With interstate travel off the cards for the near future, this is the year of the road trip, with a rising number of Queenslanders hitting the road to give caravanning a spin.
Caravanning has seen a surge of popularity in recent months with Queensland holiday parks reporting a 40 per cent increase in occupancy rates between May and August this year.
Sunshine Coast family Jodie, John and their two sons are among the recent caravan converts – after finding it the perfect solution to their family’s unique holiday needs.
Having two sons with special needs, the family has had mixed results with holidays in the past, but decided to give caravanning a crack after first trying a camper trailer and realising they needed to go bigger.
“We quickly realised that the camper trailer was quite hard for our family situation. Plus it took so long to put up and pack away,” Jodie said.
“We saw other people arrive in the park with caravans and how quick the setup was, so we decided that we needed to look at getting a caravan for ourselves. Within two weeks we’d bought a brand new van.
“For our first time in the caravan, we decided to stay local and booked three nights at Ingenia Holidays Rivershore and absolutely loved it.
“We ended up staying for a week – which is the first time we’ve ever extended a holiday. We’ve got two teenage boys with special needs, Ben is 16-years-old and requires full care and Jack is 14-years- old and has autism.
“There was so much to love about Ingenia Holidays Rivershore Resort- it was so easy to get around. We could just pop Ben in his stroller, put our rescue pup Lily on a leash, and get out and about.
“In the past, we’ve had to cut all of our holidays short, so as soon as we realised this type of holiday worked for our family we were thrilled.
“You can easily drop a few thousand dollars on holiday accommodation, so aside from the upfront cost of the caravan, it’s a really cost effective and flexible option.”
Since their inaugural caravan trip, the family has been desperate to get back out on the road, but because of John’s role as a FIFO worker, he’s currently stuck in Western Australia.
“After our first trip in the caravan, I had to return to WA for work and because of the current border restrictions, I’m unable to get home for the foreseeable future,” John said.
“I’m counting down the days until I can get back and plan our next trip – it would be great to head up north, I think the boys would love it.”
Queensland has the largest number of registered RV’s in Australia, with this number only expected to rise as more embrace the transient holiday trend.
Ingenia Holidays Rivershore Resort Manager Shane Sutton said that he’s seen an influx of first-time caravanners as people embrace holiday destinations a little closer to home.
“So many Aussies have had to cancel their interstate and overseas trips this year and have been looking for travel alternatives that don’t involve flights or crowds.
“That’s why caravans are such great fit – they are very affordable, and you have the flexibility to pick up and move on to the next adventure whenever you’re ready.”
