Asa youngmumwitha childinprimary
school,Danielawantedtodosomething
constructivewithhersparetime.Aftera few
part-timejobsthatweretoohardtowork
aroundschoolhours,shehituponanidea
withherfriendZoeovera glassofwine.
“Isawonsocialmediathattheguysfrom
TheBlockhadrenovateda beautifulvan
calledMilly,andwasshowingmyfriendthe
pictures,”sherecalled.“Shejokinglysaid
thatweshouldtryanddoonetogether.But
thenthelongerI thoughtaboutit,themoreI
thoughtit mightbepossible.”
Afterlookingonlineforsometime,the
paireventuallyfounda smallFranklinvan
onGumtreethatwasperfectfortheirneeds.
“Itwasa lovelyoldvanthattheoldowners
hadlovedbutweretoooldtouse,”shesaid.
“Theywantedit togotoa goodhome,and
wepromisedwe’dtakecareofit.”
Theysetaboutworkingasa teamand
aroundeachother’spressuresasmums.
“Itwasperfectintermsofbeingflexible,”
Danielasaid.“Ihavea bigbackyardandso
wejustparkedthevanandworkedonit
whenwewerefree.Therewasnopressure
orhurrytogetit finished;wewantedto
enjoytheprocessandreallydoanamazing
job.”
NeitherDanielanorZoehadanyprevious
experienceofeitherDIYorcaravans,but
theyweredeterminedtogivethingsa go.
Theirpartnerschippedinwithsomeadvice
andhelp,butthepairdidmostthings
themselves.YouTubevideoshelpedwith
someofthemoretechnicalstuff.
Aftersixmonthsofwork,theyhadcreated
Tallulah— a beautifulvan,lovinglyrestored
toitsformerglory.Verylittlewaspurchased
newasDanielaandZoeconcentratedon
restoringeverything— includingusingthe
originalfridge,cookerandsink.
Theyaddedsomebeautifultouchesinterms
ofdecoration,butmadetheirowncurtains
andkepttooriginalwoodfixturesand
fittings,whereverpossible.
“Wearen’tbuildersorcarpenters,but
we’regoodatcleaningandhadveryartistic
ideasforthevan,”Danielasaid.“Itwasreally
justabouthardworkandcreativityandlove.
Themorewecouldcleanupandsalvage,the
lesswehadtomakefromscratch.Andit was
sonicetakingtheoldcouple’svanbacktoitsAGE: 37
LIVES:DEEWHY,NSW
NATIONALITY:BRAZILIAN
FAVOURITECARAVAN:
VISCOUNTDANIELA
PROFILE 2:
original state.”
Both are quite spiritual in their approach
tolife and the van has a really positive
energy about it as a result. They felt that
from the moment they first saw it, and that
has grown as they have worked on it.
“We wanted to create a van that we could
sell and make some money on, but we
wanted to create a beautiful experience for
the family who bought it,” she explained.
“We put a lot of love into decorating the van
and wanted whoever bought it to feel that
love.”
Currently Tallulah is up for sale on the
Northern Beaches, and creating much
interest. The duo will have a break before
their next van, but see if fate puts something
else in their path...“I have a big backyard and so we just
parked the van and worked on it
when we were free”
ot56 caravanworld.com.au