It seems that an increasing number of caravan parks that are being renovated are looking to ensure they can cater to the larger rigs that are becoming increasingly popular.
And, not surprisingly, this has divided grey nomad opinion.
Kevin Chaloner thinks the trend is ridiculous.
“The growth in ever bigger and heavier rigs is unsustainable and uneconomic, especially when it involves to removing big trees for the benefit of bigger rigs,” he said. “Who wants to stay in a park dominated by bitumen and concrete in semi trailer-like parking lot surrounds without shade?”
And Kevin says that, given the ‘astronomical’ cost of these rigs, travellers could actually take five-star hotel-based holidays and still be financially in front.
The size of the average caravan is slowly increasing. PIC: Cizza
But Lynette Brown sees it differently, and has been urging the relevant bodies to cater for larger rigs for some time.
“On our travels around this huge country we find far more larger vans than were out even a couple of years ago,” she said. “We have always preferred longer more comfortable vans and do not use off-road sites as we like aircon/heating etc.”
Hannu Aho, who drives an 11-metre RV, agrees and says he often has to do a walk around to see if his rig can fit and manoeuvre within a park.
“You can’t rely on websites that list ‘big rigs’ but, in saying that, we have seen many parks that have modernised their sites for larger caravans/RV’s,” he said. “One recent one that comes to mind is Bordertown Caravan Park, where they have long drive-through sites available.”
But Sharon Olsson, who is retired and has a 7-metre Mercedes Diversion Sprinter motorhome, raised an issue that seemed to be on many grey nomads’ minds … will bigger sites automatically mean higher fees?
“If re-doing the parks with larger sites diminishes the number of sites, it stands to reason that the cost of these larger sites will rise,” she said. “It has been a dream to travel Australia in an affordable way and a motorhome staying in caravan parks seemed like a viable option … but these changes will most likely make it more difficult for people like us to continue.”
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We’ve been traveling with a large van (32 feet 9mtrs) and have not really had an issue. There was only a couple of sites where we had a tight squeeze and one where we took out one of their key code thingies, otherwise we have been able to fit into and set up in 98% if the parks we’ve been in.
Our car and caravan is 15mtrs all up when hitched.
I think you should be charged for the size of your van. The larger the van the more you pay.
Why Debbie, a big van doesn’t use any more water ,power than a small van.
Many of the larger vans have two airconditioning units and bigger hot water units to heat water with larger refrigerators, just to name a few things i can come up with off the top of my head. User pays for the extras….only fair. If you can afford to cart around a huge caravan surely you can afford to pay an extra fee.
Our van has only one air conditioner and has an instantaneous gas hot water system.
Manu who you classify as “can afford a larger van” are forced to live or travel permanently in those vans and are therefore probably worse off than those who just use their vans for holidays. Never assume you know others’ situations or circumstances.
As the article says “larger sites diminishes the number of sites”. If van parks have less sites due to catering for larger vans it’s obvious that the fees will go up so they are not losing money due to less sites. I worded it wrong in my first post, I think you should have to pay for the size of your site.
When ever I book a park site I always get asked for the size of the van & I’m offered a site to suit never had an issue
I don’t believe you pay for size of van don’t think for a moment you will get a cheaper site for a small van bigger sites may go up.
Caravans are no longer just a short holiday vehicle. Many now live in their vans or travel almost full time and so need and deserve the creature comforts they desire. As for trees, weel any trees overhanging caravan sites should be removed for the obvious safety reasons anyway.
Its becoming a problem everywhere. Local councils are not maintaining the tree canopy overhang along their roads to 4.3m, the minimum height needed. When large or slow or heavy vehicles are supposed to keep to the left lane we risk annihilation from overhanging low trees. No wonder some don’t drive in the left lane, its fraught with risk.
With stricker vehicle emissions on the agenda & more EV’s coming in the near future, caravans will be getting smaller.
The days of the big ute are numbered.
Sites won’t have to increase in size.
One only has to look at the typical size (weight) of the tow vehicle vs the caravan, such as in the above photo, to see a problem in waiting. You need as much mass as possible in the tow vehicle, to enable the tow vehicle to retain control, otherwise the caravan takes control of the tow vehicle. When the caravan starts oscillating or tries to overtake or push the tow vehicle down hill, this is when the mass of the tow vehicle becomes critical. Basic engineering. Just because it might be a legal combination (for example, a 2.5 tonne tow vehicle to tow a 3 tonne caravan), this does not make it sensible or responsible. I suppose it depends on whether people value their own lives and the lives of other road users in the end. People often complain when the government road agencies mandate certain safety rules, but clearly it’s because increasingly, the majority are doing the wrong thing, not necessarily the illegal thing (there’s a difference).
technology makes all these things much safer,