GORV - Digital Magazine Issue #13 | Page 38

THE WALLABY TRACK WITH LIONEL MUSSELL SLIDING SCALE WHAT CONSTITUTES THE PERFECT VAN PARK? DECENT AMENITIES IS A GOOD START. In a column I wrote in 2001, I mentioned that a new RV park owner in America was seeking answers to what constituted the perfect RV park, so I wrote this: “What's your idea of a perfect caravan park and have you actually found such a place? We have stayed in hundreds of parks over the years and have found a few that come close. On a scale of 1-10, they would get a 9. At the other end there are a few with my rating of 3 or 4 and most would fall into the 6-7 range. A couple I won't mention would drop off the bottom of the scale and never be visited or heard of again! “On my list of desired features would be showers big enough to swing a fair- sized cat with a dry area where you can don your jocks and socks without getting them all wet. They would have water- wasting shower heads that don't cut you in half when you turn them on hard and have water – not water vapour – coming from them. Plenty of hooks, a seat to put stuff on and a glass door – not a curtain between wet and dry areas. Definitely no keys should be needed to get into the amenities! “Space between vans, preferably with a hedge between as well, is very necessary and it would suit me if families were allocated one area and us old fogeys another.” In the fifteen years since then, I've stayed in countless caravan parks and have found some that come close to perfect. That's until you compare prices and find that some are so expensive they are out of the question for older people travelling on a reduced income. I guess that sums up why I am so keen on free or budget camping and why I've set Yemmy up with all the conveniences of home. TWO WEEKS FOR A STICKER Last month I told you about the bad thing I'd done to Yemmy – it turns out to have been more than $10,000 bad! As I write he's still with the repair shop in Rutherglen, Vic, and would you believe the hardest part they had to source was a little warning sticker that goes on the air-con unit. It has to come all the way from Germany and will take up to 15 working days to arrive! READ FULL STORY 38 gorv.com.au Lionel's motorhome parked up at Smalleys Beach, Qld.