Travelhome Macquarie 27

WHAT WE LIKED

• Streamlined exterior look
• J-shaped lounge
• Extensive use of aluminium inside

NOT SO MUCH

• No powerpoint near the vanity
•  Electric controls would look nicer inside the locker

Australian Motorhomes, the exclusive dealer for Travelhome fifth wheelers, is located very close to beautiful Lake Macquarie on the northern end of the NSW central coast.

I mention this because I recently borrowed one such Travelhome, a Macquarie 27, and took it for a spin around the area. My principal destinations were Catherine Hill Bay, a coastal village just south of Swansea, and Belmont Pines Lakeside Holiday Park on Lake Macquarie.

Both places are little tourist gems in their own right. Catherine Hill Bay is an old mining town with the old miner’s cottages still much as they were in the town’s mining heyday. While the nearby Belmont Pines Lakeside Resort is right on the shores of Lake Macquarie and very close to some excellent fishing, boating and windsurfing.

Like all Travelhome fifth wheelers, the Macquarie 27 was built at the northern end of Lake Macquarie, not far from where I was camped, as it were.

Built on a galvanised steel chassis, this unit rides on tandem axle independent torsion suspension and comes standard with a 59mm (2.3in) ball coupling.

This Macquarie’s one-piece front/roof/rear fibreglass moulding gives it a very streamlined look, for some definite fuel economy benefits. The walls aren’t moulded, but rather a laminate with a fibreglass inner and outer skin.

The Macquarie 27 has plenty of external storage bins including a large rear boot, a bin on either side at the front and two under the overhang, although they’re not particularly large.

In addition to the Seitz windows, Camec security door and rear bin with two 9kg gas cylinders, this fifth wheeler comes with other niceties such as the awning, outside entertainment unit, external shower and external speakers.

HARD CENTRE

Like the body structure, the internal cabinetry is designed to be strong and lightweight, with most made of aluminium, both frame and fascia. The bench and tabletops are laminated.

The layout includes a bedroom in the overhang, rear dinette/lounge, nearside kitchen and an offside bathroom.

The rear lounge, in particular, catches the eye as you step inside. This ‘J-lounge’, as Travelhome calls it, consists of seating across the rear and around the corner along the nearside, that’s supplemented with a single seat facing the rear, with a table under the offside window to form the dinette.

Surrounded by windows on all three sides, this is a pleasant place to relax and watch the world go by.

A flatscreen TV mounted above the single seat can be seen easily from the rear seat, where there’s room for two to stretch out with their feet up.

Rear storage consists of a locker above the table and an open shelf on the opposite side. Instead of conventional locker doors, Travelhome has opted for a single roller shutter design.

Catering isn’t a problem with the Macquarie’s kitchen. The bench isn’t especially large but there’s adequate working space, as well as four drawers and a cupboard.

The kitchen has all of the essentials: three-burner cooktop with grill/oven; stainless steel sink and drainer; 186 litre three-way fridge, and a microwave. Adjoining the fridge is a three quarter slide-out pantry with wide shelves.

The roller-shuttered locker above the kitchen bench has 240V circuit breakers and a bank of 12V switches. A second bank is located on the wall beside the door, as are the hot water controls and the water tank gauges.

A number of layouts in the Travelhome range have what the company calls an extended bathroom. Here there’s enough space for a separate shower cubicle, Thetford cassette toilet and a wall-mounted shaving cabinet.

Having the vanity located outside the bathroom saves considerable space, and this stylish-looking unit has all the necessary features, including soap dish, towel ring and wall cabinet with mirrored door.

A separate vanity also means two people can use the bathroom facilities without getting in each other’s way.

UP-FRONT OPTIONS

One clever idea in the overhang bedroom is the option of either using two single beds, or pushing them together to form a queen-size bed (available in the 9m [29ft] model).

The queen-size choice doesn’t allow as much room, but it’s still easy enough to get around, especially with three steps for stumble-free access.

In addition to the LED reading lights, there are two concealed LED strips fitted across the roof – subtle, but quite effective. 

Windows above each bed and a roof hatch provide good ventilation.

While there aren’t any bedside cabinets as such, a moulded pouch right at the front, plus shelf-fitted pelmets, provide good alternatives. More serious clothing storage is supplied by a triple wardrobe on the nearside between the bedroom and the entry door.

Our turbodiesel Nissan Navara tow vehicle handled the Travelhome without a problem. I did a fair few kilometres around the hills and dales of the Swansea area, including some tight turns and reversing, and all was done without too much stress and strain. However, the nose cone did get a little close to the Navara’s rear window on 90° turns.

VERDICT

There are a number of variants and body lengths in the Travelhome range, but they’re all built along the same lines as this Macquarie 27 – practical, well-engineered and with some classy looks, especially on the outside.

This rig drew plenty of admiring attention while I was parked at Belmont Pines, and it’s not hard to understand why.

Anyone looking for an exceedingly comfortable and well-appointed fifth wheeler for some extended travel would do well to give the Travelhome Macquarie 27 a very close look.

TRAVELHOME MACQUARIE 27

External length: 8m (26ft 3in)
External width: 2.34m (7ft 8in)
Internal height: 2m (6ft 6in)
Tare: 2480kg
ATM: 3490kg
Pin weight: 450kg
Frame: Composite walls
Chassis: Galvanised
Suspension: Independent Al-Ko torsion
Cooktop: Dometic three-burner and Thetford oven
Fridge: Dometic RM4605 AES 186 litre
Microwave: Sharp Carousel 
Shower: Separate cubicle
Toilet: Thetford swivel cassette
Lighting: 12V/LED
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Fresh water: 170 litre
Grey water: 170 litre
Price: $131,645 (tow-away, NSW)
Supplied by: Australian Motorhomes, Bennetts Green, NSW
More info: Travelhome website