Are you a careless caravanner?

COMMENT

You have to laugh sometimes. Particularly when you hear about a caravan calamity of epic proportions, that didn’t result in casualties and importantly, wasn’t caused by you (more on that later!)

According to a newspaper report this week, an Australian family travelling in a rental motorhome narrowly escaped disaster after their Britz vehicle went swimming in a lake near Wellington on New Zealand’s North Island.

Apparently ‘Mum’ got out to stretch her legs and the motorhome, still in gear and with the park brake off, proceeded to roll through a barrier into the lake…. With Dad and the kids still on board!

As bystanders consoled the frantic Mum, emergency services were summoned to retrieve the floating family. They were eventually rescued using an outrigger canoe, while the motorhome remained, half submerged, in 20 metres of water.

With the sun's rays breaking through the mist and ducks paddling in the foreground, the accompanying photo of the submerged motorhome (below) is actually quite sublime, if you ignore the chaotic circumstances…

Confession time

It reminded me of the time about seven years ago, when it was me driving the motorhome and experiencing the brain-fade that brought an abrupt end to proceedings…

After picking up the rental motorhome from Cairns, I headed south with the family, enjoying the coastal sights before making tracks to Port Douglas for a wedding.

After a night at Mission Beach, we made a dash for the supermarket to stock up on supplies. Forgetting momentarily what I was driving – despite the warning stickers on the windscreen about the vehicle’s height – I drove into the carpark and went straight for a good spot near the entrance…

Then I heard the crunch, and squeals from the kids as fibreglass fragments from the ceiling fell into their laps. I’d ploughed into the thick curved steel structure that supports the lights and roofing (or they did before being blown off by Cyclone Yasi!)

Being curved, the motorhome was wedged – not able to go forward or back without causing more damage. Two hours later – after getting help, advice and plenty of sympathy from bystanders -- we got it out and drove it straight back to the Cairns depot.

The verdict? About $20,000 damage, but only $1000 excess to pay thanks to premium insurance coverage.

Even today I’m still reminded by my kids of the ‘fibreglass shower’ and how they still have a phobia of C-class motorhomes!

Stay alert

Of course, there have been other close-calls and near-misses...

Becoming over-confident with a very stable rig (a Holden Commodore and British caravan similar to this) in the Flinders Ranges, I overtook a slow vehicle and developed a nasty sway. Fortunately the caravan’s stability system kicked in (unlike this unlucky chap) just in time, before the sharp turn in the road.

Then there was the time I forgot to check the hitch was secured properly, and ended up dragging the caravan by its chains (luckily at low speed with little damage).

Another lucky ‘escape’ was when touring the Kimberley in a LandCruiser camper. Setting up the roof-top tent for the umpteenth time at the remote Mitchell Plateau campground, I didn't take enough care and my fingers jammed in the aluminium retractable ladder. If I had been alone at the time, with no-one to assist, I may have lost a finger.

Luckily the pain was worse than the damage, with the swelling soothed by a bag of frozen peas borrowed from a fellow camper.

RV writer Michael Browning momentarily forgot his age (early-70s) recently on a caravanning trip to Western Australia. Perched up on the rear bar of his off-road caravan while man-handling a jerry can, he fell off but luckily only suffered cracked ribs...

Don't be a loopy!

It’s easy to 'tune out' when touring around – you’re relaxed, enjoying yourself, in unfamiliar surroundings, perhaps hungover…

When I was an employee on South Molle Island resort many moons ago, we used to call the holidaymakers ‘loopies’ because they were always asking stupid questions or doing silly things. It was like their brains switched off after getting on the plane!

But towing a heavy, often unstable caravan with a relatively small tow vehicle, or navigating a top-heavy motorhome, is no time to switch off and relax -- at least until you've rolled out the awning and cracked open the first tinny!

Little things can turn into big things quite quickly, especially when you're untrained and in control of five tonnes or more – like caravan sway, or hitting a sandy patch while tearing along a dirt road.

If your rig feels unstable, it’s windy or the trucks are up your back – slow down or move aside. If you’re tired, hung over or just not feeling the best, pull in for a power nap. Or just pull up stumps and try again tomorrow…

Moral of the story

Don't worry so much about the crocs, snakes, spiders or dodgy drinking water when touring around this great country of ours – it's the silly ‘human’ errors that are more likely to ruin your holiday…