You may have seen our video on our trip to the Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow in Melbourne. This was Day 1 of our search for the perfect family caravan, for our big trip around Australia, and of course (hopefully!) many other family adventures.
We have, for a number of years now, had a goal of a big family trip in 2020. We weren’t quite sure whether it would be a year overseas, or a year travelling around Australia, but 2020 was the year based on the ages of our children. Steph is a teacher and has always been keen to try home schooling and Jed our eldest would be Year 7 that year. From a transition point of view we thought that was a good year for him transitioning from Primary School to Secondary School, and his brothers Alex would be Grade 4 and Harry Grade 2.
After Justin’s parents lapped Australia for the first time, and we started to research more, we decided there was so much to see around Australia that a big lap was the ideal trip for the year, with overseas being possible on holidays as we can. For example we will be going to Japan for two weeks in the middle of the year, a good period we think to see all the main items and get a feel for the culture. Flying into Sydney then trying to get a feel for all of NSW just doesn’t seem realistic does it?!
Attending the Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow we went in knowing we needed to accommodate our family of 5, and had a few other items we thought we would like. Based mainly on conversations with other couples and families with caravans already.
The show was massive, so much to see. We saw maybe 20-30 family caravans, from 15-20 different manufacturers. The first few we went through in detail, but quickly learnt there seemed to be a lot of similarities. So we started to identify must haves, grabbed brochures, and then plan to go into the specifications, warranties and build quality to identify the perfect family caravan.
What we identified as must haves:
- A triple bunk,
- Club lounge seating,
- A full oven,
- A full fridge,
- A washing machine,
- A queen sized bed, and,
- A full ensuite, where the shower opens to the toilet, not the hallway.
- A camp kitchen. Preferably with bbq, cooktop (jets), sink and bench space.
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A full ensuite with shower opening to the toilet/bathroom area. Makes sense to exit the shower to a private space where your clothes are.
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A 3.5Kg washing machine. You lose storage but gain convenience!
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A full size fridge upsized from a standard smaller fridge.
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A full oven, as opposed to a grill and stove top many caravans have as standard.
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A decent triple bunk. We will need to be careful as some bottom bunks are very tight. Steph loves the inbuilt ladders.
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A camp kitchen. Bbq, bench, some have cooktops, sink as well.
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A queen bed with no dividing wall to the kitchen. Seems more spacious!
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The club lounge or a U or C shaped lounge.
We picked up some other information too, such as the need to keep the caravan under 22 feet if we wish to go to any caravan park or camping site we want too. Apparently 23 feet + caravans do get turned away from some of the best parks due to their size not being accommodatable. Will do some more research on this!
We were asked what car we have to pull it. We don’t have one yet. That’s part of the plan, a new family caravan, a car to pull it, then we head off into the sunset or sunrise, depending on whether we go clockwise or anticlockwise in 2020.
We’d welcome your thoughts, experience or ideas on what would be the perfect family caravan. We plan to post regularly with updates on our journey for the perfect family caravan. That’s Day 6 complete!