Offroad camper

Hi Macca,Mark here from Ballina, same thing,had a 3dogs camper, got old, crook back, wanted to travel more & further, missus did not want to set up camp trailer each night, or pack down wet, bought a 2005 jayco dove outback, good gear, high clearance, tregg hitch, fridges & stoves inside for cold wet days, toured Tassie with 4 of us, 15mins up, 10mins down, made touring a pleasure.Like the crank down ones, still able to go bush onto small sites, but open up to fair size van. Much better in wet weather also, up off the ground, also heaps cooler in hot summers. Unlike all canvas camper, you can set the Jayco up in a hundred ways, depending how quick you want...........Hope you find this helpful....Mark

We (husband & wife + 2 small kids) started our 1997 round Oz trip in something similar to yours and lasted 4 weeks before we looked for something better.

Issues we had with the Cub Drifter (similar design & mechanics etc to Jayco) were:

1. Wet canvas on the bed was an issue.
2. Beds too small. Proximity to canvas o/head when sleeping saw massive build up of condensation.
3. Going to the loo in the middle of the night meant the person sleeping on the very outside of the beds had to climb over the other person to get in and out of bed.
4. Packing kitchen utensils etc up before moving off was an issue for us.
5. Never used the annex as there was too much to do to put it up.
6. Dust ingress around the door and fridge vent.
7. Packing/unpacking took too long for us.

We traded out of the Cub and into a Trak Shak and never looked back.

Now moved onto a TVan & not looking back.