RV MAIL

SMALL BLESSINGS

Your editorial ( GoRV # 78 ) brought back memories of our trips around and across Australia while writing for a magazine you edited for several years .

Like you , we preferred a van that was small . Our was 16ft inside on a single axle , but one we designed ourselves for rough dirt roads and national park use where there is no power . The smaller van meant we could get into spots that a large , heavier van could not .

We did not require air-con , slideouts , powered water taps , etc . In fact , we looked at our power usage and decided we did not need a generator or solar panels . We had a large dinette in a L shape for our two laptops plus our cameras . We used a portable toilet and had an outside black sun shower that we hooked on the side of the van , and a three-way fridge for when we were offroad , and a marine foot pump for water .

In those days , the 8W fluoro tubes were the most efficient light source , using very little more power than today ’ s LEDs . We also had a 12V fan over the bed and table area , plus a 19in LED TV that used less power than our radio / CD player . The fridge was used on gas when offroad .

To power all this was a 115Ah battery that was charged by the car when travelling or by 240V power when in a van park .

We found we could stay offroad for at least six days at a time , using our normal lights at night plus watch about two hours of TV .

Even if the battery was low , we could just hook up to the car and idle the motor to charge up again , but we never had to use this method . During this time ( 15 years ) we had four AWD Ford Territorys to pull our van .

We had this caravan 15 years with no trouble , and had heaps of fun and amazing experiences , so do you really need all the bells and whistles plus the cost of a large 4WD to enjoy travelling around the country ?

Tony Allsop

Great to hear from you , old friend ! As much as I appreciate a large , luxurious caravan , I agree with you – I don ’ t need much to be comfortable on the road – Ed .

If

you have an opinion or thought about the RV lifestyle , or about this digital

magazine , we ’ d like to hear it ! Email your feedback to info @ gorv . com . au

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