We sold Doris and brought a new caravan! When we first left for the trip we both decided we would take Doris and just see how far she goes so that’s what we did for the first 3 months of our trip. About a month in we both started to realised Doris wasn’t going to be comfortable long term. Michael couldn’t stand up straight without banging his head or lay down stretched out in the bed, I didn’t have these troubles however we both wanted to do more free camping rather than staying in caravan parks and Doris wasn’t fully equipped for this. We started looking at newer caravans as we kept on travelling and the caravan that ticked all the boxes and was within out budget was the Jayco Freedom Outback, turns out these are rare to find, especially the off-road model with a double bed. We spend 2 months searching the whole of Australia and every town in between Adelaide and Melbourne to find one, from looking online to caravan yards and even leaving letters in someone’s letter box who had the model we wanted parked on his front verge.

After a month and a half of not finding anything we decided to advertise Doris on Gumtree as sending her home wasn’t really an option after getting the freight quote and we didn’t want her just sitting in the driveway back to Perth. It wasn’t long until we had a few phone calls and messages from potential buyers but there was one that stood out from the rest, a writer wanting a space to write a novel in and he was who ended up buying our beloved Doris.

Leaving the note in the letter box payed off. The Jayco Freedom Outback on his verge was not initially for sale but 6 weeks after leaving the letter we received a message from this guy saying he was now wanting to sell it. We were very keen after selling Doris and being homeless (not really, thanks to Ali and Dallys for having us). There was a catch though, being 6 weeks since leaving the note we had moved on from Victor Harbour, SA and where now in Melbourne, Victoria. To pick it up we had an 8 hour one way drive ahead of us to do over the weekend before catching the Ferry to Tasmania on the following Tuesday. After a whirlwind trip, we were back in Victor Harbor, picked it up, spend our one night in it, and then back to Melbourne to get on the ferry to Tasmania.

Doris was a part of us, getting her early in our relationship we had made so many memories with her. From renovating it, to our first weekend away and many small trips in Western Australia all the way up the Exmouth and as far south as Augusta. She was a major inspiration for us for to pack up everything and leave on our adventure around Australia. Being an old girl, she surprised a few people by even making it across the Nullarbor South Australia. She took us so much further, down all the South Australia’s Peninsula’s. All the way to the Red Centre to Alice Springs, back down to Port Augusta across to Adelaide, along the Murray river and it was in Echuca, Victoria we said our goodbyes.

We were emotional about letting her go but it was so much easier knowing she was going to a good home. Doris is now parked up on a beautiful property in Victoria with her new owners that love her as much as we did.Thanks for all the memories Doris, you were one of a kind, but here is to more off road adventures and free camping.

Thanks again for reading, in weeks to come we have our 2weeks in Tasmania and the rest of our time in Victoria. Our new caravan does not have a name yet so any suggestion please comment below