Steve replied:

Spoil her rotten! Buy an AUSSIE TRAVELLER roof top tent and never regret the day you spent a few more dollars and bought something really good!!

steve

Joe replied:

Colin,

I reckon that your best bet is to save up and buy a camper trailer - we hired one after a friend bought one and raved about it, and now my wife has unilaterally decided that a camper trailer is the only civilised way to go.

(Thank you Neil ! Not)

However, if you are able to stick with tents I would suggest that you get yoursellf another geodome tent with a large annex area that you and the family can sit and eat in. But - I would also suggest that you get one or more small dome tents for the kids. They are cheap at $50 from K-Mart and ideal for giving the kids a sense of adventure, keeping their mess out from underfoot and giving you and the wife a little privacy (nudge, nudge) and some time and space to have a quiet coffee.

We put our kids (we have two) into one tent when they were younger - say 5 or 6 years old. We gave them separate tents as they grew older and started fighting more!

It works like a charm.

Don't worry about using cheap tents - if the weather is foul you will be bringing them into the main tent anyway to keep them from being frightened. As they get older they can actually be kept occupied and happy by erecting their own tent(s). This is something that gives them a real sense of achievement too.

Good luck whatever you choose.

Joe

Steve W Alice Springs replied:

Talk to Ken at Freedom camping in Melbourne or check out their website. We have a family tourer it is possibly a bit heavy duty but is an excellent tent. All the bus touring group use minute tents. which are similar but more square. Our tent has a centre pole which can get in the way but the later models have poles that come up from the sides to the centre position so all the tent space is useable. You can even get special flywire which will keep sandflies out - costs a bit extra though. The design is similar to a lot of other tents but the special features have been incorporated from experienced campers so make sure you look at why they are better not just the price. Make for more enjoyable camping.

Annie replied:

Dont' know if this any help to you, but I have a fairly basic camper trailer (Outback Canvas), that I used to tow behind a Suzuki Sierra for sale, around $2,700. It has a queen size bed on top of the trailer, the kids can either sleep on mattresses on the floor, or you can get an add-on annexe for around $500 (I think), it's just on 2 years old now, we used to use it for weekends/weeks away and one 6 week trip up north. It was great, but as I have a disabled child even the 10 minutes set up time was sometimes a bit too long, so now we have a troopy camper (which is fantastic for us).

Nicholas replied:

Colin, have a look at this month's 4X4 Monthly magazine. They have a major road test of many leading brand tents. I have just got rid of my Oz-tent and bought a Tanami Tourer and am wrapped! Happy camping!

Greg replied:

Col everything is a compromise. The only way to go when doing long touring trips is a good offroad hard floor camper trailer. I also have a roof top tent which I have had for 30 years. They are great but you can't go anywhere once camp is set up. I use the roof top for the hard yakka trips and carry a simple to erect tent for long stays where I want to use the vehicle.

Colin replied:

An end to the story:
Ended up giving in to the wife and kids and purchased a Coleman Northstar 8. It takes 30 minutes to put up, but it is a bloody great tent. Packs up well, not too heavy, lots of space and lots of shade.

Reasons for choosing:
1. Wife demanded a 2 room 'family tent'
2. Wife didn't like my preference for the Southern Cross family tourer. Reason: only one room!
3 I was too gutless to just buy what I wanted. (Like to keep all my body parts intact)
4. I refused to buy a traditional 3 hour to set up cabin tent.
5. Life is a compromise! What the heck

Colin