Saturday, Nov 23, 2013 at 23:25
Hi again Cheryl,
"I guess we need something that can still get into some out of the way
places and is easily towed by a Toyota Land Cruiser. I need a little comfort now not necessarily luxury. Also an island bed with an innerspring mattress sounds like
heaven."
The way I'm reading you, if you want to get into some of the out-of-the-way
places a full width and height van is out of the picture. Sounds like you need a hybrid. I'm not sure you'll get an island bed in one of those, but happy to be proved wrong.
Like most people, I'm biased toward what I own. We have a
Kimberley Karavan, which we think is the bee's knees. We tow it with a 120 series D4D diesel Prado, as do many in our Karavan owners club. The Prado works hard in the hills (the Karavan is 2200kg fully loaded) but otherwise the two are happy together. The majority of our members tow with full-sized 4WDs and to use a
well-worn phrase, they're just cruisin'.
It tows like a dream, especially in the rough stuff. We have taken it to
Bendethera (NSW) and
Dingo Dell (Blue Mountains NSW) - both difficult, the old Gunbarrel HWY from Giles to
Carnegie Station,
Mitchell Plateau, GRR, Palmer River and
Maytown (FNQ),
Innamincka,
Coongie Lakes, the Three Tracks, and poked around many firetrails and tracks in the
Vic High Country and the Snowy Mts Nat Park, etc, etc.
The Karavan has no canvas (unless you want to set up an awning), is extremely off-road capable with high ground clearance, independent
suspension, remarkable entry and exit angles and basically is limited only by the tow vehicle's ability to pull it. It is ideal for lengthy periods of self-sufficient camping in remote
places.
Comforts - main items:
Our 2007 model has room heating, inside
toilet and shower, air conditioning, ceramic
cook top (diesel powered), diesel powered HWS, outside gas BBQ/oven, 130 litre compressor fridge, outside shower, queen sized bed that can be inner spring (ours is 3 layer smart foam) plus many other items that may or may not be important, depending on taste.
Ours is dustproof and waterproof to 800mm provided you keep it moving.
Later models have many bells and whistles including a full outside kitchen. See www.kimberleykaravans.com for more details.
Offsets to the above you may wish to consider:
It's a hybrid. You cannot step out of your car, walk to the door and step inside. If you park on a level site, basic setup is 5 minutes - push a button to raise the top, slide the bed out and it's done. Good for an overnight stay. Add another 5 minutes for a simple tarp-type awning or 15 to 20 minutes for a full, framed awning and more again if you want to set up walls on the awning for a base-
camp.
The bed is not an island - you have to climb up onto it. If you've been using a roof-top tent that will not be a problem unless mobility is becoming an issue, step on a
seat, step up to the bed.
You don't have to disemble the bed to pack up, but you cannot leave more than the sheets on the mattress. Doonas, blankets and pillows must be stored (on the seats or floor) for travel.
You'd find it smaller than your motorhome, nearly the same comfort levels, but much, much larger and more comfortable than your rooftop tent.
There's heaps more but that's more than enough for now to give you an idea. Sorry for the long post. No affiliation with the manufacturer, just a happy owner.
Perhaps other hybrid owners could post their summary.
PM me if you want more details.
Cheers
AnswerID:
522005