A young Sydney man has managed to turn his bizarre lockdown hobby into full time work running his own business.
During the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, Marcus Moffat flipped a van into a campervan in an effort to keep occupied.
Two years later, the 23-year-old has flipped four vehicles and rents the fleet to travellers for a living.
Since then, Mr Moffat has hired his first employee and worked with a number of subcontractors to help fit out the vans.
Work on another two vehicles and a minibus are underway.
Yet he didn’t anticipate his business would be so successful.
“I come from a building family … and I’ve always been hands-on with the tools and enjoyed doing it,” he told NCA NewsWire.
“The first van caught me by surprise and I just wanted to pay off the project … it was booked out for six months after it was first listed and I didn’t really see the van because it was coming back, then going out the next day.
“If it wasn’t for that, it wouldn't have enticed me to work so hard on the second van and getting that on the road.”
Since starting his Wander Campervans bxjmtzywusiness, Mr Muscat has sourced 50 per cent of the materials used to fit out the interiors from online marketplace Gumtree.
Each vehicle takes the Cronulla resident about six weeks to complete and involves tradesmen, such as electricians and plumbers.
“I found most of the effort goes into the final 10 per cent of the job and into the detailing.
“I wanted to be environmentally conscious, but I wanted to save money, being a university student, so using the platform cut the costs in half.
“I got everything from a camping fridge to wood fixtures from an old house and it all helped.”
In a sentimental touch, Mr Moffat has given all his vans a name starting with ‘H’, inspired by his parents’ honeymoon travels around Australia about 30 years ago in a van named ‘Henry’.
“I got a few ideas from their van … so when I built the first one, I named it ‘Henry’ as well,” he quipped.
“But they’re also Toyota HiAces, so calling them ‘Henry the HiAce’ or ‘Harlow the HiAce’ has just stuck.”
Gumtree research has found almost two in three Australians were going on a holiday this year, with more than half doing so over the Easter long weekend.
About 53 per cent of travellers claimed they were going on a road trip or camping holiday during that time.
Mr Moffat said he had seen interest peak over the Easter holiday as well, with vans completely booked out over the month of April.
