Australian Caravanning.

[Paul Greig]

Hi all....I'm a regular visitor to the US Jayco RV owners forum but live a few miles away from most of you....Australia!.
I get a lot of tips on this forum and enjoy reading the comments....It seems RVing in our two countries is very similar, we are particularly lucky in that our country is relatively flat, we have no 'mountains' of note. (Our highest is just 2200m). We have an extensive network of caravan parks and free campsite right across our country. Our RV's are necessarily smaller than yours, sadly fuel is more expensive, most often we tow our RV's with diesel powered 4x4 vehicles. A litre of diesel is around $1,50. I am however a little confused but interested as to some of your RV descriptions....this is a little about ours.

Down here we have five main types of RV's....referring to my attached image we start with the Utility (pick-up) based slide-on, commonly known as a 'slide-On' , next is the wind-up camper trailer, very popular, they often come with many additions to make them suitable for off-roading, heavier construction, extra water carrying, additional spare wheels, multiple batteries, solar power, etc.
Next we have the motor-home, the one pictured is the most common here, often on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis, we do often see much larger US imports, Winnebago's and the like. Bottom left is our bread and butter RV...this RV is our most common, we simply call it a Caravan. And you will see many thousands on our roads, they range in size from around 12' to 30' or larger but the 17' to 25' range seems to be the most popular....many (most) Caravans are produced in the Offroad style like the camper trailers above. And finally, the RV you guys would be familiar with, the Fifth Wheeler...becoming more popular here.
Paul....Queensland, Australia.

[Dave.H]

What descriptions are you confused by?

Pop up = wind up
Travel Trailer = Caravan

Welcome!

[Isaacs]

You'll need something like this if you want to come visit us!

[Paul Greig]

Not so much confusion I guess, just different terminology...Pop Top caravan's (see image) here are very popular due to the reduced wind resistance and they are mostly simply pushed up, assisted by gas struts or springs....camper trailers are generally wind up. The names of course are all different....I don't, for instance, know what a Jayco Jay Feather 17C is...I assume 17' in length but what is the 'c'?
Paul,

[Isaacs]

Originally Posted by Paul Greig

Not so much confusion I guess, just different terminology...Pop Top caravan's (see image) here are very popular due to the reduced wind resistance and they are mostly simply pushed up, assisted by gas struts or springs....camper trailers are generally wind up. The names of course are all different....I don't, for instance, know what a Jayco Jay Feather 17C is...I assume 17' in length but what is the 'c'?
Paul,

I guess Jay Feather means that it's light; mine is 3500 pounds loaded. The 17 does appear to be the length (in feet), including the tongue. Don't know what the "C" refers to. On the side of mine it says EX-Port. This would seem to indicate that it's an expandable, or hybrid, meaning it has tent ends that fold down to provide beds with screens on three sides. Folding these down adds about four feet to the overall length.

My 17C has been replaced by the Jay Feather X17Z which is similar with a slightly different floor plan. I think Jayco wanted to put the "X" in the number to indicate expandable.

Clear as mud now?

[Les7h]

The number is very loosely based on the length ( sometimes 3 or 4 feet different ) the “ C “ is the floor plan ( many seemingly identical units may have 3 or more different interior layouts ) and a different model year with an identical layout may have a different “ letter “ and interior colors - many times if I’m curious about a model description I will look it up on “ rvtrader.com “ and see pictures and descriptions ( some listings are more detailed than others )
Les

[Grumpy]

Paul you may want to go here to peruse what is made in the US.

https://www.jayco.com/products/

[Paul Greig]

Thank you all...it certainly does appear that there is great similarities between our two countries and the type of RV's we enjoy....generally when quoting caravan length in Australia it relates to the actual length of the body and excludes the draw bar, or A frame as it is often called.
The Australian logo for Jayco is below...I'm unsure exactly what, if any, connection there is between your Jayco and ours but naming similarities suggest there is some.
Paul.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Paul Greig

The Australian logo for Jayco is below...I'm unsure exactly what, if any, connection there is between your Jayco and ours but naming similarities suggest there is some.
Paul.

Name only, both are independent of each other.

[Paul Greig]

Originally Posted by Isaacs

You'll need something like this if you want to come visit us!

Mmm...Issacs....I would like a little more freeboard for crossing the Pacific me thinks!

[Paul Greig]

Oh... one other item....in my earlier posting I included an image of our pop-top caravan, this style of caravan is very popular here mainly due to the reduced wind resistance and lower centre of gravity, in many cases a pop-top caravan will also fit in a regular garage, the body length of a pop-top will range from around 14' to around 17'. The lifting mechanism is usually only by manually pushing the roof up but pneumatic lifters are available too. I don't see any mention of Pop-Tops on your Jayco website.

[Grumpy]

There used to be a few like that made in the US, but JAYCO never entered that market.

[groundhog72]

Hi Paul. Was recently visiting your country and spent a decent amount of time looking into your campers. All of your campers I put eyes on are built to withstand a lot more abuse then our campers. I don't no of a manufacturer here in the USA that offers a camper built to the standards of an Australian built camper. Some make claims of a so called Baja package. But it is nothing like your average camper. I'm guessing it is this way due to the lack of pavement outside the cities. To travel across Austraila with a trailer made in the USA is not possible from my brief observation. Both of us love camping and our campers. Your style of camping is way different then what we do with the exception campgrounds in the cities. My 2018 jayco would not make the trip from Sydney to Perth in one piece. Lol. A lot of us only dream about taking a trip with the set up and gear you guys get to do. I can drive from our East coast to the Alcan highway and spend a week in Anchorage Alaska. Drive home to east coast after that. The wear and tare on my trailer and tv is still less then the first 100 miles in Australia. Lol. Just trying to point out a few things I witnessed in my brief 7 days in southern Australia.

[Paul Greig]

Groundhog 72, thanks for your posting.
Certainly caravaning in Australia requires good, well made, equipment. And indeed there is good reason for this; much of our interior major road network remains unsealed but by the most part it is in excellent condition, regularly graded by local authorities, the main issue is the corrugations, hundreds of kilometers of corrugations...nothing will shake an RV apart like corrugations. One of the main causes of these corrugations is because many of these roads are what we call 'Beef' roads. Giant road trains transport cattle and sheep from our massive cattle and sheep stations (ranches) to city meat works. Imagine a Mack semi towing four trailers and you may get some idea, this, plus mining is the reason our interior roads are kept in good condition.
But it is not all dust and bumps, the bitumen is being stretching further and further constantly, our National Highway One completely circles the country, a distance of around 14500 km and is completely sealed. We are currently on our 'winter' trip to north Queensland and will cover around 6500 km, we will encounter only around 10% of that on unsealed roads.
I'd like to say to any North American readers, c'mon down, forget about Florida or Grand Canyons... you will find us to be a very friendly people, we even speak the same language....almost.

Paul.
Currently in Charters Towers, Outback Queensland.
Greig Website Start Page

[groundhog72]

I seen your campers. They are built very well compared to ours. My next adventure to Austraila I will definitely rent a "caravan". It is cheaper then a hotel. Haha. And you are correct. The Australian people over very friendly and helpful. Some of the best people in all my travels. Just don't entertain political talk. Haha Haha. Australians don't seem to be very big Trump fans. Lol

[Paul Greig]

Um..yes, Prez Trump may not have a lot of mates down here but for my part he is a breath of fresh air...who woulda thunk of a politician who actually gets things done!!
Paul.