Automatic Weaponry

When I was a kid I thought that when I grew up, we'd all be flying around in rockets and going to the moon for the weekend. Technology would achieve great things. And while we;re not all switching on the after-burners every arvo to fly home, some things have made some serious advances. Like camper trailers.

We're road-testing a camper-trailer that can be erected with the push of a remote control button. And no, I'm not kidding. Simply unlock the latches, flip out two legs, hit the button and hey presto, your camper is ready. No pegs, just two poles to be tensioned, and voila - a completely set-up camper.

This hard-floor camper opens with the help of a 12-volt battery and a worm-drive motor. In my opinion, the arm itself is over-engineered to the hilt and would never break down. But importantly, this new GEO convert system has a number of 'fail-safes; built-in. First, if your power source is compromised, the camper can be manually erected. Second, the motor has overload sensors in place, so if something is obstructing the setup of pack-down, the motor will automatically cut out. Nice. Oh, and importantly (just in case you're camping on April Fools Day), you can disable the motor via a switch, so no-one can play tricks and close the tent while you're in the sack. Don't say I didn't warn you!

The construction of the body is all fibreglass, and it's as neat and well-finished as I've seen in the camper market. At first, I'll admit I was a little concerned with the idea of fibreglass, but after using the camper on Fraser Island's roughest tracks for nine days, those doubts have passed. This is serious fibreglass here, and I can't see it cracking or failing in a long, long time. In fact, you can even store gear on the top of the camper like surfboards and luggage if you like.

As for features, the list is long as you would expect from a premium camper. You've got two Waeco 40-litre fridges, a full slide-out stainless steel stove and sink, a hot water system and shower, and a really well-designed pantry area. The 14-litre gas hot water system is fed by a 120-litre water tank complete with electric pump. Incidentally, the GEO Convert has not one but two 120 Amp Hour deep-cycle batteries to keep things topped-up. The batteries can of course be charged various ways, but we chose the simple Anderson plug system from the vehicle as we were on the go most days. And when we did manage to find a powered site, we simply hooked up the old 15 Amp plug to keep her charged.

Hard-floor campers can sometimes fall short when it comes to storage space, but not this one. The nose cone has one big cupboard on the left and three big cupboards on the right side, and is a great place to store gear like chairs and tables. The side of the camper also features a couple of extra lockers on rollers, so you'll always be well-stocked.

Inside the bedroom area is a comfortable innerspring mattress, and even more storage. You can even access one of the fridges through a door next to the bed, not bad for those warm Kimberley nights. And speaking of hot nights, the Travelander is one of the few campers I know of to feature a safari roof which, in this case, is a second layer of canvas suspended across the roof. Not only does this keep the camper cooler, it also allows a wet pack up, as the wet top canvas won't wet the second roof layer. Nice one. I wish more designers were this thoughtful.

There is no shortage of quality lighting throughout the camper, and most lights are super-bright LED units. The floor of the camper is vinyl, so it sweeps out quickly and easily.

If you're staying for more than a couple of nights in the one spot, there's an awesomely big eight-foot awning you can put up. It takes around 20 minutes to erect, and you can have a fully or partially enclosed setup.

One interesting point with the Travelander camper-trailer is that while the design, gas-fittings, accessories and the canvas comes from Australia, the unit is actually built in China. Travelander Managing Director Darren Hoger told AC+RV "We started making the unit in Australia, but we couldn't meet the demand. We were out of stock all the time, especially around show time. The bonus of being built in China is that we've actually been able to achieve a higher quality product." And I'd have to agree there. The fit-and-finish were surprisingly good, with quality latches, seals, tight closing doors and well-designed, functional switch gear.

The chassis of the Travelander trailer is seriously robust. It's fully galvanised and features huge trailing arms for the independent suspension. Incidentally, while the suspension used to be adjustable air-bag, customers unanimously preferred coil springs and shock absorbers, so that's what's supporting the Travelander now. The model we tested soaked up the bumps really well, but the next model trailer will be even closer to the ground, making it corner and handle better again.

As for options and prices, Travelander have a one-size-fits-all policy. Being a premium brand, they throw everything into all campers and trayback models, rather than having two or three tiers of products. The trayback-only model, which comes without the trailer and nose-cone section, is currently $31,200, while the complete camper trailer unit is $42,500.

As some of you will know, the big advantage of the Travelander GEO Convert is that it can also be used as a tray top camper. In around five minutes, you can slide it off the trailer and pop it on the back of a nearby ute. It's not cheap, but it's bloody versatile.

Australian Caravan & RV Magazine, Spring 2008.