After sharing our accessibility reviews from the places we visited around Northland, I can finally get to the other big part of our trip: Charly the Campervan.
Charly is New Zealand’s only wheelchair-accessible motorhome for hire, and I had been wanting to get my hands on it for quite some time. We managed to squeeze in a few days with Charly before it headed south for the winter, giving us the perfect opportunity to put it through its paces on a road trip through Northland, New Zealand.
For me, though, this wasn’t simply about seeing what it was like to have a campervan holiday. I really wanted to know how Charly would work when travelling with someone with high and complex physical support needs.
Finlay uses a powerchair, needs assistance with all his transfers, is hoisted and travels with equipment including a shower commode and mobile hoist. As anyone travelling with these kinds of access needs will know, going away isn’t simply a matter of throwing a bag in the campervan and heading off. There is equipment, planning, backup planning and quite a bit of reorganising as you go.
Charly wasn’t specifically designed around someone with Finlay’s level of support needs, which was exactly what made this trial so interesting. We wanted to see how the campervan would cope with the realities of travelling with a powerchair user who also needs hoisting, personal care equipment and hands-on support throughout the day.
Our Northland route
We only had a few days with Charly, so rather than trying to cover huge distances we planned a manageable Northland loop that would give us a mixture of driving, sightseeing, campground stays and real-world accessibility testing.
Our journey took us from Auckland to The Kauri Museum at Matakohe, then across to the Kauri Coast TOP 10 Holiday Park, which became our base for visiting Tāne Mahuta. From there we continued across to Whangārei, visiting Whangārei Falls, the Town Basin and Hundertwasser Art Centre, before staying overnight in Whangārei and eventually heading home.
It turned out to be a really useful route for testing Charly because we experienced everything from larger visitor-attraction carparks to narrow winding Northland roads, holiday-park sites, mobility parking in town and getting Finlay in and out of the campervan repeatedly throughout each day.
My number-one tip: video your handover
One of the best decisions I made happened before we had even left Milner Mobility, our Charly pick-up point.
We were given a thorough walkthrough of Charly before setting off and, rather than trusting myself to remember everything, I pulled out my phone and recorded Sefa explaining how the different systems worked. I can’t recommend doing this highly enough.
When someone is standing beside you demonstrating the lift, electrical system, slide-out, bed, cupboards and various campervan controls, everything seems logical. You nod along thinking, Yep, got it. A few hours later you’re parked somewhere in Northland wondering exactly what he said you had to do before pressing that particular button.
There are QR codes onboard linking to instructions, along with a manual, so you certainly aren’t left without information. For us, though, the short videos were the quickest reference because I could simply go back to the exact demonstration.
The bed was a perfect example. I had forgotten that I needed to wait for the light on the control to go off before pressing the button to lower it. A quick look at my recording and we were sorted.
So, if you hire Charly, video the handover. It may be one of the most useful things you do before leaving.
Charly has been designed for more than simply getting a wheelchair onboard
Charly came about through the vision of Dame Catriona Williams, founder of the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Research Trust. As a wheelchair user herself, and an avid cook, Catriona wanted something that would allow her and other wheelchair users to experience the freedom of a campervan holiday with far more independence.
What I particularly like about Charly is that accessibility isn’t limited to getting through the door. Thought has gone into what a wheelchair user might actually want to do once they are inside.
There is a hydraulic wheelchair platform lift, an accessible bathroom, an electrically operated bed, an accessible kitchen and the ability for a wheelchair user to travel right up front. Charly also has hand controls, so an appropriately licensed wheelchair user who drives using hand controls can drive the motorhome themselves.
That is what makes Charly so interesting. The design isn’t just about transporting someone who uses a wheelchair; it is trying to give that person as much involvement and independence in the campervan experience as possible.
The people who made Charly possible
Charly is also a lovely example of what can happen when charities, businesses, designers and individuals get behind an idea and decide to make it happen. A huge amount of support went into getting Charly designed, adapted and out onto New Zealand roads, so those people deserve a very big shout-out too.
Supporters of the project included the Hugo Charitable Trust, Greenstone Partners, ACM Motorhomes, SITIPEK, Sugar Design Studio, FeatherLite, HT Systems, Jean and Rob Johnstone and Jonathan Munz, alongside the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Research Trust and the New Zealand Spinal Trust. ACM Motorhomes was responsible for designing and building the motorhome, with input from wheelchair users, and Charly really does feel like a project that has had a lot of people pulling together behind it.
There is another really nice part to the Charly story. When you hire Charly, your money is helping support the disability community rather than simply disappearing into a commercial rental business. Sixty percent of each rental fee is donated equally to the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Research Trust and the New Zealand Spinal Trust, supporting CatWalk’s work funding research towards a cure for spinal cord injury and the Spinal Trust’s work supporting people living with spinal cord injury. The remaining portion goes towards maintaining and managing Charly so the campervan can continue being available for others to enjoy.
Milner Mobility is also doing its bit by providing Charly with a home and facilitating the bookings, maintenance, cleaning and all the practical work involved in keeping a rental campervan on the road. They don’t take a profit from Charly, so there is a lovely charitable kaupapa sitting behind the whole experience.
When you know all of that, hiring Charly feels like more than booking a campervan for a holiday. You are getting the opportunity to experience something quite special while also helping Charly continue providing accessible adventures for other wheelchair users and supporting two organisations doing important work within the spinal cord injury community.
A kitchen actually designed for someone sitting down
The lowered kitchen immediately caught my attention.
I spend a lot of time reviewing accessible accommodation, and it is still surprisingly common to find somewhere that technically allows a wheelchair into the kitchen but gives very little thought to whether the person can actually reach the bench, prepare food or use what is provided.
Charly’s kitchen has been deliberately designed at a height that can be used from a wheelchair, and for an independent wheelchair user who loves cooking I think this is one of its standout features.
In our case, it is generally me doing the food preparation rather than Finlay. It’s not that he wouldn’t enjoy getting involved; he absolutely would, but allowing Finlay free rein with food preparation tends to create considerably more work for me, so occasionally Mum chooses the easier option!
Finlay also sits relatively high in his powerchair, meaning the bench was actually a little low for him compared with where it might sit for someone in a lower manual wheelchair. That is a useful reminder that wheelchair heights and seating positions vary enormously.
The kitchen itself was well equipped with everything we needed. The cupboards have locking mechanisms to stop them opening while Charly is moving, and the central power system also manages features such as the lighting. It sounded like a lot to remember during the handover, but once we started using everything it was straightforward.
Getting Finlay in and moving through Charly
Charly uses a hydraulic wheelchair platform lift rather than a conventional ramp, and we found the lift itself worked really well with Finlay’s powerchair. I also liked the fact that it disappears underneath the campervan when it isn’t being used rather than folding up inside and becoming part of the living space. It is both practical and aesthetically much nicer.
One thing that would have helped us as support people was an external grab handle beside the doorway. When the lift reaches the top, there is quite a step for the person assisting the wheelchair user to get onto the platform. Because I was also helping guide Finlay and his powerchair, having something secure to hold onto would have made that process easier.
We also learnt something important about Charly’s slide-out section. You might assume the slide-out is simply there to create a larger living area when you are parked at a campsite, but it is also part of the wheelchair access route through the vehicle.
When the slide-out is completely retracted, there isn’t enough space for any wheelchair to move from the lift through to the front driving and passenger area. The wall therefore needs to be moved outward enough to create the passageway.
During our handover we had been shown the full campsite setup, including putting the stabilising legs down before extending the wall, so initially I was confused about how this was supposed to work when we were simply parking somewhere briefly and getting Finlay in or out. Once we understood that we could move the wall outward enough to create the necessary access route, it became part of our normal stopping routine.
Of course, remembering to bring it back into its travelling position before driving away is equally important.
Being right up front was fantastic, and slightly terrifying!
One of Charly’s best features is that the wheelchair user can come all the way through and position their wheelchair beside the driver. Alternatively, because Charly has hand controls, a wheelchair user who drives with them can take the driving position themselves.
I think that is fantastic.
In adapted vehicles generally, wheelchair users can sometimes end up sitting further back from everyone else. Charly gives someone the option of being right there beside the driver, or actually being the driver, rather than simply being a passenger who happens to have been accommodated somewhere inside the vehicle.
For Finlay, travelling right beside me was initially a huge novelty. He had an uninterrupted view through the windscreen and was suddenly right in the middle of everything happening around him. One of my favourite moments came when we found ourselves following a herd of cows being moved along the road. Finlay was transfixed and thought the whole situation was hilarious.
There was, however, another side to having him so close to me.
Finlay has very long arms, busy hands and limited understanding of danger. Sitting right beside me put the dashboard, mirrors, steering wheel and, most importantly, me, within reach. He regularly tried to grab me while I was driving and at times reached towards the steering wheel, which obviously created a genuine safety issue.
We managed it, and he became more accustomed to his position as the trip went on, but it made me think that Charly would benefit from an additional wheelchair restraint position further back, potentially beside the table area.
For many wheelchair users the front passenger position will be one of Charly’s greatest features, and the opportunity for a wheelchair user to drive using the hand controls is brilliant. For somebody like Finlay, however, having a choice about where his chair was secured would have been safer and given us much more flexibility.
More choice would simply allow Charly to cater for a wider range of people.
On the road
Despite its size, I found Charly remarkably easy to drive.
That became particularly noticeable on our way towards Tāne Mahuta. It was raining, the roads became narrow and winding, and at times the bush seemed to close in around us with vegetation hanging over the roadside. Charly handled it all beautifully, and I never felt particularly uncomfortable driving it.
We also had no major problems finding somewhere to park. There is something about driving a campervan that rather quickly gives you the feeling that any suitably enormous parking space is yours for the taking!
Our biggest consideration wasn’t actually Charly’s length but the space we needed alongside it. The wheelchair lift requires side clearance, and I also needed enough room to stand and assist Finlay. A mobility parking space may technically be long enough for Charly, but if another vehicle parks too closely beside you, it can affect your ability to operate the lift and get the wheelchair user back onboard.
So when we parked, width mattered just as much as length.
Parking up along the way
This is where I also want to talk about the places where we actually stopped and stayed, because travelling in an accessible campervan is only one part of the equation. What happens when you arrive at the campground is just as important.
Kauri Coast TOP 10 Holiday Park
We were able to park Charly nice and close to the main camp facilities, which was really helpful for us. The accessible toilets and bathrooms, communal kitchen and eating area were all nearby, so we didn’t have a long distance to cover with Finlay or when moving equipment around.
The terrain around this part of the campground was predominantly flat, and we were able to get Finlay around in his powerchair without any major problems. Some of the sealed surfaces were showing their age and could certainly do with some maintenance and resealing, with areas of surface damage along the way, but at the time of our visit they were still accessible enough for us to reach the facilities.
One small but very useful thing we discovered when setting Charly up was that we needed a tap connector to attach the campervan’s water hose to the campground tap. The campground told us these connectors have a habit of disappearing when guests accidentally take them away, and the tap beside our site didn’t have one. We eventually managed to locate another connection from a different tap, so it wasn’t a major problem, but it did take a bit of hunting around.
It might therefore be worth keeping a spare tap connector onboard Charly as part of the standard equipment, just in case. It’s such a small item, but without one you can’t connect the water hose properly, and it’s exactly the sort of thing you don’t realise you need until you’re trying to set up for the night.
Access to the shower block
Nice step-free, wide-opening doors are available to access the communal kitchen and dining areas.
Learn more here: Kauri Coast Top 10 Holiday Park
Whangārei Top 10 Holiday Park
We decided to stay at Whangārei TOP 10 Holiday Park because it was the closest campground to the Hundertwasser Art Centre, which we wanted to visit the following day. Location-wise, it worked really well for us and gave us easy road access back into the Town Basin without adding unnecessary travel.
The internal roads and footpaths were noticeably better maintained than at our previous campground, and the terrain around the areas we used was flat. That made getting around with Finlay’s powerchair straightforward, and the campground itself was nice and quiet, which we appreciated after a busy day on the road.
There were, however, a couple of small access issues around the shared facilities. The reception and little shop, along with the entrance to the communal kitchen, had small lips at the thresholds. They weren’t major barriers for Finlay’s powerchair, but they were noticeable and are the sort of thing that can make access less seamless than it needs to be.
They also had those heavy, cumbersome entrance mats that we so often find become a nuisance for wheelchair users. They have a tendency to bunch up or catch under wheels, and we found ourselves having to be mindful of them when moving through the doorways. Again, none of this stopped us using the facilities, but removing the lips and replacing the mats with a more wheelchair-friendly option would make access much smoother.
Overall, though, Whangārei TOP 10 worked well as a base for us. The flat terrain, better-maintained access routes, quiet setting and easy drive into the Town Basin made it a very practical place to stay while we explored Whangārei.
We decided to stay at Whangārei TOP 10 Holiday Park because it was the closest campground to the Hundertwasser Art Centre, which we wanted to visit the following day. Location-wise, it worked really well for us and gave us easy road access back into the Town Basin without adding unnecessary travel.
Compared with our first campground stop, the internal roads and footpaths here were noticeably better maintained, and the terrain around the areas we used was flat. That made getting around with Finlay’s powerchair straightforward, and we could move between Charly and the campground facilities without negotiating rough or sloping ground.
It was also a nice, quiet place to stay, which we appreciated after a busy day on the road. For us, the combination of flat terrain, well-maintained access routes and the easy drive into the Town Basin made it a very practical base for the Whangārei part of our trip.
Learn more here: Whangarei Top 10 Holiday Park
Could we use our mobile hoist inside Charly?
This was probably the biggest question I wanted our trip to answer. Finlay requires full hoisting for transfers, so we brought his mobile sling hoist and shower commode with us. As soon as you add that amount of equipment to a campervan, the way you use the space inevitably changes. The bathroom became our main equipment storage area, with the hoist and shower commode taking up much of the available room, and at different times Finlay’s powerchair was in there too. Getting him in and out involved moving equipment, operating the wheelchair lift, manoeuvring his chair and then putting everything back again. It sounds cumbersome, and initially it was, but we quickly developed a system, and after a few stops it simply became part of what we did.
I had also worked out what I thought was a pretty good plan for transferring Finlay into bed. We could hoist him from his powerchair towards the bathroom end of Charly, move the chair away, lower the bed and then roll the hoist underneath it. From a space point of view, it all looked promising: the hoist fitted, there was room to manoeuvre it, and the legs could slide underneath the lowered bed.
Unfortunately, I had removed the hoist controller after a recent Air New Zealand flight to keep it safe and had forgotten to put it back, so our beautifully planned hoist experiment came to a rather abrupt end. Plan B involved me bear-lifting Finlay while keeping him close to protect my back and Rosie becoming chief leg-guidance officer. At one point it looked less like a transfer and more like Finlay had simply landed on top of his sister. Getting him back into his powerchair was even more entertaining because his chair sits higher than the bed and gravity was no longer helping. Nobody was dropped, everyone survived, but none of it would have made a particularly good manual-handling training video.
The useful thing we did establish was that our mobile hoist physically fitted and could be manoeuvred around the lowered bed. I can’t claim we completed a successful hoist transfer because we didn’t, but from a space perspective our planned setup appeared possible.
Another hoist option
Our Molift Transit Hoist actually folds down quite compactly, so size-wise it wouldn’t necessarily take up any more room than a Kera Travel sit2sit hoist when stored. The bigger advantage of the sit-to-sit option is that Charly has one available to loan with the campervan, which could be really useful for someone who requires hoisting but doesn’t already have a compact travel hoist of their own.
A great friend of Charly, Raymond Dufton, who uses a powerchair and also requires assistance with transfers, has successfully used Charly’s sit-to-sit hoist while travelling in the campervan. I think that is important because it shows that needing assistance with transfers doesn’t automatically rule Charly out.
We had also been interested in trialling the Kera Travel sit2sit hoist with Finlay before our trip. We didn’t get the opportunity to do that, but it is still something I would really like to explore in the future. Rather than being about saving a huge amount of storage space compared with our Molift, I’m interested in whether a sit-to-sit transfer method could simply work better within Charly’s layout and make some of the transfers easier.
Of course, no hoist or transfer system will suit everyone, so it would need to be properly assessed and trialled for the individual. But having a sit-to-sit hoist available with Charly gives people another option and could make the campervan much more achievable for someone who needs assistance with transfers but doesn’t have their own suitable travel hoist.
What about the bathroom?
We didn’t properly test Charly’s wet-floor shower or toilet with Finlay because our hoist was unavailable and there was no safe way to transfer him onto his shower commode. The toilet itself swivels around to make transfers easier, and the bathroom includes a fold-down shower seat, accessible basin with an easy-access lever tap, and a handheld shower hose on a rail. It was also nicely presented and stocked with toilet tissue, soaps, shampoo, towels and flannels.
For us, though, the bathroom ended up functioning mainly as equipment storage, with Finlay’s shower commode and mobile hoist taking up much of the space. Having accessible bathrooms available at the campgrounds didn’t solve our problem either, because Finlay still needed to be hoisted onto his commode wherever we showered him. It was a good reminder that an accessible bathroom can have all the right physical features, but if someone relies on specific transfer equipment, they still need that equipment to use the space.
Because we weren’t able to complete a transfer, I can’t genuinely assess how well Charly’s shower and toilet would have worked for Finlay in practice. Someone who transfers independently, can use the fold-down seat or has a different transfer setup may have a very different experience. Our difficulties on this trip were really about Finlay’s particular transfer and equipment needs rather than the bathroom itself.
The electrically operated bed
The bed is another clever use of the limited space inside Charly. When it isn’t needed, it sits up out of the way to open up the living area, then lowers electronically into position when it’s time for bed. Importantly, the controls are designed so that a wheelchair user can operate the bed themselves, raising or lowering it without needing someone else to physically set it up.
In the little handover video we’ve included here, you’ll notice the bed isn’t made up because we filmed it while we were being shown how everything worked. When Charly is prepared for hire, the bed is beautifully made up and ready to use, so you’re not arriving and having to make the bed yourself.
This was another feature where recording the handover proved its worth. I had forgotten one small but important part of the operating sequence: you need to wait for the light on the control to go out before pressing the button again, otherwise the bed won’t move. A quick look back at the video reminded me what to do, and from there it was very straightforward.
For us, there was also another important discovery. Once the bed was lowered, the legs of our Molift Transit Hoist fitted underneath it, which was exactly what I had hoped to establish. It meant that, from a space and positioning point of view, the transfer plan we had worked out for Finlay appeared physically possible inside Charly.
What did we ultimately think?
Our Northland trip reinforced something I see again and again through Grab Your Wheels: accessibility is about far more than whether a wheelchair can physically enter a space.
Different wheelchair users have completely different needs. One person may independently drive Charly using the hand controls and cook in the lowered kitchen. Another may travel beside the driver and transfer independently into bed. Someone like Finlay brings a powerchair, shower commode, hoisting equipment and another person to assist him with almost everything.
Charly does some things exceptionally well. The ability for a wheelchair user to drive or travel right beside the driver is fantastic. The lowered kitchen demonstrates genuine thought about independence. The hydraulic lift disappears neatly underneath the campervan, the bed lifts away to preserve living space, and an accessible bathroom is built into the vehicle.
Our experience at the more complex end of disability simply highlighted a few things that could make Charly work for an even wider range of people. An additional wheelchair restraint position further back would have been valuable for us, an exterior handle would help support people assisting someone on the wheelchair lift, and a more compact hoisting solution could transform how much usable space remains inside.
None of those things take away from what Charly already offers.
In fact, Charly gives New Zealand wheelchair users access to a style of travel that simply hasn’t otherwise been available here in a hire motorhome.
Would we travel in Charly again?
Yes, absolutely. Next time I would go into the trip knowing much more about where we wanted our equipment to live and how we wanted to organise Finlay’s transfers. I’d also love to trial the Kera Travel sit2sit hoist beforehand to see whether that style of transfer might work well for him inside Charly, and I would definitely record the handover again because those little videos proved invaluable once we were out on the road.
Most importantly, though, we now know that travelling in Charly with Finlay is possible. It took more equipment, more organisation and a bit more choreography than it might for another wheelchair user, but that was exactly why I wanted to test it. Real accessibility isn’t simply about whether a wheelchair fits through the door; it is about whether the person, their equipment, their support needs and their everyday routines can come along for the adventure too. For us, they could, and despite a few chaotic moments along the way, we had a wonderful Northland road trip.
Our tips for travelling in Charly
If you’re considering hiring Charly, I’d definitely recommend recording your handover and making sure you understand how the wheelchair lift, slide-out, bed and onboard systems work before you leave. In particular, remember that the slide-out needs to move outward to create the wheelchair access route through to the front of the campervan. It’s also worth thinking carefully about where the wheelchair user will travel. The front passenger position is a fantastic option, as is Charly’s hand-controlled driving position, but sitting directly beside the driver won’t suit everyone.
If you require hoisting, talk through the transfer options available and make sure whatever equipment you plan to use has been properly assessed and trialled for you. Charly can also loan a sit-to-sit hoist, which may be a really useful alternative for someone who doesn’t already travel with a compact hoist of their own. If you’re bringing additional equipment such as a shower commode, think ahead about where everything will live while you’re driving, sleeping and moving the wheelchair user in and out. Parking space matters too: you need enough width beside Charly to safely operate the wheelchair lift, not simply enough length to fit the campervan.
I’d also look closely at the accessible facilities at any campground you plan to use and check whether they actually work with your own transfer and personal-care needs rather than relying solely on the word “accessible”. Most of all, give yourself a little time to find your rhythm. Our first few stops involved plenty of moving equipment around and working out what needed to happen in what order, but it didn’t take long before it simply became our routine. That’s part of travelling with disability, and sometimes those slightly chaotic moments are where the best stories come from.