THE BIG DASH: On the road, finally!

Yep, promptly at 10.30am on April 1 the combination of Kia Tasman X-Pro and MDC Forte SR 19 – sitting flat and weighted expertly – rolled, rattled and clinked away from our home on the Mornington Peninsula.

Our plan was not to be here again for six months. These first few days of travel would be our first real indicator of how realistic that would be.

So week one? Somers to Halls Gap in the Grampians for two nights, then Murray Bridge in South Australia for one night and then four nights in Adelaide over Easter.

Over the course of the week we’d be covering plenty of kays, setting up and pulling down and living with our new home. Much to learn then.

The last few weeks before the journey started turned into a should we shouldn’t we?, can we can’t we?, debate as the war in the Middle East flared up.

The price of diesel was one thing, but even more concerning was the prospect of it simply not being available at all.

If the shit hit the fan big time and we got stuck somewhere for months, did we really want it to be Horsham, Coober Pedy or some outback roadhouse?

But with our house rented out and so much invested in this trip already, we decided to go as far as Adelaide and see what happened from there.

The day before we left Albo announced a cut in fuel excise. We took that as official permission to go.

So onward we went, and here’s a few of our experiences, highs and lows from that first week.

Related: The high cost of empty caravan parks

I’ll start with the X-Pro because a lot of this trip is a learning exercise about it.

The suspension upgrade worked well. Sitting more level the driving feel was more secure and the front-end more stable.

With a gap between the bump stop and the chassis rail there was better ride comfort as well. So a big tick to all that.

But our first steep climb out of Melbourne over the Pentland Hills left me wishing Kia had gone for the Hyundai Group 3.0-litre I6 turbo-diesel engine, not the 2.2-litre four.

Move to the left, keep slotting down through the gears until we were in fourth at 80km/h and keep rolling. Suddenly I was the caravanner I’d always cursed in the past as I flashed past in some press test car or other.

But, later, on more undulating surfaces, the combination really clicked. On the B-road from Stawell to Halls Gap it was all genuinely enjoyable to drive and ride in.

That latter bit is helped by a well-hushed and spacious cabin. Seriously, the best bit of the Tasman I think.

The Tasman comes with a tow mode that changes the shift pattern in the eight-speed auto to reflect the weight being hauled (it also turns off rear cross traffic braking so you can reverse up to your 'van without issues, which is handy).

Left to its own devices I found – as per previous experience – that it was too prone to holding short gears on flat surfaces thus using more fuel, not less.

However, once you take over shifting manually tow mode doesn’t revert to auto shifting unless you direct it to. That’s great because in Normal shift mode it reverts and starts jumping around.

Shifting manually made sure I got into a taller gear as early as possible. Yep, it requires more concentration and focus, but I enjoy driving so no drama for me.

In these early days I tried to cruise at 100km/h. On the flat that equated to seventh gear at around 2000rpm. It could only carry eighth gear on a decline.

Uphill, well, as short as you needed to go to keep rolling. On anything shallow, sixth would comfortably hold 100km/h. But beyond that…

And what of fuel consumption and cost? Here are the numbers based on three refuels on April 1, April 3 and April 4. We didn’t refuel again until April 9 (more on that in a later article).

Litres consumed: 165
Kms travelled: 1102km
Consumption average: 14.973L/100km*
$ paid: $498.41
Km per $: 2.2km

*That number comes down a bit because we spent a few days in Adelaid not towing, including quite a long freeway run down to McLaren Vale and back.

Stop offs we enjoyed this week:

Halls Gap: The walking track out to Lake Bellfield was a great 10km way to stretch our legs. Special recognition for Eddie the 13-year old Dachshund who made it the whole way on his own.

The view over the town from Boroka lookout is spectacular. We can also recommend the Kookaburra Café where Jane and I last had a meal in 1988 on our first weekend away together.

Adelaide: What a great city! Surrounded by beaches, wineries and mountain bike trails. I think people from Adelaide are happy that east coasters look down their noses at this place, they don’t know what they’re missing. They can come for the races and the festivals, spend their money and bugger off.

Here’s an obvious statement: Towing a caravan requires lots more forward planning than when driving a car alone.

I don’t just mean out on the freeway or in the traffic either. The last thing you want to do is get into a space that’s going to be a challenge to get out of.

And you also need to be conscious when cornering in tight spaces that you need to swing wider to account for the bit thing behind you. In Adelaide, we watched on as a bloke cut the corner too narrow and scarped his 'van along a light pole. Ouch.

At this stage reversing is something I’m still grappling with, despite writing the expert guide. I’ve had wins and losses but nothing too embarrassing yet.

The biggest challenge came getting on to our small patch at the Levi Holiday Park in suburban Adelaide.

I pulled up with what looked like a postage stamp on my right (if you can’t go straight in always try and reverse onto a site with the inside apex of the van visible – thanks Ray, great tip).

So I had a look and then got back in the car to start the process of rolling back in between the trees.

Then Angry Anderson appeared at my door – well, the spitting image of him 30 years ago anyway. Actually, it was Lee the on-site caretaker and with his expert assistance I was able to execute a perfect reverse onto the site first time.

But without his help I might still be there!

So far we’re finding the actual living in the 'van pleasant enough, but give us more time for more thoughts on that.

But here’s one tip for beginners: Get yourself a checklist of what you need to do when setting up and packing down. And make sure your partner comes along and checks everything is raised/lowered or on/off before you depart. My weakness (well one of them) is forgetting to release the park brake.

Oh and having a toilet in the 'van is very helpful when the only public lav at the Bordertown petrol station has a long queue outside it.

The three caravan parks we’ve stayed in so far have offered a huge variety in site size and facilities.

We got the postage stamp at Levi, flat and grassed at Murray Bridge and sloped dirt at Halls Gap next to the communal fire pit.

Amenities? So far we’ve had flooding, signs forbidding defecating in the showers (!), general grubbiness and – at the opposite end of the spectrum – sparkling clean. Levi even had a bath.

My advice? Do your research ahead of time using apps like Wiki Camps and read the reviews. It will help you figure out whether the park you’re looking at is right for you and where in that park you would prefer to be.

Then ring ahead and talk to the people on-site. Some will be uninterested but plenty of park people want to help and we’ve got better sites and better experiences out of it.