Be choosy with your caravan site

COMMENT

We have friends who pre-book their hotel accommodation but insist on seeing the room first before moving their bags from the foyer.

It has paid off many times, when they’ve found what they have been allocated at random doesn't meet their expectations.

Often they're upgraded to a much better room, because the receptionist identifies them as fussy clients and over-compensates to keep them happy.

There are some important lessons in that for caravan travelers...

Choose your caravan park

A starting point is in choosing the right caravan park. If you don’t want chirpy children as 6am neighbors, or bedtime brats, don’t choose a ‘family’ park with attractions like swings, trampolines or a swimming pool. And if there’s no choice, don’t set up camp next to them.

Also consider where the park is in relation to local attractions you want to visit. If there’s a parking problem in town, make sure there’s a good public transport or a reliable shuttle bus connection.

Caravan orientation

Most caravans have front-mounted beds and are reversed onto their site. This means that you will be the first to hear any noise outside; early risers chatting noisily; early leavers warming their diesel engines for 15 minutes before departing, etc.

In most cases it can be difficult to nose a caravan in, but you can try to locate it near the end of the park, where there will be less passing traffic, rather than near the boom gates at the entry.

Ease of access

As regular caravan park users know, YOU are the afternoon entertainment when you arrive and attempt to park on your site. Get out and check it out first for low hanging branches, tree roots, the proximity of things to reverse into, etc. to avoid embarrassment.

Tree roots

Some sites are available because they are difficult to access, or live with. We visit one caravan park regularly where exposed roots make it difficult to level a caravan.

Neighbours

Analyse your neighbours. Apart from kids, a of group young guys or girls spells ‘party’, with loud voices, music and everything else that goes with this.

Power and water

Check out the availability of power and water if you have chosen a powered site. Stingy caravan parks have fewer points, which means your power cord or fresh water hose may be stretched to reach.

Sullage

Most caravan parks have a sump into which your grey water can be channelled. For those that don’t, be sure that your neighbour’s hose (or lack of one) won’t flood your site.

Sun

To protect privacy and maintain order, most caravan parks require caravans in a row to all face the same way, with the awning covering a concrete slab. But those caravans backing onto your site have their awnings on the other side.

If you have the choice of site, this gives you options to face your living area either way and, if you're on a corner, add two more choices.

Which way you choose depends on the weather and what there's to look at.

If it’s hot and there’s no specific view, facing west can be a hot choice late in the afternoon, but you're shielded from the early-rising sun; the reverse means that the golden orb will kick-start your day around 5am and it may be too hot to breakfast outdoors.

Wind

Wind blowing strongly onto your entry door can make it unpleasant to be outdoors. Try to site your caravan where that side is shielded.

Keeping your fridge cool

Many caravan fridges are located on the right-hand side of the caravan opposite the door. This means that if this side faces west, it will get no shade from the awning and bear the full brunt of the hot afternoon sun, reducing your fridge’s efficiency.

Some experienced travellers attach a small awning over their fridge’s vent, while many off-road caravans, like Trakmaster and Kedron, have a wall vent that can be opened for extra cooling when parked.

Facilities

‘Close to all facilities’ is code for ‘next to the noisiest place in the caravan park’.

Some people with weak bladders and no ensuite, like this, but you may not. The other issues about being close to the facilities are the regular passing traffic – often for that 2am wee – or those keen to snare the communal washing machines early before others dump their load.

We made the mistake recently of parking next to the facilities (there wasn’t a choice) and having an unusual off-road van, everyone who passed felt obliged to greet us or comment on our rig. I even had someone ask me how to solve their wife’s computer problem because he saw I was writing a caravancampingsales story on a similar Mac laptop!

Then again, to be fair, I have previously button-holed a holidaying auto electrician to solve a problem!

Dump point

Being near the portable toilet dump point also has its obvious advantages and more obvious disadvantages.

Lights

Most caravan parks leave some lights on overnight near the facilities to ensure that patrons don’t sue them if they fall. That’s OK, unless that light is shining through your window, keeping you awake. Scope out where these lights are before you set up.

Rubbish bins

Ditto for the rubbish bins. For the same reason that the garbos rattle your bins pre-dawn at home, they repeat this bizarre behaviour at caravan parks. Then, when the bins are empty, you’ll hear every stubbie smash into the empty recycle bin.

Now, enjoy your holiday!