A VINTAGE caravan belonging to the parents of MasterChef winner Julie Goodwin will take pride of place in a street parade on NSW's far south coast.

Julie will lead off this month's Oyster Festival Parade at Narooma with mum and dad Tony and Marlene Hunt and their well travelled 12.5ft plywood caravan, which was built by Marlene's father Roy White in 1956.

They will be followed by Clydesdale horses, big bands, Scottish pipers, large furry 'animals', vintage vehicles, fire trucks, dogs and a vast array of floats created by local groups.

Marlene told Caravanning News that the caravan was the third built by her father. "We have his hand-drawn plans and receipts for most materials used," she explained.

"He built the frame himself, steaming the ribs to the exact shape that he wanted. It took him six weeks working each night and weekends to build it. Dad was a carpenter by trade.

"He reduced the weight of each 'van he built, and the 1956 'van weighs 610kg which was very light for a home-made 'van."

Marlene said her father died in 1962 when he was 50 and she was 16.

"When I was 18 mum and I towed it to Queensland and we have now done over 80,000km. Naturally I am very proud of this old 'van, which my husband has maintained for the last 35 years. He loves it too and treats it like a baby."

She recalls when she and Tony took their four children around Australia for three months in the caravan in 1982.

"It was a fantastic trip which none of us will forget," she said. "We did 26,000km and towed with a 1980 Ford Falcon station wagon which had an extra rear seat."

The Oyster parade will start at 9am on May 15 from outside Narooma Pre-school on Barker Parade ... and organisers promise it will be the biggest and most colourful ever.

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