By Malcolm Street
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One of the benefits of being a caravan manufacturer is that when retirement comes along, building your dream caravan isn’t too difficult. 
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This perspective is especially true for Hugh Isermann of Golf Caravans, who has plenty of outback travel kilometres under his belt, and lots of experience in understanding what customers want.
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In fact, Hugh and his wife, Lynn, already have one of the luxury Golf Linwood vans for personal travel, but Hugh occasionally likes to get away on his own, so he resurrected an earlier van design, The Bushman, from the Golf stable and put together a new layout.
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At only 17ft 3in (5.3m) in length, and with an ATM of 2000kg, The Bushman is not a particularly long van by some standards; however, it was purposely designed that way. It also doesn’t have a permanently made up double bed, but again, that’s to keep the length down.
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Like all Golf caravans, The Bushman was built on a DuraGal chassis, with Golf’s Posi-track independent suspension complete with trailing arms and airbags. A look under the van reveals all plumbing and electrical work neatly strapped out of the way, a gal sheet-protected water tank at the rear, and the spare wheel mounted underneath the front of the van. 
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For the van structure, aluminium framing is used with insulation and the fibreglass cladding on the exterior. Seitz is the manufacturer of the hopper windows, entry door (with dual locks), and the two roof hatches. Completing the nearside fittings is a Carefree awning and a streamlined external halogen light. 
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In keeping with other Golf designs, there is nothing on the drawbar except the jockey wheel, handbrake, mains pressure tap, and the all-essential Al-Ko AKS stabilizer coupling. Two gas cylinders (a 9kg and 4kg) hide in the front boot, leaving room for other camping gear. In addition to the front boot, there’s an external bin at the front offside.
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Behind the small door, in front of the nearside wheel, is the control panel for the airbag suspension. It can be adjusted individually for each side either manually or automatically. Some might regard airbag suspension as a bit exotic for caravan travel but, having experienced it several times in motorhomes, we reckon it’s not to be sneezed at. 
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A Place for everything
Inside the caravan, the layout is a variation of more conventional layouts, and it features a full width rear bathroom, nearside dinette, offside kitchen, and a front lounge/single bed. The setup might be different but the fitout and finish is very much in the upmarket Golf Linwood style, with a distinctive Euro look.
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Large windows and the two roof hatches provide plenty of natural light and the design of the rear bathroom results in an open feel in the rest of the van. All the windows have integrated blinds/insect screens and upholstered pelmets. 
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Starting at the front, the lounge is a seat by day and a single bed by night. 
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At the nearside end of the lounge is a small cabinet, but that still allows a 6ft 3in x 2ft 6in (1.92m x 760mm) bed. Beside the lounge, at the other end, is a three-drawer cabinet that has a sliding, flip-over top that forms a small desk/bench area – a neat space saving idea.
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Storage space is plentiful in this area, with two large drawers under the bed, four overhead lockers across the front, and a couple of small cupboards on either side of the front window. Lighting consists of a ceiling downlight and two fancy looking halogen wall lights. On the right-hand side of the window is a double powerpoint. 
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Whipping up a meal shouldn’t be too much of a problem. A Spinflo four-burner cooktop/oven/grill supplies the heating while a Dometic RM7401 90L fridge supplies the cooling.
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There’s no microwave, but we don’t imagine that fitting one would be too difficult. A Cramer stainless sink with drainer and smoked glass lid keeps things clean, and a flatscreen TV mounted at the front end of the kitchen bench supplies entertainment.
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We should note that alternative audio is supplied by an AM/FM radio/CD/DVD player mounted on the opposite side of the caravan, above the dinette.
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Kitchen storage is commonly a copious amount of empty space that can’t always be used effectively. This is not the case with this kitchen. There are five drawers of various sizes and four overhead lockers, all of which have a shelf. Just in case there’s a shortage of space, the 
two-door cupboard alongside the kitchen has four more drawers plus shelf space.
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Kitchen lighting is a mixture of rangehood downlights, a halogen wall fitting, and one of those tricky recessed strip lights that Golf likes to use under the overhead lockers. Behind the kitchen bench are two powerpoints, both of which are located at the forward end. 
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Opposite the kitchen, the foam cushion dinette will seat two people comfortably. It has gooseneck halogen reading lights and can be made up into a 6ft 3in x 3ft (1.9m x 950mm) bed. Each seat has a drawer fitted to give easy access to the under-cushion area. There are five overhead lockers above, and at the front of the dinette a two-door cupboard adds to the generous benchtop area.
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Somewhat unusually, The Bushman has a full width rear bathroom. It features a separate shower cubicle, Thetford cassette toilet and, between the two, a moulded fibreglass vanity cabinet with cupboard. It is a roomy bathroom for a van of this size.
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On the technology front, The Bushman is up with the best of them. Roof-mounted solar panels keep the deep cycle battery charged up. The lighting is state-of-the-art. Relatively energy-efficient halogens, and powerpoints, are in all the required places. 
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The overhead locker beside the dinette has controls for the 12V system and solar panel, but the 240V circuit breaker is on the rear wall of the bathroom.
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The Bottom Line
The Bushman design is a good example of the fact that while many caravan designs involve a compromise somewhere, the final product can still be effective.
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Many people desire a double bed in a van and unless weight and length are not a factor, then other things like bathroom size, kitchen setup and even a lounge design can be negotiated. It’s a question of priorities.
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With The Bushman, having no permanent double bed means a number of variables in caravan design are possible, and the van includes a lounge, dinette and good sized kitchen and bathroom, along with a nice, open feel. Yet, it is only 17ft (5.3m) in length.
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There are a number of advantages to that, particularly if fuel consumption and ease of manoeuvrability are important, but it means that the bed has to be made up every night. 
If you are happy with that and keen on a bit of Aussie bush travel, then The Bushman is for you.
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For more information, contact 
Arrow Caravans, 38 Radley St, Virginia, Qld, (07) 3865 1922, fax: (07) 3865 1560, email: arrow@beeonline.com.au, web: www.arrowtowbars.com.au
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I liked
A different approach to van design – relatively short length and lighter weight for the amount of features in the van are an asset
Good overall storage, with plenty of drawers and benchtop areas
Neat little fold-over table for use &nbsp; when sitting at the lounge
General lighting using contemporary halogen fittings
Using different sized gas cylinders
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Now I’m being picky
A better location for the spare wheel mounted underneath the front of the van – a wheel mounted flat on the drawbar would be easier
Real curtains for warm nights would be ideal when you want privacy and airflow



Golf Bushman

External length: 17ft 3in (5.3m)

External width: 7ft 4in (2.2m)

Nameplate ATM: 2000kg

Nameplate GTM: 1765kg

Nameplate Tare Weight: 1665kg

Frame: Aluminium

Chassis: DuraGal

Suspension: Golf Posi-track independent

Cooktop: Spinflo four-burner cooktop/minigrill/oven

Fridge: Dometic RM7401 90L

Shower: Separate cubicle

Toilet: Thetford

Lighting: 12V

Water tanks: 2 x 63L

Gas: 1 x 9kg, 1 x 4kg

Price: POA 
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Golf Bushman

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