caravan

Melbourne Caravan & Camping Leisurefest 2023

Having entered off of the Princes Highway and parking on the grass near that entrance there was a little bit of a walk to one of the gates and entrances. I think in the past I came in from Springvale Road. I paid for a ticket at the gate there is no difference in price between paying online or at the gate, and if you pay at the gate it’s one less site with your contact info.

I'm not really into caravanning, I'm more a curious observer from the borders of this oeuvre of adventuring. So my observances are from this perspective.

Wombat

There were several caravans with two single beds in them, with cupboard in between, which is an interesting solution to the problem of bedding in a caravan.

I'm not really a fan of the pop-top caravan, I feel that if I were out adventuring I wand a protective space from the outside, especially when sleeping.

It was nice to caravans with double beds, and a nice kitchen area plus bathroom, and several had a toilet and basin area and also a separate shower area. Others combined all this together, but I think day-to-day living that little bit of separation would really help with living within the caravan.

There's two main options on display the caravan and the motorhome. The latter built into a van or onto the back of a small truck. Both are a compromise and I'm not sure which one I would go for, were I in the market for one.

I can see the perspective for both, the van means you can go basically anywhere a van would go, and they're a lot more subtle than a caravan and a tow vehicle. But they're a lot more compromised in terms of space, power of the engine and things like that.

If I was going to buy one for myself, I think I would still go for a caravan, albeit a small one, much as in 2019 when I saw one then, I think I still like the Lumberjack Sheoak (Series II). The one I saw back then was the first generation one, but this is more updated one. It's also gone up in price by by 10 grand on that one to $31,990. 

It's got a sleeping area and then a separate kitchen area. 

It's still not totally perfect, at least for how I would use it, it still uses gas. I'd have an induction hotplate in there running off a battery system. I watched a few YouTube videos comparing gas vs induction as a camping option a while ago, and it made a very compelling argument for induction. If you've got solar panels on your camper, and a power station storage system or the like then it's basically free cooking fuel when the sun's out.

Ultimate Campers was the only one that I saw that had what appeared to be an induction system for cooking.

The Stockman Rover has a similar idea to the Lumberjack Sheoak, being a pod-style camper trailer. Their prices however are higher at a hair over $50,000.

I bought a bag of jam doughnuts, which were kinda disappointing. They were hot, freshly cooked but just lacking kinda.

Melbourne Leisurefest 2019

3rd October 2019

View from Public Entrance 3

In the past, travelling to Sandown Racecourse I've found it easier to approach from the Springvale Road end, but this time approached from the Corrigan Road side of the racecourse, which was a lot easier than negotiating Springvale Road.

Parking at the Leisurefest is free. Which is better than the 4x4 Expo at the Showgrounds where you were charged for parking at Flemington. 

I am, in general interested in this sort of outdoors. off roading sort of stuff. While I am more of the road tripping sort, than getting really off road and into the wilderness, I have on occasion gotten out there, and on those occasions a swag has done for me.

I am not all that interested in caravans from a purchasing point of view. I still find it all interesting from just seeing and learning.

The off road caravans more so than the traditional white box-style caravans. 

Road leading to the general caravan area, this is about as far as I walked.

With this in mind I did not explore much of the Winnebago / Jayco area of the Leisurefest, I looked in its general direct, got as far as the ARB pavilion and then went to get something to eat. It was quite a sea of white-topped caravans with air-con units and nothing really exciting. 

If you want a go most places off-road caravan, and have somewhere around the $55,000-$90,000 to spend there's plenty.

Families wise at around $90,000 you can fit three kids and two adults into a relatively well-sized caravan. It's actually kinda impressive that you can fit that much into the space, along with toilet, shower and a relatively well sized kitchen, plus a washing machine. Often the washing machine is hidden in the bathroom but I saw one or two where it's hidden in the kitchen. 

Differences in price between these caravans seems to trade quality of materials for price, and some size of appliances. 

For example in the Lagoon Caravans - Pasadena at the show for sale at $55,990, running my hand along the bench where the sink was, I could feel a little bit of unevenness on the bench top. 

Looking at others it seemed some plumb for a full sized oven, while others have a half to a quarter sized oven, so you might not be roasting a whole chicken in them, or if you are it's only the chicken and nothing else.

The Royal Flair caravans certainly had a more luxury feel to the inside of their bathrooms, a slightly nicer laminex than other caravans, wood-effect flooring, and in one of the caravans I looked in, which at first I thought didn't have a bed, the bed is actually raised above the dining area and then is raised/lowered on rails down. It's a nice way of cramming more in, but I'm not sure of its day-to-day practicality. I guess it depends what you want from the sleeping/living arrangements.

With most others which might be smaller, your partner could stay in bed while you get up, start on breakfast etc.

Inside the Melbourne Crusader Lifechanger "Connection" 19 Series

Inside most of the caravans I saw had bench seating mostly around a centre table that could be removed/lowered to make more bedding, but one the Melbourne Crusader Lifechanger "Connection" 19 Series had two swivel chairs, which was a refreshing change from all of the bench seating. I'm not sure how they cope with rough roads, but it's certainly a nicer piece of luxury than a bench seat.

What might be a new category in recent years I saw was the 'WRAP' caravan or the 'Toy Hauler'. This in some styles a compromised design and in others considerately thought out. These are caravans which have space inside to park your dirt bike, in the case of the Elite Caravans WRAP (Work Rest And Play) it's in a separated off part of the caravan, while in the Toy Hauler it is stored within the caravan. The trailblazers rv Toy Hauler however has two bunk beds in the space as well, so presumedly you store the dirt bike outside when you're sleeping, while with the WRAP it can be stored inside.

If I was going to buy something to tow it would be a camper trailer, as I think that offers the best compromise between having somewhere secure to sleep and being able to go anywhere. 

I quite like the Tvan camper trailers, the one I had a good look around at the Track Trailer area at the Leisurefest is not cheap at $79,680. Based on some of the other caravans I saw wandering around that seems like a lot of money for a very small amount of camper trailer. 

It is very solidly built, and looks like it would go absolutely anywhere and survive getting there. I feel like this is the sort of camper trailer you buy when you've lifted your 4x4 and upgraded the suspension and things like that.

Track Trailer Mate

Also for sale from Track Trailer was the Mate, a trailer with an interesting and compact design. It's a pretty low trailer with a pop-up tent on top. But the benefits are that it's significantly lighter than the Tvan about 500kg lighter.

There was one teardrop caravan on show. It's a very cute, cool design. I think this would be great as a classic car / small car road tripping caravan. It's 550kg, so most small vehicles that can tow should be able to tow this, it's very cool looking. But you'll be making a few (okay a lot) of compromises. There's no where to sit, no where to shower and no toilet, so look forward to caravan parks, and no going anywhere beyond a dirt road as this doesn't have the ground clearance. 

Another interesting design was Aussie Campers Simpson X at $17,990. Interesting as like the Track Trailer Mate the sleeping area as above the camper trailer, reached by a ladder. Looking around this one, there was something I didn't really like about it. It's a very functional design, very practical, but all of that caged area was a little...I dunno. It's a very practically designed trailer, but not much on the aesthetics. 

The Lumberjack Camper Trailers area I sort of came across by accident. 

It has a certainly intriguing camper trailer in the Sheoak. 

This camper trailer is about the closest I've seen to something I would actually consider buying. 

It's got a fully enclosed queen-sized mattress and a small kitchen at the back of the camper trailer. 

It's also not incredibly expensive coming in at $21,999.

It doesn't have the big slide out kitchen of the Tvan, nor the fridge or any of the other fancy bits and pieces which that has. In fact in comparison to the Tvan trailers it's quite sparse.

Lumberjack Sheoak

But the sleeping area is completely contained, which unlike the Tvan which is open at the end is a positive. 

It's a positive in my eyes at least, as sleeping out in the great outdoors, especially off the beaten track, having a solid something in between me and said outdoors would be a great thing.

Like all these sorts of shows there's an inside area with people from various tourism groups along with tat merchants that seem to flock to these sorts of shows to flog whatever it is that might be vaguely related to the subject of outdoors. Some things like one flogging double glazing I'm not sure how they're related to caravanning and the outdoors. 

Finally I also noticed a lot of tags hanging around in the inside of caravans, often the more expensive ones for financing your caravan. A lot of them seemed to be 30%-40% deposit and then a pay offs on a per-week statement of around $150-$250. The ones from Stratton Finance and NLF were at 6.99% p.a. over 84 months (7 years). I don't know why they listed it in months instead of years, maybe 84 months doesn't sound as intimidating a figure as 7 years.

Melbourne Leisurefest 2014

Today (Thursday 2nd October 2014), reprising my visit from last year

I went to the Melbourne Leisurefest 2014 at Sandown Racecourse, Springvale.

It’s still on until Sunday 4th October 2014.

Things to note immediately, no boom gates on Springvale Road. It’s evident from this statement that I’ve not been up Springvale Road in some time, mostly when I’ve needed to go near that neck of the woods it’s been via the Princes Highway or the Monash Freeway and haven’t actually needed to go into that area for a year or so.

This is notable only when driving to Sandown Racecourse from the south, as I was, and used to being able to turn down Sandown Road to get to Sandown Racecourse, which I don’t think you can do any more. There used to be two places to turn right at the boom gates. One before the train line which would take you down Lightwood Road and another, just over the train line which took you down Sandown Road.

Now to get to Sandown Racecourse for the Melbourne Leisurefest (and I imagine other things held there) you need to go up to Virginia Street (there is a sign on Springvale Road indicating where to turn right) which then becomes Bird Street.

As I noted last year Bird Street doesn’t quite meet Racecourse Drive smoothly, there’s a dirt gap. This isn’t a problem for anyone with a 4x4. I would suggest anyone going who is driving in something that sits lower to the ground to enter Sandown Racecourse from the Princes Highway.

I didn’t really go with any plans to buy anything or to sort anything out at the show this time, unlike last year. Although I did go and see the guys at MGL Sat concerning a satellite phone I’ve had ordered with them, who said it would take 6-8 weeks, which has blown out to 10 weeks. He assures me that it will be in soon.

This time I did take some time to have a look at caravans, which I have little interest in ever purchasing. But have some interest in a general sense.

Big Red Caravan

You can get a caravan, which is nicely kitted out with I think a queen sized bed, kitchen and bathroom with shower, toilet and oddly small washing machine for about $75,000. This one from New Age Caravans, the Big Red range caught my eye in part because I could actually go inside and have a wander (some other exhibitors had theirs fenced off so you could only go to the door). But mostly because they had some red and black matting down and their caravans weren’t the bog standard white.

Big Red Washing Machine

I actually really dislike the white caravans, the white caravans are the ones you see clogging up the road and making every driver’s life miserable because they’re big, hard to over take and people who have white caravans seem to drive slower than anyone else with differently coloured caravans.

The small washing machine I thought was the most notable thing in the Big Red caravan, it’s an odd touch that I’d not seen in others. It’s certainly a nice touch, I can see how that would be useful to have when you’re off travelling rather than having a washing machine maybe outside of the caravan or having to wash clothes in the sink or maybe at the caravan park / laundromat.

I also saw one of the worst designed caravans, I don’t recall which one, just that it was one of the ones that was fenced off so I couldn’t have a good look around inside. The people there were very prevalent and while some people were unhooking the plastic fencing so they could have a look the staff would rush in and fence it back up.

These caravans (or rather the one I had a look at) had a bed area and a kitchen area...they also had a toilet and shower. Although not a bathroom area.

The toilet was separated from the entrance to the caravan by a waist high partition, with the shower (more like a garden hose) above the toilet. This incidentally was in the kitchen area directly opposite the oven.

I don’t know how much the caravan was, but were I in the market for a caravan it wouldn’t be this one.

I think I would rather shit in the bushes that opposite my cooking / food preparation area.

Van Cruiser Customline

The other caravan that I had a significant look inside was the Van Cruiser Customline Dirt Road caravan, which they had on sale for $57,490. For this you got a caravan that could go on dirt tracks, and an ensuite, bed, and kitchen / eating area.

This caravan also was black and orange, or to put it another way not another white box.

I think this one would be a better caravan than the Big Red, I think the Big Red is larger, but would it really be worth the $20k more?

I don’t really know, I’m more a swag sort of person, the travel, the journey is what is important rather than the arriving and setting up home, so my requirements are rather different. I would rather not be tethered to towing something, so anything I’m going to sleep in needs to fit in the back of my ute.

One notable thing I did find looking at various caravans was the bathroom sink. It was porcelain. Why that’s notable is the toilets were often plastic, the floor is vinyl, the cupboards chipboard with a wood laminate on them. Everything on a caravan is a choice made to keep the weight down. Yet, the bathroom sink is porcelain. That doesn’t make sense to me, why not have a stainless steel sink or even a plastic sink? You could still have a nice looking sink but save some weight. Those sinks are at least a kilogram or two.

The 4x4 area of the Leisurefest was represented by large ARB and Ironman 4x4 marquees, a slightly smaller Battery World presence and similar sized Opposite Lock marquee.

In this area there was also a small marquee that was dealing with GPSs and radios, which I did somewhat want to ask the guy there something about CB radios. But there was already an older guy standing there asking some questions. He was also loudly (audibly, even against the wind) eating some hot chips. Munching, chewing and generally sounding like a cow munching on grass. The guy running the stall seemed pained by it. I couldn’t abide it so left them to it, but when I came back they were being interviewed by the roving camera crew, they didn’t seem like they were from a TV station, but were obviously documenting the Leisurefest. It wasn’t a huge thing I wanted information about, I can find it just as easily online, but I thought while I was there I might quiz them. Munching chip man irritated me though. If you want to ask lots of questions about something surely you’d wait until you’ve eaten your hot chips before doing so, or maybe go and ask your questions before you stuff your face hole with hot chips. Just a thought.

I went for a quick wonder through the undercover areas, which were mostly ‘market’ style stalls. They were all camping and outdoor related but also had their air of a Sunday market sort of stuff, nothing really unique there, a lot of it had the air of ‘cheap’ to it. I’m sure there was a bargain to be had there, but there was nothing that immediately grabbed me and made me want to buy. With the small exception of the rope stall, but then I remembered that why my associates have utes with a tray that offers lots of tie points for rope when carrying stuff. I have a ute with a tub, and have two tie down points inside the tub. Straps, rather than ropes have thus far proved a better way to secure things when needed within the tub, so rope would only be of secondary use.

Continuing through the Racecourse’s area I didn’t walk out into the tent area very much. Tents wise, regarding the big canvas tents I don’t really have an interest in I have a swag, and that’s really enough for me. A rest stop for the night rather than a base camp. So the tents don’t really interest me all that much.

However in amongst the tents were a few things that did interest me.

The Pod Trailer was an interesting design. If I ever needed more storage space when going off road this is something I would consider. I doubt I’d ever buy one. But it’s a well designed product.

Track Trailer Tvan

I didn’t look at many camper trailers, which I do like the general design of. A bit more than a tent, a lot less than a caravan. Good for off road. One caught my eye while I was wandering around. The Track Trailer Tvan It looked different, futuristic even. Like someone had redesigned one of those little teardrop caravans with a ruler.

Pod Trailer

I did have a look inside this one. It looks capable, comfortable and useful. It certainly looks like you can pack a lot in once the tent portion of it is folded away. There appears to still be space for other things. It also looks solidly built.

Finally, on the way out I passed by some motorhomes. There was a nice 1960s Volkswagen Campervan that had been completely restored. But aside from that they’re all practical, but boring. At least with a with a caravan you can unhitch it and drive into town, or go off-roading and then return to your house on wheels.

Campervans

Campervans just make you compromise every which way. They’re smaller than a caravan and therefore have less features. They’re bigger than a car being based on a van so they’re not as good on the road. Plus they’re a campervan. Which means you can only use it as a campervan. At least with a caravan you have a regular 4x4 or ute when you’re not towing your caravan. You can use your vehicle for non-travelling related things. With a campervan it’s a single-use vehicle.