And so it begins ...our Sundowner ..and now a Holidaymaker

[willow5075]

And another one at the Clipsal

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Willow5075,

Love the Buick. What's the van behind it?

Don Ricardo

[Franklin1]

Is that retro's Castle van??

[willow5075]

Yes I believ it is

[willow5075]

Our attempt to recreate the 1946 picture at Kapunda - alas the topography has changed somewhat!

Kapunda-2015 by Willow Images, on Flickr

[willow5075]

AND THE GOLD JUST KEEPS ON COMING - the grandson of the builder of our van sent us a movie

[Geoff & Jude]

what a great video - the fried eggs look a bit sus!!!.

you'd better start saving up for a '47 ford to keep the proper set.

geoff 'n jude

[willow5075]

Apr 17, 2015 10:22:36 GMT 10 Geoff & Jude said:

what a great video - the fried eggs look a bit sus!!!.

you'd better start saving up for a '47 ford to keep the proper set.

geoff 'n jude

Funny, I thought it was lamb chop! Re a 47 Ford - Don't get the MOTH started!!

[Geoff & Jude]

you're probably right about the lamb chop - but keep looking for that ford.

geoff 'n jude

[akeepsake]

Willow5075 that's about as good as it gets! ( not the cooking!) but to get great history and photos is one thing but to get a home movie .....brilliant!
You must be stoked!!! And it's answered the colour question!
What next??? Expect a parcel in the mail with a full set of original plans maybe?
Cheers Andrew

[penguin]

Wow, that's gold. No, not the movie, I mean the stuff in the frying pan - I think it looks like gold!

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Willow5075 and MOTH,

How fabulous to have the video footage of the Sundowner in its 'original habitat'! That's something that is very special indeed.

Great to watch the footage. Thanks for posting it for us all to enjoy.

Don Ricardo

[Deleted]

great stuff guys!, it's not often we get original movie footage on here .. thanks for making the effort to share

Mark

[willow5075]

We are very lucky that the family is so generous in sharing their information

[willow5075]

And some history from Ken Preiss who was a member of the Burnside Historical Society

[willow5075]

Free camping with Sunny at Langhorne Creek - last short run before we do 3 week trip to the NT

Frank Potts Reserve by Caroline Lloyd, on Flickr

[willow5075]

And the event we were going to

Strathalbyn Balloon Glow by Caroline Lloyd, on Flickr

[willow5075]

Next journey is our longest yet in Sunny - 3 lovely weeks and off to Uluru, ALice Springs, Trephina Gorge, Coober Pedy and more, The MOTH has been busy doing more clever things inside the cupboards to store wine glasses, 21st century plates etc. Lots of those plastic covered wires, plumbing tubes and ply.
This weekend he'll hook up the wiring so the battery charges when we are driving and between that and the 120 something solar panel on the Navarra, we should have plenty of power for free camping.
23 more sleeps!

[moth]

With the risk of being hung draw and quartered ,I'll clarify those' 120 thingies' as being 120 ah battery in the van 75 ah in the Navara and a fixed 190w solar , with a dual battery system

[willow5075]

Jul 2, 2015 22:48:05 GMT 10 moth said:

With the risk of being hung draw and quartered ,I'll clarify those' 120 thingies' as being 120 ah battery in the van 75 ah in the Navara and a fixed 190w solar , with a dual battery system

LOL yeah what he said !!

[willow5075]

Following the good example set by Mr Preiss the MOTH has been busy sorting out the cupboards fr me - non slip liners and lots of that covered wire plus some new fittings to hold crockery



Somewhere for the pasta bowls


Coffee mugs and tea pot


And some where for some 21st century plates so we can ease the load on the heritage china



And most importantly some where to keep the wine and champers glasses safe as well as a few more mugs which now have a proper home

[CanAm]

Great thread - enjoyable read.

I have to ask though (given I have lots of aluminium polishing ahead of me) - what is "the purple polish"

[willow5075]

Jul 6, 2015 10:58:26 GMT 10 CanAm said:

Great thread - enjoyable read.

I have to ask though (given I have lots of aluminium polishing ahead of me) - what is "the purple polish"

The best polish you'll ever buy - Google it - it's literally called "Purple Polish" - we polish all metal with it including the silver tea service!

[willow5075]

So we are just finishing up our three week holiday and I'll,post some pics later but wanted to share a funny story. It seems when you go north in this great country nobody gets vintage vans and they don't expect to see them
At Coober Pedy, one giuy said "oh it's very retro, then apologised!" And we said don't apologize it's meant to be retro!"
Then in Trephina Gorge, our nearest "neighbor" decided we must be poor boguns and snubbed us until he finally spotted the 1946 sticker we have on the back of the van, then the MOTH had his jumper on that says "carpenter" that he realized we weren't "poories" at which point he got quite chatty and confessed his prejudgment of us!
We've been laughing about it ever since!

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Willow5075,

Sounds like you've been having a great time! Good on you.

Yes, you do get funny comments don't you? Have you had "Do you sleep in it?" - to which I have many comments running through my head, but keep them to myself, like "No, no, I sleep on the ground beside it" or "no, I just tow it around for fun but sleep in a motel room".

Filling up with petrol one day beside a large 4WD with a horse float, the other driver looked down her nose at me and said "you don't actually sleep in that thing do you?" to which I very nearly replied "yes, rather that than sleeping beside the horse in the float". But I was polite.

Keep on enjoying your trip. In the meantime the rest of us can look forward to the slide show.

Don Ricardo