96 caravanworld.com.au
OFF ROAD ADVENTURES
Heading west from the Steve Irwin Way and
using our Hema Maps app, it wasn't long
before the bitumen gave way to the gravel,
and then the gravel gave way to the rutted,
red clay tracks.
Whoa boys — washouts, gullies, short
climbs and deceptively deep puddles were
all encountered and conquered with a
minimum of fuss. That was until we took a
track through the pine trees. All was going
well until the track started to get a little
more slippery, a little more rutted and a little
bit steeper. Downhill. What's that saying
again? “What goes down, must come up!” or
something to that effect.
A quick recce of the track was undertaken,
with the exit point deemed to be just a little
bit too much for a 'Cruiser with a 6.5m (21ft
4in) van hanging off the back to handle. In
the dry it would be no problem, but after
that storm only 12 hours ago, we decided
that discretion was the better part of valour.
There was, however, still a slight problem.
We, or should that be Andrew, still had to
reverse the van back up the slippery and
rutted slope that we had just come down.
After many attempts and a lot of skilful
wheel work (and Jess not breathing for about
20 minutes!) we were back up on the flat
without so much as even a scratch on the
duco, performing a three-point turn and
heading back the way we came in.THE NITTY GRITTY
The Amaroo series is the most popular
model within the Wonderland range, and to
be honest, it's not hard to see why. It's got the
right blend of sophisticated blacktop tourer
and offroad warrior: a tough exterior with a
plush interior.
This particular model on test is the 6.5m
(21ft 4in) caravan, however the range goes
from a 5.05m (16ft 7in) unit, all the way up
to a 7m (23ft) model. Wonderland is also a
full custom builder, so you can choose from
a large range of standard layouts, or tweak
them to suit your own needs.
Almost everything is a standard fitting,
giving you a lot of bang for your hard-earned
buck. For those who want to upgrade the
suspension or electrical systems, this is
definitely available.
Designed to be taken all over the country,
this offroad van is built to a high standard
from the ground up, and incorporates some
pretty tricky construction methods.
Just like a good house needs solid
foundations, an offroad caravan needs a
solid chassis. Thankfully, the team from
Roadking know a thing or two about hot-
dipped galvanised steel. A 6in extendeddrawbar makes way for the 4in + 4in double
box chassis, which provides strength as
well as all important clearance for those
offroad obstacles. A 2in SHS frame sits atop
the chassis to support the structural grade
marine ply base.
An upgraded suspension package had
been fitted to our test van, namely a
Cruisemaster XT fully independent coil
suspension with twin shocks. Keeping
the van rolling along are 16in alloys with
265/75R16 all terrain tyres. With the majority
of new vehicles these days capable of
towing this van running 17in rims, I found
it surprising that these weren't standard
fitment. A single spare hangs off the rear bar
along with twin jerry can holders.
Hiding underneath there's the fresh
and grey water tanks, protected by metal
shrouds. Electrical cabling, gas and water
lines have been run mostly up high and
relatively well protected, however, a couple
of items caught my eye.First was the location of the external
gas point for hooking up your BBQ or the
optional slide-out kitchen. To me, this was
in a highly vulnerable position, with a high
likelihood of it being damaged in offroad
situations. The other item of particular note
was the use of single screw cable connectors
on the sway controller wiring. For an offroad
van that is subject to dust, dirt, mud and
water crossings, this is definitely sub par.
The drawbar plays home to the usual
suspects. Twin 9kg gas bottles, twin 20L
jerry can holders, a checkerplate storage box
and a freshwater tap fit neatly behind the
stone guard. The offside of the storage box
has a swing -open door with a slide inside. If
you need somewhere to hide the genny, then
this would be it.
In front of the stone guard, you'll find the
Cruisemaster DO35 hitch, Breaksafe trailer
breakaway unit, HD handbrake, reverse
camera connection, Anderson plug, Hayman
Reese sway bars and safety chains.