The Decision is made

We have decided on a vehicle

We want to sell up and travel around, and eventually park on our own bush paradise!

Therefore the decision was easy. The vehicle must be a bus, and preferably a coach with under-floor storage bins, as everything we own will be on board! Another criteria was to avoid the usual steady 80-90kph pace of most ex-government council buses.

The majority of our overnight stops and camps will be "free camping" as caravan parks do not appeal to us. The intent is to travel anywhere and everywhere (within reason), so winding bush tracks and lesser quality roads with lower tree canopies will be a reality.

Based on these factors, we decided on a coach/bus with bins, higher ground clearance, a good approach and exit angle for dips and culverts, and leaf/coil springs instead of airbag suspension.

This focusses direct on a rear engined coach such as a Denning, however Dennings run airbags, and are significantly higher priced which would quickly erode our limited budget. The next choice is along the lines of an ex-school bus such as a Bedford, most of which are front engined. Front engines consume a considerable amount of floor-space, and would interfer drastically with the disabled wheelchair access we have in mind.

A little later we were able to purchase a 1979 Domino bodied Leyland Swift, with a rear mounted AEC engine and pre-select 5 speed gearbox, with a highway diff ratio allowing us to cruise at 100kph.

The Swift is ideal. It has the storage bins beneath, front door, high clearance, front leaf springs, rear coil springs, rear engine, power steering, good road speed, plenty high enough ceiling, top sliding windows for light and ventilation, and a clean roof line for low tree canopies. There are many other important features including a roof top air snorkel and exhaust for water crossings, well raked front and rear entry and exit angles, and thankfully the seats had already been removed!

Have you ever tried to get rid of used school-bus seats on eBay? It's a bit like selling used tea-bags! They're not very popular!

Okay, so now we have our bus, let's go build a motorhome!