Opalite Karinya 570

Right at Home

What do McDonald's Australia and Opalite caravans have in common? Aside from the vanners that eat there, that is.

The answer is that both the McDonald's famous "M" signs and Opalite caravans come from the same factory. While McDonald's has been around for some time, Opalite caravans first appeared last year, at the Brisbane Caravan Show.

One of the people involved with Opalite caravans isn't new to building RVs, though. Ray McCoy worked for Viscount Caravans (the 1970s company, not the more recent derivations) for many years, before crossing to the motorhome side of the industry. Ray recently moved back into caravan production, joining forces with John Middleton of Opalite. The pair combine experience in building caravans with industrial plastic moulding production methods to create a unique range of Australian-made caravans.

Opalite's factory is based in Newcastle, NSW, right at the northern end of the F3 freeway and is easy to find. The brand is also in the process of expanding its dealer network.

There are a number of van configurations and layouts that Opalite produces. Our review model was the Karinya 570. Karinya is an Aboriginal word that means "a peaceful home".

A SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE
At nearly 20ft (6.1m) in length, the Karinya 570 has tandem axles and is clearly designed for long term touring. In many ways it is built to a traditional Australian design, enhanced with contemporary manufacturing methods.

The chassis is a conventional 6in (150mm) hot dipped galvanised box section built by a local Newcastle manufacturer. It rides on leaf spring suspension and 14in chrome wheels that are fitted with 10in electric brakes. In each corner are convenient-to-use drop-down corner stabilisers, and two 68L water tanks are fitted between the chassis rails.

In keeping with the company's origins, the wheel arches are moulded plastic rather than galvanised steel. On the drawbar at the front are two 9kg gas cylinders, a centre-mounted jockey wheel and mains pressure tap.

Above the chassis, the fully insulated Karinya is built with an aluminium frame and has a fibreglass composite cladding. Along the lower sides is a skirt of moulded trim. This continues across the rear of the van and encompasses the mounted spare wheel but not, as many designs do, the tail lights.

All the windows on the Karinya van are Seitz acrylic hoppers and the door is a familiar Camec triple locker security item.

Our tow vehicle for the day was a 4WD Lexus, which had no trouble hauling the Karinya. The van's ATM of 2360kg and Tare of 1960kg means that an acceptable load capacity of 400kg is available.

EASY INTERIORS
Inside the Karinya, the cabinetwork looks a little different from the more conventional style. It's made from lightweight honeycomb plywood that can be moulded into a variety of shapes. The bathroom, unsurprisingly, is made from moulded Opalite plastic. At the Opalite factory we also observed clear circular shower doors being moulded for a different style of bathroom.

What's interesting about the general cabinetry is that it is built in a modular style, thus making design changes easy at the factory level. Piano hinges are used on all the cupboard and locker doors. The upholstery, too, is made in a modular fashion, which means that if a particular dealer doesn't have the desired colour option, a quick call to the manufacturer will have that the preferred upholstery shipped then fitted with ease at the dealer's premises.

For this particular Karinya layout, Opalite has opted for a front bedroom, nearside dinette, rear offside bathroom and split kitchen across the rear and along the offside. The darker red/brown hues of the cabinetry were somewhat offset by the white walls and lighter colours of the upholstery. In addition to the integrated blinds and flyscreens, all the windows have slimline venetian blinds and faux timber pelmets.

Starting in the rear, the kitchen bench has a Spinflo four-burner minigrill fitted alongside the kitchen sink. The latter is part of the GraniTite moulding benchtop, which doesn't have a moulded drainer but does have a splashback. Sink water is supplied by both a mains pressure hot/cold tap and a hand pumped faucet - something not often seen these days but useful if the house battery goes flat.

With the exception of the cutlery drawer, all the drawers and slide-out pantries (there are three) are of the chrome wire basket variety, making them quite light but not suitable for small items. Above the kitchen bench are two overhead lockers. We note that the fume extractor fits smartly into the locker profile, and doesn't look like an add-on item.

On the other side of the bathroom is the rest of the kitchen, which has a full height slide-out pantry with quite wide shelves, a 150L Dometic fridge and LG microwave above.

Alongside the fridge is more GraniTite benchtop, complete with drawers and cupboards below and a locker above. It can be used as more kitchen space or just as general living storage.

Also fitted to the cabinetwork beside the fridge is a 19in (48cm) flatscreen TV on a swivel arm, which can be rotated so as to be seen from either the bed or dinette. Above the TV is an AM/FM radio/DVD player.

INTO THE GROOVE
Designed in a style that's a cross between a club lounge and an L-shaped dinette, the seating area almost has a semi-circular shape. It does have a conventional style table, though, and cupboards at both ends - one facing the bedroom and the other facing the kitchen. The latter has a built-in garbage bin and an ice bucket built into the bench top.

Above the dinette/lounge seat are three overhead lockers and two halogen reading lights.

In the bathroom are several familiar items: a variable height flexible hose shower, the integrated moulding that contains a bench-style Thetford cassette toilet, a fold-down wash basin and a shaving cabinet with a mirror door. A hatch complete with ventilation fan supplies the airflow.

Up front, the 6ft 1in x 4ft 11in (1.9m x 1.5m) bed has an innerspring mattress that sits on a slatted timber base with a metal frame. It lifts up to give access to the storage area underneath. In addition to the corner cupboards at the base of the bed, the bedhead has wardrobes, drawers and bedside drawers.

On both sides of the bed are small shelves, and there is a good sized shelf under the front window, too. Together with the two side windows, the latter give good cross flow ventilation on warm nights.

Light sources in the Karinya include energy efficient fluorescents and a few halogen reading lights. Single-outlet powerpoint fittings are found on either side of the bed, in the kitchen and behind the flatscreen TV. Extra doubles might be useful in several other places.

Although not fitted as standard, provision is made for a battery pack and solar panels. There is, of course, a Dometic roof-mounted air-conditioner and a Suburban 23L hot water heater.

THE BOTTOM LINE
For a relative newcomer to the caravan industry, Opalite certainly shows both a good deal of industry experience along with some innovative thinking in the design of the Karinya 570. Cooks will enjoy the decent amount of benchtop area and the light and airy feel.

The use of modular cabinetry keeps manufacturing costs down without forgoing custom design. Moulded plastics, used successfully in many European vans, increase flexibility of the design process as well.

I WOULD HAVE LIKED

Opalite Caravans
2 Arunga Drive
Beresfield, NSW 2322
(02) 4964 3333.
For more information, email info@opalite.com.au, or visit www.opalite.com.au