RV Tour: Family of 4 in Class C (Wilderness Peak 4)

You ready? Is that our RV tour coffee? Yes. Nice. Gotta be ready. I was gonna say juiced up, but that seems kind of weird. So anyway, yes, I'm ready. We're gonna make some coffee. So just pretend like this is easy. Is it not going down? It's not going down. Maybe we should talk about the French press. Should we start there? What would you like? Yes, let's start with- You need one. You need one of these, so make sure your rig has one. That was the first thing I looked for when I came in here. I'm like, oh, these are great. Okay, where's the French press? And then he said, French press with a question mark. And anyway, I said, you know the thing you push down to make coffee? Oh, plunger. So anyway, plunger so that you can make yourself some coffee and you don't have to go out every morning, even though going out is a really good thing because the cafes here are amazing. Welcome to the RV tour. A lot of people have been saying, show us the rig. Show us the rig. And we wanted some time to learn how to best use this rig because it does take a little bit of experience to find out where you're gonna put some things and whatnot. Well, we're not used to class C living. And so we needed to figure out how do four people operate in here successfully. And I think we figured it out. I think we figured it out. And so what we wanted to do in this video is not necessarily just say, here's the bathroom and here's the kitchen, because if you wanted to see this particular rig, you can just go to Wilderness's website right there. This is the peak four and they have far better pictures than we can provide right now. And it'd be a lot cleaner. What we wanted to do is share with you some tips and some things that we learned to make your experience when you come out here and rent your rig from Wilderness a little smoother. That's right. You're gonna walk in the door, you're gonna know exactly what to do, where to put your stuff and how to tackle things like the kitchen, the dining, the sleeping arrangements. Oh yes, have some tips there. Yes, so you'll get a headstart. So should I get started outside? Just a few things, a couple things I want to mention and then we'll come in here and- Great idea. Okay, first of all, I have been really impressed with this motor. It's a small diesel motor, but it gets up the hills no problem. I'm hardly ever holding anyone up. And because it's diesel, it's the cheapest fuel out here because if you're a resident, you end up paying kind of a tax per mile, but Wilderness covers that for their guests. So I've been getting about 8.5 kilometers to liters, which works out to about 20 miles per gallon. And we have covered a great amount of distance between fill-ups. And although you pay per the liter and it's about a buck 20 right now, it's about $1.23 to $1.50 per liter. That works out to about $5 a gallon. Seems a lot, but at 20 miles per gallon, and it takes a long time to cover distance in New Zealand because of the windy roads, but it's actually not a lot of miles. So we have not spent a fortune in fuel. Let's talk about propane real quick. This is where the propane tanks are stored. Our trip was 27 days, which is pretty big. And that five-gallon tank lasted about 20. And of course, we didn't run the heater. That really burns through a lot of propane. But there was also a five-gallon or a smaller tank for the grill. This right here is the boot, as they say. And it is huge. And in fact, it's probably one of the things I've liked the most about the Class C. It's just the huge amount of storage in the back here. So we've got our boogie boards, and we've got the four chairs. And then this is where the ladders are kept to get in the back bunk and even the bunk that we'll show you that comes down, the bed that comes down out of the ceiling. So in terms of some tips here, how we've used this space is the, where I'm standing right now, we've used this a bit of as a closet. And that's only because the four of us are in here. So this is our closet side. And then the other side is like a working side where the chairs are and the gray tube and the freshwater tube. That way, that side's more utility, and this side's more clothes because we just needed a place for us to. So what we did is each of us had a couple days' worth of clothes inside the rig, which was no problem, but we kept everything else out here, like jeans and jackets and stuff like that. And then behind me, and then behind me are these great shelves. So we've had, we've kept our shoes out here, like hiking shoes, helmets, cleaning supplies, stuff like that. And then, of course, all of our carry-on luggage just from the trip. So when I initially came out and I started looking at videos on YouTube of how to work a cassette and I saw it working, I was a little bit like, okay, I'll just make that work. But in fact, it's crazy civilized. I mean, I really can't believe how simple it is. And the best part of this is that you can dump within like 10 seconds, whereas in the States, the Stinky Slinky can sometimes take a little bit of time. Now, the downside is it's not very big. And so the four of us really can't go longer than about two days without dumping. But if you are staying at a holiday park every few days and you're just a couple, I would say that would extend out much, much further. What you don't wanna do is ever push the limits on getting this full. Avoid that at all costs. But on the bright side, it'll only happen once and you'll never do it again. By the way, if you're interested in how that cassette actually works, I'll link a video up here. When we were in Kai Teri Teri, Trish and I did a kind of a breakdown of dumping. And so you can check out that video to see how that works. Here's the thing. When you first get here, you're gonna need to make your first stop at the grocery store. And at the grocery store, get your essentials right out of the gate. You're gonna need some hand soap. You'll need some dish soap, okay? And then you'll notice that there's no plastic bags here. They are not going to give you bags. At the end, you can buy plastic bags for 15 cents each, or you can go and buy these for about $4. I suggest you go down and get these little burlap bags, get about two or three of them, depending on how many groceries you buy at one time. You are going to use this every day, not only for the grocery store, but for your laundry, to go to the showers. Because the showers at the RV parks are usually really great. They have music playing, and you take a warm shower. Have you noticed that? In the really good ones? That's in the women's area. The men's area didn't have that. You don't have music? No. Well, it's really funny, because it's all like 80s. It's really, it's really funny. So anyway, and then if you plan on doing some picnics, get yourself one of these. They're pretty inexpensive. You can get more expensive ones, but just one of these will do. And then get yourself a little piece. This was like $2. I got two of them. Throw it in here. You can pack a picnic. You're ready to go. So, and everywhere you go in New Zealand that is outdoorsy, has some viewpoint where you could be having lunch, where you could be enjoying, and then you can cut down the cost by not going out, especially if you have four people like we do. Couple other essentials. If your rig doesn't already have it, you are going to want a little dustpan and broom for sure. Get out all the sand and everything else that comes along with traveling outdoors. And then these, they are totally 100% biodegradable, so you don't have to worry about that. But they're little wet wipes. Oh, hi. They're little wet wipes, and I got two of these. It lasted the whole trip. But you can wipe down all the counters. Then you're disinfecting everything. And when we talk about biodegradable, you're gonna find that New Zealand is very environment friendly. So let's talk about your trash. When you, this is a tight kitchen. Let's not dance around that, okay? It's a tight kitchen, but it is a mighty kitchen. You can get a lot done here because the work surfaces close, and you can do a lot of your prep work, put it back in the fridge, and then start in on whatever your water or your cooking. But always keep this little door open with your trash right next to you. But this is really the coffee grinds, the apples that you cut up, the fruits and veggies. Somewhere over here, you're gonna need to place some kind of bag. I had one of those burlap bags because my recycling was really clean. And you're putting your recycling in a different bag because when you go to throw away your rubbish, you're going to have things that are going to the landfill. And they're like, this is bad. You feel really bad putting a plastic bag this big full of everything in there, okay? So you have to sort everything out. So you're going to need something for your glass, your plastic, and your paper. So that will all go over here. And then you'll understand how this teeny tiny little trash can can actually work for you. But keeping that door open and keeping the trash lid open so that you could just be sweeping things into your two different areas is super helpful in such a tiny space. Let's talk about the obvious, which is this decor. Let's hope that the folks out in Indiana who are making all the U.S. rigs happen to be watching this video and thinking to themselves, wait a second, people like these light colors? Because I think the request on our channel has been about a thousand times, no more dark wood, no more dark wood. And I think the U.S. manufacturers are like, what'd you say, dark wood? We heard you, dark wood. And you want more curtains. More curtains and dark wood? All right, we joke. But the fact is that this is really an open, airy space and it has a lot of cool European designs. Like this here doesn't open like this. The little latch is right here. And then look at this kitchen. The kitchen latch is right there. It opens up and everything is organized. Yeah, and they have things for cups and- And there's a lip on the actual cupboard so things aren't falling out. Yeah. All this up here, these Euro switches are up here and you can do task lighting or you can do mood lighting. It's really cool. And then the other thing is, the outlets are in a perfect place for an extension cord. So remember, when you come out here, you're gonna need an adapter and getting an extension cord with several adapter places and USBs is going to be so helpful. But for us, we can put it right here and it goes to the desk or we can go right here and the boys charge their things at night. It has been a lifesaver. Yeah, Trisha's right. I mean, these LED lights are more of like a mood lighting. They're a soft light rather than just LED lights. There's a lot of things that make this feel a little bit more like a boat than an RV and we've really enjoyed it. Okay, let's talk about food and where we keep it. There should be little sections in your rig for short-term and long-term storage. Even though your trip might only be a week, you're not reaching for certain things every single day. So my oils and my things that I need for cooking, I've been keeping right here. It's a very tall and deep storage area. I've loved it. And then things that I don't need every single day go up over here. I like the boys' pantry. You'll see their snacks and some more processed foods there. Our things usually remain in the fridge because they're fruits and vegetables. So the fridge, the fridge has an automatic setting where it'll automatically go from shore power when you're in an RV park or to propane when you're driving around. So you don't have to worry about that. And there's tons of storage. But what you have to remember to do is when you go on the ferry and you turn off your propane tank, you have to remember to turn it back on. And there's tons of storage. Oh yeah, it's worked out. And then let's talk about the skylights and the lighting and the mechanism for it. So Trish can't reach, so I'm gonna show this to you. Here. I'll show you what I do. Trish, you have a method for it? I have a method. Oh, what is this? Look at this. This is my very technical method. All right. Clothes. That is for sun protection. How do you open it up? Or, you know, you can give yourself a nice screen because the sand flies here are no joke. Yes. I can't do this part though. Oh, you can't, okay. So it has this little latch right here. Can you see it? Like this, and you go like this, and it completely opens up. And then Trish will show you how the screen works. There we go. Okay, we talked about ventilation, cooking. We wanna make sure also with your cooking that if you don't plan on going out to lunch and you're gonna do all your own meals, cook breakfast and lunch together at the same time, you don't really wanna visit this nice, wonderful, beautiful kitchen more than twice a day. Otherwise, you're gonna feel like you're cleaning dishes and doing all that all day long. And just using more water. And using more water. But here's the great part. At these parks, they have community kitchens and they're fantastic. So they have sinks and everything that you need so you can wash up. You still need your own soap. But that way you're not putting water in your gray tank and you can do bigger pans and things like that. They also have community grills, although we have our own grill. But it's just been a great way to say hi to people and totally mind shift because we don't have that in the states. So I'm like, I'm washing my dishes with strangers. But you meet people and it's really cool. Find out what to do in the local area. Find out what other people have been up to and then you're like, oh, that sounds cool. Maybe I'll go do that. So anyway, very cool. So we went over the storage with the drawers and the cabinets. Lighting, task and mood, trash, recycling. A lot of recycling going on here. Where to keep your clothes. Oh, line drying is a thing here. Hanging your clothes out to line dry. And with this rig, they gave us all the clips and they gave us a string. And I was like, that's so cute. So anyway, but you actually use it. These, these are called Turkish towels and I bought a six pack of them, I think for like $40. And we have used these almost every single day. If they go to the beach, they dry really quick and they're easy to wash and they hold the scent of your soap really well. So they smell good, they dry fast and they don't take up a lot of space. And they're not very expensive. And well, $40 for six towels. So I don't know if that's expensive or not. And they don't carry sands when you take them to the beach. They don't like, the sand doesn't get inside of them. Like this will have sand in it until you wash it again. So, and then it'll take almost all day to dry. It's still kind of damp. And those are already dry. Totally dry. So anyway, but look, we've got all of our stuff line drying and this is provided for you. It's really great. All right, so let's talk about the front. Obviously these seats swivel around and that's been pretty nice. In fact, this is where I've been doing most of my work from this seat right here. Just lower that. I can tell the boys have been sitting here and then I'll put my laptop right here and I'll scoot the chair up like this and work away each morning. These curtains not only provide privacy, but man, did we find out in Queenstown that they provide a tremendous amount of shelter from the heat. In fact, in this area, it would be low 70s and on the other side of the curtain, it was in the 90s. So this does a great job keeping the heat out. Oh, real quick. One of the things that Trish and I will be changing the way we operate when we're back in the States for season seven is with this little guy. I can't believe how long we've gone without having our navigation up on something that we can both see. This is the first thing that we're gonna do when we get back. Of course, I'll have to find some sort of adapter for the F-250. But the fact that I can be driving along and seeing the directions. So Trish is still the navigator, but I can see exactly when to turn right has been a game changer just in terms of communication between the navigator and the driver. Because a lot of times when the navigator says, turn right coming up, it's difficult to know, did you mean turn right at the light or did you mean turn right on the street? It's hard to gauge. And so that's been absolutely wonderful. So- Well, and you can charge it too. Well, and you can charge it. So this just comes out here like this and you lock it in place. And then of course, we had to figure the GoPro just above it. Okay, so the navigation, the seat swivel, this is great. Let me show you where we keep some of the equipment and stuff like that. So this is where I keep a lot of the computer stuff. In fact, the camera that Trish is holding, I've been keeping right here and then I put a blanket right here so it doesn't fall out. But this is where I just kept all the power cables and extra batteries and whatnot. And then this little section up in here, with the GoPro mounted, is where I've been keeping like monopods and other stuff like this. And then we've been keeping the drone on the other side. So it's been really handy for this. For other people, they might enjoy putting maps and things that you need to have access to. Just stuff that you're gonna need all the time. So that's been really handy. Okay, one last thing. Let's talk about the batteries on board and the inverter, the house battery as it's called. This rig is equipped with a single 12 volt battery and a thousand watt inverter. So if you're not familiar with RVing or you have an RV before and you're gonna come out to New Zealand in RV for the first time, anytime to charge something that requires a USB like this, you can go right off of a battery. But if it requires a plug, first of all, being in New Zealand, you're probably gonna need to adapt it from New Zealand's adapter or configuration to a US configuration. So you're probably in one of these. We have several. And then if you wanna plug in one of these, it's gonna have to go into the inverter. And so what that means is when you're not connected to shore power at a holiday park, you're gonna be like dry camping or freedom camping as they say out here. Then the only outlet that will work for something like this is going to be this outlet right here connected to the inverter. And we have been charging laptops, cell phones, camera gear, drone batteries, and going about two days. When you drive, the alternator of the motorhome will recharge the house battery. So in about a day's worth time of driving, maybe even a half a day, it'll be back up to 100%. So you won't have much problem with that. Now- That'll keep you freedom camping for multiple days in a row. Yeah, now if you're really new to RVing and you're dry camping and you think you can plug a toaster or anything with a heating element, that's not gonna work. A thousand watt inverter will charge things like laptops and phones and whatnot, but it's not gonna charge a coffee maker, a toaster, stuff like that. So when you're freedom camping, all that stuff's off limits. But when you're at a holiday park and you're plugged into shore power, then you can use a toaster or use appliances that have a little bit more of a draw. Okay, so that's the situation on the batteries. What's left, Trish? Okay, this bathroom is pretty amazing because it also turns into a shower. We didn't use it. So it opens up here and blocks this wood area. And then the sink opens up and there's a shower back here. Amazing. Oh yeah. So anyway, there are two hooks in here. There's a little shelf. There's the bathroom and the sink. It works. The curtain. Let's talk about sleeping arrangements. Right here, the boys are sleeping. Yes. And they're teenagers. So even though that seems like it's just this little curtain they can't hear through it. They can't see through it. It's like, it's amazing. Like boys, it's time to get up. Boys, it's time to get up. Nothing. Okay, so if you have teenagers, your sleeping arrangements might not be ideal because they usually wake up later. So they're gonna get the best bed space. Well, in our case, we chose to do that. Because they sleep in and then we get this nice area to work and have coffee. But those are the best beds. They're amazing. And you will have great night's sleeps. So, but because we wanted them back there, we used the queen bed that comes down from the ceiling. So if you've got young kids that tend to wake you up because they're up first. If we had young kids, we'd put them up there. Totally put them up here. And then they're up, everybody's up early. But as your kids get older, as you know, if you have teenagers, it's just nice that Trisha and I tend to wake up at about six, 6.30. And then we put the bed up and we make some coffee and we sit at this table and we work for two or three hours while the boys sleep. So that's why we did the sleeping arrangements the way we did. Also, I think we just thought in our mind, this is the queen and those are the twins. And so in a way we told the boys in advance, that's where you're sleeping. So had we known that those sleeping arrangements were as good as they are and comfy and big, we might've set different expectations. Maybe, but I don't see how Carson and Caleb would have slept together up here. There would have been arguing. Yeah, it would have been a problem. Well, let's see. And it was nice because at some point in RV travel, because this is travel, not a vacation. In travel, we had this discussion with the boys the other day. You know, it's about exploring. It's a little more hands-on. People aren't just serving you drinks. You know what I mean? Sitting by a pool. So at some point you might feel fatigue and that happens with kids too. And so it was nice for them to have a place where they could just go and kind of like shut down a little bit. All right, I think that's it. I think we've covered some tips, some of the things we've learned, some organization stuff, maybe stuff that will be helpful to you so that when you come out here you can hit the ground running. Anything else to cover? Have a great time. This was beyond exciting. I mean, we would look at each other and we're like, are you kidding me right now with the scenery or where we were allowed to camp? I think the thing you'll find if you come out and you rent with Wilderness and you travel by motorhome, by caravan out here, is that there's so many places, amazing freedom camping places. Places that in the States, the prime real estate has a giant hotel, fancy restaurants, and an exclusive beach. And in New Zealand, that's where the holiday park is. Yes, so you can tell as a culture, RVing is like something people do. That is like a given. There's families, there's, I mean, every generation, there's just every level of camping going on. It's really cool. So there's an element of New Zealand that really can only be seen through an RV. Yes, and you can change your plans. We've arrived in places and been like, eh. Yeah, we didn't think it was gonna be this. We thought it was gonna be something else. And so we just stay one night or not at all and we just keep moving. There's other places that we like even more and we stayed a couple extra days. And that type of flexibility is great when you're traveling. All right, that's it for now. We'll catch you next week. Bye.