Ray replied:

Hi Nadia, there is a group that is online that will give you good advise and plenty of links http://groups.yahoo.com/group/campertrailers
Good hunting

Nigel replied:

What price range are you looking at? We've just ordered a campomatic after narrowing the options down to campomatic, kimberley or tvan. The reason we choose the campomatic are: 1. it was easier to customise the drawbar storage to what we needed. 2. Standard inclusions that aren't even options on others like 120 litre water tank, LED lights inside and out, storage draw under bed. 3. Local backup (this will depend on your location but for us we have a very good agent nearby). I think the Kimberley Kamper kitchen was better in that it has more room and better storage, but that reduces the options like room for second battery and gas bottle on the drawbar. The Tvan is very nice and would be good for a couple without kids as you then have the option of not putting up the tent part. Downside is that with the Tvan you have to attach the awning each time you use it, whereas the campomatic has the awning stored attached and flipped over onto the roof. Hope this helps.

lizard replied:

We bought a Cavalier Deluxe off-road & have never been disapointed ..... things to look at I suppose are set-up/take-down times , comfort & weather proofing .... and how many dollars you want to spend ... Cavalier seemed a good all round package to us.

Drew replied:

We bought a trak shak and the best thing about itis that it is huuuuugggggeeee. More than enouuugh room, detachable kitchen, storage for everything you can imagine and still 650kg. Check their awesome website out at trakshak.com.au

Greg replied:

Hi Nadia. Everything is a compromise in this game. Trailers are nothing but a nuisance for serious off road work; even going up the Cape or across the Simpson they are best left behind but if you want to do a lot of outback gravel road work then a good hard floor model is the way to go eg Campomatic, Kimberley etc. If you only want to so some outback roads every now and then then buy a Jayco windup or similar. If you want more creature comforts for the same price you can buy a small offroad pop top van. The idea is to go to a central place and then go out from there with a tent. I and my friends have been camping and 4wd for 30 years and most have gone through each stage and are now at the small van stage. A good solid offroad trailer well maintained will last a lifetime. I owned one for 20 years and took it literally everywhere. Regards

Paul replied:

Nadia,
Robust camper trailers at Rockhampton in Queensland make an aluminium camper trailer with a very well designed canvas sleeping area and large annex. It is very light weight which is the best thing you can have for off-road and needless to say it will never rust or need painting. The bows which hold up the canvas are very strong and the canvas work is very good. Base model is under $8000 and all extras are available. We've had our steel Ozzie Off Road one for 4 years and have just spent 3 days and nights sanding and painting after 1500 kms of dirt through the channel country and stone damage which literally stripped the paint off sides and bottom (despite my stone deflector). If I could go back in time I would definitely buy a Robust.
Kimberleys and campomatics are very heavy (around 1200 kgs) and very expensive.
Paul

Mike replied:

Hi all, we have a Kimberly and are more than happy with it. By the way it only weighs 800Kgs. We narrowed down to, T Van, Kimberly, Assie Swag & Campomatic. T Van lost as we had to go to Melbourne to see it. Assie lost due to the superior kitchen in Kimberly (and the attitude of the salesman)& well, I rang Campomatic Last May, for info & am still waiting. Great service! We bought our camper from Gitsham in Adelaide, (who are no longer the local distributors) and the service and help was magnificent. We went for the hard floored type as we are going away for 4 months, later this year and felt that to be stuck in wet areas with a wet tent floor, wouldn't be much fun. As I said, 2 trips so far and we are sure we made the correct choice.
Happy trails,Mike.

Gezman replied:

G'day Nadia

There are numerous trailers on the market, it depends on what price, type of travel expected and the level of comfort, reliability, strength and most of user friendly and practical.

We own a simon heard trailer and it is very practical and robust not the best looking though. We like it's and a friends trailer so much we decided to be agents as our passion lays with travel. Our friends was a Camprite Camper. These are a high quality trailer but close to 20k.

So check out the range of camprite campers and simon heard on websites simonheardcanvas.com.au (prices 4k-16)or campritecampers.com.au. (12-20k)

Or give me a mail and i can tell you from personal experience whats good and not.

Maresa & Simon replied:

We were fortunate to win a camper trailer 4 years ago and it has been the greatest addition to our family. The family tent got pensioned off and now we are the proud owners of an Outback Camper Trailer - cost would have been $7,500 4 yrs ago with everything that open and shuts. My best piece of advice after seeing many and having onw for 4 years is - make sure yours has a floor that you can unzip, not sewn in and ensure there is heaps of storage and the kitchen is not on the inside of the pop out tent. This is to ensure you dont eat where you sleep. Ask for add on parts where they zip up for more rooms - 2 reasons, 1 is big trip is nice for basic room and pop out convenience and the smaller trips closer to home allow for more of that 5 star accom. We find that we would never go back to a tent and a camper takes 15 mins tops to open, erect and have our stuff out of the car while the other gets tucker on the go or stokes the campfire. Always make sure that you ask caravan park owners if you have enough room for car and camper along side another plus space to move and best of all, air it out after every trip, and make sure it has a water tank that pumps water and an access point in and out of the camper from both sides of the pop out tent - one door from the car and one door in the opposite direction. This makes the unpack and pack up easier especially in bad weather. Dont put a fridge on the draw bar, put a storage box there if the model doesn't come with one. Make sure the linkage set up to the car has a variable connection to allow for upa dn down, side and turn movement. This is especially helful when having to back up hills if you have gone the wrong way. Good luck and email me if in need of more info. simonrob@sandm.alphalink.com.au
Happy Camping in Style
Maresa