The Italian Camel

The 'Beast' towing the Italian Camel.

STOP PRESS 6/Jan/2010:

The Italian Camel has been SOLD!

The Italian Camel is the camper trailer we used for the South Australian trip (and a couple of others). It is a Camel Group Discovery Off-Road Camper-Trailer that has been built to our specifications.

Watching it take shape at the Camel Group factory.

We wanted something that could be erected with a minimum of time and effort for overnight stops. Most 'soft-floor' campers take a while to put up as you're essentially erecting a tent from the top of the trailer. We already had a Maggiolina Airlander fibreglass roof-top tent and thought that it would be ideal mounted on a trailer rather than on the roof of the Land Cruiser.

For those of you unaware of this line of roof top tents, as the name suggests, it's Italian and made from fibreglass rather than canvas. They normally fit to a roof rack, but we couldn't fit it in the garage if we put it on the Land Cruiser's roof (and Sue's not too keen on climbing up that high any more!).

Airlander in travelling position.

Airlander in sleeping position.

The Airlander winds up with a crank handle and takes only about 90 seconds to erect. It gives us a safe, mossie-proof, waterproof, airy double bed and it also has a reading light inside that we connect to the trailer's battery. We had the trailer built so that the Airlander could still fit on the Land Cruiser's roof rack but would normally live on the trailer.

The final configuration - mounted and ready for the road!

After the trailer was ready, we needed somewhere to change, put our clothes and nick-nacks, etc as a 'normal' camper comes with an annexe. We solved this problem with a very-quick-to-erect OzTent. While this is normally a stand-alone tent, we fitted sail-track rails to 3 sides of the Airlander so that we could attach the OzTent to the back or either side. This gave us privacy and protection from the weather if we needed it.

We also have poles and walls for the annexe awning (makes it neater and more secure) but haven't any photos of them being used. :-(

The annexe forms a nice breezeway and lets us get to and from the tent easily. We use the kitchen ladder to get into bed rather than the one that comes with the Airlander as it's easier to use and smaller.

For the always-important meal times, the kitchen folds out the back as a hinged tailgate. We have 65lts of drinking water and 2 gas bottles, one feeding the stove, the other used to run a Coleman hot water system. This provides enough hot water for the shower cubicle; essential after a hot day's exploring!

Back to the 'Travels' page -> Travels