The Victoria Caravan Show

Reprinted with permission from ACP Magazines. (Motorhomes and Caravans.)

The Victoria Caravan Show has travelled a long way since it was first held at the old Wirth’s Skating Arena in Melbourne in 1954. Then, only 22 display sites were sold.

At the 53rd Victorian Caravan Camping and Touring Show, held at Melbourne’s Caulfield Racecourse at the beginning of April this year, exhibitors numbered a record 350.

There were camper-trailers, camper-trucks, campervans, caravans, slide-ons, fifth wheelers, motorhomes and tents spread cheek-by-jowl across the racecourse grounds. They ranged from dinky to designer and from basic to luxuriously extravagant.

If you had to make a choice it would be an overwhelming process. I asked a Jayco salesman, for instance, if he could explain the range of Jayco products to me. He looked startled.

“The whole range? If you have no idea what you want, you’ll have to sort that out. I can’t do that for you mate.”

I believed him. Jayco is Australia’s largest manufacturer of caravans. On display at the show I counted 10 models of expander caravan, 22 models of pop-top, 14 models of caravan and seven models of camper trailer.

Also launched at the show was their newest innovation – Base Camp – a motorhome for boys and their toys where the rear half of the vehicle, accessed by a ramp, was fitted out to store large sports equipment - or possibly a small elephant.

The second largest manufacturer of caravans in Australia is Coromal and camping grounds in Australia can sometimes be so jammed with these two brand names, they look like retailers yards.

Australian shows differ from New Zealand shows in that the numbers of caravan and camper-trailer stands far outnumber of stands displaying motorhomes. There were around 41 caravan exhibitors, 43 tent/camper-trailer/slide-on exhibitors and only 12 stands of motorhomes.

I noted that Jayco named their camper-railer range for the birds – finch, hawk, swan, penguin, dove, eagle, and flamingo. But the presence of another bird name had a more familiar ring. Kea had several of their Australian-assembled motorhomes on show.

The New Zealand company has been operating in Australia since the year 2000 and as well as their core rental business have, according to national sales manager, Norman Roe, sold around 1500 vehicles - most of them second hand.

Other highlights of the show were:

• Geist and Hymer caravans and motorhomes from Germany which, along with the Adria Range made in Slovenia, are top-of the line additions to the Australian scene
• The Tvan from Track Trailer, which attracted a lot of attention. We have reviewed this camper trailer (which is also on the cover) on page 22.
• The Sunliner Range built by an Australian family business with origins in New Zealand. The Euroklein model made its debut in New Zealand at the Hamilton show and we will review it in our next issue.
• Trakka continues to add to their award winning designs with a prototype fit-out on a VS Crafter 35 chassis. Named Jabiru, the innovative, curving layout of its interior has all the elegance of it namesake. The attention it received will almost certainly ensure its manufacture.
• The testosterone-laden Bulloak camper trailers built by a company with a long history in engineering. Raging Bulloak, Mighty Bulloak and Almighty Bulloak are reputed to be just as tough at their name suggests – “as tough as a bull and as strong as an oak”.
• The Ecotourer – a low-tow, aerodynamically-styled folding caravan which converts to a solid-wall caravan in seconds. It not only looks good but is a perfect combination of caravan and camper which has the advantages of both. This little gem is available in New Zealand and will be reviewed in a later issue.

As well as a wide range of accessories at the show there was a comprehensive representation of regional tourist authorities, holiday and campervan associations and holiday-park chains from all the states of Australia.

They are evidently well aware of the dollar value that the mobile subculture contributes to their regions.

The Melbourne show claims to be the biggest event of its kind in the southern hemisphere but what it demonstrates more certainly is Australians’ love of the road and the outdoors. If it can be judged by the number of people who visited, then this show was a roaring success.

During the week, the crowd of tyre kickers, dreamers and serious buyers was predominantly fifty-plus; but at the weekend I had to fight my way through throngs of singles, and young couples (often with kids and ankle biters in tow) who were seriously contemplating the assembled wheel estate.

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