After deciding it was time to update our old caravan it was quite daunting to decide what brand of new van we’d buy.  We decided we wanted a full off road van to take us to the places we really wanted to visit in the future.  After looking at quite a few and being very underwhelmed, we found Masterpiece vans at the Bendigo Leisurefest and were blown away by the Optimum.  It ticked all the boxes on our list of must haves and also had lots of extras that we hadn’t even thought of, all at a price which we thought was excellent. We were very impressed with the quality of the build and accessories.

The staff at the Masterpiece stand were incredibly knowledgeable about their vans and that made such a difference to our decision to purchase also. They could answer all the questions we had and nothing was too much trouble.  We wanted to have 2 recliner chairs in our van instead of the café seating, no problems they said, not “you can’t do that or we’ll have to check if we can.” We ordered our van from Simply Caravans in Yarrawonga and had a fantastic factory tour where we saw our van being built. It arrived in May of this year and after a quick weekend away to test everything out we needed a couple of adjustments made so contacted the factory.  We dealt with Ryan Lake who was very helpful and also met Remon, Bobi and the beautiful Luisa!  Everyone at the factory made us very welcome and the minor adjustments were dealt with straight away and to our satisfaction.

We headed off for a 5 months trip mainly around Queensland, visiting many small coastal towns that we hadn’t stopped at before.  We went as far north as Endeavour Falls, just north of Cooktown but ran out of time to do Cape York (will be on the bucket list for another time).  We then headed inland and enjoyed some station stays, pub camps and visited many smaller towns that welcome travellers warmly.  Some notable places were Pinnarendi Station, Einsaleigh Pub, Bonadio RV and Nature Park, Yungaburra, Babinda Rotary Park. We even camped overnight at the Mareeba Drive-In, saw 2 latest release movies, had dinner, a few drinks and slept in our van there!

The only problem we had with our van during the 5 months was with the toilet.  We had trouble finding a service agent that would fix it for us so made do with some temporary handywork.  We travelled on corrugated dirt roads and had no problems with dust which was our main concern.  When we arrived back home we contacted the factory about a couple of minor things and some extras we wanted fitted and they agreed to check everything for us.  We had a lovely visit with all the fantastic staff there and Ryan had the toilet problem fixed for us in no time at all.  

We love the Masterpiece and Red Centre Facebook Owners Group as there are a great bunch of owners doing the same sort of things as us.  Everyone on the group shares ideas, helps answer questions we have and we love how Remon, Bobbi and Ryan participate as well.  They are always available to take phone calls and give advice over the phone if required, its such a positive part of being a member of the Masterpiece family. The exceptional back up service from everyone make us very happy we chose a Masterpiece van.

(and no I am not related to anyone and don’t have shares in the company)!!!