Bailey Senator Carolina 2009

The Details:

6 Berth (Sleeps 6) – with one SUPER KING bed, permanent TRIPLE bunks, plus another single bed.

Fully tested, serviced and ready to hit the road!

This Bayley Senator Carolina 2009 is the perfect home away from home for your family. Designed to go off-grid, this caravan boasts heaps of solar power, large batteries to hold it and has 240L of tank capacity to hold onboard water as well as an auxiliary tank!

It is a dual axle European caravan which has a self contained certificate until Jan 2025 for up to 6 people. It comes with dual motor movers for ease of getting in and out of tight spots.

Bed Layout: The front lounge seats fold out into a Super King Size bed which comes with a bambillo topper for added comfort (So comfy!). The rear bedroom closes with a slider door and includes 3 permanent bunk beds and a dining table which folds down into a further single bed.

Additional Features:

– Bed fans to keep you cool in the summer
– A gas heater which also works on 240v power
– Decent size fridge/freezer which runs on gas, 240v power and car battery
– Bathroom with separate shower, vanity and toilet
–  Bed linen for the 3 bunk beds (including the pillows, pillow covers, duvet inners and custom made duvet covers
– Super King Bambillo mattress topper
– Standard size grey water tank
– Lovely large caravan steps
– Electrical and Gas WOF (doesnt expire until February 2025)
– Awning
– Tow Ball Lock and Tire Lock
– Motor Movers

Why we chose this caravan:

I spent MONTHS deeply researching how we wanted to achieve our family trip around New Zealand. We needed it to be affordable – so buying a caravan over renting accommodations needed to make sense. I learnt that Caravans don’t seem to lose much value, so we can sell it once we are finished and make most of our money back – something you definitely can’t do when you spend money on Air bnbs etc! So financially, a caravan was the best option.

Now that we have done our trip, I realise it is so much better than renting accommodations for these extra reasons;
– You don’t have to pack up! You are essentially traveling with your house, all perfectly made up and ready to go.
– You can park in the most incredible spots around New Zealand! Right on the edge of the beach and rivers etc. Unmatched views.
– You are towing your very own café and restroom! Kids get hungry or need to go toilet on a long drive? Easy, just pull over and you have your entire kitchen and a clean, private bathroom. Just the best!

Then the decision – Caravan, Campervan or Bus? This was not a very hard decision once I started to learn more about Campervans and Buses. When you have a caravan you also have a car – this is SO much better. It’s safer. The kids can be in proper car seats (you can’t have rear-facing car seats in most campervans). However, the main benefit is that a car gives you freedom. We would only drive the caravan from campsite to campsite – and then we would go off to explore the area without it. Don’t have to worry about trying to find large parking spots at supermarkets or at tourist spots (which can be impossible). With our car we could go on incredible adventures through fords and other places that campervans or busses can merely dream of (and NZ has a LOT of these areas you’ll want to visit!). At campsites, we would often get people with campervans and busses come up to us and say they wish they had chosen a caravan instead so they could do more with a car. We are SO happy with this choice.

So we knew we wanted a caravan – now to pick which one! This is really where I spent months and months researching. I learnt that it’s a lot better for the kids to have their beds permanently made up. Making the beds up and down isn’t fun. It isn’t hard, but it’s not great. In our caravan we mostly kept our super king bed made up too – most of the time we would eat outside on a picnic table (enjoying the stunning views) or at the table in the kids room. There was actually only one time, during our whole trip, that we made up the large dining table – and that’s when we had friends camping miserably next to us in their cold little tent and it was pouring with rain so we made space for them to share our caravan. The other thing I realised we DEFINILEY needed was a door on the kid’s room. Most kids go to bed earlier than adults do – especially when they are exhausted from playing outside all day. It was so nice being able to put the kids to bed and then for Dave and I to be able to hang out together in the evening – watching movies and chatting. We met several parents in caravans without the separate kid’s room who told us that was something they wished they had chosen when choosing their caravan. I also realised the importance of a separate shower – keeping the wet in the wet zone was sooo good (And who wants to shower on or over a toilet?). It was also great to have a wet space with a drain for hanging wet things like snow gear, rain jackets, boots and umbrellas.

Once I had done all my research, I knew that the Bailey Senator Carolina 2009 was the EXACT caravan we needed in order to have the best trip possible. Only issue was – there are almost none in New Zealand and they rarely come up for sale! So we had to be patient and wait! Thankfully this one eventually came up for sale and we happily drove 6 hours to get it. We have not regretted it for a single second. The only thing I didn’t take into consideration was that we have loved it soooo much we have ended up  keeping it a whole year longer than we planned and are off on our second trip around the country! We have to sell it after this next trip though as we have caught the travel bug and now plan to caravan around Australia and then America… and then perhaps Europe!

As an extra positive, this particular Bailey Carolina was kitted out with so many great extras by the previous owners who loved it so much. They added loads of solar power (very useful!) and fantastic motor movers on the wheels to make it easy to get in and out of tight spots – much to the envy of other travellers who saw ours and wished they had them too.

Want to buy?

We are currently on our second caravan trip around the country finishing early November 2024. We can deliver to you on our way back up the North Island as we head back to our home in Northland.

Get in touch with:

David Fox on 021 265 8382
or on [email protected]
Or facebook messanger me (Micki Fox) https://m.me/xx.micki.xx

Need a car?

We will also be selling our amazing towing car – with, or after, the sale of the caravan. We have already sold the Blue 2016 Everest that is in all of the above photos. We now have a near identical Blue Everest car– however it’s the newer 2020 model. We upgraded for a few reasons – mainly just because it is cheaper to run.

We love this car and cannot fault it in anyway. The photos below are of the car for sale.

Details about the car:

2020 Ford Everest Titanium 4WD

7 Seater
Diesel
1996cc
Automatic
Number plate – MMR764
Colour: Blue
Doors: 4 door
4WD
NZ New
Titanium top spec model
3000Kg pulling capasity
Large 50mm Tow Bar for caravans

My favourite features:

• You can just press a button and the 3^rd row (back) seats open or close automatically
• Automatic seat adjusters (so handy as my husband and I are different sizes and this makes it a breeze to quickly change the seats height and distance from the steering wheel). These are also on the passenger seat – not just the drivers seat!
• So much space! We found it really roomy
• Car seat anchor points on each of the FIVE back seats – can fit 3 car seats across the back row.
• Sun roof
• The colour – SUCH a stunning blue
• Reversing camera
• Sensors on the back AND front (which are SO useful)
• Line detector – so it steers the car back into your lane in the road automatically if you accidently start drifting out of your lane
• Auto Headlights
• Heated Seats
• Easy to use Bluetooth stereo