Family caravan experiences?

Post 49390 might assist. Im sure other forumites will assist but if not sufficient do a search - there's been some good posts from time to time. cheers JD

Hi there

we had a caravan but now have a camper trailer. We had a van which we fitted out ourselves with bunk beds at the rear,dbl bed in the middle and kitchen at the front, the kids at that stage were 4 & 3, and actually topped and tailed in the bottom bunk.

The longest trip away in it was about 6 weeks we went to Darwin and surrounds via the Oodnadatta track, we decided on that trip that we wanted a more off road set up so sold it and got the camper.

The vehicle we used was a 2004 LC TD, we still have that vehicle though it's since been converted to a dual cab. It is an excellent vehicle and would recommend it, very roomy and great economy.

If I were doing this again, then I would probably go for the expanda or something similar...have checked a few of these out on our travels and have been impressed by the amount of room, the disadvantage of course being that you need to make beds up.

We used our annex and it was fantastic - gave us another room and for stays of 2 days or more was great...we had a porta potti and as we were staying in Caravan parks we just used the showers provided, we have since bought a Coleman Hot water system and pop up tent for external showers and don't see the need of ever changing

As far as storage, I don't think there's ever enough, though having said that have gone from a caravan with storage under beds and in cupboards to a camper trailer with even less and cope very well, so I guess it's about economising and experience.

We now use a lot of free camps, have found some great ones...some like the one at the Toompine Pub have power and showers...but there are also some great camping places on stations some of which are inexpensive.

hope this helps, happy travels.

Lyn

Hi leeb1973

I used to have a Windsor Rapid Offroad 13'6" van and reckon it was great. It would be my pick by far of the ones you have mentioned.

I have since changed over to a camper trailer due to the type of tracks I normally go on as I did a fair bit of panel damage, especially on one trip in particular. The van itself surived well, but when snaking around trees, well the aluminium sides and awning copped a real hiding to the point both sides of the van and the awning were replaced.

While I have never had the time to be away for more than a couple of weeks at a time in either camper or van, I personally wouldn't want to be in the camper trailer for much more than a month (wife + 2 kids, 10&8). But I wouldn't hesitiate to do a lap for 12 months in the Rapid.

We only had the porta potty and shower tent and my wife would definetly prefer an internal shower/toilet. In fact it would be compulsory if we ever did a big trip, but thats not to say you couldn't cope without one.

The Rapid has more than enough storage, to the point you take far more than you need - and thats with a family of 4. If you cannot fit all you need into the Rapid, you are taking way too much. We used to have a Kayak, fishing rods, totem tennis, football, basket ball, huge amount of 4WD recovery gear, clothes rack, 4 folding chairs + folding lounge, 2 tables, BBQ, etc... heaps of clothes both warm & cold weather, enough food for 2 weeks and even had an iron (blame SWMBO) and this was all packed away. Way too much i know but thats what happens when you have the space (we are more economical in the camper trailer but still take way too much).

We used to spent probably an equal amount of time free camping and caravan parks - as much due to circumstances but my preference was free camping while my wife prefered the parks. We only used the annexe if staying for more than say 3 days. Too much effort to put up and not really required for short stays. But it does give you more room to spread out if in one spot for a while.

I have used both a 1HZ 80 series and a 3.0TD GU as the tow vehicle for the Rapid. You cannot comapre how much better the 3.0TD was than the 1HZ. Fuel economy averaged 15.7l/100kms vs 18l/100kms in the 1HZ. While the 1HZ could cruise at 100km/hr, even the sign of a hill would have 4th gear and back to 80km/hr and overtaking was a rare occurence.

The 3.0TD GU easily cruises in 5th up small hills and 4th maintained 100km/hr on virtually all other hills. Overtaking was relatively easy and once found myself doing 140km/hr (do not condone this, but did not realise I had picked up this much speed). And all this while getting better fuel economy! A lot of people do not like the GU 3.0TD, but thats usually because they haven't had one.

As far as vehicle stability goes, both the GU and cruiser were fine. In the cruiser I had 300pound rear springs and while this was great when loaded, it was too stiff when just city running. On the GU i put in airbags and this is FAR better. Pump the up when loaded and let them down when back home in the city.

Hope some of this helps.

Cheers

Captain

We have just come back from a 3 and a half month trip, travelling with 2 children aged 12 and 9. We did the the trip in a 18ft 6 pop top caravan with an island bed and bunks at the front for the kids. We stayed in caravan parks about 1/2 the time and spent the rest using the free camps from the Camps 4 book which saved us a lot of money.
We don't have an on board shower/toilet but survived just fine with a porta-loo and a shower tent. We took our annexe with us and never even took it out of the front boot, although in your case if you are going to be working you will probably be in one place for longer periods than we were. The places where we stayed for a week or so were mainly in the hotter weather so just the awning was better than an annexe. We found that the size of the van was fine as was the storage space (still had free space when we arrived back home). When packing clothes we should have taken the advise of some friends and taken half what we thought and didn't. We ended up sticking half of it in post satchels and mailing it home! My advise now is pack light and if there is something you really need you have forgotten its probably something that wont cost a fortune so go and buy it.
We tend to spend a lot of time outdoors and do most of our cooking outside also.
We got the kids involved in the set up and pack up routines at every camp so that the job was done quickly and mum and dad felt like they got a holiday too and weren't stuck doing all the work. Just simple jobs like winding down the stabiliser legs, getting chairs out, helping put the pop top up, connecting the hose etc.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Happy to help if I can. This was a first big trip and a huge learning curve but a fantastic experience I am glad my kids had the chance to take part in.

We spent 6 month travelling around Australia a few years ago, and we had similar questions to you when we first started. Our kids were aged 6 and 3 then. This is what we ended up with:

We bought a second hand 80 series diesel Landcruiser and an old (but sound) 20 foot van. I installed batteries and a solar panel and inverter. The van had a shower. It had two bunks up front and a double at the back. I extended the double bed (I am tall) and made it so it could lift up, so there was more storage space under it. I bought an awning for it (annexe with no walls).

It all worked well. The diesel cruiser was slow but economical, had adequate power for most parts (coming from Tassie, we were surprised how flat the big island is) and we could cruise on 80-85 kph. The van travelled well, I checked tyre pressures before heading off every day. It was comfortable and was big enough for the time we spent away. Would not want anything smaller though. Because it was full size, we found that we could pull over by the side of the road and make a cuppa, have a break, watch the TV even if the kids wanted too.

The awning was a frame type (not a roll-out) and was a bit complicated to set up, but we used it whenever we could. We put the table and chairs outside and ate and lived out there. It would have been uncomfortable without the awning - extended our living space

We had intended to do a lot of free camping, but ended up in caravan parks most of the time. This gave the kids a chance to use the playgrounds and swimming pools and play with other kids, and us a chance to socialise (amazing how many other familys are going around in the same direction, you meet them time and time again at different parks). We did not use the shower as much as we thought we would, used the park facilities instead, so the shower bay was used for storage (surfboard, fishing rods etc).

I would suggest that you use the van for a few short trips before you go on your big trip. This gives you the opportunity to make changes before you commit yourselves. I found that we had to visit an engineering shop in Moree to get the front of the A frame replaced with stronger stuff. I have heard of others who have taken off on the big trip without doing a few shakedown cruises, and they had a few difficulties (well, a few more than we had).

We have still got the van, and we still use it regularly. We have a third child now, and I had to get creative and make an extra bed. The van is looking a bit tired now, needs a reseal. Have replaced the Landcruiser with a newer model. We had a great time on our trip, the kids loved it, we were sad when it all came to an end. All the best on your trip, take lots of photos.
Dave