Hooking-up our van for only the second time and thankfully on a much less windy day. What looked to be a very tight turn out of our site was much easier than expected and we were soon checking-out and heading North 440km to Repton – our home for the next four nights.

On Reflection

By now we were getting used to the sideways forces as trucks pass by but our extended mirrors were fairing worse. We had bought the recommended SpeedFix mirrors that follow the curved contour of our car mirrors.

Vehicle manufacturers design their mirrors to be as aerodynamic as possible but in turn are making it far harder to attach extending mirrors. And this was a case in point for us. The more we tightened the screws of the SpeedFix mirror the more it slipped away from the frame of the car mirror. The airstream at 100kmh made it worse until one of the mirrors fell off in Catherine’s hand as she wound down the passenger window to tighten it. We’ll be looking for an alternative set of mirrors.

Journey’s End – Almost

We eventually arrived at Repton without further incident… well almost. Unknown to us was a closed bridge that spans the Bellinger River between us and our site. Thanks to one of the locals we were guided to an alternative route, where we made the mistake of following the first road sign into Repton, which took us down a steep, narrow and very winding road. Fortunately there was no other traffic and we arrived without issue at the Bellinger River Tourist Park.

Nine out of Ten

Now as everyone knows well, reverse parking into your allocated site is a public spectacle where you will be judged on how well you perform this manoeuvre. Equally there will be many who freely offer their advice to guide you into place – whether you need it or not. In our case it was most welcome as our site was right against a very large tree and not enough room in the roadway to turn our van the required 90-degrees. In our favour, however, was a grassed area opposite that had been temporarily closed-off to allow the grass to regrow and allowed us to do a straight reverse park – I can do those!!

And so we spent our first evening by the beautiful Bellinger River with a beer in hand as we sat watching dolphins swim by and reflections of the setting sun ripple in the water.

Okay, so we still don’t have our tow vehicle but we needed to do a shakedown test of the caravan before we hit the road on our Big Lap and to make sure any issues could be addressed when the van goes in for its first service.

We had an 80th birthday celebration to attend on the NSW Central Coast in addition to a 4-night stay voucher at the Bellinger River Tourist Park in Repton courtesy of Jayco Sydney. It would make the ideal opportunity for our first road trip… if we had a tow vehicle. Thankfully, and due to the delays with the delivery of our Discovery 5, Land Rover Parramatta kindly volunteered one of their Discovery’s for the trip.

Without a hitch

Hitching-up our van for the first time was much easier than expected thanks to the rear camera on the car. Lining up the tow ball with the hitch was spot-on first time! Doubtless it was beginner’s luck – it can’t be that easy.

Our loan car had the same Redarc Electronic Brake Controller that we had bought for our car, which self calibrates and it wasn’t long before we got the feel for the correct braking assistance as we navigated the winding country roads. And, apart from the slightly higher engine revs on take-off, the 3L V6 diesel had no problems with the 2.8-tonnes we were now towing behind up and down hills. Of course your driving style changes a lot when towing but even on the busy stop/start 3-lane road leading to the M1 it was easy to keep up with other traffic and sit neatly in the centre lane.

Bridge Sway

After days of clear, calm weather, today of all days was blowing an absolute gale and we were both concerned of the crosswind effects it would have on our driving – especially over exposed bridges on the M1 heading north. So it should have come as no surprise as the van was exposed to the strong winds across Mooney Mooney bridge for the first time. The sudden lurch to the right was much stronger than expected but we were already slowing down and with my foot off the accelerator, light braking and the assistance of the car and caravan’s stability control systems working together, soon brought us back in line and we continued very cautiously along the remainder of the bridge.

We made it

With no further issues we arrived safely at Blue Lagoon Beach Resort at Bateau Bay and a much welcome surprise – a drive-through site!! What more could we ask for on our first trip?

Issues with the caravan?
So far none.

Site issues?
Only that the water point on our site was further away than the length of our hose. Lesson 1. Get a second hose and a coupler.