Heavy Haulers

There's no point owning a whizz-bang caravan or camper-trailer if you don't have the muscle to tow it. Plenty of vehicles will haul a decent load, but not all can carry vans tipping the scales at 2000kg and over like these ones can. Here's six of the best…

Land Rover Discovery 4 SE TDV6
Five time winner of the Australia's Best Cars award for 'Best All-terrain 4WD', the 'Disco 4' is engineered to tackle serious off-road treks, but without compromising comfort, refinement or performance.

Toyota LandCruiser 200 series
If you're looking for a vehicle that's made for towing heavy loads, it's hard to go past the LandCruiser - it's one of the best when it comes to towing and outback touring.

Mitsubishi Pajero 3.2-litre diesel
The Mitsubishi Pajero offers genuine off-road ability and towing prowess, while still offering families what they want. It's reliable, offers excellent fit and finish, and it's a good value-for-money proposition.

Ford Territory TX
Built on a modified Falcon platform, the Territory is part sedan, part SUV and part people mover. It's a powerful and refined lugger that is confident and secure on open roads and stable on dirt. Body movement is well controlled and tyre grip is reasonable. It's also smooth and quiet.

Nissan Patrol ST Turbo-diesel
The Patrol combines assured off-road ability with excellent braked towing capacity. It's not for pottering around the city, though - it's big and cumbersome when manoeuvring into a tight parking sport or when trying to make a U-turn (owing to its tight turning circle).

Toyota Prado GXL
Drivers relished the third-generation Prado for it all-round abilities, including eight-seat capacity, massive 180L fuel tank and huge cruising range. Now into its fourth guise, the Prado is one of the few 4WDs that combine off-road ability with a compact body.

Loading your caravan

Nothing boils my blood quite so quickly as a caravan being towed either nose-down or nose-up. It means the caravan hasn't been loaded properly and it means it's a time bomb.

Yep, an improperly loaded or overloaded caravan is a disaster waiting to happen.

While most people will tell you speed's the culprit when a caravan jack-knifes or rolls, it isn't. Sometimes it's down to poor driving, but more often than not an accident is the result of a poorly loaded caravan becoming unstable.

It's tempting to think of your caravan as being just one big storage space on wheels, and so you end up cramming every locker and drawer to bursting with everything you think you could ever need. If you really do have to take everything with you, including the kitchen sink, it's vital you think about packing it in such a way that it doesn't unbalance your caravan.

Top buys caravans for less than 35K

Not everyone needs - or can afford - a caravan capable of long-distance treks. So what's best for those short trips away?

If someone gave you $35,000 and asked you to spend it, how would you?

Given that you're reading this magazine and not Yachting Monthly, Build Your Own Pool or Holidays in Antarctica, it's a fair guess that a caravan of some description would figure highly.  

"Wait a minute," I hear you say, "that kind of money can't buy me a new caravan, can it? A camper-trailer or a slide-on, sure. But a caravan? Come on!"

Well, yes, it most certainly can. Thirty-five thousand dollars can get you a very good camper-trailer to hitch to your fourby, or an excellent slider for your ute. It can also buy you a perfectly safe, durable and comfortable caravan.    

There's only one catch - a caravan selling around the $35K mark really won't be suitable for trips longer than a few weeks. You see, when you pay big bucks for a caravan, what you're really buying is extra convenience. The convenience to pull into a caravan park, pop the awning out and have the billy boiled all within five minutes. Money well spent if you're going to be on the road for the good part of a year, but unnecessary for short trips away. And let's face it, not everyone has six figures to put towards a set of wheels.

Something for the weekend (Words // Photography Paul Rodger)

Thunderbolt's Way

This spectacular drive is named after Australia's last professional bushranger, Fred Ward, alias Thunderbolt, who 'operated' in this region from 1860 until his reported death at the hands of the police, in 1870. The key to Thunderbolt's relatively long career was a penchant for stealing racehorses that could easily outpace the pursuing police hacks. As his 'mount' for this Thunderbolt's Way guide, Allan Whiting chose a new Trakka Torino Xtra Remote model.

As the famous outlaw proved, you need a good performer if you're attempting Thunderbolt's Way. This steep, winding road connects the NSW New England town of Inverell with riverside Gloucester, dropping nearly 1000 vertical metres in the process. Heading north, uphill, you need climbing grunt and downhill, you need the right gearing, combined with powerful engine braking. The Trakka Torino has both in spades.

Most people do the drive along Thunderbolt's Way to or from Uralla, using it as a means of connecting the coastal Pacific Highway with the inland New England Highway. As such, it's a short-cut - unless you get stuck behind one of the many logging trucks that ply the road. More importantly, for those with some time on their hands, Thunderbolt's Way is a scenic history lesson that can be expanded by side trips along the route.

Words Allan Whiting  photos Allan Whiting & HAMILTON LUND/Tourism NSW

Travelling with kids

So you've got a couple of rug rats and want to take them on your next outback adventure? Isaac Bober runs you through a few things to make holidaying with kids a little easier.

Unless you've ever travelled with Kids you'll have no idea how horrible/fun it can be. I certainly didn't. See, my wife and I have just been travelling between Adelaide and Sydney with our toddler and I can now, for the first time ever, actually write a piece about travelling with children...

The first thing is you'll need plenty of time to do, um, everything. Time to pack the car, time to unpack the car and plenty of time while on the road to stop and let the kids stretch their legs. So, if a drive usually takes three hours sans children you can guarantee it'll take twice that with kids. Especially if you're travelling with toddlers who need regular nappy changes.

Now, neither my wife nor I believe in DVD players in cars. Sure, it might keep the kids quiet for half an hour, but it's pretty anti-social. The best advice I ever had was from a friend with three boys. He said that as soon as the munchkins start getting rowdy it's time to pull over at the nearest park and let them run around... and believe me, it works a charm. We did this on our recent trip and the little fella was a dream.

For the rest of these stories, plus more, the August/September issue of Australian Caravan+RV is currently on sale in newsagents, you can purchase a subscription online or by calling 1300 782 312.

editor@caravanandrv.com.au