Vecto Shakedown – The Adventure Begins

And just like that… we’re finally on the road.
After plenty of planning, a few changes thanks to Cyclone Narelle, and more caravan packing debates than either of us expected, the Vecto Shakedown has officially begun.
Our first 2 nights away was really just a “training wheels” exercise at Coogee Beach Caravan Park on the 8th and 9th. A chance to see if everything worked, if the new Vecto towed properly, and whether we actually remembered where we packed things. So far, so good… mostly.
The new van tows beautifully behind the Cruiser, although we’re quickly learning that packing a Vecto is very different to our old Coromal. Every cupboard seems to have a “correct” location for things… we just haven’t discovered all those locations yet.
We also stopped in Bunbury to have the setup professionally weighed. Thankfully nothing too dramatic showed up, although a bit of weight redistribution and fiddling still needs doing. Apparently “just shove it wherever it fits” isn’t an official caravan loading strategy.
Naturally, it wouldn’t be a shakedown trip without me pressing random buttons and turning mystery knobs inside the van. That little experiment resulted in no hot water for a while. Thankfully the team at Vecto Caravans were fantastic and after about 30 minutes on the phone we had the water heater running again. Confidence restored. Slightly.
Sunday night we stayed in Wundowie with Coral and Dale which made for a really nice evening before properly heading north.
Tonight we’ve rolled into Sandy Cape, just north of Jurien Bay, where we’ll spend the next three nights testing out the full off-grid setup.
And wow… this place is BUSY.
Caravans everywhere. Kids everywhere. Caravans, rooftop tents, campfires, sausages frying, fishing rods and setups ranging from “minimalist camper” to what appears to be a small mining operation.
So now the real testing begins:
* solar
* batteries
* water usage
* Starlink
* storage systems
* and whether we can actually remember which switch turns on what.
So far though… we’re loving it.

Here’s to the start of the adventure.Read more