Well folks I survived my 1st trip to Mildura and back I had an absolute ball, only hiccup was when I locked myself out and a fellow camper used a hacksaw to cut off the clasp joining to 2 parts of my A'Van door so now I have to get it repaired but it saved me having to sleep under the stars (still a bit chilly for that ).

All I want to do now is get going on a long trip I'm hoping to head off around February for 6months but first have to find a housesitter to look after my 2 indoor cats, does anyone out there know of anyone or has used any of the sitter services before?

Wow also just noticed I'm now a veteran member, that didn't take long

cheers Gillyb

Very happy to hear you had a great time gillyb, may you have many more.

I always keep a spare caravan key hidden on the tug, may be worth thinking about.

Well done GillbyB, I should have warned you about the door lock. It also happened to a well known RV guru who had been loaned an A'Van and there are plenty of others it has happened to as well. Some have used a small person or a child to get in via the hatch to unlock the door from inside. I am not sure what model van you have, but I think the later vans use a different lock. On my 2000 model I had, I put the lock lever on the inside to the unlocked position and screwed a self tapper screw behind it to prevent it being locked (some people just put a piece of strong tape behind it instead), the slide bolt on the inside of the door was the only thing we used at night to lock the door. For the outside of course the door will lock with the key if leaving it to go anywhere, loos etc. We also carry our keys on a lanyard around our necks when we leave our van for any reason to avoid leaving them behind etc. Can't help you with the cat sitter bit though. If you do take them on trips, there is a booklet at the camping stores etc about travelling with pets and pet friendly parks, usually your camping guide (RAC/NRMA) will tell you if they allow pets, don't know how they would get on inside a small van though. I have seen owners with their cats outside on a lead and walking them on a lead as well in pet friendly parks etc.

I've taken your advice JRH so it won't happen again. VWH I thought about the hatch too but guess what....yup that was also locked :) Yes the newer A'vans have a new plastic lock so maybe it works better but I'll make sure I don't lock myself out again and at least now I know I'm prity secure in my van during the night :) Thanks also Gert for your the info you sent me thanks all Gill

Gill,

The older vans (don't know about the new ones) all had the same key for the hatch (one opened all) so if another A'Van owner was around you could borrow their hatch key. I also found the key to my Champion fibreglass canopy on my ute fitted my hatch lock and vice versa.

The front door keys were different though on the vans, only the hatches had the same keys as everyone elses.


-- Edited by VHW on Wednesday 6th of October 2010 07:46:39 PM

Hi Gill, We have just come back from Queensland been there for four months in our A Van loved it been travelling for about the last 12 years doing short and long trips and never want to come home. Welcome back. Helena.

Good on you Gillyb, a great start to your travels. Won't be so hard next time. Hopefully will meet on the road sometime in the near future.

Hi Gillyb.  I am a 60 yo femal and have just resigned from my job to do the travelling from May to October.  Live in SW Gippsland.  Am a responsible person and if you live in the Melbourne area can housesit for you.  Love all animals.  Sometimes I stop the car to watch a calf feeding from the teets of a very large udder.  My only problem is I have a black lab who loves all living things, although I have people here who would love to have her for short periods.  I can give you references if you like.

I spent a couple of weeks in NT last year and want to spend the dry season working my way up there.

Hi Pamela thanks for your offer but I think our dates may clash I was hoping to leave around the last week of February and be away for at least 6months cheers Gill

Warning on Door Lock:  Gilly, further to your door locking on you, unlike a normal van lock even if you had your key with you (or a spare) for the door, once you lock the snib on the inside the key will not unlock the door from the outside, so even if you had the keys with you (or a spare) only the outside hatch could have been opened. That is why it is best to disable that inside lock function as I mentioned in a previous post.

Whoever sold you the van should have warned you about that, however if it was a non A'Van dealer they probably wouldn't have known unless they had locked themselves out at one stage. If you bought it from an owner, they should have told you though. So bear in mind your keys or spare will only open your door from the inside if the snib is not locked inside. A'Van knew about that problem for years and did nothing about it until years later down the track with the new ones.





-- Edited by VHW on Friday 8th of October 2010 09:39:58 AM

Further to that, even if you can access the hatch, it usually comes out inside under a bed or seat so if there is a lot of bedding or junk on top of it, the person climbing into the hatch may be unable to lift the bed lid etc from underneath. Best option is to disable the inside door lock by preventing the little slide tab from moving across to the locked position.