Summer 2025 ISSUE 13 BUY PDF Contents Click on image for full view and caption buyer-beware-disputes tribunal-H.webp GO TO as the seasons change We won!!! Buyer beware update: We won! Anon We had to go to the Disputes Tribunal regarding our leaky 9 year old caravan. (Read our story about it: ckw.nz/buyer-beware) The fact that we had an issue on our first night helped us win our case, and that the seller mentioned it was water tight. I’d also asked if he kept it, what improvements he would do, to which he responded ‘nothing needed doing’! What we learned When buying a caravan, a seller is usually keen and helpful with regards to viewing etc especially from a distance. Ours wasn’t. Not keen to hold it or accept a small deposit. We should have walked away at this stage. Dishonest sellers Since our experience we’ve heard of someone else who has issues with a leaky vehicle and another person who was scammed and paid for a caravan but there wasn’t one. Be wise in your research friends. Learn from us. It’s not worth the heartache and stress. Name withheld. More for buyers Buying used caravans From Collyn Rivers: Helpful tools when conducting a used caravan inspection include a torch, a damp meter, a ladder and a tape measure. If you can, take along someone who knows about caravans. Unlike cars, a well-made caravan may last for decades with only minor areas that need attention. Not all are like that, however. Read the story in Issue 9 Or buy the book 🏕️ Up Up Summer 2025 , p 38

Autumn 2023 ISSUE 3 BUY PDF CONTENTS Click on image for full view and caption SOG®: Fresh air in your toilet Corinne Lindemann-Roth Are you tired of using chemicals and having smells come from your Thetford or Dometic cassette toilet? Have you ever wondered whether there would be a more environmentally friendly way of using your caravan toilet? If so, a SOG® system is the solution for you! Nobody is a fan of unpleasant odours, especially not when on holiday and definitely not in confined living spaces such as those found in motorhomes and caravans. Now imagine being able to go to the toilet in your motorhome or caravan and be welcomed by nothing but the freshest of air! For owners of a SOG system, this dream is nothing but an everyday reality. Through the use of an electrically powered ventilator, SOG is able to remove any odours coming from the toilet and is also able to completely eliminate the need for toilet chemicals. This makes SOG good for both the environment and your wallet. The SOG system comes as a kitset which can easily be installed either by yourself, if you have the correct tools, or otherwise any RV workshop. These kitsets can be retrofitted to any existing Thetford or Dometic cassette toilet and come in three different vent location versions, depending on the van and space available: door, floor or roof installation are possible. Made in Germany, the SOG® System has been around in Europe for close to 30 years. Protect the environment and your wallet in the long run. You can find all of the information and all the SOG kitsets as well as the spare parts such as filters, fan motors etc. on Moutere Caravans website and online shop. mouterecaravans.co.nz/sog-system Up Up 3 Autumn 2023 , p 16

4 Winter 2023 Winter 2023 ISSUE 4 BUY PDF CONTENTS Up Gold miner Wattie Thompson Roland Jones Up I started my travels around the South Island in late March 2023 in my campervan. I decided to travel the South Island anti-clockwise. Over to Nelson and down the coast, stopping at freedom camping sites. I love the natural surroundings that can be found at these back-of-the-way places. Lindis Pass Hotel ©2023 Roland Jones One such place was the Lindis Pass Hotel. I was intrigued by the history of this building. First set up in 1861 it became a permanent building in1873. As I explored the area, I came across this derelict house (above) built by Wattie Thompson who had panned the river for gold for over 50 years. Unfortunately, he went on the AirNZ Erebus flight to Antarctica and never returned. There is a full article which is interesting reading if you follow the link on 1964.co.nz . In the article it states that people are still looking for the place where he stashed his gold. However, I became friendly with another prospector on-site who told me that he left a letter to a farmer’s wife that if anything happened to him, she should read the letter. On opening the letter, it told her where to find the pickle jar containing 80ozs of gold. So the locals still searching are after fools’ gold — LOL. ©2023 Roland Jones Up Up 1/4 ISSN 2815-827X (Online) | ISSN:2815-8261 (Print) editor@campingthekiwiway.org

4 Winter 2023 Winter 2023 ISSUE 4 BUY PDF CONTENTS Up Pegs for tough weather Miriam Richardson Up These pegs drag into the ground when the wind pulls. Here is a commercial (yellow) peg: Here is a DIY (metal) version (Notice the celever useof red tape and a red tag to make them easy to find in the grass.) This blue peg is also very streng. It uses a second peg to anchor it more firmly in the ground. Photos ©2023 Miriam Richardson Up Up 1/0 ISSN 2815-827X (Online) | ISSN:2815-8261 (Print) editor@campingthekiwiway.org

8 Winter 2024 Winter 2024 ISSUE 8 BUY PDF CONTENTS Click on image for full view and caption GO TO Autumn Gold Glendhu Bay, Lake Wanaka M Richardson Glendhu Bay, Lake Wanaka. ©2024 M Richardson Another Glendhu Bay photo More on Glendhu Bay motorcamp Up Up 8 Winter 2024 , p 17

10 summer 2024 Summer 2024 ISSUE 10 BUY PDF ToC Click on image for full view and caption GO TO Springing tell-tale signs of a kea attack Kea attack Tony Kissel Setting up my tent this weekend I noticed about a dozen little holes in the roof. Then I remembered the last time I was up this way I was visited by a kea, on closer inspection there were the tell-tail signs of a kea attack. Fortunately I had a tiny amount of fabric glue in an Exped air mattress repair kit which was enough to fill the holes until a proper repair can be made. ◊ ©2024 Tony Kissell Up Up 10 Summer 2024 , p 17

9 Spring 2024 9 Spring 2024 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption If your car is big enough to tow your caravan and stop it, and you load the caravan and car properly … Towing your caravan — tips, tricks and weights Wayne Ravelich Let’s get started. Firstly, make sure your caravan is ready to move. Doors, windows & vents are all closed, Satellite dish is down, Legs are up. Now hook up to the tow vehicle. Is the tow coupling (tow ball) the same size as the caravan hitch? There are two common sizes, 1 ⅞ inch and 50 mm. Some American caravans have a larger fitting. Connect your electrics, trailer plug and, if fitted, Anderson plugs and possibly rear camera plug. Don’t forget the chains and/or breakaway lead. If you are new to towing it is not hard to master. Stay in the middle of your lane and DO NOT cut corners. There is a thing called ‘tracking’ that effects trailers going around corners. This means that the trailer can take a different path to the towing vehicle. If you go around a corner slowly with your wheels in the gutter the caravan could be on the verge or footpath. If fast, the caravan could be in the outside lane. Practice makes perfect. The more you tow your caravan the better you will get. Find an open space to practice backing. Here is a link to a great YouTube clip on backing a caravan: ckw.nz/reversing . Backing tip Common directions when backing a caravan are, left hand down or right hand down. This is your hands on the steering wheel. If you want your caravan to go to your right (going backwards) your car goes LEFT to start the turn, left hand down. If you want your caravan to go to your left (going backwards) your car goes RIGHT to start the turn, right hand down. Once the caravan starts pointing in the correct direction, start to straighten the steering wheel. It can take a little practice to get it right but well worth it. Remember it is better to have a couple of tries at reverse parking than do it once and crash into something. Two or three attempts to reverse into that spot will only cost you time. Getting it wrong will hurt your pocket. Stability You are almost ready to hit the road. Have you got all you need for your camping trip? Is it loaded correctly? Heavy items in the caravan/trailer like water and waste tanks should be over the axle and secured in place, If you brake in a hurry they could move forward and change the load characteristics of the towed vehicle. If there is too much weight in the back or boot of the towing vehicle that can also cause problems. We will talk about weight a bit later. The two most common problems associated with bad weight distribution are swaying of the towed vehicle and or light steering in the towing vehicle. Swaying (snaking) If the trailer starts to sway: • do not apply your brakes • instead, remove your foot from the accelerator and allow the vehicle to slow down. Too much weight in the back of the tow vehicle or too high a tow ball weight can affect steering. As the back of the tow vehicle goes down (due to excess weight) the front comes up and the front wheels can lose traction which reduces your ability to steer. Tow ball and caravan hitch weights will be listed, either in the owner’s manual or online. Exceeding these weights can cause the above problems. Passengers We have all joked about putting the passengers on the roof rack. Unfortunately, we can’t do that, we also can’t put them in the caravan while moving. Two trailers And we can’t tow two trailers with a light (class 1) vehicle. Let’s talk weight This Youtube video shows it all, well worth watching: ckw.nz/weight-scenarios Just because your car has a tow-ball does not mean it can pull your caravan. Picture a Mini towing a 10 m Jayco off-road caravan — NOT going to happen. Weight terms There are a number of terms used when referring to vehicle weights. Let us have a quick look at these now. What is the difference between GVM and GCM? • Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) refers to the maximum allowable total mass of a fully loaded motor vehicle as specified by the manufacturer. • Whereas Gross Combined Mass (GCM) refers to the weight of the tow vehicle and trailer hitched together while both are fully loaded (including passengers, equipment, fuel and tools). • Tare weight The empty weight of the vehicle or trailer/caravan. • A vehicle’s towing capacity c an be found on the towbar, owner manual or online. • Ball weight The weight of the trailer/caravan on the tow ball. An example of a caravan VIN plate showing weights (above). Note the ATM is the same as our GVM. The GCM Gross Combined Mass relates to how much you can load your tow vehicle and how much it will tow. Something to remember and is often overlooked, passengers are weight. Mum, Dad, the kids and the dog: ALL count as weight and are part of the payload. I have an American 11 m caravan with a GVM of 3.1 Ton. So, I need a BIG vehicle that can pull over that weight. A Ranger or a Colorado will pull 3.5 Ton, a Rexton will pull 3.2 and is way cheaper, BUT the GCM is a lot smaller, so the Rexton has limited payload. A Dodge Ram has a higher GVM and GCM, a Ram can tow 6 Ton (wow!) and still load the back of the Ram with extras, but not cheap and the weight means you needs a ‘class 2’ licence. The bigger and heavier you get changes the class of driver licence needed. What I am saying is: your tow vehicle has to match your caravan. The bigger the tow vehicle the better, and the longer the tow vehicle is, the better stability when towing. Last couple of points • If you exceed the towing vehicles rated towing capacity, ie the caravan is too heavy, you will have trouble stopping. The towing capacity relates to the size and weight of the vehicle and the capacity of its brakes. • Tow ball weight. We talked earlier about too much weight in the boot of the towing vehicle. Exceeding the towball weight has the same see-saw affect, the back goes down and the front, including wheels go up causing a loss in steering— its hard to go around corners if the front wheels are in the air. In summary If your car is big enough to tow your caravan and stop it, and you load the caravan and car properly, you will have the makings of a great trip away. Happy Camping ◼️ Up Up 9 Spring 2024 , p 13

10 summer 2024 10 summer 2024 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption Game solution Rhonda Marshall game-issue10-solution .pdf Download PDF • 43KB game-issue10-solution .jpg Download JPG • 265KB Back to the game Up Up 10 summer 2024 , p 44

7 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2024 ISSUE 7 BUY PDF CONTENTS Click on image for full view and caption On the beach at Hokitika. Heading to The Burt Munro in Invercargill. ©2024 Tony Knights Hokitika beach sculpture Tony Knights Hokitika. Heading to The Burt Munro in Invercargill. ©2024 Tony Knights GO TO Celebrating Summer Up Up 7 Autumn 2024 , p 35 ISSN 2815-827X (Online) | ISSN:2815-8261 (Print) ISSUE 4 editor@campingthekiwiway.org

2 Summer 2022 2 Summer 2022 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption Purakaunui Bay Campsite ©2022 Kayla Laatz Purakaunui Bay ©2022 Kayla Laatz Purakaunui Bay ©2022 Kayla Laatz Purakaunui Bay Campsite Kayla Laatz What a stunner this place was! Its a DOC campsite with long drop toilets, water taps, and fire pits. Nothing like falling asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the beach. Getting there, there’s about 20 minutes of gravel road with a few cattle crossings; nothing too steep. There were a few other caravans parked up. Just be aware the grass can be quite muddy. For this particular DOC camp site you can book online in advance or pay on arrival by bringing exact change. We saw tons of playful seals and heaps of brave surfers too! 10/10. Catlins, Southland. Photos ©2022 Kayla Laatz Up Up 2 Summer 2022 , p 34

2 Summer 2022 2 Summer 2022 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption How many freedom campers are there? Bette Cosgrove and Miriam Richardson Nobody knows. The Ministry has made some guesses. 'Certified self contained' freedom campers MBIE, the government ministry charged with providing the Minister of Tourism with facts, does not know how many freedom camping vehicles there are. They do not know how many private vehicles, that are currently certified self contained, would become ineligible because their toilets are not fixed (if the law changes, as proposed). They have estimated (because they do not know) that there are 73,000 vehicles currently certified, all of which have usable toilets, but they do not know what kind of toilet. [ ckw.nz/mbie-numbers MBIE estimates the rental fleet at 5,000 vehicles, and they do not know how many of those have fixed or non-fixed toilets either. Responsible, but uncertified freedom campers MBIE does not know how many New Zealanders use their vehicles to freedom camp. How many freedom campers shit in the bushes? MBIE do not know. They have an estimate from a small survey, of how many don't use their onboard toilets, but they did not ask, so they do not know, how many of those used public toilets instead. See Talking to four van loads of international tourists for some real life information on this. How many NZ travellers, not camping, get caught short and use the bushes as a loo? MBIE do not know, and I don't think they have even considered this, nor the inadequate provision of public facilities across the country. They, and we, can pretty safely assume that travellers that don't expect to camp probably don't carry a toilet (fixed or unfixed) with them. All in all, an appalling lack of facts All in all, the lack of facts underlying the proposed legislative changes is pretty appalling. These changes will affect New Zealanders for generations to come, and are being rushed through, regardless of a profound lack of facts. Up Up 2 Summer 2022 , p 4

Autumn 2023 ISSUE 3 BUY PDF CONTENTS Click on image for full view and caption Vans can be SMALL but MIGHTY resources Vans can be SMALL but MIGHTY resources. Orange Sky are providing shower and laundry services to many in flood-affected areas right now. Up Up 3 Autumn 2023 , p 7