Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 17:40
G'day Tetley,
Check my disclaimer below and take my comments as you will.
I did a heap of research last year into caravans, camper trailers & 5th wheels as we were going to buy one of them. I went to about 6 shows around the country & spent countless hours online reviewing info. about this stuff, as
well as buying mags for reviews etc.
In the end we decided on an 'off road' camper trailer, because they were cheap (relatively speaking), we could take them basically anywhere & we could keep one on our driveway or around the side of the house without any bother. We also figured the less spent on it, the less $$$ we'd have sitting there doing nothing for months at a time. But we also wanted a decent level of comfort in our travels, and space for all my gear (cameras, computers, video gear, tripods etc) and space to work while travelling.
We ended up buying an Adventure Camper because (in no particular order):
1) King size bed - comfy.
2) Massive easy access storage - more than any other trailer.
3) Huge very fast access kitchen - bigger & quicker than any other trailer.
4) Flexible setup - each part can be setup individually for short or long stays.
5) Price - nothing else offered these qualities, regardless of price.
Since buying in January this year, we've spent about 25 nights in the
Pilbara and love it. We've travelled about 6000kms, lived and worked in the trailer and it has performed exactly as we hoped it would. All the weight (ie bed case, water tanks) is down low, so it tows beautifully behind our patrol. I usually forget it's even there until I go up a
hill (or look in the mirrors). We've done some beach work, steep rocky stuff, dirt roads & heaps of highway driving & the trailer performs
well in all circumstances. Some prefer independent
suspension, but since I have solid axles on my Patrol, I wanted the same 'tuff offroad'
suspension on my trailer.
A few options we got on our unit are: LED tail lights, bigger tyres to match the patrol (285/75 x 16 Mickey Thompson MTX's) & the extra bedroom. Our boy is only 6 weeks old so he won't be in the 2nd bedroom for a while, but it's there when we need it.
We were at one stage looking at putting a big satellite dish on whatever we bought for 2 way broadband internet access from anywhere. The Adventure campers were the only 'trailers' we came across that would be able to do this without modification. We didn't end up going with the dish as we weren't going to spend enough time away to justify it with my work etc. We got an Imate PDA phone instead. It does cdma internet access & broadband when in range.
So that's my experience, I should also mention I've now spent quite a bit of time with the trailer designer & owner of the company Frank Tabone, his wife Connie & his son Paul. They are all great, genuine people.
Thanks,
Aaron.
(Disclaimer: Since buying a
Pilbara in January this year (at full price), I've done a whole heap of work for Adventure Campers. I did the photography for their latest advertising, designed and produced the brochure, designed and produced their new website & their latest series of magazine ads.)
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: banjobush - Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 21:36
Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 21:36
What a fantastic improvement you have done to their website .........congratulations!!!!!!!!!!! Too bad we already own one otherwise I would have to go buy another!!!! cheers
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Follow Up By: Fusion - Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 21:45
Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 21:45
Thanks Banjobush,
There is a lot more to come yet.
When you say 'own one' you mean an Adventure Camper or another Camper Trailer?
If you've got an adventure, which model, how long have you had it, where have you taken it, did you subscribe on the website for the newsletter? As a new Adventure owner, I'm certainly interested to hear from others who've been doing it for much longer.
Thanks,
Aaron.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: banjobush - Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 21:54
Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 21:54
We own an Adventure...........We bought it second hand last year! I think i nearly drove Frank and Paul bonkers asking all the questions I could think of before we bought it. Ours is an older model called a Kimberely. It has a wireless (cassette player in it). Ours doesnt have a sink but I actually prefer that (gives more bench space). We also have a set of drawers on our. As for
places we have taken it...............unfortunately we haven't been that adventurous as yet........we took it to Collarenibri and
Tamworth for a few weeks over Xmas. Took it to Mount Beauty for
Easter and thats it so far..........O the kids have had many nights in it in the back yard also. Probably the scariest thing we have done with it was tow it around the edge of a black soil wheat crop at Rowena after about 20 points of rain doesn't sound much i know.
Ours came with really big heavy duty baskets in it which makes storing things easier. Also our has a built in esky which is fantastic. We have a boat rack on ours................hubby is busting to get a boat now of course.
i think the only thing we need to add to it now is a bike rack to hold 3 bikes for the kids.
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Follow Up By: Fusion - Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 22:09
Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 22:09
I didn't know such a creature even existed. I know the guys have been producing and continually improving these trailers for about 10yrs, but a cassette player? Was that original or did the previous owner put it in?
You might want to consider the Adventure get together in the
Grampians at the end of October. It'll give you a chance to get away, and meet with other owners. We hope to be there, even though we live up on the
Gold Coast :)
Thanks,
Aaron.
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Follow Up By: banjobush - Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 22:15
Sunday, Jun 19, 2005 at 22:15
I don't believe it is factory fitted, however h\whoever did it di a great job as it is covered in the same ply that the storage side is made of!!!! It is the model that the
daintree replaced its green and is the same as the one that used to be on the old website. We have the two double beds. i would love to at one stage upgrade to the king size bed (however 2 double beds is not too bad if you get my drift), We got an absolute bargain compaired to the new price so I am not complaining at all.
Yes i jsut subscribed to the newsletter.
As for the October trip, unfortunately that will be the most important month for us in our 10 year plan (we are at the end of it) so we can't make it.
cheers
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