Vw Kombi Ideal For Surfing Safaris

Newcastle Herald

Saturday September 12, 1998

LONG before he became serious about matters in the pool Australian Swimming coach Bill Nelson spent countless hours in the surf.

As the Newcastle University Forum's head swim coach Nelson spends much of his time these days overseeing elite swimmers.

He was 17 when he lashed out on his first car.

It was an orange 1971 Volkswagen Kombi almost designed specifically for a young surfer.

Nelson paid $4000 for the Kombi when he bought it second-hand in Newcastle.

Although it hadn't clocked many kilometres in 1978, that changed after numerous surfing safaris up and down the coast.

`I got up to just about everything in that van,' he said.

`It was a cheap house on wheels. I had a surfboard at the time so it was pretty handy.

`Me and a few mates went all the way up the NSW coast many times.'

Living with his parents at Wangi Wangi at the time, Nelson worked as a coalminer at Awaba.

When he first took the Kombi home it received a cautious response from the teenager's parents.

`Dad was a little bit conservative and he thought it was out of left field.

`My grandfather helped me put a stove, sink and fridge in the back. It had everything you needed.

`All my mates were driving them around then too. They were a pretty popular vehicle.'

After driving the Kombi around for about three years Nelson traded up for a Kombi Campervan.

`My first Kombi was pretty reliable, I didn't have any trouble with it.

`I bought four retreads in Toronto and they were guaranteed for 100,000km. I think I did that and more.

`After that I thought I'd stick with the Kombi vans. They took everything I could dish up.'