What s new and hot at the March Camper Care

Lifestyle
Camper Care Hamilton Motorhome Show
Camper Care Hamilton Motorhome Show
01 With our bikes, generator and KEA Dreamtime we were set for the show 02 Thl brands, Motek,
KEA and United with a variety of motorhomes on sale 03 The latest arrival from the UK, the Bailey
Unicorn Cartagena 04 The Cartagena bathroom is spacious and well fitted 05 From the nose of
the Cartagena to the rear
Lifestyle
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import numbers
increase
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06/07 The TrailLite classic caravan exterior and interior to undergo restoration 08 The 2013 TrailLite caravan exterior 09 The interior of the TrailLite caravan is contemporary and spacious 10 Hotel styled bedroom with en suite at the rear of the TrailLite caravan
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Words Robyn Dallimore Photographs Bruce Mountain
T
his show is popular
on the calendar of
motorhomers all
over the country,
and brings new
people into the lifestyle thanks
to all the inspirational displays
at a show such as this.
The 2013 Camper Care show
opened with four halls of the
new Claudelands event centre
filled with motorhomes, caravans, camp trailers, accessories, knick-knacks and random
products of all sorts, and then
one went outside! Fortunately
the weather was outstanding
this year, and visitors were
happy and positive as they
took time to explore all on offer.
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Jayco, through South Auckland
Caravans, had a large number
of caravan, motorhomes and
camp trailers on display in
hall one.
I found Mike Driver from Southern RV and Brent from Central
RV with a range of Bailey
Caravan models on display. I
took a peek through the first
of the island bed Unicorn 3
model, the Bailey Cartagena,
hot off the boat. The entry door
is situated half way down the
body. Inside, the lounge/ dining
area is to the left, with a large
curved window adding an interesting aspect. Straight ahead is
the curved sink unit, cupboards
above, a hob with full oven and
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I found Mike Driver from Southern RV and
Brent from Central RV with a range of Bailey
Caravan models on display.
a separate grill for cooking.
The fridge is opposite the stove
to the right of the doorway,
with provision for a TV to be
fitted on the wall above some
open shelving. At the rear is an
island bed, with storage underneath accessed from the
exterior too. The bathroom
runs across the width of the
rear of the vehicle, with a
window. A large separate toilet,
shower, hand basin, cupboards, heated towel rail and
hooks all offer spaciousness
not often found in caravans.
Traillite had on display a
recently acquired 1956 Traillite
caravan, in pretty much original
condition. This little unit was
built by Penman and Crotty
cabinet makers under the new
brand name ‘Traillite’, and has
been part of a Taupo family’s
life for many years, a regular
backdrop to hundreds of family
holiday pictures over the generations. With the resurgence
in retro caravans the Newman
family at Traillite was delighted
to be offered this little gem,
watch this space as it will
be lovingly restored to its
former glory.
Right next door to it I viewed
the 2013 model 720 Traillite
Caravan, a world away from its
wee partner next door. Classic
exterior construction and finishing lines identify it as related to
the quality motorhomes from
this manufacturer. Stepping
through the door situated in
the front first quarter, you’re
greeted by a bright, spacious,
up-to-the minute décor. Anyone who has been in a Traillite
would recognise the layout and
quality finish, as seen in the
$200,000-plus motorhomes ›
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Lifestyle
Camper Care Hamilton Motorhome Show
from the manufacturer. The
spacious lounge, well equipped
kitchen, separate dining area
and large fridge/ freezer unit
are all impressive enough, then
you step through to a luxury
bedroom with an opulent buttoned headboard, and at the
rear an en suite with separate
shower, toilet and cabinets. At
7200mm long on a twin-axle
chassis, with complete selfcontainment, this is a mobile
luxury apartment for $89,850.
The variety of imported models
on display was like no other
show to date. There was a
German-manufactured Dethleffs Esprit A Class, 3.0-litre
134kW automatic motorhome
on display. At 7550mm long
this model offers plenty of
European styling, and has an
island bed, plus a pull-down
bed in the front cab area.
Other newbies to the market included Equi-Trek NZ,
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11/12 Interior of the Dethleffs Esprit motorhome, different slide around doors on the
toilet and shower set�up
Camper Care Hamilton Motorhome Show
which brings in horse truck
motorhomes, on a variety of
bases, and had the tiny Trek
Away self-contained trailer unit
on show.
When we arrived to set up for
the show we caught up with
Mike from RV Leisure centre
in Nelson, the NZ distributor of
the Elddis range of caravans.
He had arrived with the first
Buccaneer Clipper to arrive in
the country, from the Flagship
range Elddis UK caravan manufacturer. A twin bed model,
with full bathroom at the rear,
it has the best-looking homesized shower unit I’ve seen to
date, and classy fixtures make
a nice space. It uses Swedishmade Alde heating which is
reputedly the number one
heating system in the world;
the 2kW system works with gas
and electricity using a radiator fin set-up; hot water travels
around like central
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Lifestyle
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13 Elddis Buccaneer Clipper caravan
newly landed in NZ 14 Buccaneer kitchen
well fitted 15 Buccaneer shower was
impressive in size and looks 16 Elddis
SoLiD construction method
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heating, utilising same water you use. The stable door
entry is different, the door is
on the left of the vehicle which
Kiwis like, the whole package
constructed with the SoLiD
construction method developed
by Elddis. Built on a Swing
VTech chassis with Intelligent drive control, it comes
in around the $80,000 mark. I
have to admit to being totally
in love with one little aspect
of the French caravan from
Euro RV Limited. Germanborn Rainer Zeltwanger and
his wife Edith, from Switzerland, operate out of Auckland.
They first imported six models
five years ago, being keen
campers themselves they’d
decided to offer an alternative
to mainstream units here in
New Zealand. They import the ›
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Camper Care Hamilton Motorhome Show
Lifestyle
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French Caravelair caravans,
manufactured by the European
Trigano Group, which also
manufactures Benimar and
Chausson motorhomes. They
are talking about bringing in
Carado motorhomes from July,
so look for them at the Covi
show in September. The captivating feature, you’re asking?
The pull-out drawer Webasto
fridge/ freezer unit, WOW it
was cool, funky, modern and
had pretty lights as well.
Seriously, this was the coolest item at the show. As for
warranty, back-up and all that,
Rainer offers five years on the
product, you pay for repairs
and it is claimed back from
the factory. Spare parts can
be accessed from France if
required, no cost for freight on
warranty claims. This model
costs around $45,000.
A couple of big units were on
display. It would seem there
is interest in the market for
large mobile homes that can
be placed on a site and lived
in permanently. The biggest
of these is from Silverdale RV
Centre, and Milton Kilgour was
happy to show off this Cottage
by Cedar Creek manufacturer,
in the USA. With slide-outs on
both sides this maximum-sized
unit had a full-sized bedroom,
with masses of storage, a bath-
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They are talking about bringing in Carado
motorhomes from July, so look for them at the
Covi show in September.
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17 The coolest Webasto drawer fridge/freezer unit in the French Caravelair Allegra caravan 18 Exterior storage, entry door on the
right side, with access door to bunk area 19 Allegra interior from double bed in nose to rear showing dining area, kitchen, toilet/
shower behind dining and bunks at rear 20 Compact bathroom in the Allegra caravan 21 Compact two�berth Tribute 669
22 Compact toilet/shower in the 669, cool little sink unit 23 Drop down table adds options to this two�berth from Tribute
room, dishwasher, big kitchen
with home-sized island bench,
a dining room, and a large
entertainment centre at the end
of the lounge room. Brought
in for a client, who picked up
the keys at the show, it will be
delivered to the prepared site
as it’s not exactly something
you will tow around regularly,
by any means.
On this stand I also checked
out the latest Tribute 669 twoberth model from Taranaki RV.
Recently Taranaki RV, Ashburton RV and Silverdale RV
formed an alliance to support a
range of imported brands that
to each brings in, Auto-Trail
Tribute motorhomes, Springdale fifth-wheel units, Koala
weekender, and a range of
USA RV buses and products.
This expands each business’s
ability to offer service and warranty care New-Zealand wide,
part of the trend of businesses
growing and developing in our
ever-changing marketplace.
The next big live-in unit was
on offer from On the Way RV
from Mount Maunganui. It
imports the Evergreen Ultima
range of fifth-wheel units built
for NZ. The Express model
starts at $99,000, add on an ›
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Lifestyle
Camper Care Hamilton Motorhome Show
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24 Ultima Express fifth wheel exterior with slide�out 25 Express interior, spacious
area to live in as permanent home 26 UCC Pearson motorhome has all the options with
175�litre fridge freezer unit, pull out pantry, drawers, hob�grill�oven unit
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range of Japanese utes. The
company now offers finance to
approved purchasers, so you
could pay just $375pw for this
unit. Travel, or stay put, this is
a home on wheels.
Christchurch manufacturer
UCC made the trip to the
mainland, with a range of models on display. This company
produces a line of base models from van to truck chassis,
with a multitude of floor plans,
fixed bed options, lowline
Christchurch manufacturer UCC made the trip to
the mainland, with a range of models on display.
LPG heater, two 140W solar
panels, fitting a hitch to your
ute vehicle, ute electrics and
sensor brake system, and
all that takes the price to
$110,500. The Ultima units are
the world’s first eco-friendly
composite fifth wheel unit,
developed from the ground up
to meet New Zealand requirements, and can be towed by a
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European styling, basically
all the options to meet most
canny purchasers’ demands.
There’s open storage in some
models, the longest kitchen
bench I have seen in others,
all vehicles offer entertainment
centres, hob/ stove/ grill units,
a cassette toilet/ shower
facility, and full self-containment with a contemporary light
wood finish to the cabinetry.
Leisureline had one special
renovation caravan on site,
with the equally good-looking
Mustang, which drew people
to it like a magnet (our 1700
Liteweight renovation caravan). I checked out the quality
Leisureline Platinum caravan
on display with its curves and
corners, luxury bathroom, and
the compact self-contained
towable bach for a semipermanent home somewhere;
at $25,000 this caught a bit
of attention. Next door, Paul
from RnRV in Silverdale
showed me the latest Southern Star caravan, also built
by the quality New Zealand
manufacturer Leisureline.
These caravans all have the
most-loved features for kiwi
consumers, i.e. large windows
to enjoy outstanding views in
any weather, a chassis made
for kiwi roads, and insulation
plus and exterior construction
materials capable of standing up to the high UV rating ›
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27 Curved shelves offer a different look in the UCC Pearson 28 The Liteweight caravan
being refurbished by Leisure line on display 29 Southern Star caravan from RnRV
Lifestyle
Camper Care Hamilton Motorhome Show
Camper Care Hamilton Motorhome Show
Lifestyle
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34 Marty’s Panel and Paint from Levin, on fire 35 Blow up kayaks and boats are always
of interest 36 Major sponsor Camper Care working hard 37 Tents, pods and camp
trailers loved the sunny days 38 NZMCA stand always busy
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30 The Rock and daughter Shannon working the stand
31 Electric bikes are popular at every show 32 AVIDA – the
new name for Australia Winnebago, ALM Group in Hamilton
33 Equi�Trek Trek away baby caravan trailer unit, with 2
single bunks, self�contained for under $20k
in New Zealand – all tied
together with modern fixtures,
fittings, appliances and styling. Record sales are being
recorded this year, Colin Bates
tells me, the factory is coming
up to full production, and with
the newly opened Camec parts
and accessories store that
opened late 2012, business
is positively booming. The
service and repair department
is also in constant demand with
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the increase in the repairs of
imported vehicles and insurance work growing weekly,
it is all good news from this
Hamilton manufacturer. The
AVIDA brand was launched by
ALM Group in Hamilton. Fleur
and Andrew Fink have worked
with Winnebago Australia for
some years now, and with the
recent brand change in Australia this show was the first
outing for the new brand name.
Regardless of actual name or
manufacturer everywhere you
go in Australia people think
every motorhome on the road
is a Winnebago, such is the
length of time this company
has used the name. However,
agreements change over time,
and a legal decision has seen
the name alteration for the
iconic Australian brand. That
is all that has changed though,
the manufacturer of quality mo-
torhomes from small to large
multiple slide-out rigs on truck
chassis bases continues on at
an ever-growing rate, out of the
Sydney manufacturer.
Many accessories and RVrelated goods are for sale at
these shows, from blow-up
boats to bbqs, even Shewees
made an appearance to many
people’s interest (it’s a device
for women to wee in standing up) and the electric bike
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Marty’s Panel and Paint from Levin had a
great stand, with a lot of interest in the repair
and restoration work offered.
variations are always popular
for people to zip around on
for a trial. The Caravan and
Camping club was on hand to
promote its memberships, with
the big increase in caravan
purchases it had a lot of interest. Unlike the other larger association you don’t have to be
self-contained to belong, which
attracts a lot of members who
fit this category.
Marty’s Panel and Paint from
Levin had a great stand, with
a lot of interest in the repair
and restoration work offered.
Marty did the exterior work on
our Liteweight 1700 caravan,
on display with Leisureline,
and visitors were happy to talk
about the project with him over
the weekend. Don’t forget to
mention if you saw his stand at
the show, if calling for quotes
or work to be done, there is a
discount involved.
The NZMCA ran a rally for
the event, as well as selling
memberships at the show. Its
advantages include discounts
from partner companies,
including Noel Leeming and
Covi Insurance, a membersonly travel directory which
guides members around the
country to association-owned
or member ‘park over properties’, plus rest areas and dump
stations in both islands. And
that’s just the tip of the iceberg
of member benefits. In May the
association reached its 50,000
member number, quite an
achievement.
The magazine had a stand at
the show too, and it was lovely
to meet readers and subscribers every day, my thanks for
the kind words and support of
the magazine by all. Congratulations to all the wise people
who subscribed to the magazine for the first time, you all
walked away with a wee prize
of some sort or another, our
thanks to Uniden, Lewis Gray,
Selleys, Inter-islander and
Trojan for the wonderful prizes
we gave away.
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