Now we are visiting Australia , i thought i would have a look in at the dealers , a lot seem to be twin axles with the spare wheel at the rear and the gas cylinders on the front A frame leaving more room in t<a href="http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk128/joecroft2/australia/?action=view¤t=008-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk128/joecroft2/australia/008-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>he front locker , some have a ball weight up to 195 KG
Australian caravans
- Thread starter joeby
- Start date
i made a bit of a hash at the last 2 postings , We went to watsons caravans today to have a look around , www,watsonscaravans.co.au , we had a look at Jayco range which seem to be the biggest manufacturer , they were just under 2 ton unladen and nearer 2.4 ton laden , they seem a lot more solid than our vans , they have the spare wheel on the rear , and the gas cylinders mounted on the A frame , with a ball weight up to 195 Kg , quite a few have an automatic washing machine in the rear bathroom , most are air conditioned , steps are all built in folding , they were really nice inside every thing looked built to last , sorry about the photo's i had the laptop serviced before i came away and some things dont seem to be working right , by the way its been raining here for the last 2 days , allthough its warm rain is doesent seem to matter if you get wet
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71945/5186653410/" title="003front view by joepics2009, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5186653410_1bf81d31af.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="003front view " /></a>
front view of ozzy van
front view of ozzy van
om/photos/src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5186653410_1bf81d31af.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="003front view " /></a>
rear view with spare wheel on back , there is also a spare wheel in the A frame
rear view with spare wheel on back , there is also a spare wheel in the A frame
src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5186653410_1bf81d31af.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="003front view " /></a>
front view of ozzy van
front view of ozzy van
5/5186653410src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5186653410_1bf81d31af.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="003front view " /></a>
Hi Joe
Have you bought the van? It looks really nice, I particularly like the kitchen area.
Incidentially, did you know that I was able to view all the photos in your account? Just thought I'd mention it, incase you wern't aware of that.
Lisa
Have you bought the van? It looks really nice, I particularly like the kitchen area.
Incidentially, did you know that I was able to view all the photos in your account? Just thought I'd mention it, incase you wern't aware of that.
Lisa
no i havent bought a van , we are just here on holiday , we were just browsing , and i noticed the spare wheel and the gas bottle on the front and the spare wheel on the rear , all the things frowned upon by Uk caravanners , yes i did notice u could see some of the photo's and i went into the privacy settings ,but i couldnt see any way of making the rest private , but they are just family photo's with nothing to hide so i cant see that it matters , but thanks for bringing it to my attention Lisa.
Joe C
Joe C
My brother in law lives in Melbourne, his caravan is around the 2.5 weight. He has air con, 2 onboard water tanks and a solar panel on the roof. He also has larger wheels, for rough terrain - and Crocs! The Aussie vans don't seem to have very large living areas but his sleeping area is quite large.
As they are more or less built to order you can say how you want the layout to be.
Have a fab holiday.
As they are more or less built to order you can say how you want the layout to be.
Have a fab holiday.
Mel
Moderator
Wow, they look lovely. Very solid looking. What sort of weight are they. Btw it is cold and damp and foggy here, so enjoy the warm rain!
mel
mel
the twin axle vans have car leaf spring suspension , most are around 2 ton empty , and they are twice the cost of ours , expect to pay around 60000 dollars , the diesel is £00.80 per litre , and beautiful roomy houses are a lot cheaper than the UK , but every thing else seems to be more expensive , probably due to our weak pound
Just got back from Australia 2 weeks ago and agree their vans are impresive and a lot more solid. I did notice as well that they have a lot of pop top vans. Noticed an add in a local paper for a caravan dealers clearance sale and there was a t/a Adria for $60,000 ex display , with the exchange rate of $1.64 to £1.
Overal a lovelly country but very expensive , even allowing for the rise in value of the aus dollar it is still expensive by our standards.
Overal a lovelly country but very expensive , even allowing for the rise in value of the aus dollar it is still expensive by our standards.
Hi Delt1c , i also saw signs in shops advertising things at 30% off and they were still a lot more expensive than UK , my grandsons wife is Australian and she had 3 fillings to her teeth at a cost of 650 dollars just over £400.00 , i still could quite easily retire here though all i have worn in the last 2 weeks is a T shirt and shorts , but at my age you can only get a visa for 4 years then you have to re-apply, not like the UK where any body seems to walk in
I've never been to Oz but just the thought of 40c heat would put me off.
My wifes friend is a true blue Australian. Well her father was a NZ Maori, but she was born there
She has been to stay with us five times now and her daughter said if it wasn't for her hubby she would move to the UK. She hates the heat and when I mentioned the home and car air conditioning she said 'yes that's ok but you've got to get out of the house or car some bloody time'.
Each time she came she would bring three cases, one inside the other. When here she would buy new clothes to take back and the clothes she came in we'd have to post back to her. They live in NSW but we have friends who emigrated back about 1970. They live in Perth where it's not so humid and they said they would never come back. They visited us last year and I couldn't help thinking that it was probably the last time we will see them now we are all getting older
Despite the fact of them offering to pay our fares from Sydney to Perth if we ever visit Pamela that isn't enough to entice me to spend 20 hours plus in a flying coffin
I always believe in the saying 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence' where other peoples circumstances are seen to be more desireable than one's own but more often than not they aren't.
This is where I know that waking up every morning knowing it's going to be another 40c scorcher with droughts and bush fires puts me off.
My wifes friend is a true blue Australian. Well her father was a NZ Maori, but she was born there
She has been to stay with us five times now and her daughter said if it wasn't for her hubby she would move to the UK. She hates the heat and when I mentioned the home and car air conditioning she said 'yes that's ok but you've got to get out of the house or car some bloody time'.
Each time she came she would bring three cases, one inside the other. When here she would buy new clothes to take back and the clothes she came in we'd have to post back to her. They live in NSW but we have friends who emigrated back about 1970. They live in Perth where it's not so humid and they said they would never come back. They visited us last year and I couldn't help thinking that it was probably the last time we will see them now we are all getting older
I always believe in the saying 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence' where other peoples circumstances are seen to be more desireable than one's own but more often than not they aren't.
This is where I know that waking up every morning knowing it's going to be another 40c scorcher with droughts and bush fires puts me off.
40 degrees, I wish. I arrived in Sydney at 7am on 1st October to 15 degrees and lashing rain, during my stay in NSW the weather remained chilly and wet only twice getting above 20 and even then got tropical storms in the afternoon, on 1 occasion it rained non stop for 4 days. Best weather was when I visited darwin it was 35 but bareable.
The flight doesnt have to be to bad, I flew Singapore airlines and took advantage of their Singapore stop over deal so had a night in Singapore.
Loved Australia but still love the UK and my caravan. As an example of prices 6 x 330ml bottles of lager $16, as a treat I bought 4 500ml bottles of English Ale cost $32, exchange rate $1.65 to the pound, when you go out for a good drink the only thing that gets a hangover is your wallet. All in though a great place and people are fantastic.
The flight doesnt have to be to bad, I flew Singapore airlines and took advantage of their Singapore stop over deal so had a night in Singapore.
Loved Australia but still love the UK and my caravan. As an example of prices 6 x 330ml bottles of lager $16, as a treat I bought 4 500ml bottles of English Ale cost $32, exchange rate $1.65 to the pound, when you go out for a good drink the only thing that gets a hangover is your wallet. All in though a great place and people are fantastic.
Delt1c said:
It often rains non stop here for 4 days and if we had 15c in February I wouldn't mind. I could suffer those winter temperatures
Jayco Aussie caravans are much the same as many Amerrican builds, probably based on a direct rip off US styling and build. Even 'Hauler' trailers is US style. From what we learned from Aussie friends and family a lot are used by working people who move around or do seasonal work and due to distances they tend to go A to B and stay rather for a while rather than tour as many do in UK and Europe using multiple sites.
UK companies such as Dudleys Motorhomes near Witney seem to have similar style US caravans at times and there are at least a couple of Southern UK hire companies who use similar style US built caravans for film and TV company hire. Tow vehicles are often trucks or very large US pickups with huge twin wheels on either side of the rear axle and 7litre plus engines.
One pulling a huge caravan pulled up alongside of us recently near Hangar Lane on the way to Wembley we could hear the rumble of the huge engine and exhaust over the traffic noise. It must have burned a gallon of unleaded waiting for the lights to change
UK companies such as Dudleys Motorhomes near Witney seem to have similar style US caravans at times and there are at least a couple of Southern UK hire companies who use similar style US built caravans for film and TV company hire. Tow vehicles are often trucks or very large US pickups with huge twin wheels on either side of the rear axle and 7litre plus engines.
One pulling a huge caravan pulled up alongside of us recently near Hangar Lane on the way to Wembley we could hear the rumble of the huge engine and exhaust over the traffic noise. It must have burned a gallon of unleaded waiting for the lights to change
G'day All,
Here in Oz we have around 80,000 RV,s (caravans, motorhomes, campers) on our roads at any one time and Jayco have the biggest slice of the market. The Jayco factory churns their caravans out in the 100,s each week and consequently the quality of workmanship does not have a very good reputation. They are a budget priced van for a large and rapidly growing market.
cheers
diesel99
Here in Oz we have around 80,000 RV,s (caravans, motorhomes, campers) on our roads at any one time and Jayco have the biggest slice of the market. The Jayco factory churns their caravans out in the 100,s each week and consequently the quality of workmanship does not have a very good reputation. They are a budget priced van for a large and rapidly growing market.
cheers
diesel99
Hi,
My son lives in Brisbane. His boss set off into the Outback in a 4x4 towing an OFF ROAD caravan. Broke his leg, came home by air ambulance. It took his wife three days to drive back.
Son got three months temporary promotion.
602
My son lives in Brisbane. His boss set off into the Outback in a 4x4 towing an OFF ROAD caravan. Broke his leg, came home by air ambulance. It took his wife three days to drive back.
Son got three months temporary promotion.
602
G'day 602,
We certainly have some long treks between waterholes over here. A couple of years back we towed our van from Western Australia through to the Northern Territory on what is called The Great Central Road - approximately 1100 kms of some of the most bone jarring corrugated dirt road you could find anywhere on the planet. During the 5 day trip we saw only 7 other mobile vehicles and probably somewhere in the vicinity of 500 wrecked vehicles - it's not the sort of place to have problems.
When I work out how to post photos, I will slip a few in every now and then.
cheers
diesel
We certainly have some long treks between waterholes over here. A couple of years back we towed our van from Western Australia through to the Northern Territory on what is called The Great Central Road - approximately 1100 kms of some of the most bone jarring corrugated dirt road you could find anywhere on the planet. During the 5 day trip we saw only 7 other mobile vehicles and probably somewhere in the vicinity of 500 wrecked vehicles - it's not the sort of place to have problems.
When I work out how to post photos, I will slip a few in every now and then.
cheers
diesel
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