In June 2016, we
happened across an
American TV Show
about Tiny Houses.
I was hooked.
the day. We negotiated a price of $5300
(a lot more than I had initially thought to
pay for a caravan) and towed her home
that night.
I started a blog the very next day (www.
caravannie.com) to document her
progress. To begin with, I was that darn
excited that my dream of owning a
vintage caravan had become a reality
that I was happy to give her a lick of paint
inside, change her dinette seat covers
and curtains from orange and grey to
something fresh and coastal, hook her
up and go. I hit the ground running as
fast as my arthritic knees would take me
to Spotlight where I found within five
minutes of looking, a blue stripe cotton
for the curtains and matching blue ribbed
upholstery fabric for the seat covers. I
whipped them up and had them fitted
and hung by the following weekend
along with a few blue trinkets that I had
around the house, just in time for a family
BBQ where much to their surprise they
were introduced to “Annie”. They all knew
where the name came from and why.
Annie was our family pet, a chocolate
border collie who came to live with us
at six weeks of age in 1996. She was
my best girl and through all the ups and
downs of life and family upheavals, she
stayed my loving and faithful companion
until her passing in 2013. It was the only
name befitting of my tiny caravan.
The following weekend we started
looking closer at Annie’s interior. She
was clean and tidy, all her appliances
worked and her bed and seating were
comfortable. I just wasn’t fussed about
the textured wallpaper on either ends.
It was a bit discoloured at the edges. On
closer investigation of said wallpaper, life
went into slow motion as Shane peeled
back the bottom corner behind the
dinette cushions revealing rotten, wet
plywood. We followed the decay down
the wall, under the seats and along the
joins to the side wall. It was the same at
the back end behind and under the bed.
The decision was made then and there to
pull everything out of Annie except for
the overhead cupboards which were in
perfect condition and start from scratch.
It took four days to get everything out
including disconnecting the gas, power
and water tank. The original Electrolux
240w gas fridge still worked and was in
excellent condition. It was a keeper but we
sold the original interior lights, sink and
pump tap and the cooker. It took another
two weekends to remove the three layers
of flooring. It started off well with the top
layer not attached to anything – easy. The
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