Time to Roam Magazine Issue 9 - June/July 2014 | Page 17
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upfront feature
1950s
Phylis Gibling now and then
Still in love, after 50 years
Phyllis and John Gibling were married in
1959 and the following year purchased
the latest Sunliner caravan.
Sunliners are hugely popular with vintage
caravan enthusiasts and there were several wellpreserved examples on show at Broken Hill, but
the Gibling’s van and its story really stood out.
Not only have they had it since new, they
actually purchased the caravan from its
creator, the late great Bert Tickner, in person.
John and Phyllis recall how they made
an overnight trip to Forster from their home
in Sydney, racing to get there before the
factory closed at midday on a Saturday.
John recalls Tickner as being a very
honourable and decent man who was
troubled by the fact he was selling them a
caravan someone else had already paid a
deposit on, but failed to turn up to collect.
In the days before mobile phones and
other forms of easy and fast communications,
Tickner had tried but failed to contact the
buyer. As fate would have it, he finally turned
up just as John and Phyllis were leaving.
“He asked us to sneak out
very quietly,” John said.
The van itself was the most technological
advanced available at the time. Fully
fiberglass with a light-weight tubular steel
chassis, independent suspension, gas
fridge, stove and 240 volt power.
The Giblings and their daughters Robyn
and Jeanette have travelled to almost
every corner or the continent with it, as far
as Cairns to the north and Perth WA.
“And that was before the road
was sealed,” John pointed out.
Youngest daughter Jeanette and her husband
Grant have recently taken custody, deciding
to refurbish it in 2012 after it had sat in the
garage for a few years without being used.
“We were considering buying a camper
trailer, but then we thought, why not fix up
the Sunliner? It weighs about the same
and tows just as easily,” Jeanette said.
It was a pleasure meeting up with the
Giblings at Broken Hill and obvious that
after more than half a century Phyllis and
John are as much in love as ever with each
other and the caravan that has been their
family pleasure vehicle for all that time.
Today
Sunliners are hugely
popular with vintage
caravan enthusiasts
and there were
several wellpreserved examples
on show at Broken
Hill, but the Gibling’s
van and its story
really stood out.
> continued page 20
Issue 09 Jun/Jul 2014
17