicely until I discovered many of the rental companies have an upper age limit of 70.  By the time international travel is readily accessible I’ll be a year or two beyond that.

Not being disheartened I started looking at alternative.  I know of at least two antipodeans who have purchased motorhomes in the UK and then shipped them back home.  More research suggests this is easier to achieve when the destination is NZ rather than Australia. 

Interestingly if a new motorhome is purchased in the UK and exported within 12 months it is VAT exempt.  One can apparently privately import a motorhome into Australia provided it is at least 12 month old and has been used.  Import Duty is payable and GST (VAT) at 10% is  charged on the combined cost of the paid price of the vehicle plus the GST.  Obviously there is also the cost of preparing and shipping the vehicle along with the cost of modifications (gas & electric) to make it comply with Australian standards.  Planning the shipping would obviously be critical.  It would need to leave the UK before it was 12 months old and arrive in Australia after 12 months.

Using our narrowboat experience I started working on criteria.  It would need to be:

• Short enough to travel on European roads and fit into urban parking areas and camping grounds.  Not more than 7 metres
• Weigh no more than a car licence holder is legally able to drive (3500kg)
• Have sufficient interior room to live in for a year
• Have an automatic transmission.  Whilst I prefer to drive a manual, I suspect coping with driving on the right wrong side of the road will require more concentration than usual and an automatic will make this slightly easier.
• Be a vehicle (engine, transmission, etc) readily available in Australia as it might be hard to sell an orphan.
• Separate shower and toilet compartments (ie, not a wet room)
• Good storage for everything we will need to carry on board for a year.
• Cabin access from the left.  This is a legal requirement in Australia.
• If possible; multipurpose use of compartments.

Using the above criteria I started searching European motorhome manufacturers which eventually resulted in me selecting a motorhome from Chausson.  Then I discovered the Chausson has the cabin door on the right.

Further searching identified the 2021 Bailey Adamo 69-4.  

It has an automatic transmission and is based on a Ford Transit cab and chassis.  The vehicle is available in Australia.

The Adamo 69-4 has a dual purpose lounge and bedroom where the bed lowers from the ceiling when required.  It also has a large “garage” at the rear and separate shower/toilet compartments. 

The GVM (Gross vehicle Mass) is 3500kg and the MRO (Mass in Running Order) is 3090kg which includes a driver at 75kg and the fuel tank 90% full (81kg) with one full gas bottle (14kg)  Note the vehicle can carry two bottles.  The MRO also includes fluids for the heating system at 10kg.  This leave an available payload of 210kg.  It also assumes the fresh water, grey water and toilet cassette are empty.  However this doesn’t provide a true picture as the following weights needed to be added.

• Passengers  (our combined weight is probably 210kg less 75kg = 135kg)
• Additional fuel when tank is full = 9kg

Another 144kg to deduct from the available 210kg leaving just 66kg for everything else (clothing, bedding, food, crockery, cooking gear, bikes, TV, electronics, souvenirs, accessories such as an awning, etc)  Even if we both did some serious dieting we’d only add 50kg to the available payload. 

Realising there was a potential weight issue I started looking at motorhome forums.  On one forum an owner had listed their additional weights

• Passenger weight 75kg
• Dog 15kg
• Clothing shoes and essential items 60kg
• Bedding and towels 10kg
• Food for one week 40kg
• Cooking and dining equipment 15kg
• Bottles and cans of drink 5kg
• Total 220kg

Even this figure exceeds my calculated available 210kg by 10kg

I assume there are many overloaded motorhomes driving around Europe? 

It appears I need to do further research into uprating of the stock vehicle beyond 3500kg.  However may then require a different driving license. Another consideration is mobile internet access.  what is the cheapest option with the best network coverage?

Meanwhile, despite the heat, I’ve made further progress with the relocation of the sawdust extraction system.

I cut the length of spare fencing panel in half and painted the bare metal edges before installing it as the roof.  Next I made a panel on which I mounted the fan  before connecting it to the shed ducting.   The cyclone mounting box has been made and that’s when I ran out of energy.  It was just too hot and the salty sweat kept running into my eyes.