{"id":13985,"date":"2022-05-30T12:08:28","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T02:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/?p=13985"},"modified":"2022-05-30T12:09:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T02:09:44","slug":"lets-go-and-caravan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/driving\/lets-go-and-caravan\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Go and Caravan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We\u2019ve got the country, we\u2019ve got the beauty, and it seems peoples\u2019 love for caravanning and camping around Oz is growing steadily.\u00a0 The latest figures from Tourism Research Australia show that the popularity of domestic caravanning and camping trips is one pastime that many Australians cherish.\u00a0 It\u2019s not hard to see why people enjoy it, when there is so much natural beauty in Australia\u2019s landscapes and wildlife.<\/p>\n

According to the latest domestic tourism record, it shows that Australians spent a total of 54.5 million nights caravanning and camping during the year ending March 2019.\u00a0 This number is an increase of 6.5% from the previous year.\u00a0 While on these trips, many caravanners and campers also opted to eat out at local cafes or restaurants, a bonus for the local businesses.\u00a0 This growth was experienced across the board, in all States and Territories, with over 10% growth recorded for Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland. \u00a0Interestingly, in terms of age demographics, those with a family in tow \u2013 i.e. parents with one or more children living at home \u2013 belonged to the demographic group that accounted for the largest number of caravan\/camp trips in a year.\u00a0 People who were part of the younger, mid-life demographic, and with no children, were those of the second largest group taking plenty of caravanning or camping trips (4.2 million).\u00a0 When it comes to the most nights away in a year, the older non-working demographic (often called \u2018grey nomads\u2019) were leading the way with 32% of the total number of nights spent in Australia caravanning or camping.\u00a0 In comparison, the family segment was only slightly less at 30%.<\/p>\n

Sorry tenters, but I\u2019m getting older and so will give my few cents worth for caravanning in the following!\u00a0 I enjoy getting away in our caravan when we can.\u00a0 Having a caravan in tow allows for a little more comfort on the trip, with less hassle on arrival at each new destination.\u00a0 Everything you really need is with you, and the beds are ready made for the night, with no need to pitch tent!<\/p>\n

I would certainly recommend trying caravanning, particularly if you like the idea of enjoying the great outdoors, getting away from most of the electronic vices, and smelling the clean air.\u00a0 You get to meet a whole bunch of friendly, like-minded people along the way.\u00a0 You also get to discover the many new places you\u2019ve never seen before or rediscover your old favourite spots that you love to get back to.\u00a0 These sorts of experiences are a treat that I never grow tired of.<\/p>\n

Caravan Types<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some of the varieties of caravans you can buy without looking into purchasing a fully-fledged motorhome:<\/p>\n

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Standard Caravan<\/em><\/p>\n

Easy to tow. It really just depends on the tow rating of your car as to how large or heavy the standard caravan is.\u00a0 The smaller the caravan, generally, the lighter and easier it is to tow than bigger ones.\u00a0 Standard caravans come in a range of sizes, single and tandem axles, and so some of the standard caravans can even be pulled by smaller cars.<\/p>\n

Because standard caravans aren\u2019t as heavy as the more ruggedly designed off-road caravans, they demand less torque and horsepower to tow comfortably out on the open road; thus, they are more economical on the fuel\/power bill.<\/p>\n

Standard caravans are also a bit easier to store and manipulate by hand, particularly the smaller ones.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Pop Tops<\/em><\/p>\n

Pop-tops are easy to tow. Small caravans like pop-ups are, generally, much lighter and easier to tow from A to B than larger types of caravans. \u00a0You get much better fuel economy towing a pop-top because of the lower drag co-efficiency.<\/p>\n

Pop-tops a doddle to store and manipulate by hand, particularly the smaller ones.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Expander<\/em><\/p>\n

The merits of an expander caravan are similar to any standard or off-road caravan; however, they have the added bonus of a variety of pop-out areas that can be designed into the ceiling and walls.\u00a0 Essentially, pop these areas out at your destination, and you have a lot more interior space and utility at your disposal while being stationary.\u00a0 Just before you tow away, these areas are fold back into place, and away you tow again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Off Road Caravan or Camper<\/em><\/p>\n

The merits of having an off-road capable caravan or camper speak for themselves.\u00a0 They have been built tough and rugged so that you can tow them off-road.\u00a0 Obviously, you are going to need a bigger, torquier vehicle to tow this type of caravan\/camper as they are heavier built and weigh more.\u00a0 Usually, these are towed by a decent 4×4 capable vehicle like a Land Rover, Toyota Land Cruiser, Ford Ranger, etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Camper Trailer<\/em><\/p>\n

Similar to a pop-up caravan, except they fold out an array of attached tents.\u00a0 These are light and easy to tow.\u00a0 They can be designed for towing both on and off the road.\u00a0 They are cheaper to buy, as are pop tops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve got the country, we\u2019ve got the beauty, and it seems peoples\u2019 love for caravanning and camping around Oz is growing steadily.\u00a0 The latest figures from Tourism Research Australia show that the popularity of domestic caravanning and camping trips is one pastime that many Australians cherish.\u00a0 It\u2019s not hard to see why people enjoy it, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[227,86,58,4471,280,4014,3071,6796,4003],"tags":[3188,7270,7268,6797,6799,7276,7274,7273,7275,1907,7281,7282,7272,7271,7278,7277,7269,7279,7280,2165,7283,3824,6798],"class_list":["post-13985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australia","category-blog","category-driving","category-environment","category-motor-sport","category-sustainabilitygreen","category-technical","category-towing","category-ute","tag-australia","tag-camper-trailer","tag-camping","tag-caravan","tag-caravanning","tag-expanda","tag-expander-camper","tag-expander-caravan","tag-expander-trailer","tag-holidays","tag-large-caravan","tag-light-caravan","tag-off-road-camper","tag-off-road-caravan","tag-pop-top-camper","tag-pop-top-caravan","tag-seeing-australia","tag-small-caravan","tag-standard-caravan","tag-touring","tag-tow-vehicles","tag-towing","tag-towing-a-caravan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13985"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13993,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13985\/revisions\/13993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}