what age were you first introduced to this lifestyle?
I think it was 1973 I first saw a H/T, couldn’t believe my eyes.

what made you choose this lifestyle?
Fun at first, later desperation.

do you remember your first housebus/truck?
Too right! 1939 Chev 3/4 ton flat deck with a canopy on it. Lots of great times in it. (pictured)

did you build it yourself or buy ready made or a bit of both?
Restored the truck, built the canopy, insulated it, basic cooker and bed stuff. It only took a few months to put together.

how did you heat it in the winter?
no heat, just the gas cooker, *cough, cough*

have you ever had any major mechanical difficulties?�
Bloody magic truck. I did 60,000 miles in it, nearly lost the rear wheel once due to loose wheel nuts, dunno who was the nut that was supposed to have tightened them, eh!

what tools can you simply not do without?
hmmm, I think I carry anything that does not require power to operate.

how did you earn an income while travelling?
on the dole.

how long would you park up for in between ventures?
days, weeks, months. Depended on the weather.

did you do a lot of travelling off the beaten track?
I actively tried to keep to the back roads where ever possible.

have you travelled in a housebus/motorhome overseas?
nope, just NZ

what was your most favourite place to stay in NZ?
In NZ, I think Lake Ohakuri (sp?) in the North Island. and anywhere in Central Otago in the South Island.

how did you work out where you were going next?
Usually depended on the weather.

did you find yourself stopping regularly to take in the sights?
Constantly.

in nz, what was the best island for roads to travel? north or south?
Definitely the South Island, much less traffic going at a less frenetic pace. Also there was more free firewood on the side of the road than I could carry (later bus with the coal range)

did you belong to a travelling fair at any stage while you were on the road?
We joined the Gypsy Fair circuit one summer, 1994/95.

Would you prefer to stay in a motorcamp or find a friendly farmer or other landowner?
Motor camps were, for us, emergency stops only, we freedom camped as much as we could.

how do you spend your time in the evenings?
can’t remember the 70′s, LOL. Later, little children filled the time, read a lot, listened to music, radio, talked, tinkered with the bus etc.

do you play any instruments?
Guitar once apon a time.

describe the best thing about being able to travel in a housebus?
Lack of responsibilities, if we get sick of a place / person / weather / culture, we just move on.

how many people did you travel with?
varied, mostly just us, some times 1 or 2 other vehicles.

children? how did they find travelling around? was schooling difficult?
Children knew no different so it was no bother, was late getting them to school, the teachers there eventually discovered these 2 kids of ours had seen no TV and were able to fantasize and think for themselves and interact socially way better than their peers.

what would you most like to forget?
getting hassled by the officials (YOU CAN’T PARK HERE!)

have you met any “famous” people on the road?
nope, they were all just people, well, except for a couple of a**holes

how did other people you meet on your travels interact with you?
Normally GREAT we met some lovely generous caring people, and still count them as friends.

any tips for prospective housebussers and road folk starting out?
Don’t be a selfish [bleep] and stuff things up for those who follow you. THINK about the repercussions your actions will induce.

what sort of vehicle would you recommend for potential travellers of NZ?
Diesel powered, anything you like.

do you think anyone thinking about getting into an housebus these days should look at the classics, or should they look towards a more modern rolling home?
Very much personal preference. But learn to fix it yourself.

whats the the one thing in your housebus you can’t possibly do without?
The coal range, it gives warm dry heat, cooking oven and cook top, drys the clothes, nice atmosphere etc.

what do you think is the toughest thing about travelling around in a bus these days?
Bloody traffic’s all too fast.

did you have the toys? motorbikes, boats etc while travelling?
nope, nuthing, just the emergency pushbike.

what was your most memorable moment or period while on the road?
Traversing the Mauria Saddle in the 9meter bus. I got out and kissed the ground when we got to the other side.

and finally, are you still on the road?
Nope, just using the bus (pictured) for holidays now. (but its REALLY tempting to just stay away sometimes)

Some additional thoughts…
My wife and I did a 3000 mile trip around the Nth Is in the Chev truck in our early days (pictured), it was a good time.

We got part way ’round the island and decided to look for the Chev Corvairs in NZ. (I had a ’64 Spyder Coupe at the time. Factory turbo! very cool) We found 2 dozen, only 2 of which were turbo model, an interesting time.

I’ve still got the old Chev…doing the head gasket this week. I built a new deck for it about 8 – 10 yrs ago, wellside guards and all and looks real fancy now. But it really just gets used as a nice trailer these days.

Most of the housetruckers we met in the North Island were on some benefit or other, it was just a very few (can count them on one hand) who were living off their own endeavours. A few also joined the Gypsy Fair as a specific trip away from their homes, where they had spent months of spare time making craft wares and used their annual holidays to do part of the Fair circuit.

Picture this, Sulphur Point, 150 House trucks and another 100 sellers in vans/cars etc. A great display.

But G had made hand painted T-shirts, especially for little kids, very artistic creations with sparkle paint and gems, we could see our customer coming down the throng of people, she was the 50yr old lady, well coiffured, nicely dressed, made up perfectly, bought a T for a grand child, was too polite to comment on “abdullah” next door, with his wailing chant and foul insense and moved on.

The next 200 people to go past were in black jeans, or purple tie-dyed or dreadlocks etc and wanted nothing we had.

The good sales were made by the Romains, who had imported a huge pile of junk jewellery from Indonesia. Then the open homes gathered a lot of money for the very best of the trucks. Interesting times.

Really I preferred to be parked up the Ashley river somewhere, sun shining, willows in full leaf, river burbling by, camp fire going, friends nearby…