The Antelope Bus is a sight for sore eyes as it attracts attention across Canada

SAINT JOHN, N.B. -

A group of five University of New Brunswick graduates have hit the highway for a cross-country summer road trip in a former school bus that the friends renovated into a camper van.

The bus, which they've nicknamed the Antelope, has now taken them around 8,000 kilometres from Fredericton to their current location in Kamloops, British Columbia – a journey that all started with a brainstorming session.

"It's really tough to find an RV for five people," says Thomas Gogan.

"To make it work, you kind of needed to do something custom, and we figured we'd start from scratch and build something from the ground up just the way we wanted it."

So, they decided they would buy a school bus -- and they found one for sale in Edmundston. Soon after, they rolled up their sleeves and got to work with the help of the Saint John Tool Library – ripping out the interior and starting to rebuild it into something they could temporarily call home.

"We set up an electrical system with solar panels, so we have 525 watts of solar – then we've got a pretty sizeable battery bank here as well, coupled with an inverter and converter," says Gogan.

The bright blue camper van also has a 60-gallon water tank, a composting toilet, propane oven and stove, and mini fridge – along with the couches and bunks in the back – and so far, it's gotten the friends a lot of attention along the way.

"For the most part, people are pretty impressed," says Draydon Scott.

"We've met a lot of people because of the bus, a lot of people we'll keep in touch with forever."

The five friends – Gogan, Scott, Matt White, Evan Larkin, and Chanwoo Park – plan on selling the Antelope after they're done with their road trip, but Scott encourages anyone who is interested in taking on a similar project, to go for it.

"It's the most fun I've ever had, the best summer I've ever had, and it's the coolest thing I've ever done."