Home on the Road

If you ask any experienced caravanner what the best thing about travelling in Australia is, they'll invariably answer 'it's the people that you meet'.

It's true that wherever you decide to park the van, it's never too long before someone comes over for a bit of a yarn and maybe even a beer or two. Happily, there are no shortage of interesting characters about with interesting stories to tell and they go a long way to making a caravanning trip the joy it is.

One such character is Dick Cross, a lean, silver-haired Queenslander who has already been around Australia three times and is well on his way around again. Dick sold up his Toowong unit three years ago and hit the open road in a Coromal Caravans Magnum 340. Having worked for the same Brisbane engineering firm for 27 years, Dick just decided he had been in one place for too long and wanted to get moving.

"I got my first van in 1982 and used to like taking short trips to Brunswick Heads," says Dick, who is currently camping in Western Australia. "Finally, I had had enough of the rat race and took off forever.

"I love the caravanning lifestyle because you meet some fantastic people but you always know that if you do end up with neighbours you don't like you just pack up and leave the next morning."

Dick's decision to travel in a light, camper-like van, with fold-out sleeping quarters reflects the fact that he is travelling alone.

"It is easy to set up and I can be relaxing less than 15 minutes after pulling up at a place," he says. "Both ends fold out to make the sleeping areas and the top pops up.

"The vehicle tows really well and doesn't have a lot of wind drag when it's folded up. It's also a lot easier to manoeuvre into tight spots than a conventional caravan. I don't have to worry about trees with low-hanging branches."

Although Dick tows his van with a Jeep he isn't all that comfortable getting far off the bitumen. "It's not the sort of van you can go down the really rough tracks in," he says. "But I still spend plenty of time out in the bush. If I need to I can just run everything off gas and that gives me the freedom to stay out of caravan parks for as long as I want to."

Having been to so many magnificent places in this vast country, Dick is reluctant to pick out his all-time favourite spot, although he has probably spent more time in Western Australia than any other state.

"I still haven't come across that perfect place yet," Ted says. "I guess I'll just have to keep looking." So when does this veteran caravanner plan to give it all away and return home to the Sunshine State?

"I am home," Dick smiles, sitting on the steps to his much-loved 'camper'. "This is where I want to be and this is where I feel I belong."

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