Caravan Club vs Travel Group

[Mick&Vanessa]

Hi All,
We were previously members of a caravan club but resigned our membership due to us finding that the majority of our time was being taken up by club politics, club meetings, AGM's, excessive administration, etc.

That was a number of years ago now and now as we are taking delivery of of our van, we are just curious to see if there are any of you guys out there that would be keen to get a Travel Group together? The Travel Group would not be a club and have no membership fees, no meetings, no committee, no rank, no constitution, no by-laws, etc. It would be just a like minded group that encourages us to get out and use our vans for a bit of fun.

We could possibly plan to catch up for weekends away possibly approximately once a month, with the odd longer trip a couple of times a year. No pressure if you can't make the trip. The main concept of the group would be to enjoy the scenery, sights and relax with a bbq, drink and a few laughs.

We are in Sydney and are happy to travel to the Sydney North and South Coasts and mountains for weekends and further for longer trips.

Just a thought, let us know your thoughts?
Michael & Vanessa

 

[The Goodwins]

Guys we found the same thing......clubs are more about politics than travel.........try Merry beach, south of Sydney........ it just got a massive write up in the Queensland newspapers and looks AMAZING!!!!

 

[CJ1177]

It's a great idea, we are members of one based out of Newcastle, we started 18 months ago ?? and do all our organiseing & chats via a closed facebook group.

We have a general rule of < 2hrs from the Newcastle area & around 3 hours for long weekends, and meet up once a month.
There are 8 regulars that go to nearly every camp plus a few extras that come every now & again, it's important to keep numbers lowish like we do as we have found even with our size group it can get hard to fit us all in & try to keep near each other at camp, sitting around the camp fire is a prime example in winter.

We have one lady who does most of the organising for us, she likes it as that's her profession & if any of us others have a favorite place we will take over for that month to share it around, we generally know where we are going for the remainder of the year so we can plan ahead.

Considering from the start nobody knew anybody else, we all get on extremely well & are becoming genuine good friends outside of the group & often have extra last minute camps or party's etc between the main camps, I believe while ours is a success story others could easily turn bad if there was controlling or gossiping type people in the group.

 

[DRW]

Out of curiosity what age groups are we talking? I sometimes have difficulty communicating with our age group as they seem so grumpy and set in their ways and miserable, we much prefer younger groups because we still like enjoying life instead of sitting around waiting to either complain or die. I know this sounds a bit harsh but we live and let live and it works for us.

 

[17triton]

With 7000 expanda members in Newcastle on here they should be able to organise something!

 

[Billrw136]

Out of curiosity what age groups are we talking? I sometimes have difficulty communicating with our age group as they seem so grumpy and set in their ways and miserable, we much prefer younger groups because we still like enjoying life instead of sitting around waiting to either complain or die. I know this sounds a bit harsh but we live and let live and it works for us.

Similar age to you DRW and have found the same phenomenon - there are some grumpy so and so's out there!
Bill

 

[DRW]

Similar age to you DRW and have found the same phenomenon - there are some grumpy so and so's out there!
Bill

Hey Bill I could get shot for this, a mate went camping last weekend as in tenting camping. At around 7pm saturday night a grumpy old so&so went over to their camp and cracked it with then, told them to keep the noise down as his wife was trying to sleep, 7pm Saturday nigh FFS. Turned out he was in an expanda also lol

 

[BUSH PALACE]

R U SERIOUS ???????????????????????

 

[DRW]

R U SERIOUS ???????????????????????

100%

 

[cruza driver]

Hey Bill I could get shot for this, a mate went camping last weekend as in tenting camping. At around 7pm saturday night a grumpy old so&so went over to their camp and cracked it with then, told them to keep the noise down as his wife was trying to sleep, 7pm Saturday nigh FFS. Turned out he was in an expanda also lol

Did you ask him if he also irons his tea towels for his wife

 

[DRW]

No, he is my work mate and tells it like it is, apparently after a while he went over and told him to turn his TV down and stop using the microwave because the ding was annoying lol

 

[chartrock]

Maybe he is grumpy because wifey starches his underwear.

 

[cruza driver]

No, he is my work mate and tells it like it is, apparently after a while he went over and told him to turn his TV down and stop using the microwave because the ding was annoying lol

Classic.

 

[Mick&Vanessa]

We are: Wife 39, I'm 41 and daughter 8 yrs. Hope to take delivery of our van in the next couple of weeks. No club stuff but hope to find a friendly group of expanda travellers

 

[DRW]

you will be fine @Mick&Vanessa just don't act like a hostess on a long haul flight lol (sometimes one should hide his employer)

 

[BigSkiddy]

@Mick&Vanessa would be a good to be in a group like that. I guess a start would be letting people know on here where/when your headed and hopefully people will join you.
I find it difficult enough to organise myself let alone a bunch of people, so I don't know how I would go in a group.

@DRW yeah it's a shame so many older caravaners are as you described. As a babyfaced 34 old male I've found it hard to try and speak with some grey nomads.
Also I have a 13 old son (who looks 18), 10 old daughter and a wife that's doesn't look much older. I'm certain they look at us and think 'there's a bunch of kids who have stolen their parents caravan.
I had one of those camp hosts come to van and ask if my mum or dad were there.

 

[relgate]

I had one of those camp hosts come to van and ask if my mum or dad were there.

LOL. Now that's funny!!!
:rofl::rofl:

 

[Billrw136]

Hey Bill I could get shot for this, a mate went camping last weekend as in tenting camping. At around 7pm saturday night a grumpy old so&so went over to their camp and cracked it with then, told them to keep the noise down as his wife was trying to sleep, 7pm Saturday nigh FFS. Turned out he was in an expanda also lol

Unbelievable! They should have stayed at home......

 

[Billrw136]

@Mick&Vanessa would be a good to be in a group like that. I guess a start would be letting people know on here where/when your headed and hopefully people will join you.
I find it difficult enough to organise myself let alone a bunch of people, so I don't know how I would go in a group.

@DRW yeah it's a shame so many older caravaners are as you described. As a babyfaced 34 old male I've found it hard to try and speak with some grey nomads.
Also I have a 13 old son (who looks 18), 10 old daughter and a wife that's doesn't look much older. I'm certain they look at us and think 'there's a bunch of kids who have stolen their parents caravan.
I had one of those camp hosts come to van and ask if my mum or dad were there.

It is not just some older caravanners, but some older people in general - having said that I have have met some pretty grumpy younger people at times!

 

[chartrock]

I think I qualify as the oldest member on the forum ( I'll turn 75 while at Cameron Corner ) but my wife is quite a few years younger. Our travelling companions are around the 60 mark and a happier bunch would be hard to find. :grouphug:

I agree there are some grumpy old sods around caravan parks as well as every where else. My wife even presented me with a Mr Man cup to use in the van, no prize for guessing it was Mr Grumpy. But she tried to make up for it with a Mr Happy cup at home.

Having said that, there are some feral kids (and parents) around campsites as well,:horn:though they are in the minority. You just have to look at free campsites and roadside stops with rubbish all around even where bins are supplied. However, that is not confined to any age group.

I love getting out and meeting all age groups, grey nomads help me with place to go and how to there (some just tell me where to go) and young people have ideas and knowledge of many things which are like black magic to me as well as knowledge of places I have never seen. So please don't write us old blokes off, if you are lucky, you will be old one day too. :violin:

Whew, well I got that rant off my chest, what was the original topic.eace: