John Basham - Caravan Survival Guide

Contents

After almost nine years on the road and countless kilometres of towing and exploring, the time has come to update the Caravan Survival Guide. Not surprisingly, now there are even more people going to interesting places across this huge country, towing and driving many different kinds of vehicles in which to enjoy their holidays and travels.

To those good and helpful people who supported my efforts when I first wrote Gregorys Caravan Survival Guide, little is different yet everything has changed. As time passed, we lost some old and very valued travelling friends, especially Mike. Lots of people we met on our travels, like Graham, offered many ideas and asked even more questions; Ive found that people on the road generally want to help, if youll let them. Some of the ideas in Caravan Survival Guide came from comments made in conversation with the many interesting and friendly people we met across this wide country.

My computer had occasional glitches, which had to be fixed quickly, again by Ian; when some parts of the caravan needed to be updated I relied upon Bruce for information and fast supply. Somewhere along the Queensland roads we came across Rod, doing vast miles in his huge B-double truck, who called us up on the UHF and commented about the big Channel 18 sticker on the front of our van and now he has kindly written the foreword for this updated version of my Caravan Survival Guide.

Travel isnt just interesting and fun, it can open up many great opportunities. During our time on the road we were most fortunate to make some new friends, many of whom will be with us for years to come. In Dubbo we met John and Marg, and travelled our many roads with them for about five years. We still talk with them on the phone most weeks. In Darwin, Bob and Margaret, who happened to be on the van site next door, actually saved us from a lot of hassle when our vans smoke alarm went off while we were down in Melbourne. When we go north, we visit these good people, and the same applies to them travelling south. Such small things can lead to a lifetimes friendship between travellers.

Unlimited support in every way from my wife Jess, who really wanted a fixed base, yet never tired of seeing the next town and new scenery and different people, meant we could keep on the road for a long, really enjoyable time. Now weve stopped for a while, built a new place, and Ive found time to update this book. We have ideas for much more travel

I hope you enjoy this updated version of Caravan Survival Guide and find many useful tips and ideas to keep you, your vehicle and caravan, and your travels, safe and enjoyable.

John Basham,

Melbourne 2012

As an interstate truckie, my life, my job and my safety is on the road and on the line all the time.

If, through this book, some drivers learn skills and knowledge that help them to be safer on the road as well, then I am more than happy to support such an endeavour.

I have a serious concern that any driver can travel ten kilometres to and from work for maybe forty years, and then buy a large 4WD and a big van, a fifth-wheeler combination or a motorhome, and hit the highway. There is no driver skills testing and no requirement for proper training before purchasing these types of larger vehicles. Sadly, as we have seen on television, some people may not even complete the first 1000 km of the Big One without a major scare, and for some it might even result in a loss of life.

Education and good knowledge from those who have done the kilometres already, like John Basham, can and will help others to travel the roads more safely and with more understanding of the totally new level of driving and responsibility.

If you are just starting out towing a caravan or driving a motorhome then the good information in this book could, at the very least, save you time, money and frustration for yourself and others on the road. At the most it could save your life, or that of others, including your partner. Even if you have been vanning for years, you will probably pick up a useful tip or two.

I make no claims to be a better driver than any other, but I have now safely travelled in excess of 4 million kilometres driving B-doubles across Australia.

In that time I have had dealings and conversations with many vanners and am still proud of starting the TRUCKRIGHT Caravan Survey and the Caravan Channel UHF 18 in 1999. For more information please visit my website www.truckright.com.au.

Communication on the road is a valuable tool and a sign on your van with Bill and Sue UHF 18, or whichever CB radio channel you wish to listen to, will help that happen. Without this communication, each driver is guessing what the other is planning, and that is not the safest way to travel. If the letters on the sign are a minimum 200 mm high, placed on the rear and preferably on the front as well, someone, be it a truckie or another vanner, will be more likely to call you up and tell you of a problem, or maybe about a good spot to stop.

When youre driving around this country please give some thought to a truckies way of life were working and youre generally holidaying.

I wish you a long and enjoyable time travelling on the road; I believe this book will provide you with some of the tools and knowledge to achieve this.

Safe travelling,

Rod Hannifey.

Caravan Survival Guide could be considered a logical follow-on to my original 4WD Survival Guide, a collection of useful ideas and hints to make setting up, using and maintaining a 4WD easier. Ive followed the same helpful format here, but this time with caravans.

Living in a van for days, months or years, and travelling around our fantastic roads could be the best time of your life, but getting started and surviving happily takes more than money. Whether you are new or well-travelled, doing your caravan travelling homework really begins here; making use of the ideas you will find in this book, and collecting information on your project before you commit to the dollars and the time.

Ive written this book from the caravan users point of view and referred to van and you as collective phrases, simply because thats how weve travelled around for a few years. But Ive certainly not excluded any travellers around this great country, whether old or young, on long-term or weekend trips, in big or small motorhomes, campervans or tents, or off-road trailers, or any other form of mobile accommodation.

Most of the hints and ideas mentioned also apply directly to these combinations, or they can be easily adapted. Here you will find good use-and-care information and hints, all of which can be of real value to any intending or newer travellers. Many points will also provide new approaches for already seasoned vanners.

Some things just have to be learnt by experience through time and over distance, so Ive looked at the wide-ranging areas and aspects of caravans in often a different and closer way than most people who write about caravans in other books and magazines. This book tells of caravanning on our roads as I see it, warts and all. Not all parts will suit all people, but at least in these pages you can read about the real world of travelling, about caring for yourself and for your mobile house on the roads.