Cowley Beach – Jan 2012

We were lucky to be invited to join the Far North Queensland (FNQ) members of MySwag (www.myswag.org) on a trip to Cowley Beach. For those that aren’t aware, MySwag is a forum dedicated to camper trailers which has invaluable information for anyone considering (or already owns) a camper trailer.

The destination for the long weekend (I took Friday off with half the country I reckon) was Cowley Beach. Cowley Beach is located approximately 130km’s north of Ingham, or 30km’s south of Innisfail.

This trip was different to our usual affair, as there was no 4WDing involved. In short it was literally drive up a highway, relax for 3 nights and then drive back down the highway.

As such we decided that we would continue with setting up and testing the pop-top off-road caravan that we currently have. As most of you would be aware, it’s one thing to look at an item and picture how it works – compared to actually using the item for it’s primary role.

With all of this in mind we packed the trailer late on the Wednesday night, and departed Thursday morning from Townsville. The run north was done with minimal fuss, although we did note how close the water levels were getting to the road just outside of Ingham. Now that would be an interesting phone call to work…..

Arriving at the caravan park (see I told you it was different!) we met the members of MySwag. Mitch started making some lunch in the camp kitchen area (was a good one too) whilst I set up the trailer. I found that it was a similar time to our camper although it’s a totally different process.

In short from this time on to Sunday morning we basically relaxed, had a few coldies, played at the beach, played cricket & handball, cooked, enjoyed some fantastic company and the list goes on.

I will say that children always make for interesting trips. 2 of our children busted a table that wasn’t ours, and then 1 let go of a kite that wasn’t ours. For some reason I always find it easier when it happens to us, not when it’s our fault……

However all is well that ends well and thankfully all of us have had children (some older than others) and we all understand what it is like.

The initial part of the weekend went really slow. I was itching to go and have some fun. However by the end it all seemed to quick! Funny how the mind works when you finally relax.

Sunday morning came around and we did the normal pack up, say goodbyes and thanks for a great time and departed back towards home. We had a great view across the coast whilst traversing the Gap, but other than that it was an uneventful trip.

The Prado went well, albeit thirsty. On gas it was using just under 30 litres per 100km’s towing over 2 ton, sitting on the speed limits. On petrol it was around 22-23 litres per 100km’s.

The caravan. Well I came away with mixed feelings. It didn’t really feel like I was ‘camping’ at any stage. This could due to no campfire and being in a caravan park, but I also tend to feel that it was just different to us.

As an ‘off road’ version it is definitely restricted to gravel roads. There are a number of areas that would suffer damage if taken off-road proper. I do believe you could do beach runs, but not soft sand with it.

The caravan itself is a delight to tow. It tracks beautifully and the dual axles are a great point. You do feel the weight especially in the Prado (the Defender actually tows it better) however it doesn’t feel ‘too heavy’ at any stage. It is very easy to reverse.

The same could be said of the interior. There are some great features, and some not so great features. The awning has not handled any rain properly at all, snapping the aluminium bracketing quite easily. The inside is designed to sleep in, cook, eat etc but not live in.

You would be living outside as it’d become too cramped inside in my opinion, especially with four kids.

Overall – well I like it. With a few modifications that we all inevitably do you could really improve a fairly good product. If they keep being imported then we’ll start seeing more of them around the traps.

Till next trip

Cheers
Chris

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