Oh, the Places We've Seen: The Big Green Lizard

Well, after introducing you to the Rock Truck, it's only fair that I introduce you to her best mate, and what will be our home away from home. Affectionaly known as "The Big Green Lizard" (BGL), is a New Age 19ft Gecko.

Sunrise over Keith, SA, on our way to the Flinders Ranges

We had originally thought that our first van (at Jayco Expanda for those that care) would be the one that would see us through our trip. But through our use of that van, and as we thought about the length of the trip we decided that there was "holidaying" vans and there are "living in" vans. And as much as we loved our 'Panda, there was just going to be too many compromises in life to have us live on top each other for 9 months.

So off the van shows we went and came across the Gecko as it was released to the public in Feb 2016. Astounded with the amount of space, storage and build quality on offer, when we realised the price was also very competitive, well, it was pretty much all she wrote.

Our Gecko is a little different than most, with a custom design by us (B's idea with my sketching) proposed to New Age. We asked to replace full length robes and triple bunks to loft style bed and double bunks and they agreed it could be done. A nervous few months waiting to see if our design would work, we couldn't be happier with how it turned out. The agents who sold us the van were very impressed and suggested it was a very unique design.

How the van at the show looked, with triple bunks and robes

Our final design, with each of the kids in their own piece of the van

Through the last few months we've been going on "shake down" trips progressively testing things out. Whilst it hasn't been 100% smooth sailing as we iron out some issues (which is why you do shake downs) we are really impressed with the van. Its layout works as we hoped, it provides enough space to live in and build quality of the fittings and fixtures is exceptional.

We survived the massive storms in SA last September as rain, hail and 100km/h wind battered the van from pillar to post. 2 days on end holed up inside, we were as comfortable as we could probably be, and we knew we'd made the right decision.

Board games to pass the time when outside turned to pot

It has most of the mod-cons of the van without having some of the bling other prefer. We tend to use the van as a "base camp" and prefer to spend more time outside of it than inside, and it's got pretty much everything we need (maybe a diesel heater would be nice.....)

She's a big girl too, and you certainly know when she's hooked on the back, but it's stable and not too big for The Rock Truck.

So we look forward to touring the country with The Big Green Lizard and plonking her in a variety of spots, where the kitchen window has an ever changing view.