William Snow is a self confessed Landcruiser aficionado. Not the new Prados, the cool retro 60-80 Series. We’re biased here too; sorry not sorry. Here is William’s main whip a nice big 60 Series….
I moved up to Auckland a few years ago for work, it’s been a good time but planning to head back down South in the near future. The South Island is calling my name.
What was your start in camping, did your family always go on camping holidays, or is this your thing?
We always had camping holidays when we were kids and I’ve lots of fond memories. It’s cool going back to some of those spots now. My parents are right in to it and bought their own campervan recently.
My camping style now is pretty casual, we just go where the road takes us. Being a country boy, I like to get away from town as much as I can, so that’s a big one for finding a good campsite. Ideally a 4WD track involved, partly because we leave everyone else behind at that point.
The Snow family have a Landcruiser obsession huh?
Yeah for sure we definitely do! The old man has always had a couple of Cruisers on the farm so I’ve always loved them and have had quite a few. I’ve got 3 at the moment and there’s 7 in the family. Can’t beat them!
This 60 is the second one I’ve had. I did originally buy one after being in Auckland for 6 months, I got the itch to get out and see what the area had to offer. Northland is choice! Turns outs there’s heaps of nice 60s in Auckland as well. We’ve seen so much of the North Island which we couldn’t have done if we didn’t live in Auckland.
The 60 Series looks super mint, can you talk us through it?
Yeah it’s a good wagon. It’s got the 12HT turbo engine and a manual trans. Big exhaust and makes a wicked noise. I’ve done a fair bit of work to it, the usual rust repairs and heaps of new parts all over it. Swapped the original brown interior for a tidier grey set. I bought the 60 because I wanted a long wheel base truck I could sleep in the back of. That was my original set up, a mattress in the back. It wasn’t much but it got me out there. I’ve put heaps of work into this 60 now and I love it, can’t think of anything I would replace it with. It gets heaps of comments too and I love the 60 wave!
How have you fitted it out for camping?
Just some homemade drawers and a cargo barrier made out of bird netting. Keeps everything tidy, everything has it’s place in my truck and we keep the use of all 5 seats with all our gear in the back. We cook on a Weber BBQ, can cook anything on that sucker. Pretty basic set up with a chilli bin and the most compact camping furniture I could find. We’ve got a Feldon Shelter up top, with an annex as a recent edition. Love the quick set up and pack down. It’s a pretty nice piece of kit, although I’ve been considering an extended version of the tent recently.
I wouldn’t say there’s any one mod that I appreciate more than anything else. Just buying the right vehicle meant I was able to get out and about. That was the first step in the direction of good adventures. It got me hooked on camping again!
You’re on a big trip through the Mainland now, what’s the plan?
Yeah sure am, we took a few months off work so we’re just cruising! We spent the first couple of weeks taking an indirect route down the North Island. Now we’re in the south and we’re looking forward to putting our feet up. Catching up with heaps of friends and family all over the country. The whole plan was to have no plan and that’s exactly what we’re doing, every day is a new adventure. We’re just following the sunshine.
Check out more of William’s travels and set up on Instagram HERE
