Hi,
just my 2c worth. I love going to the caravan shows. Went to the Melbourne and Sandown ones last year and we will go to the one in Melbourne later this month.
At the first show, we fell in love with the Penguin which we bought several months later. I don't believe we would have got a better deal on the day at the show. The best we would have got was TV, DVD, fusion stereo. All things we didn't want or need.
One thing we found was the thermo cookers. Almost bought the first one we saw for around $400, decided to buy it later so we would not be lugging it around all day. Good plan, since just around the corner was another selling for around $300, then around another corner, they were some around the $200 mark. Then outside, in one of the accessory shops, there was one for $159. All different, all with pluses and minuses. So we didn't buy anything, it got too confusing. Two weeks later, Aldi had them for $99.00: 2 pots, extra cover, inbuilt heater with 12V and 240V adapter. Works great and we use it all the time.
By the time of the Sandown show, we had ordered the Penguin and went along to CHECK out things we might like to have, AND to have a look at other vans to check out features etc. Spent an hour looking around inside and out of a Penguin (sigh! over a month to go before we would have ours). We also spent 15 minutes or so just sitting at the table and dreaming about what it would be like when we had our own (sigh again).
Spent heaps of time checking out insurance, camping site providers (Big4 etc), tourist information centres, and accessory shops. Lots of great ideas, but, in the time available, we could not get to grips with all the details to be confident of making purchases. In the end this was a good idea, since what looks good on the day, doesn't always stack up when you get home and think about it with a clearer head. In a lot of cases, we already had solutions from our car camping days and our best plan, which worked well, was to make do with what we had and gradually evaluate what worked (almost everything actually) and consider carefully, one item at a time, over several months, what was needed, what were the possibilities before lashing out.
One example, my three cheap aluminum cooking pots bought before 1990 for less than $10 are still going strong. They are light, fit inside each other, take up very little space. We were very tempted to buy, at the show, some square, fancy, non-stick expensive ones which were over $300. We still talk about what a waste of money that would have been. We can put our old ones on the coals when needed and not worry. We wouldn't have done that with the expensive ones.
At Sandown, we bought the off-side shade cloth. It was marked down to $52 at the RV award store and was a genuine bargain.
The only other purchase was a small compact dishwashing tray for $12.
We also spent a lot of time looking at other vans. Potentially a bad move since we had already bought. But in our case, it was a good move. We compared a few potential candidates, and still came away convinced we had bought the van that was right for us. But, after several months, the second look was with more experienced eyes, and we were still happy.
Some of our most fun times have been making small purchases in the last months. A great small chopping board with a non-slip base from Target /KMart for $2. Light, white melamine breakfast and pasta bowls from a $2 shop for less than $1 each.
But also, we have trawled through our storage areas at home, and with different eyes, have found items that we forgot we had, and suddenly, in our new environment, were really useful.
In summary, my opinion: go to the show, soak up the atmosphere, enjoy the fact that you will soon have your own van. Look for great ideas on how you would like to set it up. Take heaps of notes, and brochures, and catalogs, talk to anyone that can help. We came home with kgs of material to read, and spent many many hours combing through it all. Take contact details. BUT don't get carried away with the moment and keep a very very steady hand on your wallet and credit card.
cheers
Mike
