Aussie couple living out of Coca-Cola truck: 'Just went with it'
Wollongong couple Pauli and Clara are travelling Australia in the 'random' conversion.
At first glance, it appears to simply be a generic delivery truck. Emblazoned with the Coca-Cola brand on each side and the back, you'd expect it to be dropping off soft drinks at hospitality venues across Sydney.
But for one Wollongong couple, they call it home.
Pauli and Clara purchased the truck for $17,000 after a long search for a vehicle they could use as a roof over their heads.
"I was looking for ages at vans and small buses... but they just don't have the head height because I'm six foot plus," Pauli told Yahoo News Australia.
Their search turned to trucks, which was when they came across a "pretty sick" listing from a liquor distributor. One trip to Sydney and a test drive later, they acquired what is now their most beloved possession.
Pauli, a carpenter by trade, got stuck straight in, converting the empty space in the back to their dream home on wheels. A year later in November 2021 and after many long nights after work, it was complete.
"We're stoked with it and we've been living in it since then," he said.
As the country's rental crisis hits young Aussies hard, the couple says it's a relief to be rent and mortgage free.
"We're fully off grid, it all runs off solar and deep-cycle batteries so we don't need to plug into any power and we've got gutters on it so it collects rain and fills up our water tank," he explained.
Pulling back the "stealth" side curtain, the home's panelled exterior and entrance is revealed. Inside is a trendy living space complete with a modern kitchen and bathroom while the lounge converts into their bed.
Coca-Cola truck touring Australia for 12 months
Their home, aptly named Cola, has done its fair bit of travelling so far, including down to Thredbo for the winter season last year. But its biggest journey has commenced which will see Pauli and Clara take the truck for a lap around Australia during the entirety of 2023.
"Two weeks ago we started right at the bottom [of NSW] at the Victorian border and we're following the coast up. The plan is to wrap it all up in Tasmania [at the end of the year]."
With some savings to their name, Pauli says he will take up bits of work where he sees the opportunity and Clara, 27, will continue her online business selling artwork.
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The couple are documenting their travels, as well as the truck's renovation, on their Instagram and TikTok accounts, where they've garnered thousands of views from impressed users.
"That's actually really really cool!" one person said.
"Never would I have considered those curtain trucks before," another wrote.
While Clara noted many deem the Coke truck purchase as "random", they "just went with it" and can't wait for what the next year will bring.
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