SYDNEYSIDE WITH JANET PARR Travels with Wilpy & Co.

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32628, 9 June 1971, Page 7

SYDNEYSIDE WITH JANET PARR Travels with Wilpy & Co.

Wilpy was standing a little apart from the rest when we met. Sturdy, I thought. Reliable, obviously well-travelled with a tale to tell of journeyings in distant lands.

And so it turned out. Wilpy had been back in Sydney only since last December, having spent two years and three months on a road that began in Sydney and led - through 38 countries back to j Sydney on a wet, grey day. Wilpy had a collection of r photographs to prove it—Big i!Ben, Bangkok, Arizona, a ’ Greek mountain side, a statue j of Robin Hood outside Not- , tingham Castie. ’[ Wilpy—as if you haven’t » already guessed—isn’t a per- » son. It’s a motorised caravan ’ but, as anyone who has ever > had anything to do with them j knows very well, the Wilpys ’ of this world tend to develop > personalities of their own | the longer you live with . them. They become me- ! chanical companions always ready with the makings of a cup of tea and a chance to slip your shoes off. Two years or more is a long time to spend with a Wilpy. Norman and Rita Peek made up their minds to do it when they hired a similar van in Auckland and spent five weeks touring both islands of New Zealand in 1956. They decided that this was how they should make their world tour when Mr Peek retired from his job as principal of a technical college in Bankstown, a suburb of Sydney. They bought Wilpy—the word is aboriginal for camping place—and spent three years fixing it the way they wanted it. Mr Peek retired on July 21, 1968. and September 10 they set out. STATISTICS If you’re interested in statistics, in the time they were away they visited 38 countries, drove 50,000 miles by road, and travelled 22,000 miles by sea not counting ferries; they used 2324 gallons of petrol which cost them $1554; they amassed a

collection of 2500 slides and built up a list of 324 new friends with whom they hope to keep in touch. And they visited 92 Rotary clubs in 21 countries.

It didn’t seem polite to ask about ages, but obviously a retired couple have a few more years behind them than today’s globe-trotting youth. Even so, a Bombay newspaper was probably a bit astray when, in reporting a reception given for the Peeks by a motoring club, it referred to “two Australian sexagenarians.” With that in mind Mrs Peek says she is going to write a book—and call it “Round the World with Sex!” It was tempting to ask when she will write it, for although they are enjoying the rertfulness of being home she would like to be off again—to see Australia.

In the meantime Mr and Mrs Peek are living at Belmore. When I met Wilpy, it was up at the Showground looking very much the star boarder amonjg a collection of newer Wilpys that haven’t yet had the showroom gloss knocked off them, although a near neighbour was a car and caravan combination still dusty from a five-week 20,000 mile marathon drive. FRESH PAINT There wasn’t any dust on the other caravans and mobile homes on show—only fresh paint in a mixture of colours, although white baked enamel is apparently the Australian favourite.

One mobile hdme had something that looked like a stucco finish outside. It comes with one to three bedrooms, takes ordinary furniture, and, I was told, is similar to the units in which 19m Americans are living. If’s described as a “villa home,” but can be moved. This is important as most caravan parks here have a limit on the length of stay. Families who choose to live in vans permanently are faced with periodic moves. While sheer size is not the most important thing, space and privacy seem to have taken over in caravans with an awareness that children

go to bed earlier than their parents do. It’s difficult to enjoy even a quiet talk, or a beer or a game of cards with a sleeping child inches away from your elbow. The bigger vans put a bedroom each end with wardrobes and chests of drawers as standard equipment, fullsize beds, bedspreads and a variety of wail finishes. The smaller ones blossom outwards when they stop. Sides let down to form bunks. One van had sprouted a wallpapered curved annex—a half dome—on one side making a remarkably roomy sitting area. There was a “penthouse” bunk built out over the van’s towing device, and there were wrap around lounges and dinettes and full bathrooms with showers.

The refrigerator has become standard equipment and the stove is often a full-size cooker, a long way from the old Primus with a pan of sausages sizzling over it. Even the motorised caravans—the Wilpys had started to think bigger. One had a shower built into one comer and front seats that swivelled round to make a sort of little sittingroom. The camper top that fits on to a utility truck now has an opening to make it accessible from the driving cab. On a wet night you don’t have to run round in the rain to climb in the back. TRAILERS, TOO

The trailer, the flat boxlike affair that you tow behind the car, has expanded in all directions. Now the trailer goes up and out to provide room for up to eight people in some models, with stove and refrigerator. And the tent, in a variety of colours, has separate bedrooms complete with mosquito nets. Among the displays was a little washing machine that sells for round $6O, can be taken apart into four pieces for storage, weighs only 121 b, and takes a 21b load. It is a bit more sophisticated than the method the late John Steinbeck adopted —and described in his book “Travels with Charley” about a journey to rediscover America—of putting his wash with water and soap powder into a tub with a close fitting lid and driving off. At the end of the day the washing had been agitated clean and all he had to do was rinse it and hang it out. Sitting on a large expanse

of bright green raffia grass was a group of million dollar New Zealanders. Breaking into what appears to be a highly competitive market, a firm from the Hutt Valley has sold a million dollars worth of caravans to Australians in the last three years. In return it exports motor parts back to New Zealand. REPURCHASE Now the same Hutt Valley firm is planning another development, the guaranteed repurchase scheme.

This is based on an overseas practice where the traveller buys a van or motorised van at standard price and sells it back at the end of the trip for a fair price. It’s handier than hiring for those who don’t know just how long they’ll be away and probably works out cheaper. One type of motorised van will be made in New Zealand and shipped to Australia in exchange for goods under the trade agreement. The other smaller, cheaper van will be made in Victoria.

With a travel campaign just under way to encourage Australians to “go see Australia” it was hardly surprising that the caravan and camping crowd had taken to it as their own. There are plenty of places in Australia which don’t offer too much in the way of accommodation —it’s a big, bare country out there—so if you want to see them you have to travel like the snail or the tortoise with your house on your back. To prove that you can, comfortably, one manufacturer had hoisted a 19ft van 30 feet in the air by crane. A girl trainee teacher went up in it to spend the five days of the show aloft. She had a refrigerator packed with food, television, radio, telephone and took her books

and sewing machine with her to keep her busy. She also had thousands of balloons that she threw down to the children. “I expect their parents are wondering what it’s like up here,” she said. "But really I’ve got all the comforts of home.”