FINDING YOUR SITE - If you're staying at a caravan park you will normally be given a park map and shown where your site is. If you've booked a drive through site enjoy the ease of parking your van. If you have to reverse onto your site, I have a handy trick that someone shared with me years ago and I've always used it. When reversing onto your site, instead of having your hands at the top of the steering wheel, have them at the bottom. While you're watching the back of the van, if you want the back corner to go right then move your hands to the right and move your hands to the left if you want the back of the van to go left. If your hands are at the top of the steering wheel then you are going opposite. Much easier with your hands at the bottom to go in the same direction as the van.
GETTING YOUR VAN READY TO BE DISCONNECTED FROM THE CAR- Once my van is positioned where I want it, the exciting part begins: - I start with pulling on the van brake. - Get out my wheel chocks and place them under the wheels. - Grab the jockey wheel and attach it. - Wind the jockey wheel down until it's just resting on the ground. - Pull out the R Clip and pull up the handle on the hitch. - Leave your chains connected but unplug the electric brakes and your anderson plug if you have one. - Start to turn the jockey wheel handle until the van begins to rise. - Once you have enough clearance above the tow ball, you can disconnect your chains from your tow vehicle and move it out of the way. - Grab your level and place it on the drawbar then lower the van until you have it reasonably level. - Wind down all 4 of the legs (1 in each corner under the van) for stability.
CONNECTING POWER AND HOSES - Connect the power as soon as you can and make sure you switch the fridge to the correct power source. To connect the white drinking quality water hose, there's usually a small door on the side of the van which will be locked. Make sure you have plenty of spare hose fittings and connectors to be able to add 2 hoses together. Connect to an available tap. Remember that tap diameters can differ. The black sullage hose usually pushes onto a pipe sitting just under the van on the offside. Most caravan parks will have an outlet for the grey water to drain into.
RAISING THE ROOF - If you have a pop top van, you need to open the 4 clips holding the roof securely in place. if you're short like me, it's very handy to have a fold up step. At the rear end of the awning near the top, there is a lever you need to push to put it into the open position. Keeping your caravan door open, push the roof up from inside the van, there will be a roof lifter at each end to push up and lock in place. If you have a camper trailer style van you will need to wind it up before you can get access inside. You'll find the winder generally in the boot/tunnel boot. Unlock the small door and slide the winder into the cavity. Wind the roof up until the guides are taut but not too tight.
TYPES OF AWNINGS - There are a few different types of awnings. There's the bagged awning you will find on most camper trailers. These can be quite fiddly for one person to set up and pack away. The majority of awnings are rollout style. These are easy for one person to roll out and pack away. Some vans have a wind out awning which is even easier to roll out and pack away. These can be fitted to a large range of RV's. The ultimate awning is motorised and can be opened and closed whilst inside your van. You can buy side walls to attached to your awning to create an extra room. There are plenty of YouTube videos to watch to get the best out of your awning, whatever style it may be.
Now it's time to get out the camp chairs and enjoy the great outdoors!!