THE BIG DASH: Buying all the bits

I know, left you with a bit of a cliff-hanger last chapter, but only a bit of one. After all I had already admitted we bought an MDC caravan.

It just ended up not being the one we intended to buy.

With the demo 'van sold before we could get our hands on it, Mat the salesman did the right thing by organising the same discount deal on a brand new Forte SR 19 being assembled in Queensland.

But there was a hiccup. It came in the form of a phone call one early morning in late February as we drove out to Campbellfield for the handover.

The upshot? MDC Campbellfield boss Mark informed us the 'van had been damaged in transit and we wouldn’t be able to take it away. We could do the handover, but the next step would be subject to negotiation.

The damage, as it turned out, was some minor rub marks that I probably would never have spotted – or not for months and then just presumed it was my fault.

It was a bit weird to go through the 'van from stem to stern to learn all its intricacies, but not be able to take it away.

We vented our frustration by dropping in at Carac – it’s like a lolly shop for caravaners – in Dandenong on the way home and indulging in some retail therapy. Everything from hoses to fuses to fans went in the trolley. Ka-ching!

It was already clear that selecting the caravan was just the starting point. The gear you need to make your home on wheels operate properly is limited only by your imagination and your budget.

Anyway, MDC’s preferred option was to deliver us a brand new 'van and not the shop-soiled one. But after some investigation it turned out the next available SR 19 was 12 weeks away.

With time fleeting, we accepted a further discount on the price with no impact on the warranty. We had our 'van.

We also had a lot to learn in a short amount of time!

We needed to have a trip to test ourself, the Tasman, the 'van and our mounting pile of accessories and gear.

Just figure how things went together, what we were still missing and what had to be fixed/tuned/changed/junked/left-well-alone.

Our cunning plan was to head away on Australian F1 Grand Prix weekend when everyone would be flocking to Melbourne. Nope, it was a long weekend in Victoria and most caravan parks were booked up.

Not everyone is an F1 fan!

Anyway, we finally found a small park at a place called Eagle Point near Paynesville on the Gippsland Lakes. At around 300km each way it was the sort of distance we planned between overnight stops during the big trip, so that was perfect.

But rather than blather on too much, here are some key learnings out of our first expedition.

In a park heaving with utes we had the only Tasman. And people really wanted to know about it.

It reminded me of the reaction a new Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore got less than a generation ago. And the blokes aged 30-60 who were most curious are in the same demographic.

Last year’s big advertising campaign really worked to raise awareness of the first Kia ute. It was mentioned time and again and always as a positive.

The exterior styling was more divisive, but it was a 50:50 split rather than being negative as I admit to being.

With the sun out Friday early evening, the park filling up, kids whizzing to and from on pedal (not electric) bicycles, sociable people wandering about with plenty of time for a beer and a chat, it was a very good vibe.

Eagle Point is right on Lake King and there’s plenty of space to walk the dogs, cast a line, launch a tinny or just relax.

Or you can head into Paynesville itself, catch the ferry across to Raymond Island and do the Koala Walk. We counted 14 in four kilometres!

We decided this 'van life has something to it.

Our younger Dachshund Lulu is a curious type. She’s always keen to check out her surroundings and have a good sniff.

When one of the Lake King Swans came waddling into our camp site she got too close for her own good and bore the brunt of the full hissing, wing-flapping extravaganza.

Displaying limited courage but good sense, she scurried away under the 'van dragging her lead and securing peg she had uprooted from the ground in her haste to get away.

Amazing the strength you have when the adrenaline hits.

Caravanners told us before we went away that keeping your environs clean is a must, otherwise you’ll spend half your life sweeping floors.

We arrived inadequately prepared without a full-size exterior floor mat or step mats and quickly realised our error.

That was cured by a trip into Bairnsdale, just 15 minutes away, to spend yet more money at Repco, Supercheap, BCF and Bunnings. Never a shortage of things to buy!

The 'van itself proved fuss free. The hot water service worked flawlessly, as did the electricals including our new Englaon TV and soundbar (we'll write a review on that at some stage). The bed and lounge were comfy too.

The only real letdown was the small size of the awning, which really became apparent when it started raining. Other 'vans had huge manual awnings fully extended and life continued on uninterrupted. We were forced inside.

We have privacy screens coming that will hopefully help fix this issue.

The positive bits first. It’s spacious, comfortable and well-appointed inside. It’s got heaps of space in the load box too.

The engine is willing and enthusiastic. There is a tow mode, but I found it too busy and too prone to holding shorter gears. In the interests of fuel economy I often changed to a higher gear manually than it selected.

Speaking of economy, our average for the trip - or a fair portion of it anyway, came out at 15.6L/100km, so not too bad at all. The worst bit was paying $2.09 for diesel on the way home. How cheap that looks now!

My primary issue ended up being one I’d long been worried about. The warnings had come ever since I first started letting a few people know we were taking a Tasman as our tow vehicle that we might have an issue or two.

The criticisms centred around the rear leaf spring suspension and how it too easily rested on the bump stop when towing.

Kia counters this by arguing the top part of the bump stop is actually a tertiary spring that acts as part of the suspension along with the leaf package.

My first experiences towing the SR19 had proved not as bad as expected. Yes, it settled in the rear, but it was still pretty level and comfortable.

But with some load added – like gas bottles, water, food, clothing and various other bits and bobs – in the caravan and some stuff like a bbq, chairs and a table in the load box of the Tasman for the trip to Paynesville, things weren’t so agreeable.

FYI, the van has a claimed tare weight of 2469kg and an aggregate trailer mass (ATM) of 3000kg. It weighed somewhere between these two numbers for the trip.

The Tasman has a claimed braked towing capacity of 3500kg, so I knew we weren’t pushing its limits (proper weight testing has since been done and confirmed we’re well under all measures - more on this at a later date).

The nose of the Tasman was now well and truly up in the air and the bump stop/tertiary spring was now well and truly in contact with the chassis rail.

This produced two unpleasant effects. First, the ride out of the rear-end was crashy, harsh and jolting. Unpleasant in other words.

The lightened front-end also had a tendency to wander over crests, when a truck bowled past causing aerodynamic turbulence or in side winds. I was honestly glad Jane was asleep as I wrestled through some of the worst of it.

The trip convinced me something had to be done.

But what?

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