Tri-axle Jayco Caravan

By Dean Allen Craig

Andrew and Diane Mill go almost everywhere throughout Australia. They are permanent residents of the road, residing in a massive, tri-axle custom-built 31ft, 2in (9.5m) Jayco caravan towed by an Isuzu truck.

The Mills sold their Kingscliffe home on Qld’s Gold Coast five years ago and have been travelling around Australia ever since. Originally from Brisbane, 59-year-old Andrew is a retired engineer who worked in modified heavy earth moving and mining equipment. Diane, 58, also hails from Brisbane.

They owned a Jayco Westport caravan and discovered they loved the travelling lifestyle, so they upgraded to an 27ft 11in (8.5m) Jayco Heritage.

But they had even bigger things in mind. They approached Watson’s Caravans at Coffs Harbour, NSW, which contacted Jayco with the Mills’ ideas for a giant custom-built van.

Andrew and Di were delighted when Jayco agreed to build their van.

“In the end we got what we asked for and probably a wee bit more – this is our house,” Andrew said.

Andrew and Di designed the van themselves complete with ensuite, bedroom, large kitchen and lounge room.

Diane proudly shows off the interior of the spacious van. “Inside we’ve got recliner chairs which are great because we can sit back and relax, we can watch TV or DVDs and it’s like a lounge room. We have a big kitchen with lots of bench space, lots of cupboards, and an ensuite bathroom. We’ve got room for people to come over and join us. We don’t feel deprived of anything,” she says.

Andrew knew the caravan had to be strong enough to cope with Australian road conditions. “The van is 9.5m long, it’s tri-axle, it has a 10in chassis which I demanded because we realised that some roads leave a lot to be desired. We wanted something that would stand up to the road conditions and Jayco built it that way.

“We asked for a 2m drawbar which was important to me. All in all, with the 10in chassis and the Jayco Tough-Frame, it’s a fairly strong unit.

“With the length it has to be a tri-axle – it is too long for a tandem axle. I wanted the axles set back a little bit further for towing purposes and it tows absolutely beautifully. It tracks well – wherever the truck goes the van goes,” Andrew explains.

“Backing it is an absolute piece of cake – we don’t have any dramas with it that way.”

Diane drives a small Kia 4WD while Andrew tows the van.

“It’s fabulous, it gives me independence,” she laughs. “I can play my CDs and chill out, or talk to Andrew on the two-way radio. I’ve actually driven right around Australia on my own – I don’t think there are too many women who could say that.

“We get to a place like Kununurra or Darwin for example and stay for three of four months. I like to go shopping, I like to do things, meet other people and do the girlie things but it’s a bit difficult to ask your husband to drive you to the shops every five minutes because they really don’t want to be doing that.

“So I drive my car – it’s 4WD, we can take it offroad, we can take it on the beaches or anywhere we like, so we’ve done a lot more with our lives since we’ve had it.”

Despite being on the road for the past five years, the Mills have driven only about 60,000km. They tend to stay in one spot for several months at a time.

Meeting the crocodiles

The adventurous couple tow the van with an Isuzu FSR 550. It’s a crew cab which can seat six passengers.

“We bought that for the purpose of taking Di’s mum with us. She was a wonderful travelling companion. She loved travel and she came with us until she was 92. Our grown-up children also come with us from time to time so the crew cab is beneficial.”

Andrew proudly shows off the motorbike and jetski strapped on to the back of the truck.

“The truck’s also got some toys on it, which we enjoy occasionally, plus it’s all set up for camping so we can actually leave our van somewhere and go off in the truck and camp and we’re totally self-contained,” he grins.

“The camping trip that stands out the most is to a place called Mambi Island, 60km north of Kununurra in the Ord river, WA,” Andrew recalls.

“We stayed there for three days and nights. We had some friends there in a caravan so we stayed with them.

“We would wake up in the morning and the crocodiles were just 10m in front of the tent. The other wildlife – kangaroos and jabirus, parrots, cockatoos – was absolutely magnificent.

“We’ve been to Litchfield National Park in the NT, we’ve been to Cooktown, we’ve been to the gemfields and fossicked for gems out at Sapphire – we’ve had a lot of adventures.”

Diane is not fussed about living without a permanent fixed address.

“It’s coming up to five years that we’ve been travelling, but it doesn’t seem that long. We’ve been all over Australia, and we learn something new every day. The most enjoyable part of our travels is meeting people. If the people who promote Australia overseas could promote the friendliness of our country, we’d get a lot more visitors.”

“We live exactly the same way we did at home, we buy the same groceries, we still eat the same meals, we still sleep in the same sort of bed, we’re self-contained – we’ve got all the luxuries we had in a home, it’s just a wee bit smaller,” Andrew adds.

“The only down side to travelling full time at the moment is the cost of fuel – it’s so expensive. In the NT and northern WA the fuel prices are unbelievable – they are up around $1.60 up to $1.80 per litre for diesel and that becomes expensive when you’ve got to fill your tank.

“I can carry 280L, so when you multiply that by $1.70 per litre as an average – that’s a fair bit of money ($476). We are fortunate that we can get a fair distance with the truck, it’s good on fuel economy. I can get around 20L/100km.”

Di says she used to be a real city girl but now prefers the outback places.

“I like Darwin, we’ve been back there twice and love it. I enjoy Kununurra which is just a tiny little place but it’s really beautiful. I like the tropical feel of it out in the middle of nowhere.”

Andrew fell in love with the WA coast. “The nicest place I’ve had a swim was at Turquoise Bay on the Ningaloo Reef. That is absolutely magnificent. The turtles come up onto the beach to lay their eggs and they swim around in the shallow water and beautiful fish come and swim with you. We’ve also seen dolphins and dugongs at Monkey Mia.”

There are still places they haven’t seen, says Andrew. “I’d like to go to Lightning Ridge in NSW, but I’m just happy to be anywhere.

“I enjoy any country town, around every corner there’s something new to look at.

“The caravanning lifestyle seems to create a level playing field. There’s no snobbishness, everyone’s very friendly irrespective of their background. We’re all out there for the same reason, to enjoy ourselves and see the country.”

Diane laughs, “Before this I had never been in a caravan in my life. The first couple of nights I thought ‘what am I doing here?’. But we got through that and I wouldn’t give it up now because I’m enjoying it so much.”

For your nearest Jayco dealer visit www.jayco.com.au or call (03) 9791 6599.