Queensland Supershow highs and lows

It costs more to build a Lego caravan than most real ones

One of the drawcards of the 50th Queensland Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow was the record-breaking, life-sized Lego caravan, and the numbers were staggering: around 280,000 plastic bricks used, more than 700 ‘man’ hours, over 70 litres of fixative glue, and 700kg total weight.

But the most jaw-dropping figure of all had to be the cost of building the 1973 Viscount Royal replica: $100,000, which included professional Lego builder, Ben Craig’s fee and the cost of purchasing all the little interlocking bricks.

That’s more than the cost of most real caravans at the Supershow; at least the finished Lego van will have running water and a proper mattress so you could spend a reasonably comfortable night in it…

The Gall Boys build some of the priciest and cheapest RVs in Australia

Never short of publicity with their caravan-bashing Gall Boys video adventures, Queensland’s Kedron Caravans got more social media likes than Kim Kardashian with their Supershow launch of Australia’s priciest caravan.

Built for a cashed-up and discerning buyer, the 26ft triple axle TopEnder came with a reputed $220,000 price tag and suspected four-tonne plus bulk.

However, at the other end of the price scale, parked just metres from the Kedron show stopper, were some super-cheap and brightly coloured tent trailers built by Craig Gall, who has run his Walkabout Campers side business for the past two decades.

Based on a bare-boned 6x4 galvanised trailer, the Walkabout campers are little more than a tent and bed on wheels, but stand out for their quality construction including the use of Australian made Defab canvas that's available in multiple colours and patterns, to appeal to Walkabout’s mostly female clientele.

Priced at $6000 a pop, there's a current order book of 40 to keep Craig busy on the sewing machine over the next few months....

Truck motorhomes are no good for touring wine regions

So high off the ground you could almost walk under it, Kimberley’s Unimog-based Kruiser is an off-road motorhome that can take you places.

However, it seems big heavy off-road truck motorhomes are not always the best option when you’re touring around, especially the famous wine regions of South Australia’s Barossa Valley or Victoria’s Yarra Valley.

According to Phil Richardson from Trailblazers RV, which specialises in expedition vehicles, the truck licence required for motorhomes weighing more than 4500kg (and the associated zero alcohol regulation) is a deal breaker for many RV travellers.

Hence, one of the reasons Phil spent the last two years designing a large motorhome body for the popular 79 Series LandCruiser ute, which can be driven on a more brewery-friendly car licence. Makes sense to us!

Getting a spot on the grassy oval is bad for business if it rains

For the first time since we've been attending, rain fell on the Brisbane Showgrounds during the Supershow, which was fine for all those lucky exhibitors that enjoyed undercover displays…

For those confined to the grassy main arena --- mostly imported camper trailer brands – some were literally ‘cut off’ when the surrounding dirt track turned to mud and slush. The unluckiest exhibitors on the track itself were only accessible by those wearing gum boots!

We're pretty sure they'll be getting in early to request either a roof overhead or concrete underfoot at next year's Supershow…

Making an RV feel like a house on wheels is possible 

While popular in countries like the US and New Zealand for their extra interior space and stable towing set-up, fifth-wheel caravans are usually snubbed by Aussie RV buyers with an estimated 50 or less sold down under annually.

However, that hasn't stopped American fifth-wheel specialist Spectrum RV from combining the best of American, European and Aussie know-how and releasing arguably the best fifth-wheel van on the planet.

Jam-packed with innovations as well as styling straight out of a home decor magazine, the 36ft triple-slide Emerald Coast has already attracted three buyers willing to fork out $250,000 for their very own apartment-on-wheels.

Only problem is it weighs about as much as a house, so they’ll need a removals truck or something similar to haul it around!

You don’t need an ensuite to enjoy a hot inside shower

While a rare sight in an Aussie caravan a few decades ago, ensuites – either combination or with separate shower and toilet -- are an almost mandatory feature these days, judging by the models on display at the Brisbane Supershow.

However, maybe you don’t really to go to all the trouble when there are affordable alternatives around like the Evershower, which was demonstrated at the Supeshow by its semi-nomadic inventor Larry Tofler.

Packing away into a small suitcase, the Evershower is a portable washroom that when combined with a portable hot water unit and just three litres of water, delivers a soothing hot shower any time of the day, either inside or out of your RV.

At $739 for the full package, it makes sense for those who can’t afford to upgrade their old van, or who want to buy a used RV that doesn’t come with a built-in ensuite.

Composite caravan manufacturers are getting vocal

Despite Jayco introducing fibreglass sandwich panels years ago, ‘stick and tin’ construction remains popular among Aussie caravan manufacturers.

But the 'war of words' continues, with a number of niche and not so niche caravan brands pushing their case at the Supershow for more modern, composite construction methods.

One of the most 'vocal' was Avida, which alongside its latest full composite Rock caravan displayed a see-through 'glass shower' with non-stop water spraying both traditional timber panel construction and Avida’s fibreglass panels. After only a few hours drenching, Avida’s sales and marketing manager Billy Falconer was pleased to point out warping of the 19mm timber frame clad with 0.5mm aluminium stucco, while Avida’s composite panels were holding strong.

Top-2 caravan seller Avan had signs on most of their display models spruiking the advantages of their in-house aluminium composite panels, which included being "smooth and durable", "dirt repellent", "resistant to discolouration", "energy efficient", "leak free fixing" and "100 per cent recyclable".

Not far away, all-composite, off-road caravan leader Zone RV was promoting their all-composite off-road caravan with the simple statement: “Forget dust with a fully bonded body.”

Queenslanders love their off-road motorhomes

Off-road motorhomes would count for less than one per cent of RV sales in Australia, but you wouldn’t have known it wandering around the Queensland Supershow, with various eye-catching examples on display.

We’ve already mentioned Trailblazer’s sky-high LandCruiser 79 Series expedition vehicle, but grabbing as much attention was Explorer’s six-wheeler HiLux-based Explorer, which is now available with industry first six-wheel drive.

Also standing out at the show was Paradise's latest Inspiration Explorer 4x4, based on a Mercedes Sprinter truck and complete with slide-out, off-road 'camo' paintjob and near $400,000 sticker price.

Not to be outdone was the jacked-up Ford F250-based pop-top camper in matching Army green alongside the SniperX hybrid camper, while Horizon displayed a bright orange Mercedes-Benz 4x4 Sprinter-based campervan to further tempt showgoers...

Vintage food vans provide plenty of colour

Hungry punters who happened to wander behind the Sideshow ally marquee on the other side of the rail line, would have discovered two of the best examples we've seen of vintage catering vans.

The brightly painted Wiener wagon was selling authentic German hot dogs, while the “The Kitchen Garden” dished up tasty Tacos from a 1970s Aussie aluminium van decorated with rough timber planks along the sides.

Both offered tasty alternatives to the usual caravan show fast food, although a representative from one fast-growing Australian off-road caravan brand got more than he bargained for.

While waiting patiently for his spicy burrito, he had chilli sauce blasted, Pro Hart-style, all down the front of his crisp white, company branded business shirt.

Very colourful indeed!