We spent just £1k on a campervan renovation & now we save thousands on holidays

A PAIR spent just over £1,000 renovate a 30-year-old motorhome so they could travel around Australia while trapped in the country during the coronavirus pandemic.

Tommy Lloyd, 29, and Becca Hill, 23, bought the 1991 Toyota Hiace for AUD 9,500 (£5,421.51) in 2021.

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The British couple were living in Noosa, Queensland when they were approached by a mechanic who recognized the couple from Becca’s YouTube channel.

Tommy said, “It was like he was heaven sent because he could help us find a van.”

Before meeting their trusted mechanic, Tony, the couple had spent three months looking for their dream home on wheels.

They began the project in August 2021 and took eight weeks to complete the renovation while both working in Australia.

The van was already equipped with a bed and a kitchen, but they wanted to be self-sufficient and installed a solar panel.

They made the space their own by dyeing tie-dye curtains, adding a surfboard stand and canisters, while decorating the van with white pillows and linens.

While they paid for the parts, Tony the mechanic did all the refurbishment work free of charge, bringing the refurbishment total to AUD 2,000 (£1,116.60).

Tommy said, “Luckily Tony, our mechanic guru, knew all the places we could get the parts we needed at the best prices.”

After outfitting the van, they drove around the entire perimeter of Australia, covering 15,906 kilometers (9,883 miles).

Along the way, the couple spent about $1,720 a month on incidentals like groceries, fuel, and activities.

Along the way, they completed wish-list activities like swimming with whale sharks and manta rays, getting up close and personal with a kangaroo, naked bungee jumping, becoming qualified divers and playing with sea lions.

Becca said: “It was amazing to have the most famous and beautiful parts of the country like Whitsunday Island, the Great Barrier Reef and Fraser Island all to ourselves.

“We feel like the luckiest people in the world to have had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see these world-famous landmarks in complete privacy and seclusion.”

Tommy said: “Everything we wanted to do as a tour while eating out and finding flights would have cost us about $30,000 each, but we did it for less than half of that and still saw all the things that we wanted to see.”

Despite some mishaps along the way, the couple, who live in Manly, Sydney, are planning a trip to Southeast Asia, where they will hit the road again in another trusty van.

Tommy and Becca have exclusively shared their story with Welcome to Travel – a travel website dedicated to helping backpackers manage their time in Australia.

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