Week 58 - Purchase in Vancouver

After receiving some concerned messages last week because we forgot about the time difference, we are now writing the blog on Saturday evening ;-) We are thrilled that you have been following our journey for a year, and it has become a weekly ritual for both you and us.

This week, we mainly focused on organizational matters again. After viewing the last potential vehicle, we could finally decide on our camper for the adventure in Canada.

Our new camper is a Ford F250 pick-up with a cabin that can raise its roof.

Compared to most cars in Germany, we are now driving a really large vehicle. However, in Canadian terms, we are still one of the smaller pick-ups.

The cabin was by far the most modern one we looked at, and it features solar power, a gas heater, a boiler, and of course, a cooking plate. With plenty of cabinets, a seating area, and a fixed bed above the driver's cabin, we have enough space for ourselves and all our belongings.

The pick-up is from 2007 and has only a small cabin. However, it was technically in very good shape since the previous owner took care of everything himself. With just over 200,000 km and significantly less rust than all the other trucks we looked at, we hope it will get us through our time in Canada without any problems.

In total, we purchased everything for $15,000 CAD, which was significantly below our maximum budget from selling our van in New Zealand.

Actually, there wouldn't have been any furnishings included since the seller is Canadian and can continue using his things. However, the seller was really kind and put together and gave us the basic items.

Overall, we have to say that we probably bought the camper from one of the nicest people ever. He explained everything in detail when we picked it up, and you could tell how well he had taken care of the cabin and truck over the years.

Together, we went to the insurance agency, where the registration and new insurance are handled together in Canada. He also gave us tips and helped wherever he could.

Since Franzi has exchanged her driving license, the insurance is definitely cheaper than it would have been otherwise. Julian, with his German driver's license, does drive the price a bit up, but we accept that. We didn't exchange both driver's licenses because the Canadian one is only issued for 2 years. After that, Franzi would not have a driver's license until she applies for a license card again in Germany. If anything happens, we at least still have Julian's driver's license. We are now paying $120 CAD per month for partial coverage insurance.

In Canada, you have to pay a tax on the purchase price when buying vehicles privately. The seller was really nice and clever here as well. He informed himself in advance about the lowest possible price he could declare for us so that the tax would be as low as possible. As a result, we officially acquired the truck for $410 CAD and only had to pay about $50 in taxes.

No taxes are applicable to the cabin.

Once everything was settled, he took us out for a huge ice cream.

After this welcome treat, we went directly to Ikea for our first drive.

Here, we shopped in the familiar atmosphere for the most important essentials like bedding, cooking supplies, and storage boxes.

Today, we cleaned up nicely and started putting away the first items. Tomorrow we will put in the remaining items so we can finally hit the road after the Germany game (here at 10 AM).

We also used one day this week for sightseeing. We drove to Stanley Park, which is right next to downtown by the sea. Here we took a longer walk.

After a small lunch break in the downtown area, we took the ferry to North Vancouver. From here, we had a nice view of the downtown skyline. Moreover, one of the largest public viewing events in Vancouver takes place here. We arrived before the first game, so nothing was going on yet.

We are excited to finally start and can't wait to visit all the places we come across online.