Nimbus the Micro Van

Good things about the van: - it is easier to stealth park than other vans because it looks like a tradie vehicle - there's a few hooks attached to the roof which is handy for hanging thing - there's a basket and bag in the kitchen area which are quite handy for storing things - it drives fairly well - although sometimes could use a bit more power going up hills on the highway - it has a phone holder with wireless charging and Bluetooth for the radio - the van roof vent is handy for circulating the air - The lighting setup is great but unfortunate that it can't always be used if the fridge has run the solar battery down Things for future guests to be aware of: - while the ad says there's a fully equipped kitchenette you need to pay extra for stove, fridge and cookware/cutlery - a bit of sticker shock when booking - 2 keys, one for the doors, one for the ignition. The one for the doors doesn't have a microchip so won't start the van. The one for the ignition has worn down so won't open the front doors - the fridge can't hold the temperature down using solar power alone (driving doesn't charge the battery and it seems to have a fairly low capacity). It was inclement weather when I had the van, but I highly doubt that it would hold the temp overnight with the capacity of the battery. Would be fine if plugging in every night or maybe on very sunny days. - the drawers under the bed are quite difficult to open and close and overall there's really only one drawer available for storing your own belongings - if there's two of you check that there's two of all the cutlery, crockery etc Some suggestions for the host - precool the fridge while you've got somewhere to charge the solar batteries on mains so that the battery doesn't get hammered by the initial cool down and then the guest needs to play catch up to try to top up the battery constantly - explain what the optimal settings of the fridge are to keep the fridge at 4 degrees Celsius when used with the solar battery - explain more about the solar system and maybe have a written manual available - what does beeping mean and what can you do about it etc - either get a new key that does both ignition and doors or put a small reminder on the dash to check which key is being used - it was fine for me, but there was only one bowl. Get a second one for if there's two people in the van - provide mugs for tea as part of the cooking set - provide a teatowel for drying things after washing

Host is immaculately organized. Created a very original, comfortable, stylish and tech forward van. Recommend taking time before the trip to study and understand how his solar panel setup works, because once you know the tricks you're adding a whole other later of fun to your trip. Would definitely rent with host again.

Overall not great, ended up being a bit more expensive that we thought. -Many things we thought were included (fridge, cooking kit, bedding) were an extra charge. -The fridge was basically mandatory, as there was no cooler for food storage. The problem is that the fridge drained the solar battery almost immediately. We ended up using it as a cooler with ice packs instead. -The kitchen kit had small plates, a stove, pots/pans, a kettle, but only plastic forks. We had to buy proper cutlery, a knife for chopping, and cups. -The battery system was a bit confusing. We would have appreciated more of an explanation of how to charge the solar battery with the car battery should it run out. We figured it out, but as we do not have a van of our own it took a few days. There is an application to see the solar battery level, but even when it was clearly dead the app indicated it was ~78%. A small note for interested clients: We were two people in the bed and it was quite tight, but for one person it would have been fine. I do appreciate that Douglas met us at the airport late to drop off the van.