ACCESS November 2020 Digital edition: www.issuu.com/accessnews
Travel
Edited by DALLAS SHERRINGHAM
We’re in the Business of Travel
Forge cruising - caravans rule My firs experience caravanning was one o remember n DALLAS SHERRINGHAM E have all made solemn vows no o some hing, only o break i one day and have he ime o our lives when nally, did ry i . Such was my dismissal o caravanning as a holiday - I ried i once as a eenager, crowded in o a iny amily caravan a errigal while i poured rain – and I vowed never o do i again. Te onse o he COVID-19 Pandemic changed all ha or me and million o her Aussies who normally go cruising every year. Suddenly our yearly adrenaline rush was cu of and we sa around gloomily con empla ing li e wi hou Deck Chairs, Island Nigh , Gourme Meals and Days Ashore. My wi e Sharon came up wi h he ligh bulb idea o hiring a mo orhome and heading of around Aus ralia. We arranged a Jayco model rom Le s Go Mo orhomes, he new s ar up company which is atrac ing a lo o business due o very compe iive long erm ra es. I cos us a bi over $5000 o ren a mo orhome or seven weeks, which was compa ible wi h our cruise ares each year. Mo orhome and caravan ren als and purchases in Aus ralia have boomed in recen mon hs as he na ion con empla es a u ure wi hou in erna ional ravel and cruising. We packed i up wi h ar oo many clo hes and lo s o ex ras we really didn’ need and headed nor h, scraping in o Queensland wo days be ore hey shu he border. Our des ina ion was Broome, bu daily checks o he news old us WA was ou and he erri ory was unlikely. So, we changed direc ion a Win on and headed or Palm Cove or hree nigh s. I was so much un, we s ayed nearly weeks a he N MA Caravan Park, righ on he beach. I was a real learning experience. Caravanning, like cruising, is a social experience where people mix reely wi h no pre ensions. We made a lo o riends along he way and i you are hinking o aking up
W
Australia is taking to the road in record numbers.
caravanning and s aying in van parks, you need o be able o mix socially. Now, a warning: some caravan owners love no hing beter han discussing heir la es adven ures over an hour or wo and o hers like o discuss he “mechanical” side o caravans and will ell you wi h your Jayco has he wrong yre pressure or he “bol s o he andangle need atached o he bomboogle”. I ’s all gobblygook o me, bu I jus agreed wi h wha ever hey said and go on wi h i . Free camping is all he rage a he momen which means nigh s ou in he wilderness wi h no power or oile s, bu
Our Jayco Motorhome at stunning Camp Kanga, Proserpine.
we decided o s ay in van parks and he powered si es ranged rom $30 o $60 per nigh . We booked ahead on he phone, jus like booking a mo el room and never had a problem. Te wo bes van parks were Palm Cove or i s loca ion and Big Four a Cannonvale which has Aus ralia’s bigges wa er park in a campground. Te mo orhome seemed res ric ed in size when we rs s ar ed ou , bu a er a ew days we were used o he se up and he annex made i so much easier. Le ’s Go Mo orhomes supplied wo oldup chairs and a able and hey made our holiday so much more enjoyable.
Seting up each day involved connec ing he elec rici y o he mains, he wa er inle on o a ap and he was ewa er ou le in o a pipe. We had i down o abou wo minu es a he end a er a ridiculously silly s ar on he rs day a Gunnedah. Now I am a caravanning conver , and I should have been enjoying i all hese years. And o op i all of, I came back o he Cen ral Coas and bough mysel a secondhand caravan and booked a mon h in Palm Cove nex year.
Details: www.letsgomotorhomes.com.au
Sitting round the campfire.
WESTERN SYDNEY BUSINESS ACCESS NOVEMBER 2020
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