Maintenance & Restoration

JenR · 10-11-2015, 11:04 AM

Checking out second hand Scamp listings . . . looks promising.

Carol H · 10-11-2015, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JenR

Checking out second hand Scamp listings . . . looks promising.

Jen due to how fragile our little fiberglass eggs are and knowing what I know about how cargo is secured on a roro ships & inside of a container & the costs you will be charged for the extra steps that would need to be taken to keep it safe/unharmed, I personally would wait and just buy myself a nice little trailer in NZ.

They have some pretty cool offerings not seen here in NA that many here would die for.

marijke · 10-11-2015, 10:45 PM

Hi Jennifer,

This spring/ summer I imported 2 travel trailers from Holland. They are taller than most trailers here, and were shipped in 40" overheight containers.
We used www.sclrotterdam.com and they were great to work with. A lot of vintage cars come to Europe from USA through them, they might give you the name of a good shipping company to help you get a trailer to Australia. On the BIOD forum we discussed this and I was told the tires should come off, exchanged for hubs in order to fit the sea can. Or take off the vent-hatch. Etc. until I phoned SCL and they said it was no problem what so ever, they use taller containers for holiday trailers.
Both times we shared the sea can with another party. Each time to ship a trailer from Rotterdam to Vancouver BC Canada cost Euro 2200,- (about USD 3000,-?) fair, given the distance traveled. Inquire with NZ customs office if it is permitted to have personal goods inside the trailer during transport. In our case, only camping related items were allowed, no personal belongings. But that might be different going from USA to NZ. I like your plan, you'd have a little house on wheels already there.
Good luck with it and happy trails!

Gilda · 10-11-2015, 11:22 PM

Wow, you've gotten some terrific and varied advice here! We three camped in May of this year during our first ever trip to New Zealand in a rented campervan. I have to say we missed our little 13' Scamp trailer and our comfortable TV, a Subaru Legacy, at first. We did grow to appreciate having the campervan, though as campsites in NZ are quite different than in the U.S. The rustic campgrounds were little more than an open field dotted with a few outhouses, period! No picnic tables, no showers and no fire rings. None of the camping spaces were marked with numbers. It's basically a free for all which worked well because everyone was quite civilized and respectful in their camping even if we had to park "mirror to mirror" or "cheek to cheek".

The other kind of camping was in "Holiday Parks" which are essentially, full-service RV parks which are privately owned (as far as we could tell). They more-closely resemble large U.S. RV parks and have all the amenities; designated parking, bathrooms, laundry, grocery store, community center, tourist information, etc. We would go to these once a week to get all our camping chores done.

We could easily maneuver the campervan on the highways, in the towns and in the campgrounds. Although we saw many a large trailer (caravan) it looked like a lot of work to tow them. I don't remember seeing many bus-like RVs.

Keep in mind, too, that NZ is a country made of two large islands. You need to ferry a car, trailer or RV from one island to another. We opted to use the campervan on the the southern island for camping and flew to the northern island where we rented a car and stayed in a timeshare in Taupo and a few hotels elsewhere.

The top 3 photos show, basically, what our campervan looked like, rented from Wendekreisen company.

At the Taupo museum we saw a tribute to camping with trailers in the 1950's. See photos below.

Roger C H · 10-12-2015, 02:16 AM

Don't forget they drive English style, that is on the left side of the road.
If you want to stop on the road and get into your trailer, you will have to enter on the traffic side.

Borrego Dave · 10-12-2015, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger C H

Don't forget they drive English style, that is on the left side of the road.
If you want to stop on the road and get into your trailer, you will have to enter on the traffic side.

Snoozy or HC1 ?????

**Pam Garlow** · 10-12-2015, 04:07 AM

Why not just purchase one when you get there. Totally immerse yourself in the NZ experience. That way you will have a trailer that is matched to the vehicle with regards to hitch and electrical hookups as well as having the door on 'curb side' of the road.
....and besides those little Euro caravans are very cute

JenR · 10-12-2015, 07:36 AM

Yes . . . too many possibilities + uncertainties + obstacles + eventualities. It comes down to a crap shoot. I've just come across a Burro locally that they will sell less the trailer (which is too big to be containerized) for a bit under $4k. Easy fit for a container. Should fit on a wide variety of trailers. It's pretty much stripped of appliances, so the retrofit of appliances, etc. becomes a fitting out, which I could do locally. Low purchase price means lower import taxes and GST, etc.

Another local find: 1989 Pay-Mor II. The owner says it's 7'2" wide, 7'6" high (without the air con) and 15' long. A little air out of the tires should do it.

Quite a puzzle. Thanks everybody for helping hook up the parts. I'm going to look at the two above today. Central Florida is rich in RVs!

Timber Wolf · 10-12-2015, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JenR

I've just come across a Burro locally that they will sell less the trailer (which is too big to be containerized) for a bit under $4k. Easy fit for a container. Should fit on a wide variety of trailers. It's pretty much stripped of appliances, so the retrofit of appliances, etc. becomes a fitting out, which I could do locally. Low purchase price means lower import taxes and GST, etc.

Jen, can you explain the Burro's condition? A bit under 4K sounds high (very high) for what I think you describe.

Glenn Baglo · 10-12-2015, 02:35 PM

I'd want to know that I could license the trailer. What does NZ require? If not, it would could be a garden shed, I guess.

marijke · 10-12-2015, 02:59 PM

I made sure I had all the information about rules and regulations, shipping price, and applicable taxes before we started shopping for the trailer. I wanted to make sure it was going to go without any glitches. In Canada, the officers can deny entry and that would have been disappointing and expensive

Zennifer · 10-12-2015, 03:06 PM

I agree...that's what I paid for a pills functional 1979 scamp, with all appliances and trailer...I see shells for sale on occasion for $1000-1500....

JenR · 10-12-2015, 03:14 PM

Exporting to NZ is starting to look very expensive, given transport, customs, goods and services tax, and need to convert. Found a very interesting NZ alternative . . . I don't think it has a US equivalent . . . strongly oriented to outdoor living. Not sure what it would cost.

Camper Trailer 430 Stopover - Work and Play NZ Ltd

The small UK trailers are attractive (beautifully outfitted), but not fiberglass.

marijke · 10-12-2015, 03:24 PM

Or look up Concorde Caravan (13') in New Zealand ;-) Very beautiful!!

Borrego Dave · 10-12-2015, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JenR

Exporting to NZ is starting to look very expensive, given transport, customs, goods and services tax, and need to convert. Found a very interesting NZ alternative . . . I don't think it has a US equivalent . . . strongly oriented to outdoor living. Not sure what it would cost.

Camper Trailer 430 Stopover - Work and Play NZ Ltd

The small UK trailers are attractive (beautifully outfitted), but not fiberglass.

Very interesting models, wonder how they would sell in the USA. I like the Q Deck unit. BTW Jen, they are fiberglass.

Mike Magee · 10-12-2015, 09:17 PM

A Hunter Compact should fit. Snoozy is too wide, the wheels stick out.

JenR · 10-13-2015, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marijke

Or look up Concorde Caravan (13') in New Zealand ;-) Very beautiful!!

Yes, but $NZ65k is out of my price range!

JenR · 10-13-2015, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Very interesting models, wonder how they would sell in the USA. I like the Q Deck unit. BTW Jen, they are fiberglass.

If they teamed up with a good Silicon Valley team and did a good job of 12V/solar everything, I'll bet they'd sell like crazy on the West Coast . . . .especially if they could bring prices down by mass production.