David and Trish Thompson’s caravan was a long time coming. Now it’s finally here, the couple can’t wait to hit the road again. Claire Smith finds out why the couple chose the Elddis Crusader Storm, and gets their advice for those considering buying a caravan soon.
David and Trish are seasoned motorhomers, having owned two caravans and a motorhome over the past nine years. In early 2021, the couple decided to sell their motorhome in favour of a new caravan. The selling part was easy, but with stock shortages of RVs and a global pandemic putting an anchor on shipping movements around the world, it proved to be a long wait before they could head out on their next adventure, explains David.
What vehicle did you have previously?
Our foray into the RV world was just a cheap secondhand Elddis Avante caravan. It was nice and small, about five metres, so it was big enough just to get us started and to see if travelling by caravan was right for us. After about a year, we upgraded to a new, larger Swift caravan. Then after a couple of years we thought we’d try out a motorhome and bought ourselves an Auto-Trail Comanche which we travelled in for four years.
Any particular reason to go back to a caravan?
Mainly to free up some cash! The motorhome was a big investment and obviously cost a lot more than a caravan. It was quite a bit of money to have just sitting on the front lawn when we weren’t using it. Selling the motorhome gave us enough to buy the new caravan, an Elddis Crusader Storm, as well as a tow vehicle, with some left over, so we’re pretty happy with the result.
The other reason is that we can go places with a caravan that we couldn’t go with a motorhome. New Zealand has a lot of roads that are gravel or just too windy and tight to drive a motorhome on, but with the caravan, you can park it up nearby and then go off exploring in the car. We’ve bought a Pajero Sport to tow with which means we go further than we used to.
How does the new caravan tow?
It’s great! We find it handles very well, and it’s nice and easy to tow.
Tell us about the new caravan. Why the Elddis Crusader?
We both like the Elddis brand, and the Crusader Storm is a good solid caravan with a nice layout that works for us. We particularly like the full-width rear bathroom; the compromise for that was a bed that has an east-west layout, but that doesn’t matter so much. A partition between the bedroom and the kitchen means you can close off the bedroom if you need to, but when it’s open the caravan feels lovely and spacious. The other thing we really love about it is all the storage – there are plenty of drawers which come in really handy. We also liked the colour scheme on the outside, it’s just a bit different from the usual white caravan.
You took delivery in mid-December 2021 … a little later than expected?
Well, given that it left England in June, we were certainly expecting it a lot earlier! As everyone knows, there have been major delays with shipping all sorts of cargo around the world lately – caravans included. It’s been a long wait, but it’s finally here and we’re looking forward to getting back out on the road again.
Where are you off to first?
We’ve managed a few short trips here and there over the last few weeks, but the next big one for us will be a couple of months travelling the West Coast. We’re planning to head away in autumn which is a really nice time to explore that part of New Zealand.
Do you prefer to stay in campgrounds or freedom camp?
We mainly stay in the NZMCA parks around the country. There are about 50 parks now, and they’re very good value at $10 per night for two people.
What advice would you give to someone planning to buy their first caravan?
Take your time to do some research and have a look through as many different brands and models as you can. It’s also good to have a chat with people who have caravans and ask what they like or don’t like about them – most owners are happy to give a bit of advice and share a few ideas on what to think about when you’re buying. That’s the great thing about being a motorhome or caravan owner – it’s a nice community of people who are prepared to give you a hand.
You also need to think about a caravan that will work with your tow vehicle – if you’ve got a car or a small station wagon then you’ll be limited to a smaller model, whereas if you have a bigger ute or SUV you can look at something bigger. The other bit of advice I’d offer is just to join the NZMCA – it costs $90 a year and you get a lot of value out of it.
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