Member stories
Hawke Bay retiree: hobby to healthy income & adventure
)
Meet Bruce, a Hawke’s Bay legend who has been well and truly bitten by the Camplify bug. When he’s not busy gardening, he’s either hiring out his two motorhomes or taking to the road himself alongside his dog Rocco. He tells us that because of his motorhome, New Zealand is looking as beautiful, and healthy, as his retirement fund these days. Read on to discover how he turned his retirement hobby into a motorhome rental business.
Tell us a bit about Bruce.
My family survived the Depression and the austere conditions of the post-World-War period to be thrust into a Utopian existence when my father became a civil servant. My first holiday, at the age of twelve, was to a motel because nothing was too good for our family; there’d be no camping for us, no siree.
Two wives, five step-children and a career in travel later, I turned sixty-four. With proceeds made from the property boom – shared with my newly separated wife – I found myself living in a single flat and wondering how I might enjoy myself, and what I might invest in, for the last quarter of my life. With all my travel experience, I didn’t want to gather moss. I knew movement was key, and what better way to move and see the nicest campgrounds in New Zealand than with a motorhome and Rocco, my joint-custody dog.
How did you buy your first motorhome?
I thought I better check things out before I went purchasing a motorhome, so I hired a four-berth and travelled the South Island for a week. I absolutely loved it, save for a mishap involving a fast car and a one-way bridge. I ended up buying a six-berth, ex-rental Fiat Ducato with 51,000km on the clock – total cost of $140,000. I was one happy chappy.
I called him Wandering Charlie. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to use him all the time, and that insurance and secure parking would be expensive, so I began researching companies that could help me hire him out. I listened to some well-intentioned advice, some that didn’t make any sense at all, and eventually came across Elle, from Camplify, who was always cheerful and helpful over the phone as if she were working beside me. Business soon took off and I rubbed my hands, grateful that I’d found Elle, because I now had a vehicle that was out more than it was in, could be rented at a reasonable cost for the hirer, and brought in a profitable return for my retirement fund.
“I get to meet so many people, both when I’m camping and hiring out my motorhomes, and I can garden at home for three days and travel for four with a business providing an income of approximately $50,000 a year.”
And your second motorhome?
After the success of Wandering Charlie, the only logical next step was to go back to Trade Me and there he was in all his nostalgic glory; manual, 2008, wooden interior and only 55,000km on the clock. I immediately put Romantic Charlie on the Camplify books and now I’m living my best life. I get to meet so many people, both when I’m camping and hiring out my motorhomes, and I can garden at home for three days and travel for four with a business providing an income of approximately $50,000 a year.
Have there been any non-financial benefits from renting on Camplify?
I enjoy my time away, don’t have time to feel bored, and my vehicles are very popular as I put a lot of myself into them. I don’t skimp on anything, providing lashings of luxury when I can, and never let a person leave without asking them what I could do to improve my product. My advice? Always remember that if it wasn’t for the hirers, your van would be a continual cost to you. And wouldn’t you like to have had a chance to holiday in one in your youth?