G'day all,
My wife and I have always been keen campers, and in 2007 we went to the Caravan and Camping show in Brisbane and fell in love with the camper trailer concept. With a 18 month old boy and another on the way, we were a little cash strapped and decided to run with a Chinese import - a Market Direct camper. With two rug rats the camper only had about half a dozen outings, but we enjoyed every minute of it. A few pics of the camper are below.
Whilst we really enjoyed the space of the Market Direct it had a few drawbacks. Firstly it was a bugger to erect - the main tent took 15 to 20 minutes on my own to put up, and the annex another 20 to 30. Whilst it was shower proof the seams could let go in a big storm, so inevitably I would put a tarp over her for insurance - add another 20 minutes. So over an hour later the camper would be up, before we even started unpacking. That's OK when you're staying for a week, but we wanted to launch a few weekend missions from where we are on the northside of Brisbane up the coast - we're particularly big fans of the beach camping ground on the Noosa North Shore (over the ferry from Tewantin).
This year we found ourselves again at the Caravan and Camping show. We had no intention of buying anything, but that damned show is like some sort of infectious disease and it got us looking around for an upgrade. Long story short, we found ourselves at Jonny Trackabout's place hashing out a deal. JT's kit is just so well finished I couldn't resist it. We took receipt of the camper about 3 weeks ago and are heading up to the North Shore on the 12th for a week to give her a christening. I'll post some pics from the trip.
While I have the floor I'd just like to make a couple of comments about Chinese campers. I've read a lot of posts on this forum about Chinese campers and there is no doubt they have their problems. But for what you get for the money they represent pretty good value, and for those with limited budgets my advice is to go for it as long as you are prepared to work on the bugs. When I went shopping for a locally made camper and I told them my story, almost all of the sales people I spoke to spent 10 minutes bagging Chinese trailers; clearly there is some emotional baggage attached to loss of market share that the locals have copped. Cavalier Campers are a classic - how much money have these guys invested in advertising bagging out Chinese campers? This is where I found John's attitude so refreshing; he was only interested in what my needs were and how he could meet them. In talking with him about his business he told me that he has upgraded a lot of his gear in recent times in an effort to distinguish it from the lower end of the market, and it's working a treat. Here's a guy who has responded to a change in market conditions and is having a win rather than simply winging about it.
Sorry - I'll get off my soap box. It's just that some people don't have tens of thousands to throw at a camper trailer, and I don't see why they should be made to feel like their trailer is crap when it's meeting their needs and they are enjoying it. And remember that this is coming from a Trackabout owner.
I've been lurking around this site for ages now and would like to thank you all for the tips that I've picked up along the way. I hope I can return the favour soon.
Cheers.
Pete.
