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smorgasboarder<br />
get on board<br />
words: dave swan<br />
As we mentioned a little earlier in the piece, a surf shack is what you make of it.<br />
Neal Cameron is a little different to most and so is his idea of a shack. That’s what we love about<br />
him. Ever since we first met Neal when he had parked his “surf shack” in a derelict, abandoned<br />
building site at the back of Maroubra, we have been enthralled by everything he does.<br />
We have featured all manner of his fibreglass creations but in this edition, we thought we would<br />
“probe” him, as Neal likes to refer to it, about his chateau d’autobus. To ensure I didn’t miss any of<br />
his golden retorts, I have adopted a Q & A style for this part of our Shacked feature.<br />
Q A<br />
Why did you choose to live in<br />
a bus?<br />
I first got the idea when I used<br />
to go to school on those old<br />
Leyland Leopard school buses<br />
and I did own one for a while.<br />
They were those old rough idle<br />
Pommie buses that used to give<br />
you a boner from the vibration...<br />
A “travel fat” we used to call the<br />
affliction at school.<br />
So, it was always a bit of a<br />
fantasy to have the coolest surf<br />
camper in the carpark.... A bit like<br />
wishing you had the largest willy<br />
at a co-ed gym class at school.<br />
Actually, I had about $80k and<br />
figured I could build a bus with<br />
car trailer /workshop attached<br />
and be off-grid and independent<br />
...OR...I could put a deposit<br />
on a home unit In the suburbs<br />
..,be unable to choose my<br />
neighbour,.. and have them get<br />
whingy when sanding dust got<br />
on their washing and get all “bent<br />
outa shape” over the smell of<br />
something I’m concocting at the<br />
time.<br />
Yeah, it didn’t take much thought<br />
as to which way to go.<br />
When did you first move into<br />
the bus?<br />
Next year will be my 19th year in<br />
the bus.<br />
How did you go about fitting it<br />
out and how long did it take?<br />
The fitout including the roof raise<br />
took about 2 months. Some of<br />
the materials were new and a lot<br />
was scrounged or repurposed.<br />
When you build something like<br />
this from a bus you soon realise<br />
nothing is straight or even. Jed<br />
Done and I spent a lot of time<br />
measuring once and cutting<br />
twice whilst working on the<br />
interior.<br />
The special features of your<br />
home on wheels?<br />
When the bus was first made it<br />
was a bit unique however these<br />
days many people do it and<br />
spend a fortune on them. They<br />
are like stepping into a home<br />
unit.<br />
The most challenging part of<br />
the bus was the bathroom. The<br />
wooden floor is suspended<br />
over a reverse pitch fiberglass<br />
underfloor so if parked off<br />
camber, anywhere that water<br />
spills in the room, it goes down<br />
the drain hole.<br />
The bath was an earlier project.<br />
I’d never had a comfortable bath.<br />
I don’t know who came up with<br />
the first baths and water saving<br />
and ergonomics where obviously<br />
not light discussions with tea<br />
and scones. So, I made one. And<br />
then the wall tiles to match.<br />
When the roof was raised there<br />
was a wasted area at the back so<br />
I repurposed some old fiberglass<br />
seats from Central Railway<br />
station in Sydney and placed 2<br />
up there facing each other. I then<br />
radiused the leading edges so<br />
tree branches would glide up<br />
over them rather than get hung<br />
up. The result is a four-seater<br />
area for beers and prawns up on<br />
the roof.<br />
The Bus is also converted to<br />
run on old vegetable oil. I have<br />
a centrifuge and heater /pump<br />
mounted to an old beer keg and<br />
it will clean around 60 litres per<br />
hour. I carry 350L of vegie on a<br />
trip and 500L of diesel.<br />
Some interesting places it has<br />
been parked?<br />
As you know it’s been parked in<br />
a few weird spots. The best one<br />
in Sydney was the Anzac Rifle<br />
Range at South Maroubra…<br />
hundreds of acres to myself most<br />
of the time.<br />
The best spot since leaving<br />
Sydney has been on a 35-acre<br />
property with a 200-metre<br />
lakefront and freshwater<br />
Billabong to draw my water from<br />
(he forgets to mention it is right<br />
near one of the most awesome<br />
wave magnets in the entire<br />
world). Lots of birds and fish and<br />
a very cool kangaroo who would<br />
come and snack on chocolate<br />
in the afternoons. I named him<br />
Cadbury.<br />
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