New Entry Into The Grey Nomad Market

BOLWELL, a name best known for its muscle cars, has made a move on the "grey nomads" market with its new-age caravan, called The Edge. 


Every once in a while somebody comes up with something different to try and capture their share of the market. Details are a little light but will be interesting to see how this penetrates the established market
Full story is here  http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2010/11/18/260181_enthusiast.html

Nice to see good news

Every once in a while it is nice to see good news published tell it how it is. This story was in the Sunday Telegraph by Wendy Harmer. Well worth the read.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/hit-the-road-before-it-hits-back/story-e6frezz0-1225953086275

'No need' for special caravan licences

Well I suppose that is the sort of spiel you would expect from a caravan salesman but many would disagree after they see the carnage on the roads from inexperienced drivers who paid the ultimate price with loss of theri pride and joy or even worse, serious injury.

Full story here

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/09/3061298.htm?section=business

Nice to see Success

With the ever increasing number of Grey Nomads on the road it is nice to see success growing out of it. While the more on the road will no doubt bring a few problems with camp sites and crowding etc it will also bring opportunities  for those in the business.

Here is one success story.
http://www.thereporter.com.au/story/2010/11/08/logan-company-in-top-40/

And the Minister has declined to comment

Ever once in a while you come a cross a story that just has you sitting there with your jaw dropped. Earlier in this blog I wrote a piece about caravan towing a crashes. Now this one takes the cake, but it could only happen in Queensland; but; I wonder what the regulations are in other states or maybe it is just one of those things that the powers that be just didn't think of.

See the full story here

http://www.caravanningnews.com/towhell.htm

Have You Checked Your Tyres Lately

No I don't mean have you checked the pressure which of course you should do on a regular basis but this video which is a story from ABC America has just as much reference to us here in Australia. Tyres age and have a use by date and they can be years old before you buy them. Watch is video and you just might save the lives of you and your family, not to mention other road users.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Sometimes I scratch my head.

Sometimes I have to wonder when you read news reports and wonder politicians are really made of. Here we are on the one hand having politicians singing there own praises and telling us how much the RV industry has grown and the community benefited by their actions
 http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/855793/caravaning-booms-as-stamp-duty-axed-nsw 
and than at the same times they take actions which are totally counter productive like closing NSW show-grounds to camping, 
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/03/29/showground-camping-ban-nsw-tourist/

Is it no wonder that the public has so little confidence in politicians at all level of government. On one hand they brag about increasing the market by 33% by their actions then take action to restrict them from having somewhere to camp.

Grey Nomad Enquiry

Further to my post of the 14th May it appears that things are moving along, the written submissions are now closed and the Enquiry have requested certain submitters to appear in person before the enquiry. Many RVers will be pinning their hopes on the submission from the CMCA and Mr Frans Hamer to combat the often and usually biased presentations from the Caravan Park Owners Associations.

It will be very interesting to see the outcome of this enquiry. The hearing will be on the 21st August in Brisbane.

Submissions can be viewed here at 
http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/committees/EDC.asp?SubArea=inquiries_greynomad_submissions

Motorhomes get together

Been a bit slack for a while working on my own rig and others things. back to blogging now.

Auswide is having a national rally at Dayboro. Don't hear much of this club unless you go looking for it.
Full story here.
http://www.thewesterner.com.au/pages/blogs.aspx?ID=3295

Is it any wonder???

So often there is heated debate when it comes to freedom camping. So often the mature age Grey Nomad gets confused with the young aged back packer/campervannner who travels on a minimum budget and draws such a response from the community.

See this article from the NT News and read the heated responses from the public and you will get some idea of the problems that face councils. While the two sector of the RV trade are poles apart in their life style and requirements, the public sometimes cannot differentiate.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/05/31/151641_ntnews.html

New Retirement Village for RVers

A new retirement village is to be built in Maryborough especially to cater for the RV community. Details are still sketchy but get all the detail from this Sunshine Coast Daily news article published 26/5/2010. These villages sounds good in concept but the devil is in the detail, how much and what are the on going costs to live there. At least the weather is right in Maryborough.

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2010/05/26/coast-investors-rv-homebase-fraser-work-begin/

More detail on the concept at   http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2010/01/20/brothers-share-love-for-open-road/

And more from the Fraser Coast Chronicle http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/story/2010/05/24/cash-bonus-for-motor-home-dream-nomads-get-peace-o/

More on Driving Skills

Further to my blog Sunday 16th May I stumbled upon this article in Caravanning News from September 2009

http://caravanningnews.com/nomadwry.htm

Would appear researchers are of the same opinion.

Get real Western Australia

The following story was posted on the ABC News site.

Tourism jobs halved

A restructure of Tourism WA will slash jobs and redirect funds to marketing.

Under the plan, staff numbers will drop from 159 to 74 over the next two years.
The board's chairwoman Kate Lamont says the goal is to double the economic contribution tourism makes to WA in the next 10 years.
She says stakeholder research called for the organisation to be streamlined.
"Consistently and resoundingly industry said to us 'you need to spend more money on marketing', the job of the government tourism agency is to drive customers to the door of businesses across Western Australia," she said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/23/2906916.htm

If Western Australia is really serious about driving "customers to the door of businesses" then why don't they start adopting a more friendly attitude to RVers. The booming Grey Nomad sector of the tourism trade is likely to feel less than welcome in WA with larges sections of the state having draconian "no camping" laws. The stories of rangers knocking on your door  and moving you on even if you are camped well off the road and doing nobody any harm are numerous. Their attitude to try and force people into caravan parks, which are usually booked out, has drawn comment on many an RV forum.

Come on your guy in the West if you are really wanting to improve your tourism trade, just sacking a few staff and doing a bit more advertising won't cut it. You have to change your attitude and your laws and start making people feel welcome. Stop discriminating against the RV tourist trade.

Seal Rocks Camping Reserve - The battle lines are drawn

The Great Lakes Shire Council have released a Draft Plan of Management for the future development of the Seal Rocks Camping Reserve. This Draft Plan can be viewed at the below Council website but includes the erection of a resort style development. The camping reserve at Number One Beach is and always has been a low cost camping reserve for the public.




http://www.greatlakes.local-e.nsw.gov.au/files/80406/File/Seal_Rocks_Camping_Reserve_Draft_Management_Plan.pdf

How often do we see stories like this where the council take publicly owned land and wants to develop it  against the wishes of the population. This time the opposition is growing and they have established a Face Book page with over 12,000 people joining in support. You can view or give your support at  
http://en-gb.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114557575241636&ref=share

Who has the right to "Own" a camp site.

Well it would not be my scene, I believe that having an RV is so you can travel and see the country but apparently there are those who really enjoy camping at the same spot year after year after year. I found this story rather surprising, one guy even pays $5200 a year to reserve his camp site which his family has used for 50 years. Now I could have a few months on the road for that money or even a trip overseas.

Then along comes the Government and stuffs things up for him.

See the whole story here.  
http://www.thegreynomads.com.au/index.htm

Observation on Drivers Licences

On a recent 7000k+ trip I took the time to observe many of the rigs and their drivers,and to put it mildly, my observations were alarming.

Now before everybody jumps down my neck, I know it is dangerous to generalise but lets look at the ridiculous situation that exists in Australia today.

Hypothetical situation :- Dad retires and in his whole life (on a normal car licence) he has driven a small 4cyl car to and from work and on the annual holiday He has never had a towbar on the car and taken a 6x4 box trailer to the dump in his life. He is now collecting a nice big super payout and goes out and buy one of three things (1) a motorhome either 4.5t or maybe bigger at over 4.5t., (2) he buys a new 4WD and a comfortable caravan with all the mod cons around 13mtrs in overall length or (3) Buy a 5th wheeler and prime mover. The actual sizes means very little in this hypothetical case.

Now Dad all proud of his new rig puts Mum on board and off they go the travel the country or whatever their dream is. And what a dream it is, freedom from home, freedom from work, freedom from family and no timetable, free as a bird. We all share that wonderful dream. I'm not knocking the dream just looking at the practicalities of this situation.

Now if  he buys a motorhome under 4.5t he can drive it on his normal car licence, this is the normal legal situation but their is a big difference between a 1t car and 4.5t truck with regards to weight, length, width and heights and he really has to learn all over again to make allowances for the differences.

If the motorhome is over the magical 4.5t he has to sit for a driving test to obtain his LR or MR licence which ever is required for his proudly owned new toy. No problem so far as most sensible people will take things a little easy until they become comfortable and competent with their bigger rig. (notice I stressed MOST!)

Where the problem arises is with the legal situation where a totally untrained person can and does buy a car/caravan or truck/5er combination which can be every bit as large as a semi trailer and much heavier than many motorhomes and tear off down the road at 100k per hour and be let loose to inflict themselves on the travelling public.( all this on a car licence) This is a ludicrous situation that is currently allowed by our laws. Granted most will take it easy until they become proficient with their rig (once again stress the MOST!)

However from my observations there are many out the there is RV land who are not comfortable or competent with their rigs and you only have to sit in a caravan park or camp site and watch people trying to reverse their rigs into confined spaces to see what I mean. Many will not book in unless there are drive through parks. Just watch the many rigs poorly packed (balanced) driving down the road. Watch the total lack of courtesy being extended to other road users with long lines of traffic behind slow moving RVs.

There are relevant training course available through many of the motoring organisation but one has to wonder just how many undertake these courses voluntarily.One also has to wonder how long it will be until authorities make these courses compulsory or require towing endorsements compulsory on driving licences. Of course there will be howls of protest from the caravan and 5th wheeler sales organisations if and when this happens as it will no doubt cause a temporary downturn in their sales but the safety issues are real and need to be addressed.

Just because you have towed a box trailer from many years without incident does not mean you are qualified to step up to some of the bigger trailer/caravans that are now on our roads.

Read some of these stories to see just what can happen to the inexperienced when the unexpected happens. We all want a long and happy retirement, not a short and tragic one.

 

Woman wants answers to caravan crash 

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2008/01/28/answers-crash/

F3 Caravan crash brings traffic to a stand-still

 http://express-advocate-wyong.whereilive.com.au/news/story/f3-caravan-crash-brings-traffic-to-a-stand-still/

TWO DEAD, OTHERS HURT IN HORROR MONTH OF CARAVAN ACCIDENTS

 http://www.caravanningnews.com/octaccis.htm

Caravan crash at Table Top
Wednesday 28, Apr 2010

http://www.wintv.com.au/albury_wodonga/news/item/27920 

Motorhome plunge stopped by rock

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2009/11/23/vehicle-plunge-stopped-by-rock/

Bid for safer caravan towing 

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2009/08/31/bid-safer-caravan-towing/ 

4WD, caravan flip on highway at Nambour

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2007/10/12/4wd-caravan-flip-highway-nambour/

Woman killed in motorhome crash

http://www.mountainhomenews.com/story/1214661.html 

Couple have lucky escape in highway rollover 

http://www.ntnews.com.au//article/2010/05/28/151071_ntnews.html

Accident don't just happen they are caused!

Vehicles don't loose control, drivers do! 

The Value of Things --- not always measured by $$$$$$$$$$$

I find this media release and the associated web site of great interest. It just goes to show that the Grey Nomads are worth a lot more than just the $$$ they inject into a community. What is more surprising in this particular case is that Barcaldine, not that long ago, developed quite a reputation when a local caravan park operator with help from his association tried to get the show-grounds closed down to camping. Caused quite a furore in the RV world and the local community and they (the narky CP owner and his association) even managed to get the laws changed in Queensland, (which still need to be changed back), something about competitive neutrality (whatever that means, political speak for we want it our way).

But what it really shows is the generosity of the Grey Nomad community in spite of everything.

MEDIA RELEASE   - Release #10

For immediate release  16th March 2010                     
For more information: contact:  Program Coordinator Douglas Stewart                       
It is with much anticipation that the communities of the Barcaldine Regional Council welcome the start to the tourist season as travellers start to appear in Western Queensland.
All communities in our region have got behind the Barcaldine Regional Council Grey Nomad Volunteer Program, said the program Coordinator Doug Stewart, registering a wide range of community projects that they hope to attract the assistance of Grey Nomad Volunteers to help complete, he said. The program had been a great success for local communities in 2009 with a large quantity of work completed with the valuable assistance of Grey Nomad Volunteers travelling through our region, he said. The program's success is obviously spreading as I have also received many enquiries about the program from communities all around our region, Doug said, from Birdsville in the south west to Mackay to the north, he said.
In 2009 Volunteers assisted Barcaldine community groups with:
Carpentry repairs
Painting  
Computer work: installation and data entry    
Landscape gardening
Sewing lessons
Designing and making garments for NAIDOC week fashion parade
One on one reading at the State School
Serviced and assembled push bikes for State School
Sharpened tools for Manual Arts Class at State School
Built shelving
Repaired grave stones RSL
Made new grave stones - RSL
Fixed downpipes and locks
Entertained hospital patients
Furniture restoration
Fixed sound system  Radio Theatre
Catering
Done surveys
Assisted at Revfest
Fixed hand rails
Cleaned carpets
Cleaned breeze air filters
Community groups and communities in and around our region are encouraged to contact the Program Coordinator if they would like more information about the workings of the program.
It is hoped that in the long term that volunteers who have worked in the Barcaldine Region can then be informed about programs operating in other communities in Queensland that are on their travel route.
Project Registration forms are available by contacting the program Coordinator on 07 46515600.
Do not hesitate to contact the coordinator if you have any queries about the program" 
Douglas Stewart Grey Nomad Program Coordinator
Barcaldine Regional Council PO Box 191 BARCALDINE QLD 4725. Ph: 07 46515600 Fax: 07 46511778
Email: douglass@barcaldinerc.qld.gov.au

Have a look their website here: http://greynomadproject.jimdo.com/

Grey Nomads flavour of the month in Bundaberg

We often hear stories of how the Grey Nomads don't support the caravan park industry and the Parks Association so vigorously campaign against "freedom camping". Once in a while it is nice to hear the true story of how much the Grey Nomads are really worth to a community with the injection of business into the towns/regions.

Check out this story in the Bundaberg News Mail on Saturday 15th May 2010.The irony of this story is the Bundaberg Regional Council voted against the city of Bundaberg becoming an RV Friendly Town under the CMCA scheme, even thought I hear the local Tourist Information centre is pleading with them to join the scheme. 

http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2010/05/15/grey-nomads-head-north-for-warmth/

A Unique Travel D'log by Tim

Yes I know you probably think I misspelt the Blog in the title but it is actually a Blog from the dog's point of view., hence the D'log

I'm sure you will like this unique experience. 

http://www.dogdogs.com.au/

The Queensland Government needs your help

Often we think that politicians never listen to the public but at the moment they are asking for your help and opinion. See the story here and have your say in what you think the Queensland Government needs to do to attract the "Grey Nomad" to their region.

I've had my say, make sure you have yours. Submissions must be in by 28th May 2010

http://www.caravanningnews.com/inquiry.htm

or go directly to the online submission page  at 
http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/committees/EDC.asp?SubArea=inquiries_form_greyNomad

It is important that the Government know what we the travelling public think.

What is the truth out there

We often hear stories of Councils, Governments, and the Caravan Parks Association wanting to close down "freedom camping" because it is effecting their industry and governments of all levels seem to think they need protection or at least favourable attention to protect the Caravan Park.

Read this article in Caravanning News to see just how the industry is actually doing.

http://www.caravanningnews.com/growth.htm

Have Washing Machine - Will Travel

We have all had the problem of doing the washing while travelling, out with the bucket and sink plunger or the hand tumbler or many other ingenious other devises. Some of the more fancy rings, be they motorhome or caravan can have built in washing machines but all this comes at a price. (doesn't everything) On our recent trip we spent a small fortune on laundromats and some of their prices were outrageous. I spoke to one lady who said here washing had cost over $25 for washing and drying. Now on an extended trip that can become a significant cost.

Friends have a small washing machine which washes well but you still have to wring out the clothes to dry them. I think that machine cost around $500. Now here is a possible solution I saw the other day, a twin tub mini washing machine at a reasonable price. Made by Runsun (Chinese of course) and only $199.

Details can be seen at http://cnrunsun.en.alibaba.com/product/275948260-209698589/washing_machine.html

A customer opinion here at http://www.washing-machine-wizard.com/runsun-xpb32800s.html

I saw the machine at Casey's RV http://www.caseysrvs.com.au/

Warwick Qld Will they or won't they -That is the question

The Southern Qld town of Warwick is embroiled in a debate over the RV Friendly Towns Scheme which is promoted by the CMCA. It always amazes me when something like this happens that some sections of a community cannot see the trees for the forest getting in the way but that is my biased opinion from the point of view of a motorhome owner ( or at least that is how some would see it).

The caravan park owners lobby group is in full and vocal swing against the proposal which is their usual form when these things are raised. Always surprised me that a group like this which must comprised maybe 1 or 2% of the number of businesses in the region can have so much voice when it comes to these matters. This is not the first town where this has happened, Maryborough Qld and Barcaldine Qld also being classic examples.

Here are some links so you can follow it for yourself.
http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/story/2010/04/24/Town-split-over-RV-Friendly-plan/
http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/story/2010/05/08/chamber-to-get-word-on-rv-friendly-warwick/
http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/story/2010/05/13/sparks-fly-rv-forum/

See the links in later posts for the true story of what the value of the Grey Nomads  really is.

Introduction to RV Things

People often say "why would you want to blog" and I guess there are hundreds of different reasons to start a blog. I started when I decided to keep a travel log for our friends when we undertook our first big trip in the motorhome since retiring and must admit to being surprised at how many people followed our adventures.

I have an avid interest in all things RV having had a couple of caravans (in my younger days) and now being on my forth motorhome, having built three of them along the way.  I take an interest in all things happening in the RV world, from new developments, clubs, politics, and interesting articles that appear from time to time. Many of these things can so easily be missed unless you happen to stumble on them and I hope by this blog I will help to keep keep people informed and pass comment as and when I feel like it, and I hope you will comment also. My views are strictly my own and I have no affiliation to any links or businesses which may be mentioned here. I am a member of the CMCA (Campervan and Motorhome Club or Australia) and take an active interest in that club. Hopefully my opinions and statements wont be influenced by that association but that is up to you the reader to decide. Please come back often and tell your friends about my blog.