"It’s all about the journey, not the destination”
Alan Blackie aboard his house-truck in Collingwood. Photo: Neil Wilson.
Like a lot of people, Alan Blackie was a "wannabe hippie" in the ‘70s.
"I envied that sense of freedom and the escape from the hassles of life - things like other people's time constraints and paying rates, rent and power bills," he said.
These days the only sign of that old hankering is the house-truck that Alan and his wife Ann have owned for a few years. The truck is a venerable Hino that, in its earlier life, was a curtain-sided vegetable truck.
Alan removed the deck and rebuilt from the ground up.
"The frame is lightweight square furniture tube and the exterior is finished in plywood," said Alan. "I made it to my own design but I made modifications as I went along. In the first version, the top part of the frame was way too tall and out of proportion so I took it off and rebuilt it."
Inside the truck there is a queen-sized bed, a "man-sized" shower and all the creature comforts you could wish for in a compact home on wheels.
"We're self-sufficient in water, waste and gas," said Alan. "That gives us total flexibility when we travel. We can decide to pull in at any spot we like the look of and when we've gone you can't tell we were there. Travelling by house-truck is a lot like sailing - it's all about the journey, not the destination."
Alan says that being in a hurry is not a good idea for house-truck travellers.
"Our first trip was to a family reunion in Oamaru and it took us three days to get there. I was working on the truck in the time leading up to that. It gave me the incentive to have it finished so we could use the truck for the first time. It was a great trip. Once we were set up at the racecourse on the northern outskirts of Oamaru, we were totally self-sufficient. We carry push-bikes on the front of the truck so we can get around easily once we're at our destination. If you're staying in one spot for a few days you don't want to be securing everything inside for short trips to the dairy and then rebalancing again once you get back to your spot."
Alan says he is a "project-man" and enjoyed the challenge of designing and building. He and Ann are busy motel owners in Collingwood so their opportunities for sedate house-truck travel are limited just at the moment, but Alan has plans.
"I'd love to build another one," he said. "I've thought of some refinements I'd like to build into the next truck. That means this one's for sale - not till later in the summer though. My brother's coming to visit in January but the motels are full, so the truck will be the ‘guest room'."
Neil Wilson
