True stories- Can you believe this happens on holidays

I still cannot believe my eyes at things that travelers do.  You do not have to pay top dollars or go to the movies to be entertained these days.  No simply buy, rent, or borrow a caravan and go travelling. Then when you park in a free campsite or caravan park, relax, and watch the fiasco evolve as people park their vans.

You wonder why people go on holidays, when they behave the way they do.  We always say; they would not do that in their home, especially if their neighbors were watching.  So why do it when away from home.

That is true. These days anyone at any age can go and buy a caravan and take off without any previous knowledge or experience on how to back the van into a caravan park bay.  What is worse, anyone can buy one of those fifth wheelers (a virtual semi) with push out sections on both sides without any extra driving experience?  They cannot drive it forwards or turn corners safely.  Now, do not get us started about having no reversing experience. 

A semi driver has to fill out logbooks and go for medicals, plus they can only drive for so many hours, need I go on?  Yes, people of any age can drive a fifth wheeler.  Some appear to think because they are as big as a semi they can park in truck bays too.  For those good fifth wheel drivers I apologize for my ranting, you must be the exception so do not take this personally.

We have noticed that some of the most expensive outfits on the road are not well equipped with the simplest of safety equipment or any backup systems.  If they drain their batteries, they do not have chargers or a backup battery.

We see vans parked in thick bush scrub in the middle of summer.  If a fire starts, they have no chance of escaping. 

Do not empty them in the middle of a campsite. Other people may want to put a tent on that spot the next night. Please dig a hole in the bush and bury it or empty at the dump spots. It takes a few minutes extra to do this. Oh boy, they really stink too.

Toilet paper is an eyesore all over our beautiful bush. Why do people treat the bush with so much contempt? We have had someone sh.t right outside our van, and did not have the decency to cover it up.

Before taking your van on holidays, it is common sense to make sure your vehicle is well equipped to tow the weight of the van.  Then make sure you know how to reverse the car and hitch onto the caravan.  If you cannot then please, please tow your caravan out to a back road somewhere away from other people and traffic and practice, until you can do this safely.

If you cannot park your van into the bay provided.  Please ask the manager for help.  Most of them will do it for you.

There is nothing worse than watching and listening to the abuse thrown back and forth between couples because the driver always blames the person guiding.  Then the guider blames the driver, and the bickering continues for hours.

We have seen many men struggle to reverse, and then the wife yanks him out, gets behind the wheel herself, and parks it first time.  My husband warned me never to try that on him.  I would not waste my time, I’d walk off and leave him to it, that’s for sure.

Neighbors parked next to us

They had a small Avan caravan and all afternoon we heard the husband banging things around trying to put a small annex up.  In frustration, he put it back in the boot.  Towards evening, we heard him reversing his car back to the van guided by his son.  An hour later, my husband offered to help him.  They set it up although he did not want to hook on until the morning.  In the dark, we heard him and his son going through the process again.  In the morning, he took an hour to put the van onto the tow ball hook up two chains and remove the jockey wheel.  (He had no sway bars).

At last, he drove slowly off, over the curb, and down the road.  We heard a bang and a dragging noise.  We all ran out to see what had happened.  He had forgotten to put the pin in on the tow hitch and consequently it came off.  He had also lost the bolt from his jockey wheel in fifty feet.  What was he doing, didn’t he know anything at all.  Glad we were not on the same road as them.  He was an accident waiting to happen.

We were camped overnight at a free campsite. A fellow traveler proudly told us how he had fitted a gas bayonet onto his new caravan. While we watched in horror, he attached the bayonet to the barbecue. Then produced the gas lighter (with the naked flame) to check there were no gas leaks. Most people know to brush soapy water over the connections. If it bubbles, DO NO USE A NAKED FLAME.

Other annoyances of ours,

People cannot wait until the road is safe they overtake on a hill or over double lines, risking innocent lives coming in the other direction. Drivers, who speed past us, then turn left at the next corner. Why bother?

 We always park a long way from other travelers. Because we do not use a generator, we have solar.  No sooner we set up and have a coffee someone decides to park their van right next to us.  Then to make it worse they start up their Bl...y generator. Grrrr

Men, do not read this bit

Sorry but women are disgusting. They leave a used meds on the shower floor in the ablution blocks. Some drop disposable nappies on the ground even when there are bins provided. This disgusts us.

Yes, we all do stupid things from time to time.  I remember stopping and opening our van, then my husband distracted me.  I went to see what he wanted.  We decided not to camp there and merrily drove another hundred kilometers down the road.  When I could not find the van keys, I suddenly realized I had opened the door and yes, luckily they were still in the unlocked door.

·        People drive off with the step still down.

·        Drive away with the power lead still connected to power

·        Leave windows open

·        Park, connect to power and forget to disconnect battery lead from car

·        After camping they forget to turn the gas bottle off before driving away

·        They overload the roof racks and their caravans

I wonder how many people realize that if they are involved in an accident, they WILL NOT BE COVERED BY THEIR INSURANCE POLICY.

·        If the roof rack on the vehicle is overloaded

·        The same applies with their caravan if overloaded.

Everyone, please be patient and considerate to all road users.  Do not drive when tired.

Always leave your bad tempers at home. I hope you are not guilty of any of the above.