It’s a small world. Recently we decided to go on a day trip around the Coromandel Peninsula so we headed from Whitianga to Coromandel, across the hills to Kennedy’s Bay, up the coast to Waikawau, back across to Colville and down the coast to Coromandel again. As usual Marilyn had the camera on board and here’s what she found. The first 2 caravans were found in Long Bay Motorcamp just out of Coromandel. The corrugated iron siding, cast wheels and curved roof are reminiscent of the English shepherds huts. One looked like it was set up as a lounge with a couch but we were unable to see what the second one was. We’re sure there is a story to these vans and would love to hear from anyone who can tell us about them. The next caravan we found at Kennedy Bay, buried to the window line by vegetation. It is a late 60s Anglo, unfortunately well past restoration, as was the falling down house which sat alongside it. The third find of the day was much more exciting for us. It is a Liteweight Cavalier 670 Five Star Special. Don recognized it from 100 metres away and couldn’t resist walking all around it. It actually was one of our personal caravans that we had owned back in 1982. When you’re around caravans all the time you get to know what you like, and of course it turns out not to be a standard layout. The caravan shell and furniture was factory built with Don completing the interior fit out. The back had a double bed and shower layout as per the 1976 Five Star 2500, the centre included the kitchen and dinette from the current 8-metre Cavalier Five Star, and the front L-shaped lounge was a Cavalier 670 layout. We called it our Jessen special, and would have continued to own it had we not bought an 8-metre caravan to live in while we built our house. We were really excited to spot this caravan again in Papa Aroha motor camp. Unfortunately, the owners weren’t there. We’d love to catch up with them. So maybe if you own it, you could get back in touch. Interesting caravans are everywhere in NZ. If you’ve found something in your travels, drop us a line and we can share it through the blog. In the meantime, happy camping. Summer is just around the corner.

Don and Marilyn Jessen

Q: Vintage and Retro Caravans Downunder book sells in Belgium

Vintage caravaners, Don and Marilyn Jessen were so excited to open their emails recently to find an order for Vintage and Retro Caravans Downunder and Retro Caravans from Belgium. We have had some delightful conversations with Johan who owns seven vintage caravans and is a member of the Belgium Oldtimers Caravan Club http://www.bocc.be/Home-E/home-e.html He tells us there are vintage caravan clubs throughout Western Europe and they hold an international caravan rally every year. The next is in Werchter, Belgium in May 2019. We almost booked our flights there and then. He tows his caravans with a 1959 Chev Apache Pickup. His caravans include a 1966 WaWa Edelweiss made in Belgium, a Thomson Miniglen 1968 made in UK, a Notin Goelette 1960s made in France, and still under restoration are a Constructam Comet 1968 made in Belgium and a Vesta 400 1961. Johan has sent through some photos. Johan also sent links to some vintage caravan club sites in the UK and Europe. Not all are in English, but a picture paints a thousand words. Really great to look through their photo galleries. Click on the link below to take you to a listing of a number of the European Caravan Clubs. http://www.cocev.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24&Itemid=17

Q: Classic Car and Caravan Combos Downunder

Classic Car and Caravan Combos Downunder, our latest caravan book, is now at the printers. We have had such fun researching and writing this book. With the classic tow car now becoming such a strong part of vintage vanning it has been great to feature these awesome combinations. From a 1934 Pontiac with a 1952 Don caravan to a 1976 Holden Kingswood with a colour matched 1976 Liteweight Chevron 1300, there’s a wide range of vehicles and caravans. These include the stock standard to the highly modified. It was great to meet these seriously talented and creative people who have spent countless hours restoring their vintage vehicles. Their stories make for highly entertaining reading. And who wouldn’t love to photograph these rigs - they are truly eye candy. We are super grateful to the owners on both sides of the Tasman who made us feel so welcome and shared their stories so openly with us so that we could share them with you. Classic Car and Caravan Combos Downunder will be available in New Zealand Paper Plus book stores in November and in Australian book stores in December. Autographed copies will be available as usual through our website donandmarilynjessen.co.nz

Q: Know the history of your retro caravan?

There are some great reads out there documenting the history of major brands of caravans in New Zealand - Classic, Lilliput and Liteweight. Check these out: Pick & Shovel to Caravans by Claude R Hurst This is a great read about Classic Caravans and the men who started the company, building their first caravan in 1938. You can purchase this through Val Maplesden (daughter of Claude Hurst, the founder) by contacting her on gvmaple@xtra.co.nz Lilliput Caravans were made in New Zealand thoughout the sixties and seventies, and have a strong following through the NZ Lilliput Club. One Man's Dream - The Unique World of Lilliput Caravans by Rob Carthew documents the history of the company and gathers photos and information on virtually every Lilliput still on the road today. Purchase through the Lilliput club or Rob Carthew The Great Indoors for the Great Outdoors - The Story of Liteweight Caravans by Don Jessen. Don's father started Liteweight Caravans after returning from WWII. Using his aeronautical engineering and car mechanics background he built a large company which grew to produce 12 caravans a day in the seventies. So what happened to the company? This is the story of Liteweight from boom to bust, and is available on this website through our shop Three great reads about three great companies.

Q: Vintage Caravan news from Australia

Mike and Lynn, ex pat Kiwis, featured in our latest book Vintage and Retro Caravans Downunder with their 1947 Caravanette. A beautiful cream and teal teardrop shaped van with a snug and cosy interior. They are now putting their restoration skills to use on their recently acquired 1950s 10 foot Furness. Furness caravans were built in Adelaide. They were working to a tight deadline, hoping to have it finished by the Angelsea vintage caravan rally. (November 24-36). Angelsea is 110 kms from Melbourne on the coast. The photo shows the canvas roof being prepared for shrinking. This is a process rarely seen on New Zealand caravans, so its great to get a good shot of it to show us Kiwis what the Aussies are doing. Many thanks Mike and Lynn. By the way if you want to find out about Vintage Caravan Events in Australia try this link vintagecaravans.proboards.com/thread/15572/vintage-caravan-events-calendar. We plan to attend the 2018 Vintage Caravan Nationals in Wangaratta, Victoria, April 20-27. Wangaratta is approximately 250 kms from north east of Melbourne. We believe they are expecting over 200 caravans to attend. We're going to rent a vintage van on site. Are there any other Kiwis interested in going? We'd love to hear from you.

Q: Can You Help Us Find This Vintage Caravan?

Debbie, one of our readers, asked us if we had ever come across her childhood caravan that her father built. It is 15'6" long, and has 3 windows across the front. The bench is across the front with the main pullout bunk on the side, 2 single bunks down the back with a large pull out table between them. The wardrobe is beside the door. Last known whereabouts was in Waipu, north of Auckland. The rego has expired. Debbie would love to meet up with her family caravan again. Let us know if you spot it and we'll forward the details on to Debbie.

Q: The Liteweight Caravette

By far the most unusual rig we have owned is a Liteweight Caravette which we towed with a motorcycle and sidecar. You might think caravanning is out of your league with a motorbike. But that was never going to stop Don. We towed this mini caravan with a 1984 six cylinder Kawasaki 1300 Voyager motorcycle, which sported a twin seat side car which we had custom fitted by Kurt Nielsen in Katikati. All up we could take 4 people and two kayaks on the roof. The back of the caravette folds up to make a roof and a canvas awning drops down and attaches to a solid wooden floor, which folds out from the back of the caravette. Marilyn remade the canvas to include a toilet tent and a full annex expanding the usable space to approximately 3 metres by 3.5 metres. It was a great way to holiday, and certainly received its share of attention everywhere we went. It left us to become a hunting getaway in the back blocks of New Zealand.

Q: A caravanner since birth

Don has been a caravanner since birth. Well actually we think he was conceived in a caravan! Enough said about that! Don’s mother and father founded Liteweight Caravans in 1946 and Don was fully involved in the company from the time he left school. When Marilyn met Don it didn’t take long for her to realise that “love this man, also meant love these caravans”. They’ve owned a huge number of caravans over the years, in all shapes and sizes but of course all of them Liteweights. A chance find in a Plant nursery in Te Awamutu saw the beginning of their retro caravan passion as Don restored the last caravan built in the home garage before his father moved to a purpose-built factory in Riverlea Road in Hamilton. This became the home of Liteweight for the next 34 years. That’s our 1956 Kiwi outside the factory, with the caravan, awaiting pick up by Jack Norrie, its first owner. We know this as we found the original Electrical Warrant of Fitness on the back of the wardrobe when we were restoring it. It also had the chassis number – number 82. Jack and his wife were great friends of Don’s parents, and keen members of the Waikato Caravan Club, which both families were members of. [caption id="attachment_359" align="aligncenter" width="300"] November 1956. Our 1956 Liteweight Kiwi outside the new factory. The Vanguard was the Jessen family car. The Mk I Zephyr was the builder’s car. The work pickup backed in the door was a 1948 Morris 8 Series E named Beetlebomb by the Jessen kids.[/caption]