We now own a Bushtracker 20'

Jay, congratulations to you and Jackie on your new home. I can just see you sitting there with the champers, watching the world go by. Now get out and get that dream!! Angie

Congratulations Jay and Jackie! You have bought an excellent van and it even has an Anderson plug, !!!!!!! (Not sure of its size though.) Talk about coincidence, this afternoon we were in Nambour and saw the Cavaravan and Motorhome Magazine November edition which has an article on the Roadstar Sunset only available at Caravan World Nambour. It showed it used a Simplicity chassis so we decided to have a look whilst in the area. However, in the yard, we saw this fantastic 20ft Bushtracker and spent half an hour looking all over it, enjoying the leather lounge and trying to see if there was any wear in the van as it looked brand new. Apart from a little road dirt under the wheelarch it looked in showroom condition and we were considering it as excellent value for immediate delivery! No we didn't open and close every cupboard a thousand times or leave fingermarks anywhere!!!! but were amazed at its condition - it even had an wrapped sink plug - maybe they only used paper plates!! You will appreciate the dual bike carrier on the A-frame - all very professionally made. Apparently the annexe has screen walls and there is a pole carrier slung under the departure angle. We have just walked into the house, turned the computer on and saw your post and had to tell you how great it was. Congratulations again and much happy travelling. Regards Robin and Ian Noosa Nomads

As one of the inspection crew, I can confirm that it is a caravan in very good condition, as new in fact. It doesn't look as if it has seen a gravel road yet and the tyres look like new and fitted to 6 stud rims. It has the following. A large external hatch on each side. 3 Batteries 3 Solar panels 3 non-potable plus 1 potable water tanks Battery charger Large inverter (I think 2500watt) Full water purification unit. Pioneer Radio with 12 stacker CD player and 4 internal speakers as well as provision for 2 external speakers. Soft leather apholstry Full shower with waterproof locker and fan vent in roof. Larger than normal window, towel rail and curtain rail. Remote hot water ignition Caprice hotplates, grill and oven and rangehood venting through roof Air Conditioner Double power points located rear bench, in front of seat under table, bench beside sink, above fridge, beside bed. Rear bench has slide out shelf to use as a desk. Aussie Traveller awning and full annex complete with matting floor. 2 Vehicle Component support legs on the rear. Pole carrier across rear. Left wardrobe has hanging space, right has shelves. Window beside bed on RHS is a double type with about a 200mm window above the standard sized window. It also has a professonally made bike rack on the extended draw bar. All in all this van is in excellent condition and one that any BOG member would be proud to "say that's my van." I am sure Jay and Jackie will be happy with this van. Brian

I'm sorry, but I'm a bit confused. Did I miss something? Is this van for use until your original van is finished? Or will you be getting the 20' BT customised by BTi? It sounds as if it already has a lot of the items you wanted in a BT - leather etc. When will you be collecting the van? Now you will have plenty of time to prepare for Copeton and learn all of the "tricks of the trade". Congratulations, 10 more days to go until we see ours- 6 days for you!!!!! regards TT5

Yeah !!! I was the other half of the inspection team .... and I went wee wee in the Thetford or was that the corner cupboard ..... cant remember ... have not had that much fun since granny got her chest caught in the wringer. ! Hahahahaha ! Dont worry about the stains Capt America .... we only had chips, coke and melted Maltesers before lunch ..... dont worry about the meaty smokey smell in the curtains either ... laid some prime fillet on the griller for a hearty lunch with the van yard staff !!!! I was no basidiomycetous (puffball), I jumped on the mattress for what seemed like days .... the American side is quite dented now ....Aussie side stood up well !! You'll love it !!! Its a Bushtracker .... Enjoy !!! Regards Anthony - (2nd Chief Inspector-your-Gadget) Explore this Great Land ... Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

The van was in that yard last November 14. We had a look at it too. Hope you were able to knock a few dollars off! Kate.

Hi All Thank you all for the warm wishes. Yes, we are as excited as if this was the original van we ordered. TT5, this van replaces the van that was being built by BTi. Kate, I am advised that this BT went on the market two weeks ago; perhaps it was on the market in November and then taken off the market - no way to find out at this point (at least until you see her!). We will live in her for three months and then in August she will go into Caravan World's main workshop for a refit so that she meets our needs and desires and more conforms to what we would have built from the chasis up. Today's thoughts are: The large settee will be reduced to a cafe table arrangement with a return as we had planned, and we will add a cupboard floor to ceiling backing to the front cafe seat and facing the bed. We believe our need for more storage will outweigh the large settee - only time will tell and we are being given the time. The refrigerator we purchased for the 21' BT will not fit in the space for this refrigerator. In August we will remove this refrigerator and have the space rebuilt for the RPD 190 with an enclosed cabinet above the refrigerator. If anyone wants to purchase the HDC-190 which is the standard refrigerator installed by BTi, please advise me. The bicycle rack is being removed! We sold our touring bicycles and purchased Dahon Speed Pros which are folding touring bicycles that fit into the canopy of our F-250. We are not giving up the pleasure of cycle touring; simply doing it on folding bicycles. They are great and I highly recommend them to anyone in the market for a folding bicycle. I have used it on and off road; it can carry the weight; and we will have panniers so that we can do our shopping by bicycle instead of always looking for a parking space for the beast. The bicycle rack is for sale. Those of you that have had your vans for awhile and might be ready for a table as you see in the pictures, it too will be sold and a cafe table with a top in acomplimentary color to the other surfaces will be built for the new arrangement. We also have a box filled with new light fixtures both for the interior and exterior which we obtained from the same outlet that Griff used for his BT. We will be installing the new fixtures we purchased.for the previous van, so if someone has a broken BTi standard fixture that the want to replace or needs a spare, we will have them at Copeton for you to obtain. As mentioned by Brian, there is a Pioneer Radio with 12 stacker CD player. Unfortunately it will need to be replaced and will be sold or traded to SIM. We do not have any CDs! All of our CDs have been ripped into MP3 format and are stored (over 5000 songs) on our extremely small 40G iPod (it holds 10,000 songs). We will be installing a Pioneer DVHP5050MP which plays DVDs as well as all other formats, and installing all of the other necessary entertainment toys including a Sharp LC20SIM 20" flat screen, and a camera on the back of the F-250 and the BT. Over time we will add a Webasto heater, more batteries and solar panels, a larger inverter (the current inverter is 1300 watts and we need an 1800 as we have purchased appliances (microwave et cetera) that require at least an 1800 watt inverter, one more water tank, the wind deflector described by Brian, and stereo and TV equipment and other bits and pieces. All and all, under the circumstances, we are very happy with what we have purchased and extremely glad we were able to avoid a delay between the two BTs. tgintl/jay

Hey, best wishes with the van! The point I make is that it has been advertised at: www.caravanworld.org and sitting in their yard since Nov that we know of. The first time we looked at it we were told that "a chap was in the air from Perth as we spoke" who was definately going to buy it, but that we could buy it then and there if we wanted it. His plane must have been pretty slow as the same van was in the same spot on three subsequent times we happened to drive by the yard over the next three months. All the best!

Jackie/Jay Congratulations. Had a look at the pictures, very very nice. Looks like you have indeed landed on your feet and without the hassle you appeared to be going through. I'm sure you will adapt this BT to how you want it and make it as homely as you wish. Does this mean you are going travelling straight away? If so, enjoy and good luck. See you at Copeton. Regards Jeff

Hi Jeff Thanks for the kind thoughts. Yes, we will be going travelling straight-away; however, we will not go too far. We want to properly learn how to two and also use our Effie. Will probably take a couple of courses from companies like Duncan's in the recovery, sand driving, etc. We will go as far as Daintree, but most of the time will be in the Whitsunday's area because we are avid divers and haven't been able to do much diving in Melbourne. We also have friends schedule to visit. We have to be back at CaravanWorld Caloundra for the refit in early August with a promised delivery in time for the Gympie Muster. During the refit we will go up to Cania Gorge and either go camping or rent a cabin at the Big4. Cheers, tingtl/jay

Kate, The BT was on the lot in November. I am "told" that it sold; however they do not remove it from the lot or from the web until the BT is fully paid. Apparently, the financing fell through with the prior buyer - he had six weeks to obtain financing. Regarding saving a few bucks, effectively nope! This has been a very stressful week and we are very glad that this BT was ready and waiting for us land in under all circumstances. Cheers, tgintl/jay

Jay and Jackie, When at Cania ... go out into the park at night when all is still and you will hear faint laughter ... or catch a good spirit ... the ghosts of BT stories past will almost be tangible. There should still be a red stain on the grass from vino rosso .... This "WAS" the first Bogger rally ... Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Jay & Jackie Congratulations !!!!! It sounds like you have realy landed on your feet with this one. When you are in the Whitsundays (our home) we would love to meet you, maybe get together for dinner & a one night. We too are going to be at the Gympie Muster this year and hope to leave here the end of July for a slow trip south then on to Copeton for the Rally. I am so excited, like Angie I'm counting sleeps too. When you get here give us a call 49 470 171 after dark is proberly the best time to catch us as we will be in town (Proserpine) working on Jodi's house during the day. The sooner we get it finished the sooner we can hit the road!!!! All the best. Cheers for now Lynne & Terry

Lilymacs You can count on the call! Once we start heading north in May we will work out some kind of a schedule and let you know when we will be in your area. Plan to spend at least a couple of weeks as we want to do some diving and Jackie wants to do her open water dive course. We will head back to Caloundra (todays plan calls for a refit 3 - ? August) for a refit and I am told it will be finished by the Muster. So we will see you up North, at the Muster, and at Copeton. Cheers tgintl/jay

Looking foward to it!!!!! Cheers Lynne