Very happy campers

[DawnMark]

Hi everyone,
We have just arived back from our first trip away in our new Expanda outback 21.
We went to pick her up on Friday and hit the road Sat morning . We didn`t go that far only 3/4 of a hour up the road infact, but we did have a fantastic time.
After having a Swan for 8 years our first time setting up was a breeze, our sister and brother in law came and set up there coromal camper in the rain, (yes as per usual the mattress got wet).
We all spent many a happy hour in our Jayco and guess who is off this weekend to look at a new Jayco.
I was a bit unsure as to how well the shower would perform, being a camper shower but let me assure you it was great, plenty of pressure and plenty of hot water.
I even used my oven to heat up some pies for the footy grand final, We chose the full oven for our new van and im so pleased we did. ( I had never used the oven in the swan as it only had a grill and hotplates.

 

[Kenshi123]

Gday @DawnMark. Welcome and congrats on the purchase of your new van. Glad you had such a great shakedown. Tell us a little more about your Expanda (extras you ordered etc). Happy travels

 

[dagree]

:welcome: @DawnMark from another "Sandgroper"
Looking forward to some pics also.

Keep an eye out in the State Meets section for another group get together in the near future!!

 

[DawnMark]

Thanks for the welcome , We had the entertainment package the annexe and also after reading about the extra door on the back cupboard we did that .
When we originally orderd our van we were going with the "normal" van but after thinking about our driveway (living up in the hills ourselves it might of been a issue getting in and out of our own driveway lol ) We bought the outback which gave us the outback package .. solar, etc... oh I had the full oven put in for the all important potato bake for the bbq
looking forward to a get together soon.

 

[Cheyne78]

Hi @DawnMark and welcome . It must have been your 21" we saw in Caravanland when we picked ours up on Thursday. Great to have another Sandgroper on here. Where did you go for your first trip?

 

[DawnMark]

Hi @DawnMark and welcome . It must have been your 21" we saw in Caravanland when we picked ours up on Thursday. Great to have another Sandgroper on here. Where did you go for your first trip?

LOL its a small world yes must of been we couldn`t get there untill Friday,
We just nipped upto the Swan Valley it was a great weekend pitty about the weather but so much to see and do, we both were very supprised.
We hope to be heading down to Mandurah but not till the end of October

 

[cruza driver]

Welcome @DawnMark enjoy the forum and keep us updated with your travels :thumb:

 

[Smirke]

Thanks for the welcome , We had the entertainment package the annexe and also after reading about the extra door on the back cupboard we did that .
When we originally orderd our van we were going with the "normal" van but after thinking about our driveway (living up in the hills ourselves it might of been a issue getting in and out of our own driveway lol ) We bought the outback which gave us the outback package .. solar, etc... oh I had the full oven put in for the all important potato bake for the bbq
looking forward to a get together soon.

Hi Dawn Mark. We have ordered the same van (minus bathroom). Are you able to post a pick of the rear hatch door they put in for you, as we asked for the same. Also, did you "season" the bed ends , and did the water come in ? We are in 2 minds about what bed ends to get and seeing as though you were in the rain on the weekend, I'd love to hear how it went.

 

[DawnMark]

Hi Smirke,
No problems with rain getting in at all, not sure how to "season" a bed end , yes we slept in them ,We found the mattress very comfortable,
We didnt have a choice on bed ends. Im very interested in what is going in the bathroom space in your van. gosh isnt Jayco flexable with the design. hope the photos help its just a small door between the bunks and the loo so we can access the cupboard when the bed is folded up.

 

[Smirke]

Thanks for the pics. Good to see what the factory provide, as we were told they'd only do the door with it resting on the floor ( like in the swan in the club lounge.......opening so the door hinges down, which I don't want. I like yours better)
Instead of the bathroom we are having cupboards and bench. With 4 boys I don't want a van smelling of wee, plus 22l hws wouldn't do a thing shower wise, so we kept the hws and deleted the bathroom. Caravanland had one out the back ready for crikey and we got to walk thru it. Only thing is the bunk beds are going where the bathroom is, which I can live with.

 

[JOBSWAN]

@Smirke when will pick up roughly be for your van? Was it the 17:56:1 expanda you ordered?

@DawnMark let us know when you are down Mandurah way, it really is a lovely place down here.

 

[Smirke]

@Smirke when will pick up roughly be for your van? Was it the 17:56:1 expanda you ordered?

@DawnMark let us know when you are down Mandurah way, it really is a lovely place down here.

Hi job swan. We originally were going to get the 17, but have gone for the 21-64 OB. My husband says an expanda isn't an expanda unless it expands. He likes the slide out lounge ( me too. Heaps more room). With 4 boys, the more room the better!
We decided to save a bit by driving to melbourne and are picking it up for the Jayco factory on the 17/12.

 

[Bushman]

:welcome:

 

[DawnMark]

So here goes, sucks to be home this weekend so we did a few mods to our panda. The light from the sky lights was doing my head in so off to jayco cannington to buy some blinds, Happy with the results might keep some heat out as well,
Mark has been super peeved about the cupboard behind the slide out part of the club lounge with lack of access so thats his job. Will post completed picks when that happens

 

[cruza driver]

@DawnMark I actually surprised the blind isnt standard, I can see how it would've been "doing your head in"

Nice work.

 

[Smirke]

So here goes, sucks to be home this weekend so we did a few mods to our panda. The light from the sky lights was doing my head in so off to jayco cannington to buy some blinds, Happy with the results might keep some heat out as well,
Mark has been super peeved about the cupboard behind the slide out part of the club lounge with lack of access so thats his job. Will post completed picks when that happens

The skylight in the swan did my head in so I duct taped alfoil to it to stop the light and keep the heat out, which is why I went for 2 of the 4 season hatches in the new van.
Can't wait to see what you are doing to the cupboard. Asked if jayco could do something to ours during the build, but was told no. You could have something slide down there and you'd never know or be able to get at it!

 

[DawnMark]

@DawnMark I actually surprised the blind isnt standard, I can see how it would've been "doing your head in"

Nice work.

I know they are standard over east but we were told they were having problems with them. Go figure lol

 

[DawnMark]

All finished a cupboard we can use, as you will see from the last photo there isn't a lot of room but the handle doesn't hit the slide wall.

 

[Smirke]

All finished a cupboard we can use, as you will see from the last photo there isn't a lot of room but the handle doesn't hit the slide wall.

Did you get a new front for the cupboard or make it out of what was there? (Haven't got our van yet so can't remember what was there)

 

[bigcol]

good job @DawnMark
thats a great use of whats already there (but un-useble)