Italy has always been my great travel love, but Australia is home, and it turns out there is just as much to discover on your own doorstep if you are willing to slow down and look for it. This is the story of how Paul and I did exactly that, one caravan trip at a time.
Well, it has been a very long time since Paul and I started thinking about the idea of owning a caravan. The funny thing is that we are not the camping type, and yet life has had a way of nudging us in that direction more than once over the years. My very first experience of a caravan park in Australia, for instance, was entirely accidental. Not long after we got married we took our first trip to the Gold Coast and, not having a lot of money at the time, we stayed in an onsite van at a caravan park instead of a hotel. These were the old 1970s vans, nothing like the beautifully appointed caravans you see today, but it was a lot of fun and it gave me my very first taste of what caravan life actually feels like. Then a couple of years later we found ourselves living in a caravan park for nearly two weeks while we were looking at work opportunities for Paul in the north of Queensland. Again, old school caravanning, but between these two experiences something must have stayed with me because here we are.
Paul's brother has for years travelled around Australia by caravan, but that was never quite us. What we have always loved, however, are picnic style excursions where we bring along everything we need to cook and eat on the road. And when I say everything, I mean everything. We never travel anywhere in Australia without what we affectionately call our "first aid kit" a small plastic box that contains a two cup moka, ground coffee, sugar, two espresso cups and a teaspoon. Because if there is one thing a proper Italian simply cannot do without, it is a proper coffee, everything else can wait. Over the years our little mobile kitchen and those camp chairs have left the door slightly open to the idea that one day we might want to bring along not just a travelling kitchen but a proper homely environment to explore the places around us.
Like many people before us, we went along to caravan and camping shows, watched countless online videos and read blogs to understand what was out there and what would suit not only our budget but our lifestyle and travelling preferences. Then some close friends decided to take the plunge and buy a motorhome. Seeing the whole process up close, the research, the waiting, the first trip setup, the pros and cons of a motorhome made our own choice much clearer. For us, a caravan was the right option rather than a motorhome as we liked the idea of parking the caravan and exploring using the ute. We also wanted something not too big and not too small, comfortable to tow but without going down the off-road path.
After researching price, specs and reputation we landed on a brand that seemed to tick all the boxes: Crusader. We opted for the middle of the Crusader range the Musketeer series, not the touring type but not the off-road either. We looked at several models within the Musketeer range and each one had something to offer, but in the end the Warrior was the one that felt right for us, and for very good reasons. It is just under eight metres which is a comfortable size to tow, it has everything you could need, from a well-appointed kitchen with both gas and induction cooking to a small but very usable top-loading washing machine. Solar panels are already included, which is a wonderful bonus. The L-shaped lounge, which we initially were not sure about, turned out to be far more versatile than the cafe lounge layout once we saw both options side by side. The bed is at the back of the van which gives a real sense of privacy and separation from the main living area. And for a caravan of this size it feels surprisingly roomy, with a quality of finish that we noticed was actually better than some considerably more expensive brands we looked at in the shows.
So one day we went for a drive, popped into the Crusader dealer and finally took the plunge. The only thing we added to the basic design was a slide out kitchen. Those years of picnics and road trips had shown us just how much joy there is in cooking outdoors, in stopping somewhere beautiful and making something delicious from scratch. A barbecue alone was never going to recreate that feeling. The slide out kitchen meant we could bring that same spirit of outdoor cooking with us wherever the Warrior took us and do it properly and in style. But more on that in another post.
The Warrior - our home on wheels ready for Australian adventures
Then we happily waited for our new caravan to arrive and once it did arrive came what I can only describe as a baptism of fire. The trip we decided to do to Melbourne on our maiden voyage to test everything out. That day the weather had other ideas entirely, rain and strong wind greeted us as we left, then on the road, just to make things more interesting, hail pounded us. For Paul it was his very first proper drive towing a fully loaded caravan in conditions that nobody would have chosen. I have to say I was enormously proud to see how Paul remained calm throughout. He simply took it easy, stopped along the way several times to take a break, rest and let the worst of the weather pass. It was not the leisurely scenic drive we had imagined but it was a good test of both us and the van.
And the van passed with flying colours. Once we arrived at the caravan park we were genuinely pleased with how well both the ute and the Warrior had handled everything the weather had thrown at them. It did not take long at all to get set up and by the time we settled in for the night the baptism of fire already felt like a story worth telling.
Which I suppose it is.
More caravan adventures coming soon.