Good summary so far.

Well it is a tough job for Smudge. Doubt most of us would volunteer? But is Reel Deal's input nothing to do with fishing? Or mine or Bazzas? I only used my camper for fishing trips. Mostly remote.

With your good lady & her long hot showers, when doing the motorhome or caravan, this is truely one luxury we all want regularly
We budget for 60L water per day. Thats a shower each plus dishes & rinsing off anything plus water usage for the dunny. Many others we have met go way lower than these figures. Some mates we traveled with can do it on 30L
Get familiar with the "navy shower" which is - wet yourself off, turn shower off, soap up all over, rinse off, done
Lots of motorhomes around the 6.5m range on a 6T ruc (car licence) have 180L fresh & grey tanks on truck bases. Most have towbars.... suzuki jimny are very popular to tow.
Stretching the water by showers every other day, just washing your bits on the off days
This is a subject that comes up alot with newbies... haha

Microwaves, hair driers, toasters or any electrical thingy that has an element, including coffee machines... we do not use on the road, too much heavy draw down on the house batteries...up to 125ah or more discharge, a nice way to kill batteries if not a big bank of batteries to begin with. Also need a roof of solar panels to replace what has been used
Lots of owners do use the above, this shortens the life of lead acid or AGM batteries fast, real fast actually
Lithium batteries is a more suited choice


Alan L
Nice wagon you got there
Our first motorhome was a Munro on a Ford Trader base 6.5m long... photo on my avatar
Had a double bed above the cab, u-shape lounge down the back, separate dunny & shower, kool classic wagon
Did heaps of updates for full time living / travelling....slow as buggary on any hill haha


Most of our mates have UK caravans... 2010 onwards tandem axle
Euro / UK built caravans provides the best bang for your buck. Heating, double glazing, well insulated, big fidge freezers plus more is standard & lighter to tow
They do have lower loading abilities ranging from just 200kg upwards to 700-ish. Most are at the lower end. This means - water, food piss clothes fishing gear, boat, ebikes & anything going into your storage is included in that loading capacity
Aust & NZ caravans are heavier, up to 3.5T fully laden. Some have generous water capacities & have heavier loading, built more robust as standard.
Needs a decent tow wagon. Do your home work here. Many brands claim 3.5T towing. This towing topic comes up in the boat forum on here.
Best to suss out the caravanners forum in aust - https://www.caravanersforum.com/


Having said all that, the ideal motorhome or caravan does not exist first time round, me thinks
When you get your second or third van, you will have your ideal rig

BananaBoat wrote: With your good lady & her long hot showers, when doing the motorhome or caravan, this is truely one luxury we all want regularly We budget for 60L water per day. Thats a shower each plus dishes & rinsing off anything plus water usage for the dunny. Many others we have met go way lower than these figures. Some mates we traveled with can do it on 30L Get familiar with the "navy shower" which is - wet yourself off, turn shower off, soap up all over, rinse off, done Lots of motorhomes around the 6.5m range on a 6T ruc (car licence) have 180L fresh & grey tanks on truck bases. Most have towbars.... suzuki jimny are very popular to tow. Stretching the water by showers every other day, just washing your bits on the off days This is a subject that comes up alot with newbies... haha Microwaves, hair driers, toasters or any electrical thingy that has an element, including coffee machines... we do not use on the road, too much heavy draw down on the house batteries...up to 125ah or more discharge, a nice way to kill batteries if not a big bank of batteries to begin with. Also need a roof of solar panels to replace what has been used Lots of owners do use the above, this shortens the life of lead acid or AGM batteries fast, real fast actually Lithium batteries is a more suited choice Alan L Nice wagon you got there Our first motorhome was a Munro on a Ford Trader base 6.5m long... photo on my avatar Had a double bed above the cab, u-shape lounge down the back, separate dunny & shower, kool classic wagon Did heaps of updates for full time living / travelling....slow as buggary on any hill haha Most of our mates have UK caravans... 2010 onwards tandem axle Euro / UK built caravans provides the best bang for your buck. Heating, double glazing, well insulated, big fidge freezers plus more is standard & lighter to tow They do have lower loading abilities ranging from just 200kg upwards to 700-ish. Most are at the lower end. This means - water, food piss clothes fishing gear, boat, ebikes & anything going into your storage is included in that loading capacity Aust & NZ caravans are heavier, up to 3.5T fully laden. Some have generous water capacities & have heavier loading, built more robust as standard. Needs a decent tow wagon. Do your home work here. Many brands claim 3.5T towing. This towing topic comes up in the boat forum on here. Best to suss out the caravanners forum in aust - https://www.caravanersforum.com/ Having said all that, the ideal motorhome or caravan does not exist first time round, me thinks When you get your second or third van, you will have your ideal rig

Hi Alan, up until recently, we've really only looked into the housebus idea. Mainly ex touring buses that all seem to carry large amounts of water. Because we are new to this, we thought that type of volume was the norm for extended off grid living. Recent light bulb moments have helped us realize what is priority and what is not.
Flat deck 4x4 with 3.5m boat and trailer on it, and 6.5m + caravan towed behind is looking like the answer to us.

When you get sorted - join NZMCA. Caravans qualify as well. A wealth of information, and essential directories of places to go etc.

No matter what you decide on make sure it has a suitable reversing camera fitted & on that gives option of straight down & longer range vision as the former is essential if wanting to detect things like low fences or posts also most importantly youngsters in a pram or on a trike etc.

pretty exciting setting up Kitno. Don’t worry you will make mistakes but it’s all part of the journey. Asking around saves on a few mistakes so good on ya. 

Sounds like swingers paradise. keys. Fruit bowl. You guys know the drill.

Schampy wrote: Sounds like swingers paradise. keys. Fruit bowl. You guys know the drill.

Is there a limit to the amount of keys I can draw?