Advice on a first trip

What route were you considering to go north? With kids those ages the coast would be very attractive during those months - especially north of Sydney and south of Bundaberg. The problem could be crowds during school holidays. There would be many great caravan parks with facilities for kids but you would need to book well ahead during holidays. Inland routes could get very hot by December. Once you get well north of Brisbane you will get into the humidity and rain of Wet Season from November and also as you go further north the beaches will not be suitable for swimming because of stingers.

From painful memory of our days travelling long distances with 3 kids in a Falcon I think you will be best to not plan many long days of driving! I suggest you plan for a shorter trip with longer stays in key locations so you and kids can explore a few places using a Caravan Park as a base and really enjoy the trip. This would be a great introduction to caravanning for the whole family and ensure everyone wants to go again. The main aim is to all have a wonderful time rather than just cover distance. It always looks easier on a map while you are at home planning a trip than it does on the ground in the heat! Lynne

Not too sure what a 585 Entice would weigh but I'd reckon it'd be a bit on the heavy side for a commodore. I think it's only good for about 1700kg.

The other thing it will be extremely unpleasant "Up North" at that time of the year, unless of course by "Up North" you mean somewhere around Northern NSW/Southern QLD.

Hi Tracey,

Welcome aboard! 3 to 4 months sounds a great trip.

A few thoughts - First, going north (far north) in the summer months isn't a good idea if you are used to southern temperatures and reasonable humidities. This topic was dealt with very thoroughly in a recent thread, no 98948 "How Mad are we ? Cairns to Darwin to Adelaide in January ?"

Second - This will be your first big trip in the van, so you really do have to get it right! I'd suggest that it will be very desirable to have some shorter trips to sort out issues before heading off on the big one.

Third - in selecting a van, it would be helpful to have some experience yourselves, but other people's is good too. I'd be spending some time walking around van parks and talking to the inmates. Most are friendly, will enjoy having an audience to show off their van to, and will be happy to tell you what's so good about it (few will tell you much about its downsides - that would be admitting to mistakes!). Another good option is to hire a likely van for a short trip to fine tune your wishlist and discover how your vehicle (and your selves) perform with a huge heavy load behind.

HTH

John

Hi Tracy,

My suggestion would be to rent a van for a long weekend and do a 3-4 shakedown trip to see if is really your thing to do. Committing to a 3-4 month first trip is a big thing and with 3 kids it MAY turn out to be a disaster.

As someone else said towing that van with a Commodore would be right on or over the limit.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.