Well, we survived our first quick trip in our new (to us) van and learnt a few valuable lessons, like ' remember to clip the fridge door before driving off' . Friday's weather was atrocious, not much rain but 100 kph winds - second lesson ' roll up the awning before going to bed', but we got through the night unscathed. The last two days were beautiful and convinced us that we were on the right path. 600 km out and back, the van towed well and fuel  consumption was about 50% up on that of the car alone.
Cheers
Graeme

Congratulations - at least you did survive lol

Connie wrote:

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Well, we survived our first quick trip in our new (to us) van and learnt a few valuable lessons, like ' remember to clip the fridge door before driving off' . Friday's weather was atrocious, not much rain but 100 kph winds - second lesson ' roll up the awning before going to bed', but we got through the night unscathed. The last two days were beautiful and convinced us that we were on the right path. 600 km out and back, the van towed well and fuel  consumption was about 50% up on that of the car alone.
Cheers
Graeme

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The old "forget to clip the fridge trick" dont worry we have all done it.

Get hold of a pair of sturdy S hooks to clip over the ends of the awning and tie them down with a couple of guy ropes, good insurance

 

The worse one we had was a container of beetroot spilt in the fridge guess what is now banned from the fridge Helena.

Congratulations The old wind tends to get the big sail moving i agree couple of s hooks and guy ropes helps out a lot & don't forget to tilt it they dont like a lot of water sitting in them if they are up straight ( as we have seen with a few vans)
so are you looking forward to the next trip

-- Edited by howdrink on Tuesday 19th of October 2010 07:01:58 AM

A suggestion that was made to me when I started doing some 4wd tag-alongs some years back was to always pack to contain spillage. eg put cans and glass containers with liquid in them in plastic boxes or trays so that when the almost inevitable spillage occurs it is an easy job to clean up. On rough roads beer cans can wear through and stubbies can leak through the cap. I have found that tightening the twist tops helps. I always tie down my awning, with the uprights removed from the side of the van and pegged to the ground, if there is any likelihood of windy weather. If I'm going to be set up in one place for any time I do this regardless. best wishes for your next trip Jim

Great to see you enjoyed the first time out mate, you will learn something new with each trip.

We had cans wear through on our trip before last Jim and very pleased indeed to have them contained where they could cause no damage.

Also left the fridge door unclipped, once and once only.

Part of the check list now.

Congratulations on your first trip and thanks for all the valuable hints.

jimricho wrote:

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A suggestion that was made to me when I started doing some 4wd tag-alongs some years back was to always pack to contain spillage. eg put cans and glass containers with liquid in them in plastic boxes or trays so that when the almost inevitable spillage occurs it is an easy job to clean up. On rough roads beer cans can wear through and stubbies can leak through the cap. I have found that tightening the twist tops helps.

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 This sounds like advice we got from the Getabout team... had some wonderful trips with them!

 

howdrink wrote:

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so are you looking forward to the next trip

-- Edited by howdrink on Tuesday 19th of October 2010 07:01:58 AM

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Very much so. We started looking at the diary for spare dates before we had unpacked.

 

Firefly wrote:

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Also left the fridge door unclipped, once and once only.

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Only once! I can beat that!

I also have an additional little shock cord type strap that I use as well as the clip.

I'm inclined to think roundabouts are just as bad as rough roads when it comes to unsettling loads inside the van.

 

good on ya Connie hope you find lots of time to go out and travel this big back yard of ours, hope to catch up one day