THE WALLABY TRACK WITH LIONEL MUSSELL
Lionel fills in for Santa during a Gippsland Gypsies muster.
: REINDEER CROSSING
DANGER
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU LOAD YOUR VAN THIS FESTIVE SEASON.
Yes, it's that time of the year
again. Soon, Santa will be
harnessing up the reindeer and
heading off with all the pressies,
so watch out for him if you're
on the road this Christmas.
Traffic will be heavy again and
there will be a lot of 'newbies'
out there with their big,
expensive caravans and tugs
to suit. Unfortunately, putting
a caravan on the back of the
new 'fourby' and setting off to
see Australia needs a bit more
effort than just packing up,
loading the van and car, making
sure everyone has fastened
their seat belts and here we go.
There are so many other
things to consider and
experienced vanners do
them almost automatically.
They know that crosswinds
can affect towing, that being
overtaken by semi-trailers can
28
gorv.com.au
cause the outfit to sway, that
it's important to load the van
correctly with the ball load in
mind and to make sure their
outfit isn't overweight.
Coming home from northern
NSW recently, I saw a few
outfits that were accidents
waiting to happen. Some
were swaying dangerously
while others were obviously
overweight, with tinnies on the
roof of the tug, big outboard
motors on the A-frame and
a boat trailer hanging on the
back of the van.
Then there were those who
didn't give a hoot about what
was behind them, with no
towing mirrors to see past
the van. They were usually the
ones with no CB radio, either,
so you couldn't give them a
gentle hint that you'd like to
overtake them – and, yes, I
know they might have had a
rear view camera but they don't
show what's overtaking and
don't replace towing mirrors.
That's not just my opinion –
it's the law that says your
mirrors must enable you to see
along the side of the caravan.
BACK TO JOLLY OLD SANTA
At our Australian Caravan Club's
Gippsland Gypsies Christmas
Muster recently, I responded to
an urgent email plea from the
North Pole and hastily donned a
Santa suit, rounded up a couple
of elves and gave out lots of Kris
Kringle presents. All that ho, ho,
ho-ing was hot and thirsty work
but the ladies all gave me a big
hug – maybe I'll help the old boy
out again next year!
READ FULL STORY