Why the Bushman 130L Heavy Duty was the best caravan fridge for BS Adventuring’s dream campervan build

We knew that this was going to be our ‘dream van’ when we were making it, so it only made sense to get the best of the best. To match our dream van, we chose the best fridge: a Bushman 130L DC X Heavy Duty caravan fridge.

A fridge is something that we use multiple times a day, if not constantly! The last thing we wanted was a beautiful van with a sub par fridge/freezer that didn’t do the job properly. Luckily, we were in great hands with Bushman, this fridge has really lived up to our high expectations and does an amazing job.

Here’s why we chose it and how it performs.

Why we chose the Bushman upright caravan fridge

Bushman fridges came heavily recommended by friends of ours with vans, so we knew that we’d be in good hands. Shelley loves to cook, so being able to fit 130 litres of fridge space in a van set up was a huge selling point!

Before we upgraded to the Bushman, we had a 110-litre fridge from another big name on the market, and it was just a bit hopeless. The fan was so loud, it would constantly start/stop which you could hear through the night, and the freezer would freeze over all the time, but not really freeze anything in there. Plenty of ice on the outside, semi frozen ice on the inside. Not ideal! Thankfully our Bushman upright fridge has none of these issues and has made us rethink what is possible in a caravan fridge.

Our real experience with the Bushman caravan fridge

We’ve had the Bushman for 5 months now and have been so impressed with it since day one. The fridge itself feels so durable and solid. The build is strong and sturdy, yet doesn’t look out of place or bulky in our van setup. It’s been so reliable so far and we haven’t found any issues.

Our favourite Bushman caravan fridge features – the pros:

Smart shelf design.

We love the grooves in the door for cans/tins! It sounds so small, but to stop your drinks and containers sliding around and rattling is just a game changer. No more worrying if the tinny is about to spray in my face when I pull up to camp!

Lots of room.

We love the fact that this fridge has four shelves! So many others on the market just have three, so to have that extra space is great, and that they’re so easily adjustable is huge!

Icecubes on the road!

The Bushman does what a fridge is supposed to do – keeps our food fresh and cold, and we can even keep ice cubes in the freezer, which is a bit of a luxury on the road!

Energy Efficient:

The fridge itself is very power friendly, and we have it running 24/7 in our van. It’s very energy efficient and runs like a dream, the upgraded internal fans keep the fridge running cool even on hot Queensland days, it’s brilliant.

Bushman caravan fridge features – the cons:

The only downside we’ve had so far is that the ice builds up slowly over time in and around the freezer. That said, we’ve had the fridge for 5 months and only have had to defrost the freezer once in that time, so it’s something to really complain about! Compare that to our previous 110L fridge, that was just a constant battle with getting the right temperature to not freeze over and not just be defrosted and melting. Editor’s note – ice build up is often caused by a tiny bit of air sneaking in via rubber door seals that can happen from movement on the road, during travel. Check out our guide for how to check and troubleshoot your fridge door so it closes properly.

Our fulltime van home

Our current dream van now is an LDV Deliver 9. It’s the long wheelbase, high roof model, which comes in at just under 6m long, and about 3m high. We think this is the perfect-sized van, as we can still fit in those lovely beach carparks without overhanging, and we’re not too cumbersome to drive around central cities. Plus being tall, it means that Ben can stand up fully, being 6ft tall – this is not luxury we’ve had previously in our last vans.

Our top caravan fridge and freezer tip

We always make sure to fill up our ice cube tray in the evenings, that way the ice can freeze overnight without the van sloshing the water around if we decide to drive somewhere, meaning no spilt water to ice up the bottom of the freezer and drip throughout the van. Not that we’ve learnt from experience or anything haha!

What it’s like to travel and live on the road from our van

We’ve been living primarily on the road since June 2022 – three vans and a camper setup ago!

We completed our first lap of Australia in our first van, Freddie. We had the best time in the most unexpected way, with our plans constantly changing every few days it would seem. We got to explore the Kimberly, spent two months in Exmouth and fell in love with Esperance and Margaret River.

Since then, we have sold that van, bought another van in New Zealand, Shauna, and travelled all around both the North and South islands, and spent most of our time skiing in Queenstown and at Mount Hutt. In hindsight, a cheap little diesel heater install would have been a lifesaver!

We’re now in what we’re calling our ‘dream van,’ Leo. We spent seven gruelling months working with Shelley’s dad to build this out ourselves, and despite all of the literal blood, sweat and tears, it’s perfect.

To christen the van, we took it on its first proper major trip, leaving in June last year, where we went up to Airlie Beach from Brisbane, and then out to the Red Centre and Uluru before we headed down south, and I mean really South!

We crossed over to Tasmania in December and spent three months seeing pretty much all that the island has to see.

Van life in Tasmania is just brilliant, and we implore anyone to visit. We had a white Christmas in Hobart, completed The Overland Track and spent almost too long camped up on pristine beaches on the East Coast.

Since getting back on to ‘the mainland’ just before Easter, we’ve been in our van in and around home near Brisbane, and between the Gold Coast and Northern NSW, enjoying a bit of “winter sun”, as our fellow Brits would say.

Our memorable travel moments in the van so far

We’ve had so many memorable moments travelling in our van that we can’t narrow it down to just one! Here’s our top three vanlife moments – one for each of our vans:

Van #1 – Freddie: Driving on Wharton Beach just outside of Esperance

This has to be the most beautiful beach in all of Australia. The sand is so white it could be snow, and I’m pretty sure the phrase crystal clear was named after the water in this bay. It’s just stunning, and we managed to get our 2WD van down onto the beach. Getting back off the beach was another situation, and we may have been dug and pulled out of the sand, but so worth it!

Van #2 – Shauna: Waking up near Lake Tekapo to be surrounded by fresh snow

Already in one of the most beautiful parts of New Zealand, to then have it blanketed in snow overnight and be in the middle of it all in our little van was just iconic.

Van #3 – Leo: Sunset at Uluru

We had such an amazing time in the Red Centre, but to have the perfect park to watch the colours change as the sun went down, while sitting in the back of our van was pretty special.

We sat back with an ice-cold gin and tonic behind our van’s screen doors, protected from bugs and admiring the view – getting envious looks from bystanders outside swatting away flies every couple of seconds!

Our tips for other Aussies planning an upcoming trip

The perfect time is now! Don’t spend time waiting for something.

There’s always another event in the calendar, and before you know it you’ve spent another six weeks waiting to leave. Our lap of Australia would have been so different if we’d literally left a day later – we likely wouldn’t have met the friends that we did, and who we ended up travelling most of the way around the country with, and they’re lifelong friends now.

Don’t be afraid to get out there and explore, it’s a big old country, and you probably won’t see everything, but if you make it out of the driveway, you’re on your way to doing so!