RIVER Deloraine was half way through doing his mechanics trade when he decided things had to change.
"I am a good worker and I was in a position where I was running the operation wherever I was working and I thought if I am under this much stress I might as well do my own thing," he says.
A qualified plumber, Mr Deloraine, 25, seized the day a year ago and founded River To Coast, his one-man business that custom-fits adventure vans.
"I've always been in to cars and built my own adventure cars, I always wanted to be in the car game somehow, it was just working out how to do it. The plumbing was good to teach me skills and moving into mechanics it was more parts fitting. I am creative so it was taking a toll on me not being able to create unique things," he says of his decision to back himself.
Mr Deloraine was also inspired by his brother, Jacques, who runs Mayfield cafe Equium Social up the road, and his parents and step-father, who have run small businesses and are both "doers".
River To Coast's origins began in Mr Deloraine's backyard garage, where he fitted out the camper van of his girlfriend, Maddie McLennan, as well as a few other vehicles for friends.
"Everyone seemed to love them and I really enjoyed doing them because it was such a variety of work involved in the van game and I was like, 'Rightio...'. I knew in Newcastle there was a gap in the market."
Since then he's done more than 30 builds, each unique.
"Whatever the customer wants, I can create it for them. A lot of the builds lately have been pretty high-end finishes and they are getting pretty pricey," he says.
He re-fits mostly Hiaces, Commuters and long-wheel based transporters, and is keen to expand into refurbishing caravans. His clients are often young "weekend warriors" or grey nomads.
Mr Deloraine says his customers appreciate his work ethic: "I'm easy to work with, I'm just a fair dinkum bloke, I know what gives a good rap at the end of the day. I love creating adventure vehicles ready to do all they want to do. It's a happy industry, that's why I love it."
He is booked out for the next two or so months, with his most common job being to fit out the back of vans with a double bed, a small kitchen with inside seated area and then a full off-grid system to support lights and a fridge, "everything you would need in a weekend or month away".
He recently decided to sub-contract out his cabinetry work to give more choice to customers.
Space remains his biggest challenge in doing a fitout.
"The smaller the van the trickier the build can be because of that," he said.
"I like working with bigger vans because you get a bit more space and you can do a lot more fancy and cabinetry."
Mr Deloraine says van fitouts can cost anything between $5000 and $40,000, depending on the needs.
A big issue has become the actual sourcing of vans in the current market.
"A lot of people struggle to get the van, the second hand van market is red hot, they are well over price so it's important to get a professional to look over the van before you buy it, we've had a lot of people get duds," he said.
"Once you have one, I think a lot of people are making good money off it now, whether it's renting [their van] when they don't need it or just flipping them. There are some ridiculous vans that have been built that are going for ridiculous money and it's hard to get new and used vans these days, so once you have it's worth more than what you paid. Most new vans are taking a year to get."
Mr Deloraine is currently in the market for a van because he and Maddie sold theirs.
"I think we'll get a Hiace and its pretty much will look like the last van I built, with the picnic bench at back. I really like that build," he said.
