travellingbennetts

A planned long weekend away with son Tim and grandkids at Dubbo Zoo back in August had us (well me to be honest!) considering how we get there…ride on roads we had been on many times and in the cold and likely wet conditions – nah.  Drive the mid-size SUV and stay at motels, a tad ho-hum.  How about hiring a van and having a brand-new experience – hell yeah!

I must admit a certain fascination for vanning and in our travels earlier in the year out to Central Australia we came across the whole myriad of van set-ups – from dinky to behemoth.  The vanning folk who Duncan rudely calls “Gomads” (Grey Nomads) seemed to be having a ball of a time, and apart from somewhat disturbing matching BCF long sleeve shirts in colours that damage the retina I can see the attraction in this form of travel.

So I stumbled upon a handy website called Camplify where people who own caravans, campervans and camper trailers hire them out to the general public when not using them.  We were constrained by a towing capacity weight of 1800kg for my SUV but was able to find one in the next suburb to us that fit the bill.  It was a Jayco Swift pop-top van with included electric braking system – which we had no idea was even necessary!

I did a visit to the friendly owner Warren prior and we tested out the set-up with my finicky German SUV that had never towed anything bigger than a box trailer – a big tick, everything worked as it should.

The exciting (for me) day arrived and we headed over to Warren’s place to collect the van, he gave us a thorough orientation of the erection process which we hoped to be able to recall that evening at Narrabri. Are there any written instruction Warren? He looked at us as though only a simpleton could even think of instructions – this is caravanning, apparently the only way to learn is to make an idiot of yourself in full view of everyone in a van park. Do we need the side mirror extensions Warren? Well legally yes you do, but most don’t use them otherwise they might suffer pangs of conscience when they see the line of 1,000 cars and motorcycles they are holding up.

Hitching it up we rolled southward through Toowoomba outskirts with me taking the first shift of driving.  Must say that it was much easier than I had imagined and was able to sit at the speed limit easily, it was only a light van.

A picnic lunch at Milmerran and Duncan took his first shift at the wheel, I think he too was impressed with the ease of towing and we were soon passing large trucks while motoring on listening to our podcast downloads alternating between true crime and adventure riding selections.

One thing I did notice was the fuel gauge was dipping faster than usual, I normally get over 1,000km from a tank of diesel, but it was looking like a refuel was needed before our overnight stop so we pulled into Moree for our first big-rig fueling adventure.  No issues at all and we didn’t wipe out any small hatchbacks or fuel pumps in the experience. Felt sorry for the true big rigs who had an enormous van and a monster diesel RAM to tow it, not cheap these days.

Heading into Narrabri for our planned overnight stay at the Big Sky Caravan Park, I had us in a drive through site due to our lack of van reversing experience.  The instructions for erection remembered well enough we were soon seated on our camp chairs with a white wine, beer and nibblies giving ourselves high-fives.  Later on at the camp kitchen while cooking our steaks our neighbouring van folk were told it was our very first ever night in a caravan so a round of applause was in order.

Great conversations around the very clean and well-appointed camp kitchen were had and we retired at a decent hour to the van where we watched a movie on the laptop with surprisingly good wifi.  A comfortable night’s sleep followed with a distinct advantage of the van being able to breakfast in the well-appointed little kitchen while still in our night attire.

Day 2 started with a wander up to the main street for a coffee while allowing the van to dry off before it was de-erected.  I love country town cafes, they often have a more true sense of service and authenticity than pretentious city coffee shops that often try too hard to be obnoxiously cool.

Getting back and packed up and we were on the road again, we had tried to time our Dubbo arrival to coincide with son Tim coming from Nowra, and we aced this.  He called us as we came into town and then said oh I see you coming towards me – the benefits of a van!

We were all ready for lunch and after finding a street park suitable for a van that would not need reversing out of, we hit the Dubbo RSL for a nice lunch and catch up.

Post lunch was heading to the Dubbo Zoo where we had a nights accommodation booked in the Zoofari experience (not in the van). We were early to book in so a drive around the zoo was in order, this gave us a good lay of the land so to speak as we had hire bikes for the following day.

Our Dubbo Zoo experience was just amazing, and all I can say is “do yourself a favour” and experience it.  For the little and big people in our group it was a fun couple of days, with evening and early morning safaris and then the bike hire to ride around at our leisure.  We said goodbye to Tim and kids on Sunday afternoon and while he headed back to Nowra, we headed to our overnight van stop in Dubbo at the NRMA Caravan Park.  But first an interesting trip to the Old Dubbo Gaol which was a quality tourist experience.

Our van site for the night was an ensuite site which was very handy and we were early enough into the park to witness some truly expert van reversing by the later arrivals – these people could be in the van Olympics they were so skilled. At the other end of the spectrum there are always the “learning without structured training” people, one must have made 87 attempts to get the camper trailer straight before accepting a wonky line was a better result than giving the rest of the park something to watch while sipping their chardie.

A wander over the bridge into town and we found a busy spot for a nice meal and then back to the van for another night in our little piece of van heaven.  It was a very cold night, but we were cosy and suddenly it was morning and another stroll for a nice coffee across the road while the van dried enough to pack it up.  Hmmm I could get used to this, just need a small yappy dog perhaps!

Our second last vanning day saw us heading north to Armidale, and we drove some bad quality roads due to recent wet weather, but we motored onwards and early afternoon found our overnight stay at Armidale Tourist Park.  Another ensuite site awaited us and a very quick erection of the van – practice makes perfect – and we had a seat with a cooling beverage in the afternoon sun to celebrate our last van night.

Walking up to the town was about 2km but we found an interesting bookshop and a quirky pub for a drink before heading back to the van for a hearty soup dinner and an early night.

Our final day saw us heading up the picturesque Waterfall Way in a light drizzle to Ebor for a coffee stop and then via the northern rivers area to the Pacific Motorway and a final refuel at Murwillumbah and the awful traffic after heading into QLD to a reunion with van owner Warren at the appointed time.

So, would we do it again?  Cindy says YES – Duncan, hmmm maybe….

It was an interesting way to travel, but not necessarily cost effective compared to our usual mode of motorcycle and motel.  The van was $49 per day hire plus a van site of up to $50 a night for an ensuite one and the extra diesel used in the SUV makes it slightly more expensive, but the self-catering option does makes it convenient. Another thing that took a bit of getting used to is that town centres are generally off-limits, with nowhere convenient to park. It does take a fair walk for the pleasant morning ritual of trendy cafe and coffee in the main street as van parks are rarely near the middle of the town, so this can sort-of put van people into their own fringe community.

Maybe next time a campervan or a Toy Hauler (shhhh don’t tell Duncan!)