We love to travel and have done many overseas trips, so travelling Australia sounded like a great thing to do. As such, our options were to either drive and stay at hotels, motels, pubs etc or buy a caravan and take our accommodation everywhere we went. 

We weighed up the advantages of both and the cost over time would be about the same. However, the main advantage of the caravan was that it would provide accommodation in more remote places. The van would allow us to stay on a beach, in a national park, travel through the Kimberley and allow us to stay in places where there isn't always available accommodation.

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We attended a caravan and camping show in Sydney back in 2019 and looked at lots of different vans by different manufacturers. This was a worthwhile exercise as we started to get a feel of what we wanted. The show gave us an initial idea of what we wanted in a van which was:

• An island bed

• Internal shower and toilet

• Reasonable bench space in the kitchen

• Airconditioning 

• Reasonable storage area

• Capability to go "off-grid" for a a few days or a week free-camping

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Our desire to travel some dirt/gravel roads such as the Birdsville Track,

Gibb River Road (Kimberley), Savanah Way etc meant we needed

at least semi off-road suspension.

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So, how do you decide what vans to look at to purchase?

Well, that's a tough question to answer. 

The way we did it was to see what dealers were located in the city where we live - which is Sydney.

I figured that if there is an issue with the van, I want to be able to take it back to the local dealer to be fixed.

 

Criteria that we considered for manufacturers of vans were as follows:

• Australian made

• Good number of approved/authorised repairers around Australia

• Dealer located in Sydney (preferably)

• Manufacturer of a size to inspire belief that they will still be operational in the future

• Positive user reviews

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How we decided on what we needed in a van:

• We firstly decided on how we planned to use the van. For us it was mainly bitumen travel but also wanting the ability to go off-road (dirt & gravel) but not extreme off road.

• We decided that we would want to do some free camping 2-7 nights at a time. not often, but if an opportunity came by, we wanted to know that we were capable of going "off grid" for a few days. As such, water storage and sustainable electric power were important. Hence, at least two batteries and two  solar panels.

• Cooking facilities: after talking with other van owners, we decided that an oven is not important to us, however a stovetop was critical. Outdoor kitchen was not recommended by many as they said that either the weather (too hot or rainy) and the flies attracted to outdoor cooking resulted in underutilisation of outdoor cooking. A small outdoor gas burner that would run off butane cans or better still, the van's gas bottles was a good idea as was a small BBQ for doing roasts etc. 

• We wanted to have our own toilet and shower. 

• Extra outdoor shower facility - we are beach lovers, so being able to rinse off prior to entering the van was something of interest.

• Airconditioning was a must for me as I hate high humidity - especially while sleeping.

• Lockable tool boxes, though not critical, was a nice-to-have option.

• Independent coil suspension rather than leaf suspension was preferred for better off-road handling.

• Solid construction with solid chasis and internal fittings that would not shake loose.

• Good storage 

• Reasonable weight that didn't need a Silverado, Dodge RAM or truck to pull it.

• Leather seating inside - Leather is easy to wipe down and get dust off it, but can you imagine trying to remove red dirt and bull dust from a fabric dinnete seat???!!! 

• Good warranty - Check the fineprint before you buy - especially if planning to go off-road.

• Refrigerator - had to be of reasonable size and with separate freezer.

• Internal 12V fans - for cooling when there was no power for the aircon system.

• 12V power outlets - for charging phones, running a CPAP machine etc.

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Stuff that was unimportant to us:

• Colour scheme was not a big deal for us. As long as it looked nice and do what we needed, it would do.

• Layout wasn't important. As long as the bed was a "walk around" and there was a separate shower and toilet, that's what mattered.

• We were not fussed about which side the kitchen was on.

• Diesel heater was not important. We do not plan to go off-grid in cold areas. During winter, we would either be up north in warmer climate or, if not, we would be in a holiday park hooked up to power to run the heating via either the aircon or fan heater.

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OUR SHORT LIST....

After looking at a number of different vans, I came to the conclusion that most vans are kind of set-up the same. Let's face it, any good storage ideas and layouts are copied by manufacturers soon after they hit the market and hence most of the internals look similar. However, the differences are quite noticeable when you look closely at the finishes.

• Internal cupboard construction - do the panels meet correctly, do the hinges look solid or do they look like they will rattle loose? Are the cupboards bolted solidly to the van?

• Is the chasis rust protected? Hot dipped galvanised is preferred.

• Is the chasis solid? Some van makers boast a 6 inch A-frame for towing but that then goes to a 4 inch chasis frame - which is OK, but be sure not to get caught by a lack of complete information.

• What sort of warranty does the van come with?

• If they claim that the van is off-road or semi off-road, does it have the proper suspension for this claim? Is the underside protected from stones doing damage? Let's face it, you don't want to be in the outback and a stone pierces your water tank and you lose all your water? Check that pipes are protected, water tanks have bash plates etc.

• Do the cupboards at head height have support panels that go to the floor - most important when travelling on rough/corrugated roads.

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After speaking to many caravan owners  - best place to do this is at a caravan park because they are at least using them and are not just armchair critics, I decided that most vans will do the job, but some better than others.

 

My short list, based upon my criteria, ended up being a choice between Jayco, JB Caravans and New Age Caravans. All of which had high praise from their owners and all were Aussie made.

I did not listen to anyone that criticised another brand without having ever owned one. In fact, there were lots of critics of Jayco, but not one of the critics ever owned one. In fact, many Jayco owners had sold their vans and upgraded to a bigger or better Jayco - and that to me was a good testimony for the brand.

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However, I decided not to go with Jayco, as their lounges/dinettes were fabric and leather was an upgrade. We also were not fans of the Jayco interiors - just a personal preference. So it was down to JB or New Age.

It was a tough call between the New Age Manta Ray Enduro 19' or the 19.5' JB Dirt Road Xtreme.

The set ups were extremely similar as were the specs. The Manta Ray has a full 6" chasis, whereas the JB had a 6" A-frame and 4" chasis - but this was not a deal breaker. The JB had an oven, and the NA did not, again, not a deal breaker or maker.

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In the end, we went with the New Age Manta Ray as it was an ex-demo unit that met all of our criteria and was available for immediate delivery (a new one was nearly 12 months delivery), whereas the JB was at least 4 months or more for a demo unit and almost 12 months delivery for a factory ordered one.

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We did the deal on the Manta Ray and had the dealer fit 2 x Sirocco 12V fans, and extra battery, and extra solar panel, had the cafe style seating modified slightly, and a 12V cigarette lighter socket fitted to my side of the bed.

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We took delivery a few weeks later and yes, there were slight teething issues - which the dealer promptly fixed. Issue 1 was a leaking pipe fitting at water tank 1. This was sorted out and all was good after that. 

Issue 2 was that the rear mounted camera had no sound. They replaced the camera system in 10 minutes!

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The handover process at the dealer was excellent, they went through everything, explained the internals, the externals, the appliances, the battery management system and hooked us up for thr drive home.

Part of the handover included a two night stay at a Sydney caravan park for new owners to get familiar with their van - a nice touch we thought!

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However, we opted to take the van to Shellharbour for it's "shakedown" run. All went smoothly (read all about the trip in our "Travel Experiences" page) and we even took the van "off-grid" for 24 hours to test the van completely by disconnecting power and water. We then ran on tank water and pump, gas for the fridge, hot water and cooking, and batteries for all power. We used the toilet system and shower to ensure that  all worked properly. 

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Happy to report all went well.

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Now, what does our van include: