The mentos

Choosing your ride is a crucial step for backpacker. Without hesitation, we make up our mind for a campervan.

We project ourselves into the Australian outback ... Barefoot, hair slightly wet from the last wild swim, reddish dust flying around, we drive to the next stop for the night. The minimalist and functional kitchen allows long idleness moments to watch the kangaroos leap around the van. Enjoying a delicious meal under the stars before taking leave of the Milky Way for a cozy and warm nest. Ending the day by reading a chapter of the last found fiction or directly in the arms of Morpheus.

A very tempting perspective ... Let's move from theory to practice. We need space but fuel efficient, a good deal but reliable. The many cyber searches have narrowed our field to two models: the Toyota Townace and the Hyundai iLoad. Three garages (side story: one of the dealers was French and was called Laurent Tournant [Turning Laurent in French]), an hour of cycling, 30 minutes of discussions and there we decide : a Hyundai iLoad, 2011, 192 000 km.

The minivan is equipped with a cargo barrier for the 3 front seats as well as a plastic protective floor and two metal shelves at the back. Not very sexy all that. The plan is to use the week left at David's (and his tools) to build the van.

Lucky us, every 6 months the people of Perth put their bulky goods on the verge a few days before the coming of the garbage truck (accompanied by a small bull for the occasion). It's a fortnight flea market with tons of trashpiles instead of stalls and the curious wanderer, rather than walking, stroll in a pickup. The competition is harsh: we found a frigobox when, attracted by the wooden plates in the nearby pile, it was set aside for the return. But it mysteriously disappeared when we came back. Results : essential kitchen ware (subsequently supplemented by many second hand stores) and a large stock of various wooden sheets and planks.

It's time to take the grasp the nettle. Clearing the back part: we sell the cargo barrier, we give the shelves and tear the plastic. Then we go to the full cleaning. The common Australian seems to use a leaf blower to begin this step, according to the habits and customs of our host.

Then follows a cycle (which can, at times of intense questioning, seem infinite) of reflection, measurement, cutting, and finally assembly (sometimes disassembly and then reassembly). Then do it again an again ... Circular saw when it's straight, bevel when it's curved. The curves of the car are rarely tamed at the first cut.

A few pounds of sawdust later, we are proud to present version 1.0 of our house. At the back, opening the swing doors, we discover the semi covered outdoor kitchen. To meet our culinary desires, a stove with two burners and a grill. To avoid dying of thirst in the middle of the desert, two barrels of 20L of water each. A workboard, a box of dishes and one of food supplement the place. The main room, in the center of the car, serves as a bedroom, dining room and living room. A foldable bed can go from sofa to bed and vice versa. The 2 drawers under the bed are our dressing room. Between the main room and the kitchen is the "cellar", storage accessible via a double hatch. Via the second sliding door, you reach the "attic", storage behind the sofa. At nightfall, everything is gently lit by a solar LED garland.

See for yourself:

Thus was born the mentos (we also thought of Bianca [Miss Bianca in the rescuers] or Buzz [lightyear]). After 'la chariotte', sold to Parisians, the tomato lent to Olivier's brother, here's the last one: the mentos, "notre carosse" (local version of our coach).