What's missing in your Caravan

Gary and Kerry · Guru

What's missing in your Caravan

Cruising Granny · Guru

A good reliable, honest male travel companion. But I've found they're a bit thin on the ground, and bit thick up top. No more hitch hikers for this Cruising Granny. Otherwise I have all I need in my 20 footer. Cheers biggrin

Basil Faulty · Guru

Gary and Kerry wrote:

Is there something that you would off done different to your Caravan after you pick it up.Could be Different Int Colour,Something with the Lay-out, Frigde, Cuboard's or even a New Gismo you should of have had it installed from New.I've got a couple thing's i should have done?
Next time will get seperate toilet shower, hate getting my feet wet in the misddle of the night.

Yep, I would have likes single beds and would have prefferd that the hot water heater was under the bed and not under the sink taking up valuable cupboard space, a mixer in the shower instead of the very dated 2 taps....... AND why do van manufacturers insist on the seating as they do. I would have liked 2 cumfortable chairs with a table like you see in many motor homes which is far more practical.
It took us several vans to get this far and you have to either have your van custom made or take whatever is best for your needs.
A few things we have that we really like and find practical, a large fridge, NO CARPET - makes cleaning so much easier, the onboard power - never had that before and the combo gas/electric hot water saves heaps of gas, the electric hotplate on the stove is also very good. The heated towel rail is also a nice to have.

Basil Faulty · Guru

Cruising Granny wrote:

A good reliable, honest male travel companion. But I've found they're a bit thin on the ground, and bit thick up top. No more hitch hikers for this Cruising Granny. Otherwise I have all I need in my 20 footer. Cheers

Granny, gee you don't want much..... You should realise that all the desirable blokes are hitched, good honest men are a bit like playpus poo - very hard to find and when a woman finds one she will move heaven and earth to hang onto him, even be prepared to forgive him the odd minor indescretion. Perhaps even allow him to gawk at scantilly clad females at the beach without reproach.....
Believe it or not it's even harder for single 50ish males to find a suitable female travel companion as many of my single mates will tell you. It goes back to our genetic make up, females want a male for "security" (the picket fence syndrome) and males want a female purely to "mate" with. Unfortunate but thats life. In fact many males are turning to their GPS navigators for female company, mine is called Audrey and she is a well spoken (well maybe a bit upper class) english lass who's every command I obey, she is never wrong, but I can turn her off to get the last word LOL. Even Audrey has differences of opinion with Sybil and I wonder how the pair of them survive.... confused

-- Edited by Basil Faulty at 09:40, 2008-11-29

Xtrail51 · Senior Member

Hi Granny Made me laugh! I agree we make the most of what we have and let the good times roll. Cheers Barb. smile

Cruising Granny · Guru

I travel with a smooth talking "bloke" called "Tom". The dirty little bugger insists on sending me bush occasionally. I guess my rig and I are a little intimidating to the "average" male. We're a team, Rosy my Cruiser, Roma the van, and of course, Tom. He's the only bloke I've taken instructions from, but only after I've programmed him first. I've become very independent over the years, except for a couple of false starts, and I'm quite self-sufficient. But having a good, honest mate could complete my team. I can change my own light bulbs and tyres on both vehicles. In the past 26 years I haven't had an offer I couldn't refuse, and I keep finding out why some of the blokes are single. Now, prove me wrong. There's a challenge for you. I do have a lot of fun though, and a Bundy at happy hour is strictly for medicinal purposes only. Diesel in the Cruiser tanks, and Qld diesel in my tank. wink

Basil Faulty · Guru

Cruising Granny wrote:

I travel with a smooth talking "bloke" called "Tom". The dirty little bugger insists on sending me bush occasionally. I guess my rig and I are a little intimidating to the "average" male. We're a team, Rosy my Cruiser, Roma the van, and of course, Tom. He's the only bloke I've taken instructions from, but only after I've programmed him first. I've become very independent over the years, except for a couple of false starts, and I'm quite self-sufficient. But having a good, honest mate could complete my team. I can change my own light bulbs and tyres on both vehicles. In the past 26 years I haven't had an offer I couldn't refuse, and I keep finding out why some of the blokes are single. Now, prove me wrong. There's a challenge for you. I do have a lot of fun though, and a Bundy at happy hour is strictly for medicinal purposes only. Diesel in the Cruiser tanks, and Qld diesel in my tank.

Oh Granny I know why a lot of blokes are single - however there are more single females than blokes. Thats because blokes die to get away from their female partner, I mean you look at "Retirement Villages" most of the singles in them are females and any single male gets the red carpet and clean sheets treatment from the single females, trouble is the blokes by that time just can't take advantage of the situation.
No I can't prove you wrong..... strewth I know a few blokes at Birdsville and on their days off they drive to Isa for the attentions of a paid mistress rather than finding a partner.... And I must say that after meeting Coco (strictly for social discourse, mind you) at the Isa I'm amazed I'm still married......

twobob · Guru

CG
Do not read Basil's reply with any credabilty. WE (us good guys) are about, and you meet us when not looking.

I have found this happens, very recently. Times have changed, but the formula is the same, just the way of mixing it has altered.

Just do what you do, and be happy - age is NO barrier and time is on our side - believe me, when I say, the stangest things happen, when you least expect it

Cupie · Guru

What (was) missing in my van ...

When I picked up my new van in '99, I soon found that it did not include a whole range of things, some of which I would have expected in the package (silly me.. but it was my first van) .. eg

Water hose & fittings
Sullage hoses
(& somewhere sensible to store them - I put conduits under the van)
Power cord
Door step
Fridge temperature monitor
Spirit levels
Leveling blocks & chocks
Tie downs for the rollout awning
Hydralic leveling would be nice

With respect to layout (remembering that we rarely bush camp), we would have prefered ....

. A cafe style kitchen table & seats (rather than L shaped one)
. Recliner chairs instead of the 2 or 3 seater lounge,
or at worst a wrap around lounge & removable table setting at the front, move the door towards the middle & install a side kitchen. Scratch the cafe table and 2/3 seater side lounge with this option too.
. A roll out double sided pantry.
. My wife would love a small washing machine.
. An electric hotplate in lieu of one of the gas rings
. A 240V heater option for the gas HWS.
. Fan fitted for alternative to noisy AC on hot nights
. A convection microwave in lieu of the normal one.
.Wall sheeting that can be cleaned with normal cleaners (without damaging the finish)!

(We have a Queen size extendable innerspring bed & a completely separate ensuite that are fantastic. Also have a large fridge & lots of general storage. We like the carpet in the bedroom area, but mats would probably be OK)

dave06 · Guru

oh dear, you poor buggers, what no jaccuzzi in there either, dear oh dear!!! why bother going out, taking all that rubbish with you!!!

waltzing matilda · Senior Member

Jeez, Cruisin' Gran, you opened the door and Basil jumped right in. Hey, Baz, a lot of us do not need guys for security. We'd really like to get together with guys who treat us as fellow human beings, competent, intelligent, existing for some other purpose than just finding a male. A good bloke is a treat but not a necessity. With laws in place to provide equal pay and theoretically equal opportunity, we don't have the "need" for a man and the picket fence. It's true - not all women realise this yet but the potential is there. And it's liberating for men too when they mix with women who don't "need" them, women who just like them and love them as partners.

Wow. That's getting a bit deep. But maybe some times we need to stop mouthing the accepted version of gender roles and start looking at individuals.

And Cruisin' Gran, I think your Tom sounds like a real gem. I recently bought a GPS to get me OUTTA SYDNEY! I've called her Matilda Jane and she is a pearl. She tells me which lane to be in and, in Sydney that's a boon because those bloody Sydney drivers will not let you into a lane if you're in the wrong one. Actually I think this is worth creating a separate post so everyone can read it. So I'll do that.

Cheers All.

waltzing matilda · Senior Member

"On Ya Two Bob. You're one of the good guys.

-- Edited by waltzing matilda at 23:06, 2008-12-07

Cruising Granny · Guru

Wow! I really did open a can of worms. Yahoo! Glad to be sharing the real world with you Matilda.
This post has lost a little in translation, however it's been a great read. From tongue in cheek comments to furnishing the Taj Mahal, and then there's the bloke who takes himself far too seriously. But we're all out there somewhere doing what we all love, travelling this wonderful country. Next thing is getting involved in the Solo post. I've been doing it this way for so long, I forget there are the non-solos out there having just as much fun sharing what they see and experience. We do it good, no matter how we do it. Cheers Granny.