RV Ramblings #4

TOO MUCH CHECKER PLATE?

I had a close look at the new Supreme Getaway at the Brisbane caravan show. While all that checker plate underbody protection looks great, is it really necessary, as I reckon most people who buy these won’t be doing water crossings or other driving where moisture might come into play in a big way?

While it’s great that manufacturers like Supreme are catering to ‘rough road’ travellers, all that extra aluminium is probably one of the reasons why a relatively compact 16ft van weighs almost three tonne fully loaded - Angus Casper

CHANGED MY MIND

I would like to know the price of this Supreme Getaway with a 24ft layout. It looks great. I have a Territory 24 foot on order for early 2012 delivery and may change to this depending on the price - Bevan Waygood

SUPREMELY HEAVY

I think that this is very expensive and heavy for a 16ft van. Sorry - Mark Renouf

OUTDOOR KITCHEN?

Your article on the Jellybean camper does not mention if there is an outside kitchen option – Steve Vincent

* As far as we know there’s no external kitchen option. As this is a conventional pop-top camper trailer aimed at those on a budget, there’s just the standard internal kitchen - Ed.

MORE FACTS AND FIGURES

Your article on the long-distance Adria caravan was a good story and well set out with costs and break up. I often wonder why writers can’t include costs and simple descriptions in their stories.

This one doesn’t even go on about how you should drive slowly or treat the environment like we are all kids . Congratulations on a excellent article - Col Williams (fellow Toyota driver)

ALSO GOING THE DISTANCE

Great article. We are going to do the same trip. Was any of this on gravel?

We think we will get a spare rim. We have the smaller (Adria) without the bunks but can sleep four if we take the front table down - Peta Findlater

* In the article it says: "A couple of door hinges came a bit loose after much rugged overland travel but they were soon fixed and we somehow managed to crack a wheel rim on one of the more rugged sectors of the trip.” So we figure they travelled on some dirt or gravel roads. A spare tyre is always a good idea - Ed.

BABY VISTA

I’m looking forward to seeing the baby Vista when it’s finished, as I was considering the full sized model but couldn’t really justify more than $50 grand for something that has pretty much two kitchens.

I’ve noticed that a few manufacturers are now fitting inside and outside kitchens... is it really necessary? Can’t you decide on one or the other, or are people just greedy and want everything in a caravan that they have at home? – George G

HEAT SEEKING MISSILES

While these black painted campers  look great, what happens when you roll them out of the showroom and into the bush?

First of all, all that glossy black paint is going to scratch up as you make your way past overhanging branches down that tight trail, then if you head into central Australia or the far north they’re going to get hotter than conventional trailers with all that heat-absorbing black paint.

There’s a good reason most caravans, campervans etc are painted white, particularly with our harsh Australian sun. Canvas tents and tin vans get hot enough as it is, without painting them in dark colours! And these are designed to be off-road trailers which can take you into Australia’s harshest regions - Terry Waters

They can’t be serious! Almost $10,000 for something that looks like it was made by Ikea, and would last about the same amount of time as some of their budget furniture! Euro campers might be willing to have a bunch of fold-out, plastic boxes in the back of their Renault people mover, but that ain’t gonna last five minutes in Australia.

Must admit though, 70kg for the whole lock, stock and barrel is pretty impressive – Gerry

This is far from good enough. Why don’t you people look at these figures when you review vans? – Ian

I would love to read a week to week road test on it. Well done! - Graham Richards

DREAM MACHINE

This unit from On The Move caravans has change my whole point of view in regards to vans. What a marvellous piece of work. I can’t wait for it to be a little more affordable – Bruce.

CONTROL FACTOR

Honestly I am sick of hearing that no WDH (weight distribution hitch) is a limitation for the Land Rovers.

How about the fact that the LandCruiser has a serious safety limitation in that it doesn't have trailer stability control? The Land Rovers do and this is a life saving technology - Ian Fraser

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

Your story on the Nova Pride has been worded by a sales person from Nova. Too many positives; not one bad comment. It’s too good to be true – Marilyn

* We would have thought that was a good thing Marilyn. Even though the tester spent a couple of days testing the van, the worst thing he could say about it was that the chopping block in the kitchen didn’t sit flush and the van was a bit on the heavy side - Ed.

BASIC RIGHT TO CAMP

Parks associations get no sympathy from me. They are greedy and charge huge fees. I believe we live in a huge free country. I would support a similar system as in the Northern European countries where free bush camping is the right of every citizen.

Try tripping around Australia as me and my family did a few years ago. We were charged up to and over $50 a night for the four of us.

If caravan parks keep this up it will be cheaper to not buy a van and pay park fees but do it around Australia in motels and hotels.

I have been camping in for over 40 years and have seen the greedy associations erode and influence local governments into bullying free campers. The park owners get my goat up when they cry poor!

I think campers and caravanners need representation too so we can lobby just as hard – Hookie

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