Introducing: The Topagee Camper Project
Just like every good origin story, it all started with Facebook marketplace...
In 2021, my partner and I moved to Castlemaine in the Victorian countryside and as a result, started using our car a whole lot more. Up until then our car was almost exclusively used for camping and kept in this state pretty much full time:
30L fridge? Check. Permanent roof mounted solar panel and deep cycle battery system? Check. Table and chairs? Check. 15L of water? Check. 1 tent, 2 sleeping bags? Check. Room for shopping? Ahhhhh....
I'd built the ultimate go car. At a moments notice we could be on the road, with everything we needed to survive for a while - but in the process I'd made the car a whole lot less practical. But we could still use the back seats. And then our dog Cloud came into our lives.
Back seats gone. Boot full of camping / apocalypse gear. We started putting our shopping in the passenger footwell in front of my partner's legs. Perfect moment for me to start researching camper trailers.
To be honest, all of that stuff is true but I didn't really need an excuse. The lure of being able to mod up a space bigger than my car boot is all I needed. So off to Facebook marketplace I went. This is what I found ...
A lot of awesome looking, manly-af, diamond plated steel, nature conquering terror wagons. I love these - they scream utility. But they don't scream (or whisper?) zen nature camping experience. I needed something that would feel nostalgic, blend in with nature, and be just practical enough without making some of the stuff I love about camping too easy.
And then this beauty came up...
Campervan ... with boat? Do I need a boat? Up until this point I'd never realised I needed a boat. I was hooked. This thing is vintage, pretty good shape for its age. Heaps of potential. You're coming home with me, Topagee!
The guy who sold it to us made a pretty big point of demonstrating how easy it was to get the boat off using the rolling rack, and the trailer almost demonstrated the exact same thing at 110km/h driving back to Castlemaine. We added another strap and continued on, a little shaken, very excited.
To the beginning of a new project 🥂
