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Old 12-22-2013, 05:51 PM   #1
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G'day from Down Under

G'day all from Australia, introducing myself as a new member to the American version of The Jayco Owners Group, me and my better half have been caravanning (In case you don't know we call travel trailers caravans here) for the best part of 35 years. I guess there are a few differences between the US and Australia besides the fact you guys drive on the wrong side but from what I see and read RV'ing is pretty similar here and there, did you know that down here we can hitch up in Brisbane on the east coast and drive west for over 5000km (thats about 3000 m to you, backward non metric folk) and not go anywhere a mountain, pretty much flat going all the way, now how is that for a RVers dream?...did you also know that petrol (gasoline to you guys) cost around $1.60 a litre! (abt. $6 a US gallon), and diesel is even higher, that's not so much of a RVers dream, right?

Down here we have a name for people who, once retired like yours truly, spend most of the year caravanning around; Grey Nomads, correct me if I'm wrong but I think you may call us Snow birders or something like it.
My reason for posting is to invite anyone from up there to ask me questions about the RV situation down here, I would certainly have lots to ask you....hey, didn't we call that Pen pals back in the good ol' days.?

Cheers

Paul and Pam,
Brisbane (on the east coast abt 1000km north of Sydney)
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Old 12-22-2013, 06:14 PM   #2
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So what kind of trailers (caravans) do you have down there and what do you tow them with? Are trucks as common as here or do you have a Ute?

BTW here in British Columbia our gas prices are almost as bad as yours. Only $1.31 / litre today now but it's about $1.52 in the summer.
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Old 12-22-2013, 06:59 PM   #3
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Here "petrol" is 3.30 a gallon as of today. We can go from flat marshlands (where I am near the Chesapeake Bay) to majestic mountains in just a few hours in Virginia. Snow birders are those that travel south for the Winter to escape the colder climates of the north then return home in the Spring, many of them are retired. And then there are "fulltimers" who live year round in their RV. How about a few pics of an Aussie Jayco? We have a few dozen members from down under but I cannot remember any of them posting any pics....
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Old 12-22-2013, 07:06 PM   #4
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Old 12-22-2013, 07:27 PM   #5
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Welcome to the Jayco Owners Site. My son had a pen pal from Brisbane in the 80's when he was in school. Say hello to Mad Max for me if you run across him.
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Old 12-22-2013, 09:45 PM   #6
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G'day mate.....

I just put another shrimp on the Barhbie!!!! (Sorry couldn't help myself)!!
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Old 12-23-2013, 10:12 AM   #7
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Greetings Paul & Pam. Hope you folks are having a great (warm) Christmas down 'yonder. The bride and I spent 3 weeks in Melbourne in the 90's (I was there on business). Loved it! And although you lot talk funny we were made to feel completely at home.
What type of caravan do you pull and what do you pull with? My impression is that your TT's are generally a bit shorter than what we pull (and you probably see better mpg's - or is it kpl's - than we do). How many miles ( or kilometers - our friends up north can translate for us) do you travel each year?
Wrong side of the road, eh? Let the voting begin!
Cheers!
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Old 12-23-2013, 03:17 PM   #8
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Hello everyone who responded, firstly one thing I need to correct, despite what Paul Hogan may have told you, we don't have any 'shrimps' in Australia, we call them prawns, Hoges said shrimps so you drongos would know what he meant, the remaining part of Hogans ad is correct however, Australia is awaiting you, you will feel totally at home here, once you get used to driving on the correct side of the road and understand the language!
Ok, now, your questions. Caravanning in Australia is very, very popular, it does appear that our most popular sized caravans are somewhat smaller than yours, a typical Australian caravan will be around 18-20 ft in length, will have a shower and toilet and will weigh around 2 to 3 tonnes, a tonne is roughly the same as a ton. Also very common are smaller vans of around 16 ft with a single axle and weighing under 2 tonnes, in fact for many years the 16 footer was the staple caravan. Our typical tow vehicle will be a diesel powered Toyota Land Cruiser or a Nissan Patrol, common also are dual cab utilities (or utes) 4x4's, Nissan's, Mitsubishi's, much the same as you guys have, we also have a locally produced vehicle called a Holden, part of GM, most, if not all caravan tow vehicles are imported.
LPG conversions are common too, LPG or Autogas currently costs around $0.94 cents per litre but vehicles using it usually require some 20-30% more than if running on petrol.
A typical caravan park here will charge around $25 - $35 per night, for this you will get a place to park you caravan, your annexe and your car, side by side, you will connect to water, electricity (240 vac) and sullage. The park will probably have a camp kitchen which will be equipped with such things as bbq's, large TV screen, etc. Unfortunately we are exposed to some greed when park owners jack up their prices during school holidays etc, it is not uncommon for prices to jump 3 times during these times....for this reason, many people, especially 'grey nomads' who may be on a pension will seek out free of cheaper camping, fortunately many rural towns civic fathers recognize that caravan folk stopping in their town will spend money and they are encouraged to stay, we have a network of towns designated as 'RV Friendly' and provision is made for toilet dump points and, in many cases, a place to stay for one or two nights at reduced or no charge. National Parks are also a cheaper alternative.
I have added a link to a website of a local caravan manufacturer, Jayco, some 40% of the caravans on our roads are Jayco's.
http://www.jayco.com.au/

Cheers for now.
Paul and Pam

PS, Clutch, I will say g'day to Mad Max if I run into him but given that Brisbane has over 2 million people that is unlikely.
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Old 12-23-2013, 03:53 PM   #9
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^^^ Many of the private Campgrounds here also raise prices during major holidays, themed events, or for the Summer and also charge extra for more then 2 or 4 persons in a site. But that`s just business, they have to make a living. The State parks have the same reasonable prices year round, up to six people per site. A SP here is around 35 a night on average.
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Old 12-23-2013, 07:52 PM   #10
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in ontario the best places to go are the provincial sites, most have hydro and a place to fill your fresh water and dump your black and gray, about 40 bucks a night and the price is always the same, pretty much all are beautiful and are fairly well maintained and have generally clean bathrooms,
we tried a private site last year and we probably wont do that again unless we are desperate, too many locals that think they are the police
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Old 12-31-2013, 08:02 PM   #11
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Hi Paul I'm a Brit who moved to Canada at 11 then moved to the States 1978, I retired in 2000 and full timed for 5yrs in a 36 ft diesel pusher. I now live in Arizona and just bought an 18 ft TT Jayco. Arizona is a great place for RV ing.
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Old 12-31-2013, 10:58 PM   #12
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HAPPY NEW YEAR to you down under!!

Or.... is it already New Years' there???
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