Recently, I have been attempting to replace our ageing Avondale Caravan, it's past it's prime - the Caravan service guys advised us to have it put to sleep but we just can't do it until we really have to, it's back legs have gone yes but it still has a twinkle in it's eye. Anyway, before it gets sold to the great Caravan Breakers in the Sky, well down the road actually, we have to find a new one. Unfortunately we have come up against two major obstacles:-
1. Due to the credit crunch people are looking to holiday more in the UK (Are they mad, have you seen the prices and the weather?) As I'm sure you're aware we are a nation of 'Panic Buyers', try getting a fresh loaf of bread on Christmas eve, mix this with greedy salesmen or 'Supply and demand' as they call it and you have a problem. This will all change when the credit crunch ends, and your nice shiny caravan is worth about the same as a tin of Pilchards, negative equity in caravans tsk!
2. Another problem is towing weights, this is a whole minefield that I am now an expert in. I drive a 1.8 Vauxhall Zafira, not a small car and not an ungenerous 1300kg towing capacity, until you find out that most family caravans are around 1350kg, not a problem you think - we've all seen the video of the VW Touareg towing the Jumbo jet, right (Take a Look)? But the story changes when you're on the M5 and a lorry over takes you the same time as a gust a wind hits you on the other side suddenly, your caravan decides it likes the look of the lorry rather than your car, and guess what your car doesn't have enough weight to hold it back, kind of like an old frail granny taking a Staffordshire Bull terrier for a walk and he sees a cat. This is when you end up in the bushes pulling roadkill out from between your teeth and finding four broken flappy pieces of plyboard where your caravan used to be, plus a furious looking wife and a rather bent car.
So as you can imagine I am absorbing all the safety advise I can find.
Remember my previous post, it should have been called 'When Good caravans, go bad', lol - actually not a bad idea, might send that one to Bravo.
Laters....
Baz the whinging Yam yam/Brummie/Limey/Pom.
