Vehicles

I’ve made excellent use of our handheld vacuum cleaner from Bunnings. It’s a Ryobi tool.

We have other some of the Ryobi 18V One+ tools, currently in storage. We also have the small Ryobi chainsaw for cutting campfire wood, two batteries and the charging system. We’ve been impressed with each tool and the length of the time the charged batteries last. So, Ryobi was the obvious choice.

After travelling on graded roads, Hetty the Ranger, always gathers a fine layer of dust inside and out, despite our big improvements in the tray tub. Huberto the Caravan gets dusty too simply by being lived in.

A dustpan and brush set is good, but only picks up so much and sometimes there are hard to reach places. Or occasionally, we spill tea leaves or other dried goods and the Ryobi vacuum really comes into its own.

It is mighty powerful for a small vacuum and has helped us clean sofa, clear up crumbs in corners and suck dust out of window frames.

I’d highly recommend the Ryobi tools, in particular the handheld vacuum for fellow travellers.

Months ago, we bought an induction hob. The windy weather of Western Australia meant that gas often did not work efficiently outdoors.

Feeling like we were wasting precious resources, and that we have been in caravan parks more than expected due to work needs, we concluded an electric induction hob would be an investment.

After all, why not use the power available at the caravan park when you are paying for it?

A single, mobile hob is not that expensive starting from about $55, like Kmart’s Anko induction hob which we bought.

It’s been a brilliant success.

And so, I started considering an inverter to use up some of the power we store in our battery system while we are off grid as well.

So, I got back in touch with Nick Junior from North Coast Auto and Marine Electrics for advice and a quote. With clear explanations and detailed costs we initially declined – this appeared a lot of money for upgrading a $55 hob!

However, when we had a wee, unexpected, financial windfall we succumbed to the appeal of installing an inverter into the caravan.

We respected Nick for his honesty on costs to connect the inverter to the 240V power points in the caravan. He couldn’t predict if it would be a couple of hundred dollars or more than a thousand. He’d need to contract that bit of the job out to another electrician and with each caravan set up differently they wouldn’t know how much work would be required until they started on the job. So, we agreed to supply the extension and/or power bank to be plugged directly into the inverter.

Nick and his team quickly and efficiently made our idea a reality. A 2500W All Sparks Inverter was connected to the battery under the bed and a hole drilled to allow the cable to be pulled out and tucked away easily when required.

And now we can use the induction hob every day to boil the kettle for our tea, washing dishes and of course for much of our stove top cooking. Because the Anko hob is lightweight and fairly small, we can use it indoors or out – weather and time of day dependant.

I’ll update you on how much gas we save in the months to come.

The Victron app we already had, to monitor the state of the battery, enables us to see how much power is available before and after using the hob. This helps us manage the complete system without damaging anything.

Very pleased once again with the support and quality of workmanship from North Coast Auto and Marine Electrics.

Sounds like an old-style western movie title doesn’t it? In my version, ‘The Good’ is our old solar blanket we’d kept in storage in Scotland for 5 years. ‘The Bad’ was the difficulty moving the new fridge/freezer in and out of the back seat each time we stopped. And ‘The Ugly’ is why didn’t we recall better how we had our last mobile fridge and solar battery system running?

So here is the story so far…..

Back in July, in Geraldton, we realised the little icebox in the caravan fridge was not going to be enough for our travels into remote areas further north. So, we researched and bought a mobile fridge/freezer at Boating Camping Fishing. It’s an XTM 45 litre 12/240V unit that can be set as either a fridge or as a freezer. It was the freezer ability we wanted initially and planned to run it off the car when travelling and off the caravan solar when stationary (read about this below under blog post ‘Solar’). A good price for BCF members at a shade under $500.

The unit itself worked brilliantly in the heat of The Pilbara. What we were finding onerous and challenging was manhandling it, fully laden, between the back seat of the car where we could easily plug it into 12V and the caravan power socket. Hubby did his back in at one point and this highlighted our need for a better system as I struggled to lift the fridge high enough into the Ranger.

We took note of how fellow campers had set up their mobile fridges and on return to Perth Metro, a friend who’s good with his hands recycled a plastic trolley to fit the fridge and act as a sliding drawer in the Ranger’s tray. Fridge to connect to the 12V outlet in the back corner of the tray and to be more easily lifted out to the caravan.

Only, then we couldn’t close the tray lid! But at least we decided the tray was an easier location for the fridge to travel in until accessing the 12V outlet at the rear of the tray proved very awkward.

So, we chatted with a staff member at Adventure 4x4 in Rockingham. Yes, they could sort us out with a lithium battery in the ute tray, connected to the engine alternator and install a slide for easy access. The fridge could live in the tray permanently. When the quote came in we swallowed hard! How much? Too much for us!

We tried hard to recall how we had run our previous WAECO fridge/freezer when camping with a car and tiny tent. We’d had our trusty Ridge Ryder 100W solar blanket and we had a heavy lead battery. It was simple.

But now, all the auto electricians we talked to said modern cars wouldn’t do what we thought we’d done by charging the battery from the car and/or blanket. A big part of the expense was wiring the battery to the car but our previous set up wasn’t ‘wired in.’ Mmmh!

We found a much cheaper solution – an extension 12V 5m cable so we could leave the fridge in the tray when stationary, running off the caravan. At less than $50 from SuperCheapAuto, it was a winner! Plan was to leave the fridge with the van if we went out for the day.

Luckily, we visited another friend and he showed us his mobile fridge set up. That was it! If only we’d asked him earlier! A solar blanket attached to a battery in a battery box and connected to the fridge.

We bought a Giantz lithium 100Ah battery via Woolworth’s online sales deals and a Dune 4WD powered battery box from Anaconda. The box has an inbuilt voltmeter so we can read the battery charge and an overload protection system. It comes with 2  Anderson style plugs, 2 USB sockets and a 12V accessory socket. A good buy at Anaconda membership prices.

After a bit of brainstorming we decided to keep the fridge in the back seat for now as accessing the car’s 12V plug was easier than the one in the rear of the tray.  Down the line we may upgrade the fridge cable connector to an Anderson plug, yet to be decided.

The battery sits in the footwell behind the passenger seat. With the car window down a margin, the solar blanket cable connects up to the battery and the blanket rests on the bonnet or windscreen for best angle or can be moved around the ground if necessary.

Cold drinks or frozen food once again easily accessed and limited lifting required. Successful upgrade achieved!

Jarrahdene Campground in the Margaret River Region is a fabulous spot, deep in the Boranup Forest. Except for your solar off grid system!

The lovely shade provided by the tree’s canopy gave us relief from the scorching sun but only a small window of full sunshine on the caravan’s solar roof panels. We discovered our battery was now using slightly more energy daily than it could top up on.

Luckily, we had an additional mobile panel skilfully put together for us by that well-experienced caravanner who created his own solar system for living off-grid I mentioned in my earlier ‘Solar’ blog below.

It’s a 100W light weight panel bought off the internet, set into a slim aluminium frame with a nifty, expandable, rod leg that attaches to the frame allowing adjustable angles to face the sun. There’s a MaxRay intelligent solar controller and quality Anderson plugs attached with good quality thick cabling which reduces energy loss.

This then attaches to the caravan A-Frame Anderson plug which acts as a two-way connection to the battery for both input and output as set up by the marvellous North Coast Auto and Marine Electrics (again read more about them and our system in my ‘Solar’ blog below).

Relaxing in the forest when not out sightseeing, we were able to move the mobile panel into the pools of sunlight that continually jumped around as the sun slid across the sky and shone through the breeze-swaying treetops.

Keeping an eye on the battery levels we were now breaking even and feeling safer for our freezer full of food and the battery itself. Shade and solar – a winning mixture for a relaxing stay!

After a few hundred kilometres on Australia’s unsealed, graded roads we have certainly discovered that the tray tub at the back of our Ford Ranger is nowhere near sealed either.

We’ve been on these types of roads before and expected some dust to get in but the thick layer close to the tray door and the fine spread right through to the back is most unwelcome. Everything, but everything, is covered in dust and that means we get covered in it too.

Hubby spoke to a few fellow Ford Ranger 3.2 owners in the caravan parks. Everyone agreed the tray door seals were useless, regardless of the type of lid, tonneau or sliding top they had. Why create a 4WD vehicle and not ensure a reasonable seal?

One gentleman showed us his attempt at reducing dust entering. He had gone to Clark Rubber and bought some extra rubber with a sticky strip and had made some improvements using this. He had laughed, but liked, our ‘Heath Robinson’[AD1]  temporary fix of a bedsheet covering items and tucked in under things closest to the tray door. It only helped a tiny bit – we still had to carefully remove the sheet and shake it out, even then, items still had a fine pink dusting on them.

A trip into Carnarvon and the Home Hardware Store got us some of the ‘magic’ sticky sided rubber. It was a big job to empty the tray, dust everything clean, brush and wipe out as much of the powdery fine dust as we could and wash down areas to be sealed.

The easiest way to identify where these sealing areas were, was for little old me to climb in and have the tray door and lid closed. That way I could see where the light was seeping in. This is where the road dust has been entering.

Having carefully stuck on the rubber, filling as many gaps as we could, it was time to repack the tray.

Would this work? Would we seriously reduce dust intake? Only one way to find out! Leaving Gascoyne Junction, head north to meet the North West Coastal Highway at Barradale, along 300km of unsealed road…….. ( for more on this eventful journey read Gascoyne Junction to Pannawonica under Gascoyne Region here).

And the answer to "Would this work?" is ‘YES!!!!’ 

We can carry on cleaner and happier.

After our trip to Ellendale Pool, we realised Hetty, the Ford, didn’t have rear mudflaps. We simply didn’t notice til then, and the muck that she was spraying up onto Huberto – the poor caravan was turning red fast!

So, we spoke to a lovely fellow camper about the mud and stone protection set-up on his Ford Ranger. We chatted for a while about different options available other than just the trademark Rock Tamers he had.

You could opt for a stone guard which is a metal frame attached to the A-Frame of your van and wrapped in a mesh that deflects stones and chipping away from the front panel.

Or a stone stomper that is a reinforced mesh hung between the back of the towing vehicle and the front of the caravan. These need to be custom-made to fit.

Then we did some online research (read a sample webpage here) and decided the Rock Tamers would suit Hetty wonderfully. Basically, huge mudflaps and optional mesh blanket fitted between them. These, sit on the towing tongue and can be removed when you’re not towing.

On ringing around Geraldton companies that might sell and fit the tamers for the first time, we finally found ‘the last set’ at Geraldton 4WD. They were too busy to fit it for us but would keep them aside until we arrived.

When we did, the friendly owner was concerned the Rock Tamers would not fit on the towing tongue but a quick hunt around and we found a longer one at Geraldton AG Services, just across the road.

A few more phone calls, and we were directed to Pieter Lotter of Lotter’s Diesel. It turns out Pieter has only been running his own mechanic business for two months though he was well experienced from South Africa, to Northern Territory, to Queensland and now well settled in Western Australia.

Pieter arrived early the next day to fit the system. He worked efficiently and chatted happily. If you’re in the area looking for a mobile mechanic who can turn his hand to most things, we’d recommend him. He even helped with ideas for my video post on Instagram!

And so Hetty and Huberto can continue their travels in greater safety and comfort.

Although our caravan had a mobile solar panel, a lead battery and an ‘intelligent charger,’ it was heavy and cumbersome. We had thought to start with this system and upgrade later but we were introduced to a well-experienced caravanner who created his own solar system for living off-grid. He gave us a lot of good education and tips on how to improve.

It took a few phone calls to auto electricians to find someone who a) answered some of our early queries, b) asked to see the caravan before giving any significant advice and c) could book us in within the month. North Coast Auto and Marine Electrics was just that company.

Nick Junior was exceedingly helpful and seeing the products that he had in store made everything make so much sense. We could see the different circuit options, calculate the outlay costs and realise the weights involved. There was no hard sell, just a lot of common sense and suggestions on keeping the price down but getting the best possible system for that price.

We asked for some extra work to be added: a monitor fitted to the car linking with the caravan’s existing rear-view camera, two Sirocco fans installed by the bed, additional 12V sockets for charging devices inside the van and for them to check the connection between the car and van for fridge power when travelling. All was possible and the final quote was provided.

We booked in for 12th June to get the work done, knowing that the company would focus on business partner repairs and emergencies so, only an approximate finish date was given. A courtesy drop off at the train station was most welcome and we spent the day tidying up some banking and organising sim cards in Perth city.

Three days later the call came, ‘Come and get a walk through and collect your caravan.’

Nick Junior was by now on a planned and well-deserved holiday with his wife and wee boy, who has recently been diagnosed with Angelman syndrome. The family are fundraising to support research into this rare genetic condition. You, like us, can help by going here and donating. All donations will be appreciated by the North Coast Auto and Marine Electrics family and team.

Meanwhile, Nick Senior and team took good care of us. They ensured all was working and that the couple of glitches that arose when connecting car to van got resolved. For instance, the fridge still wasn’t running off the car – the fridge wiring had been wrongly connected by the previous owner. At no extra cost, Nick’s electrician corrected it and one of the back brake lights that was flickering.

We now have three 180W solar panels on the roof and a Lithium 150AH battery under the bed which is charged through a Victron 12V 25A Bluetooth compatible shore power charger: that is, an Enerdrive DC2DC+ charger.

So, we now can harvest energy from the sun and from the car engine, when running, to power lights, devices, TV and water pump. It’s a far better system than the one we started with and has the capacity to be added to if we desire down the road.

We can see traffic behind us as we travel through the ‘virtual’ rear-view mirror and use it to help manoeuvre the caravan on sites. And of course, food stays fresh and cool as we travel in the now properly connected fridge.

A wonderful service by the caring and meticulous family at North Coast Auto and Marine Electrics, and a patient one too when mobile banking and I did not get on!

Payment finally was made and we could start our off-grid lifestyle with confidence.

It’s essential your two vehicles' weights are correct. I mentioned before the importance of your safety, the legalities of towing and the insurance implications.

You have to know your vehicle compliance weights and stick within them!!

Check the manual of your towing vehicle or maybe the compliance plate by the driver’s door. All caravans have a compliance plate somewhere too. You may start out confused, as we did, but persevere and you’ll start to understand the terms and formulas. We found CarsGuide helpful.

To weigh your ‘rig’ you need to be fully loaded. That is, a full tank of fuel, water in your caravan tanks and all the clothes, groceries toys that you’ll be using plus of course tables, chairs, tools – and yourselves|

Now that the Coromal Element 542 (still undecided on a name!) was filled, and Hetty, our Ford Ranger, loaded, we were ready to test our maths and predictions. We booked in John from Caravan Weight Check who runs a mobile weighing business and came to us.

John explained the best place for the task was on level bitumen so we towed the caravan out to the road. He placed the scales in front of the car wheels and directed us up onto them.

We had a good payload still left on the car. Then the scales were moved to the caravan wheels and spare payload discovered there too. Only the tow ball remained and another special scale was used for that. If the tow ball download is too light or too heavy, the caravan is liable to sway as you drive.

Calculations completed and carefully explained by John, we were delighted to be well within weight limits and a near-perfect tow ball download.

We’ve got room to add more if we wish to both car and caravan – just what we wanted to hear - we can add some rooftop solar.

And that’s a whole new challenge and blog coming soon!

Having arrived with a couple of suitcases from Scotland there was quite a bit of purchasing to do so that our new-to-us Coromal Element 542 can be a workable home. Kmart and Bunnings came in handy as we could also collect FlyBuys rewards points alongside our Coles groceries shopping. This has already ‘saved’ us several dollars!

Bedding, towels, pots and pans, dishes, placemats, storage boxes, dustpan and brush, cleaning cloths and sprays and of course groceries.

We found a Zeigler and Brown BBQ at Barbeques Galore that fits snugly into the tunnel boot. Australians are notorious for shortening names and this BBQ is known as the Ziggy. I feel like there’s a friendly name you may hear frequently on my Food page!

Another trip to Bunnings to get the gas bottle. Bunnings is by far my favourite shop in Australia, as friends and family can attest. You can get practically anything there for gardening, DIY projects, outdoor living and camping.

It took us all-of-an-afternoon to organise our minimalist belongings into the cupboards. A little longer to stash away the groceries and drinks securely. But it’s all done now!

There are many caravan and camper dealerships in the Perth Metro area. Google Maps will help you find them readily. We were really interested in sourcing a used vehicle. Not all dealerships sell these and consignment seems to be the modern method of selling vans on.

Our first trip out was to the Midland area as we were already viewing cars enroute and wanted to compare with a private sale we had arranged to view later in the week.

Our friend, driving us around, suggested Midland City Caravans. I hadn’t been impressed with offerings on their website but agreed for sake of comparisons. Perhaps a reasonable option for those on a much tighter budget than ours but all the caravans looked tired.

We had spotted a van of interest online at the Caravan and Camper Megastore. Once there, it was indeed of interest: a Masterpiece Dynamic single beds model. We inspected a few other caravans whilst there and all were very presentable with another caravan tempting us to even larger dimensions. Both were at the top of our budget however. The Masterpiece gave us a baseline from which to compare others so the trip was deemed successful.

A few days later, we headed to the northern suburbs to look at a similar layout of van. The couple selling were delightful, full of knowledge and ready to sell. But we just didn’t get the right homely feel for the interior, important as this is to be home not just holiday accommodation.

The day we picked up our new ute, now named Hetty, we headed out to Cameron Caravans for a settling-in drive and because this dealership is situated a bit away from a cluster of others in the city.

We were impressed with the Franklin Core model in stock. It was the right sort of length and was all shiny and new. A few added options and we could purchase for basically the same price as the Masterpiece baseline seen earlier.

However, we had read and heard from several sources that new caravans often present owners with headache-snagging issues. Opinion out there is, that since COVID and the staycation explosion, manufacturers have pumped out RVs so quickly to meet demand and as a result, standards had slipped. True? We don’t know, but something to consider when spending almost all you budgeted for.

From all these experiences we sat down and created our list of must haves and desirables.

List in hand, we set off for the day. Starting at Wandering Caravans in Landsdale that had a small but varied selection. Nothing truly took our fancy, so onwards to the Albany Highway where most dealers are based.

We stopped at Crown Caravans to view a single bed option advertised on the website which we thought could be the one. SOLD!!! Disappointed.

We stayed to look at most of the offerings and had two of great interest. The first was spacious and had great ground clearance. This was a contender. Then we spotted a Coromal Element 542. It was a bit older than we initially wanted to consider but in excellent condition. We sat in both for some time, listened to the sociable, chatty, well-informed salesman and inspected everything.

The Coromal was winning due to scale – smaller, easier to tow, a single axle for moveability, fabulously well looked after and a fresh interior. It was ticking so many boxes and well within budget. It replaced the Masterpiece we had seen in Midland as the baseline choice.

Having sussed out a possible deal, we headed off to check out a few more caravans at other dealerships. Nothing compared.

All the online searching and seeing what was in stock and what was selling and considering how comfy and excited we were with the Coromal we returned, sat in it again and re-inspected everything. It had a queen bed instead of singles. This was a desirable, not essential, item on our list. It came with a few unexpected extras. Could this be the one?

We could be waiting forever for the ‘perfect’ caravan to come on the market. After a good debate, we agreed ‘YES’ the Coromal Element 542 was the van for us.

Contract is signed, deposit is paid and collection is in a week. Now to choose a name: Honey, Hetty and ???

Our friend revelled in the opportunity to take us to a few car dealerships, as he was contemplating a new car purchase himself. So off we went towards one of Perth’s dealership areas.

En route, we were about to pass by Titan Ford in Myaree, when it was suggested we stop in. Lo and behold, they had a second hand 2019 Ranger for sale with very low mileage and in good condition.

Furthermore, the dealership was closing down, so prices were slashed!

Having taken the double cab ute for a test run, it proved a winner – or maybe. You can’t buy the first car you see despite the online research you’ve previously done!

So, on we went for a new experience - a warehouse bulging full of vehicles of every make and model imaginable. My nephew, by text messaging back to the UK, was impressed with a Ford Falcon from the 1970’s that he’d never seen in person despite being an avid car fanatic.

Too much choice, but nothing to beat the earlier Ranger seen. We looked at some other makes too but felt the Ranger at Triton Ford was a real deal in comparison.

We walked away, sat to think, compared prices with other dealerships on-line and concluded we’d seen the best on offer for what we wanted.

Despite thinking we’d be a few weeks selecting a vehicle, we had found a bargain and had a time limit in which to snap it up. So, with ANZAC Day in between to give our minds time to cool and ensure we were indeed satisfied, we returned and beat down the price further.

A further test drive and a convoluted trip to the city centre for a bank cheque ensued. Then we organised insurance. We found APIA to be very competitive.

Finally, we picked up the car and drove her to our temporary abode in Mosman Park. A monster of a vehicle parked under the trees beside a small, strata villa!

Before leaving Scotland, we started the research for a new car, online of course. In many ways, this wasn’t so different from deciding on our previous cars whether for towing or not.

General needs: Your general needs will depend on how many people you need to transport, what you’ll be towing, where you’ll be towing it and where you’ll want it to access when not towing. We need to choose a tow vehicle that’ll be capable of towing the caravan we haven’t yet selected and that’ll be capable of towing any likely future upgrades to the van. We know we will want to do some off-road driving and possibly some off-road towing too, so this means we want a 4x4 vehicle that will tow up to three tonnes.

And though we’re only two people, we may on occasion want to drive around with friends or family so a minimum of 5 seats.

Budget: How much do you have in the bank and do you want to take out a loan to afford more? We have our total budget set for the car and caravan. Also keep in mind insurances and road taxes for both vehicles, which will be an ongoing cost.

Be warned though, from our caravan research, unless you are secure that your car will tow the weight of caravan and all that you want in both vehicles CarsGuide helped with this. So, you may want to choose your van before your car to avoid costly mistake of buying a vehicle that won’t tow the caravan. You don’t want to go out and replace the car!

To ute or not to ute, that is the question: We’ve had both previously and found agreeing on which vehicle a bit tricky before even looking at the computer. There are just so many variables! So, we set ourselves to reading articles and watching YouTube postings such as Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022 from carsales.com.au, a useful site in itself for so many queries you’ll have about everything car related.

Initial reviews informed us that modern utes have superior towing capacity than SUVs for what could be a heavy caravan. So, for us, ute it is to be. Besides, there is the advantage of dirty, dusty equipment being stored in the tray rather than in the cabin.

Many hours’ worth later comparing the current raft of utes available, we have decided to investigate further the Ford Ranger 3.2 models when we arrive in Australia. It can tow up to 3500kg, holds its own for off-road driving and is as economical as the next.

Choosing a caravan for full-time living can feel daunting, but your starting point should be what you already know.

Agree on what style of touring you’ll be doing: When we lived previously in Australia we had a small, basic pop-top caravan suitable for short holiday trips.  It didn’t have a toilet or shower, something we do want in a mobile home. We know we want comfy seating where we can put our feet up and don’t mind single beds or a double. We’ve done a night or two of free camping but for full-time living, a caravan that can allow us to stay off-grid for a week at a time would be ideal.

After 5 years out of the country and no camping, a grand day out at The Scottish Caravan, Motorhome & Holiday Home Show helped us to confirm what a 20-foot caravan feels like to sit and move around in, and so what sort of length of van would suit us. Although significantly different from Caravanning and Camping Shows in Australia, it showed us the myriad of newer van layouts that are now on the market!

On road/Off-road/Semi off-road: If you are going to stay in caravan parks and stay on the black bitumen road your best bet is an on-road caravan. It’ll be lighter and easier to tow and you won’t need large water tanks or solar panels. Conversely, if you want to be off-grid, traversing the lesser-travelled, often corrugated and rutted, remote tracks of the Outback, you’ll be interested in the off-road versions. And semi off-road models allow for some towing along the graded roads into national parks and free camps at the side of the road. So, for us, semi or full off-road models seem obvious – but - they weigh a lot! That impacts choice of vehicle and ongoing fuel consumption so we need to sit and really figure out how much and how far off-road we will go and whether the extra weight and cost will be worth it. 

Decide on a budget: the obvious is how much you have in the bank and whether you want to take out a loan, and if you have a towing vehicle already or need to purchase one. We had an idea how much we could comfortably spend for both car and van. We spent hours online reading reviews, looking at dealership offerings and joining several classified pages on Facebook to confirm affordability of the sort of caravan we wanted. Remember, the van itself is one thing, all the hoses, cables, seating, kitchen equipment is another – so keep the expenses of these in mind as you budget.

 We found caravancampingsales.com.au, a popular Australian site with reviews, it is a great starting point to discover makes, models and prices from brand-new through to vintage models – whatever you desire!

New or Used: most probably decided by your budget! New will have all the bells and whistles but used may have the glitches sorted and have added extras and adaptations. We are leaning towards used to save on the immediate drop in value as soon as a new vehicle is taken off the shop floor. 

Understand legal weights: Importantly weights (TARE, GMV, ATM) and ball weights, all need to be fully understood so that you can either choose a tow vehicle (see our blog on choosing a vehicle) that will tow your van safely or that you choose a van your existing car can legally tow. We had to read a few articles before feeling confident, one such website we found useful was on this site, CarsGuide

Refine your research: Because we knew we were flying into Perth, WA, and beginning our travels from there, we bookmarked the Perth caravan dealerships’ websites. Then we regularly looked at what stock was available, and asked questions such as what the optional inclusions cost and how long installation and delivery might be.

Speak to friends and family: word of mouth, trusted real-world reviews, from people you know are invaluable. What experiences have they had with caravan makes and dealerships? What layouts have worked for them? What options would they purchase, or not, next time they buy a van? How have their vans coped with the style of travelling they do? We’ve been lucky with a group of caravanning friends in WA to seek advice from.

Keep organised: We started an excel document to help keep our information gathering easy to find again. Here are the headings we used for a spreadsheet Comparing Caravans which you can copy and paste into your own document.

Go physically see the caravans: I wouldn’t recommend buying sight unseen. Some people do but, would you buy a house without seeing it? How you feel in a caravan is so important. With virtual, early research completed we were ready on arrival in Perth to get out and about to dealerships and private seller appointments sourced from Facebook, Gumtree and suchlike. To see how we went, read The Caravan: Part 2  Physically There, found above on this page.