Caravan Life by Noreen

When I announced this New Zealand Memoirs series, my cousin said she was especially looking forward to the parts about how we all lived together in an 18 foot trailer for three months without strangling each other. I decided to take a break in narrating between the South and North Islands, and talk a little about caravan life. So, Mrs. O – this one’s for you.

The challenge in picking a Caravan, as they are called in NZ, was finding one big enough for 7 people, light enough for our van to pull, and in our price range. The one we found was technically for 4 or 5 people, but we made it work. At bedtime we literally used every inch of available space and after experimenting with several different configurations, we finally hit upon the one with the fewest complaints.


The trick to getting everyone to sleep in such a tight place was simple – bribery. We held a contest every night after prayers. Whoever was asleep first (or appeared to be) would win 50 cents, and (here’s the brilliant part) if we couldn’t tell who was asleep first because they were all so quiet (he, he) they would all tie and each win a prize. It was rare if everyone didn’t get paid out. It may not sound like much, but every 4 days or so they had enough for an ice cream novelty and everyone was happy. I think Whitney had the hardest adjustment, being 12 and having always had her own room. Now she was 24/7 with all her younger siblings and no real personal space. Sharing a bed with Janey was probably the hardest thing she had to do on the trip, and without the afore mentioned bribe, I don’t know if it would have worked out. Steve and I would sit outside the carvan and watch the stars or the wild hedgehogs and talk or play a board game while the kids tried to convince us they were sound asleep.

People have wondered how we could live in such a small space, but really the caravan was our bedroom by night, our sitting room by day and we lived in the great outdoors. I’ve never had a bigger home. Each holiday camp we stayed at had full kitchens and nice restrooms with showers and generally a playground for the kids. They were all nice (except one) and some were down right enchanting.

We had a small table inside that we used occasionally, but we generally set up our dining area outside our caravan under our awning. In inclement weather we ate inside the camp kitchens. We always cooked a big breakfast and dinner and generally packed a lunch for the day’s activities. Our favorite thing to do was put a crock-pot on when we left for the days activities and come home to something warm and ready. We ate out rarely, but would occasionally treat ourselves to the world’s best fish and chips. We washed all our dishes by hand, having the kids rotate responsibilities weekly. Some days it felt like we were never going to get beyond the cooking and cleaning to get onto the days adventures, but we generally did.

Twice I remember heading out for an activity only to turn around and head back to camp to do more chores. The bickering in the car had reached such a level on those occasions, that we simply couldn’t reward it with an adventure. Luckily, the kids believed us in the future and the threat of turning around was all that was needed to return peace, or at the very least quiet, to the car. We always read out load from the book of the day while on the road which is one of my favorite memories.

Regardless of the daily squabbles or tantrums, getting out in nature was always the cure. My mom sent me this quote from a book she was reading and asked me if it was true.

"Go to the mountains or the ocean and notice the automatic shift in
your attitude. Watch your children as they play in the mountains or
by the water, and compare it to how they play at home. Make a journal
and pay attention to it. You will find that children play harder, laugh more,
and will tend to get tired at sunset- as nature intended."

The answer was unequivocally YES, this is true. We decided our family is at its’ best when we are out discovering nature together, so although it may sound crazy for 7 people to spend 3 months in an 18 foot trailer, it was one of the best times of our lives.