From: Rocatanski on 14 Nov 2006 23:52 You are spot on it took me four years of trying hiring to find one I liked enough to buy, strange thing is it was one of the first ones we hired. "just us" <kilpatsnojunk(a)tpg.com.au> wrote in message news:455a3e4c(a)dnews.tpgi.com.au... > Ours seems to handle the corrugations well, no dust. garry if youa re > 6foot then you would have to go for the bed lengthways which takes some of > the space away. Buying a camper is a very individual thing - we all think > we have the best. We love ours, so far no worries. > First time we put it up and down was on the Bunya Mts and the whole > camping ground had happy hour entertainment as it took us forever to work > out what was going on. But by the time we were on our 5th day we were > experts. Good luck hunting Garry, that is half the fun > Kathy > > > >
From: Garry Beattie on 15 Nov 2006 16:33 "just us" <kilpatsnojunk(a)tpg.com.au> wrote in message news:455a6352$1(a)dnews.tpgi.com.au... > Set up is not a problem for us. I am wondering what set up you mean? Hi Kathy. The one they showed us (not real enthusiastically though) seemed to unfold OK, but the floor did not want to sit flat on the ground and there were poles and bars inside that needed adjustment. The kitchen had to be lifted up and the table set out above the fridge. It certainly is not what you would call a major construction job, but it was time consuming. Maybe they just didn't show me the correct way. I would have also preferred the outside kitchen to the inside one. Best regards Garry
From: Garry Beattie on 15 Nov 2006 16:35 "Gerrit 't Hart" <gthart(a)sad.au> wrote in message news:455a8975$0$28226$5a62ac22(a)per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au... > > We had a Swan for quite a few years. Unfortunately (for you) ours was not > an > off road model so I can't say anything about dust, corrugated roads etc. > However I can confirm that it is a good unit for comfort, ease of set up > and > ease of towing. > We originally towed it with a 1.9 litre Toyota Tarago, then with a Nissan > Nomad (2.4l) and lastly with a Commodore station wagon. With the Tarago it > was a bit sluggish but doable (Perth - Adelaide). The Nissan was more > comfortable with towing and again we made the trip from Perth across the > Nullarbor to Canberra and Melbourne. We traded it in on our third trip > across, for a Jayco Hawk. Bit smaller but still comfortable for two > people. > We have met lots of people on our travels who have off road Jaycos and > they > haven't complained about dust. But maybe they are used to that. > > Gerrit > Hi Gerrit. We looked at the Hawk, Dove, Eagle and Swan and we felt the Swan was probably the best for us. Very nice indeed. Did you notice much difference to towing performance and fuel economy between the Hawke and the Swan, and also without either? I would be happy with the Hawk. It is very nice, but for the extra $2,000 the Swan seems to have a lot of extra's. Best regards Garry
From: Gerrit 't Hart on 15 Nov 2006 21:21 "Garry Beattie" <gjbeattie(a)iinet.net.au> wrote in message news:455b8821$0$28224$5a62ac22(a)per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au... > > > Hi Gerrit. > > We looked at the Hawk, Dove, Eagle and Swan and we felt the Swan was > probably the best for us. Very nice indeed. > > Did you notice much difference to towing performance and fuel economy > between the Hawke and the Swan, and also without either? > > I would be happy with the Hawk. It is very nice, but for the extra $2,000 > the Swan seems to have a lot of extra's. > > Best regards > > Garry > > Garry Which model suits you best of course depends on you because you have your own unique requirements. When we bought the Swan we still had 5 kids to take along everywhere. The two lounges was ideal for that. We could have two separate work areas for the kids on wet days. We also bought a second table for the lounge area so we could all eat in piece at the two locations on those days when we would eat indoors. We also bought an annex for extra sleeping room. The annex of course took some time to set up. When we were due for an upgrade the children no longer came along so we needed something that was a bit smaller and the Hawk with its single sitting area is ideal when we have friends inside. We no longer have an annex but a small awning that we install whenever we stay for more than a day in one place. (Its just a piece of tarp which we can thread into the annex channel (before we wind up the roof) and fix with three poles. As far as fuel consumption is concerned I have never actually done the figures. I consider that extra fuel is just one of the costs that come with owning a trailer. Obviously the heavier the trailer the greater the fuel consumption. With the smaller engined vehicles the fuel consumption difference between with and without trailer is larger than with a larger engined vehicle. Actually the Nissan Nomad was more expensive to drive with trailer than the Commodore! The speed at which you drive also makes a great difference. I have found that driving at 95 with the Commodore is much better than 105. As far as towing performance differences between the Swan and the Hawk are concerned they are very similar. Both are very stable. Mind you I have purchased some load sharing bars very soon after getting the Hawk and I would recommend them. The whole combination now feels much more like one unit than two separate units. Towing performance is of course very much a product of the combination with the towing unit having a great effect on the experience. Gerrit
From: Trev on 20 Nov 2006 07:47
Hi Garry, we spent a week in Adelaide looking at camper trailers this time last year. We were looking for a hard floor unit and the cub spacematic seemed like the best of the lot but priced at $21K it was a bit much considering it didn't give us much more space and comfort than our 30 year old Holiday Equipment Corvette camper trailer. One other problem we had to consider was the weight of the new units. Our camper is 400kg fully loaded. We would have to replace the 4Runner 2.4D so we could tow the 900kg + units with tinny or canoes on the roof. Of the camper trailers we saw the best value and ease of setting up we thought was the Heaslip see http://www.heaslipcampers.com.au/page.asp?parentid=3&parent2id=12 Also Coromal have some good stuff as well see http://www.coromal.com.au/products.asp Similar to the Jayco in some ways I think. We will follow this thread with interest as we are still looking and can't make up our minds which way to go. Cheers Trev "Garry Beattie" <gjbeattie(a)iinet.net.au> wrote in message news:455642be$0$3011$5a62ac22(a)per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au... > Hi Guys. > > I am now looking for a good camper trailer. > > I want one that takes next to no time to set up, so I am thinking one of > those Jayco Outback series models or a hard floor camper trailer like the > Cub or similar. > > I would prefer one that had an outside kitchen and one that can sleep 2 > adults and 1 child in reasonable comfort. > > I don't want to have to take out a loan to buy one either, so the $30,000+ > Cape Yorks and similar are out of the question. > > Anyone have any experience with these things, or can suggest some good > models? > > Garry > > |