Super-sized caravans take to the highways

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33092, 6 December 1972, Page 10

Super-sized caravans take to the highways

The extra large caravan — so common in the United States — is starting to make its appearance on New Zealand roads. More people travel today to find work. At the same time people are no longer content to put up with the discomforts that used to be unavoidable for those on the move. These two factors have brought a growing demand for the mobile home. A mobile home is as much a dwelling as a vehicle.

It is designed for permanent, or semi-permanent living.

It can be connected to water, sewerage and other services wherever these are laid on. Mobile caravans have proved popular as beach homes that can be moved every year or two to a different setting. Many are used by workers on construction projects. With your home and chattels contained within one easily moved package, the problems of renting temporary accommodation and packing and unpacking, moving furniture and so on, are overcome.

This type of mobile home also has an attraction for retired people who want to enjoy an occasional change of scenery, as well as the comfort and convenience of a compact, easy to manage home.

Elderly retired people can use the mobile home to visit their children and grandchildren without imposing. For conventional home owners, the mobile home can be used as valuable extra living space for putting up relatives or friends — in a self-contained apartment, part of the home but separate from it. Inside the mobile home, every possible modern amenity can be installed. One on display in Auckland even had a coal fireplace.

Length is flexible (the limit on the road in New Zealand is 40ft), and space can easily be found for two bedrooms, a shower, toilet, comfortable lounge and kitchen.