Vintage Trailer Magazine

On the day after Christmas, 2017, I was contacted through Instagram by Lisa Mora - Owner and Editor of Vintage Trailer Magazine.  She had some exciting news.

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She had been following Annie's renovation, maiden voyage and subsequent travels and wanted to do a feature on her for the magazine. I thought about it for a micro second and responded with a hearty "hell yeah !" What followed , has been possibly one of the most exciting and rewarding events of my life. Not in my wildest dreams did I think that when I bought Annie home 11 months prior that she would be sharing kudos with the very caravans and trailers whose images on Pinterest and Google, I had poured over for months prior to her purchase. 

My heartfelt gratitude and thanks to Lisa for giving me this opportunity to show Annie off to a wider, like minded community.  I am truly honoured and so very proud.

Something New

Just about every photo I have taken of Annie has been posted at some stage on this blog, Instagram, Pinterest or Facebook . We needed photos that no-one had seen before.

To make an impact for her featured appearance, she needed a new look. I had been thinking of changing her interior for a while and had been gathering new fabrics and trinkets for a few months waiting until I had the time (annual leave) to concentrate on another makeover.

Lisa was not in a mad rush to go to print so time was not an issue.  I took 2 weeks off work and got stuck into Annies latest transformation.

Location Location

Finding the "just right" spot to take some new photos of Annie was proving a challenge. I Google Earthed the scenic areas within 30 minutes from home but realised they would be heavily populated at this time of year, with it being school holidays and peak summer season.  I eventually found a perfect spot about 20 minutes drive away, high up and overlooking the lake.  When I eventually took a drive to check it out in the flesh, it was being used as boat trailer parking for holiday makers and locals using the boat ramp. Strike #1.  My next destination was a vast expanse of very pretty parkland further up the coast which had easy access for a car and trailer.  So many recreation areas are fenced off with wooden stumps so vehicles cannot enter making it difficult to get close to "nature". On further investigation this park was a leash free dog park. Strike #2.

A few days later whilst walking Claire, I took a closer look at where I live. It’s beautiful. There had to be a spot where I could park Annie, set her up and take photos without disrupting the day to day lives of our town dwellers. I eventually found a tiny creek with a grassy area underneath the trees overlooking the lake. This was “the spot” for Annie’s Photo Shoot.

The Photo Shoot 12/1/18

With Annie's makeover complete we packed her up with all her bibs and bobs and just about anything I could think of (including ladders) that would have her looking her summery seaside best and drove her 1 minute away to the edge of the lake.

It took a couple of hours to set her up as we waited for the sun to be just where it needed to be for some perfect external shots.  This section of the lake is on the edge of the walking track that follows the waters edge. 

There were quite a few walkers on this day and those who were out and about had no idea what was going on in their sleepy little town.  They'd never seen anything like an Annie and could only stand and stare, scratching their heads wondering.

I noticed a car pull up a fair way away with an elderly lady in the drivers seat. She wasn't there long when the local council garbage truck pulled in beside her.  She promptly reversed out and parked on the other side of the truck bringing her closer towards us. The truck eventually left and she got out of her car and slowly walked over and stood in amazement in front of Annie.

I invited her to come closer and have a look.  She was a little hesitant, not wanting to bother me as she could see I was busy but when she eventually stepped up into Annies world she was in awe. She asked if she could sit down and take it all in and then began to cry.  She was having a bad day and had driven down to the lake to clear her head.  Seeing and meeting Annie was just what the doctor ordered. We chatted for about 15 minutes about caravans and her childhood and then she got back in her car and drove away.

Throughout the day we had a number of well wishers and visitors stop by and take a look.  A gorgeous gay couple were just over the moon with her decor and they had me in stitches with their sometimes inappropriately hillarious comments.

The weirdest comment on the day was "What are you selling ?" The fellow thought I was filming a commercial !

It was a perfect summers day , with Shane popping in throughout with Claire for a swim in the lake and also bringing food and refreshments. 

We were packed up and back in the real world by tea time leaving the lake and its foreshore with just the memory of the tiny caravan that came to play and stay - for a day.

Issue 39 - Vintage Trailer Magazine

Lisa did a fantastic job incorporating over eight glossy pages my "War and Peace" interview and placing it just right amongst some beautiful photos of Annie taken on the Central and South coasts of NSW. 

Thankyou Lisa 

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Comments

Thank you so much for sharing your gorgeous Annie with the Vintage Trailer Magazine readers! 😍