Owners' Stories

Jane Butler runs a life coaching business called Out of the Rut.

Over the years she has helped a lot of Kiwis get out and live the best version of their lives.

This year Jane realised it was about time she did the same herself. She has taken a large part of 2017 off to get away in her own motorhome, recharge the batteries and get her own life back on track.

“It’s great!” enthuses Jim Tuhakaraina of his refurbished Brevio T600 motorhome.

Wilderness has given the ‘mix and mingle’ a helping hand with a VIP event for owners at the recent Camper Care New Zealand Motorhome, Caravan & Leisure Show in Christchurch on 5 November, the first ever for Carado owners in the South Island since the brand was launched at the same show last year.

Raewyn and Peter, a lively couple from Napier, are first-home buyers of a different kind – the ‘take your home on the road without a care or a worry’ kind. This wasn’t initially the case, however. Raewyn admits the first time driving their Bürstner Nexxo T690G off off the Wilderness lot was rather nerve-wracking. They’d fallen in love with their new purchase and they didn’t want anything untoward to happen to their new baby.

The Bürstner Grand Panorama boasts a full 9m of classy comfort but handles like a car, says owner Wayne Zaloum who describes how well the "fantastic vehicle" handles rugged New Zealand roads.

In April the McGregors became the first Kiwis to own the new model Bürstner Elegance. They say it gives them everything they wanted in a motorhome – comfort, luxury and space.

The pun is irresistible but there are plenty of other reasons to call John and Norma one of our very ‘Keen’ camping couples. The Keens embraced caravanning while living in Australia. After more than a decade over the ditch, bought their own caravan to make a farewell circumnavigation tour, including Tasmania, before returning home to New Zealand. 

After looking at plenty of motorhome options we finally settled on the Bürstner Ixeo Time IT586. We're stoked with the decision and look forward to plenty of awesome road trips. We can't say enough about the service from Wilderness Motorhomes and the team so far - it has been great. After some christening drinks back in Tairua, we spent the next few days getting our baby ready for its first road trip. Then it was road trip time!

Bruce and Tina Higgs don't have your typical story of being long time motorhomers - they are relatively late entrants. In 2007 a chance visit to a motorhome sales yard and a look over a Bürstner T585 changed their minds. Based on a Fiat Ducato cab chassis, the B class motorhome had a dinette behind the passenger seat and a small kitchen behind the driver's seat.

Wilderness hosted the official launch party for the Bürstner Owners Club on Saturday 14 March at the Sofitel Auckland.

Fiat's Ducato underpins about 75% of the European motorhome market. However, in this country, there is a strong perception that front wheel drive is not suited to many local road conditions. We asked Wilderness customers John and Barbara Maddren how their new Bürstner Aviano i727 motorhome fared on its first major road trip which included rough road travel.