Hi all; It started around 11 years ago when the wife and myself decided to get into caravanning and bought a elderly Jayco songbird, so old that one had to raise the roof by pushing up the roof stays and putting in a pin to lock the arms, Pull out the beds and clip down the canvas. Basic gas stove and 2 way fridge. Time was spent fixing the old girl up with new lino and replaced the fridge for a 240 volt bar fridge as we were limited for space. Took the old girl over to Adelaide for the caravan and camping show. First night away and set up in the local caravan park and time for tea. This was followed by me putting my fat ass through basic seat at the table ( the seat was made out of burney board and gave way under my weight. That camper was sold a short while later.
At that caravan show on that weekend we were looking at all of the caravans on display and our heads were spinning with so many makes and models to choose from. We ended up signing up for a 2009 Jayco swan as were were limited with height due to the carport. A couple of months later we got a phone call from Adelaide to say our caravan had arrived. The following week we picked that camper up and traveled back to Mildura. We were like a couple of dogs , both with 2 tails and did not know which way to turn. Excited to say the least.
We made a couple of trip down to Bendigo for Christmas and also a few weekends away and camping on the river. We also did our first trip over to Tasmania for a couple of weeks. The rain in Tasmania really put a damper on that trip and setting up or packing up in the rain was interesting to say the least !!
Traded that camper ( and made a small profit )in on The second caravan, this time the caravan was a new Jayco discovery pop top. The wife was saying that the height of the new caravan would not fit under the the garage door or through to the carport. I asked the caravan company to bring the caravan around and see if the caravan would fit through the door from the garage. It fitted, i said yah and the wife said bugger.
That caravan we had for two years and after a couple of trips to Bendigo and Melbourne was followed by a trip up to Ayers Rock, Kings Cannon, Alice springs and back home in two weeks. The only thing wrong with that caravan was that there was no toilet ( i had no problems , but the wife on the other hand.......).
The local caravan dealer that we had been dealing with in Mildura had there 50 year anniversary and were open on a Sunday, We went along for a bit of a look see and checking out the current caravans, both new and second hand.
We came across the same model caravan that we had at home, but this new model also had a shower and toilet and also hot water. This was something that my wife missed in our caravan and after a short discussion, we checked out the salesman. He was only too happy to help. Ended up signing up on the spot for the new pop top caravan.We only lost around $1000.00 on the price from what we payed for the old caravan and the trade in value was. The new caravan was around $10,000.00 more though. This was in late in 2012 and the vans maiden trip was yet another trip down to Bendigo and another Christmas.
This was shortly followed in May 2013 when i found myself unemployed and made redundant, and after 18 years with the same company. It was then i decided to take off for Darwin and that there was a seat in the Pajero for my wife. I finished work on a Friday and we left for Darwin on the following Sunday. We were gone for 6 weeks and had a fantastic time and many memories and photos were made.
We still have that caravan today and have also done a nother 4 trips over to Tasmania ( we now live in Tasmania after moving over 3 years ago ).
I come from a electronics background and beside the bench work have spent a fair bit in the television reception industry, put my had up to pa work, video surveillance and basically any thing with plug on one end of wire. This knowledge has come out in the caravan and fitting house battery, solar panels and solar controller, extra 12 Volt sockets around the caravan for outside lighting, 2 sockets for the Engle fridges, while inside there are DC sockets for the TV and satellite as well of sockets for the Amature radios. Voltmeter and usb charging points for the mobile phones. A small 300 Watt inverter lives in the caravan and was original used for the first vast receiver, this was sold and a new vast receiver that is a 12 version of the original one. The inverter is now only used ( with remote control power on/off ) for my electric shaver. We also travel with now a 80cm satellite dish and a vast receiver. great fun when setting up the dish as the setting up also draws a bit of a crowd at times. 12 volt television of course and also my Amateur radios into the mix. Last year i installed a diesel heater and fitted it under the seating inside the caravan.The fuel tank lives in the front boot and is bolted to the divider from the gas bottles That alone took 2 days ( i must be getting old ) to install. The heater has worked from day one and beside the heaters display failing ( a common problem ) still works using the remote control.
We love our caravan and enjoy the lifestyle and freedom that having a caravan can bring. So what else is on the ajender for the caravan who knows
At that caravan show on that weekend we were looking at all of the caravans on display and our heads were spinning with so many makes and models to choose from. We ended up signing up for a 2009 Jayco swan as were were limited with height due to the carport. A couple of months later we got a phone call from Adelaide to say our caravan had arrived. The following week we picked that camper up and traveled back to Mildura. We were like a couple of dogs , both with 2 tails and did not know which way to turn. Excited to say the least.
We made a couple of trip down to Bendigo for Christmas and also a few weekends away and camping on the river. We also did our first trip over to Tasmania for a couple of weeks. The rain in Tasmania really put a damper on that trip and setting up or packing up in the rain was interesting to say the least !!
Traded that camper ( and made a small profit )in on The second caravan, this time the caravan was a new Jayco discovery pop top. The wife was saying that the height of the new caravan would not fit under the the garage door or through to the carport. I asked the caravan company to bring the caravan around and see if the caravan would fit through the door from the garage. It fitted, i said yah and the wife said bugger.
That caravan we had for two years and after a couple of trips to Bendigo and Melbourne was followed by a trip up to Ayers Rock, Kings Cannon, Alice springs and back home in two weeks. The only thing wrong with that caravan was that there was no toilet ( i had no problems , but the wife on the other hand.......).
The local caravan dealer that we had been dealing with in Mildura had there 50 year anniversary and were open on a Sunday, We went along for a bit of a look see and checking out the current caravans, both new and second hand.
We came across the same model caravan that we had at home, but this new model also had a shower and toilet and also hot water. This was something that my wife missed in our caravan and after a short discussion, we checked out the salesman. He was only too happy to help. Ended up signing up on the spot for the new pop top caravan.We only lost around $1000.00 on the price from what we payed for the old caravan and the trade in value was. The new caravan was around $10,000.00 more though. This was in late in 2012 and the vans maiden trip was yet another trip down to Bendigo and another Christmas.
This was shortly followed in May 2013 when i found myself unemployed and made redundant, and after 18 years with the same company. It was then i decided to take off for Darwin and that there was a seat in the Pajero for my wife. I finished work on a Friday and we left for Darwin on the following Sunday. We were gone for 6 weeks and had a fantastic time and many memories and photos were made.
We still have that caravan today and have also done a nother 4 trips over to Tasmania ( we now live in Tasmania after moving over 3 years ago ).
I come from a electronics background and beside the bench work have spent a fair bit in the television reception industry, put my had up to pa work, video surveillance and basically any thing with plug on one end of wire. This knowledge has come out in the caravan and fitting house battery, solar panels and solar controller, extra 12 Volt sockets around the caravan for outside lighting, 2 sockets for the Engle fridges, while inside there are DC sockets for the TV and satellite as well of sockets for the Amature radios. Voltmeter and usb charging points for the mobile phones. A small 300 Watt inverter lives in the caravan and was original used for the first vast receiver, this was sold and a new vast receiver that is a 12 version of the original one. The inverter is now only used ( with remote control power on/off ) for my electric shaver. We also travel with now a 80cm satellite dish and a vast receiver. great fun when setting up the dish as the setting up also draws a bit of a crowd at times. 12 volt television of course and also my Amateur radios into the mix. Last year i installed a diesel heater and fitted it under the seating inside the caravan.The fuel tank lives in the front boot and is bolted to the divider from the gas bottles That alone took 2 days ( i must be getting old ) to install. The heater has worked from day one and beside the heaters display failing ( a common problem ) still works using the remote control.
We love our caravan and enjoy the lifestyle and freedom that having a caravan can bring. So what else is on the ajender for the caravan who knows
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