RV FEATURE
There is something ambitious about taking a 5.5-year-old and a 2.5-year-old camping beside a mountain river in the middle of winter. Add a large RV I had never driven before, a remote campsite without facilities and a few days off-grid, and there was certainly some trepidation as we set off for our long weekend away.
THE FIRST CHALLENGE
The first challenge was the vehicle itself. I had never driven anything approaching the size of our Mercedes Sprinter-based Kea Discovery M660 RV. Fortunately, before we left, the team talked us through the vehicle, including how to set-up and pack away the beds and furniture, and some of the things we needed to keep in mind on the road.
As the couple discovered, driving the Apollo motorhome was far from intimidating.
The biggest surprise was how quickly the RV stopped feeling intimidating. The driver’ s seat is high, providing excellent visibility, and once the seat and mirrors were adjusted I found it remarkably easy to drive. That was true navigating an urban environment as well as travelling along the long, monotonous stretches of the Hume Highway.
After about 10 minutes, I was conscious of the vehicle’ s dimensions without feeling particularly constrained by them. It simply didn’ t feel like I was driving something so large. The turning circle was also surprisingly good, which meant that when we did need to turn around, it was generally straightforward.
There was, however, one dimension that couldn’ t be forgotten: height. This had been emphasised to us before departure, and with good reason. Bridges, car parks and other height restrictions require a different level of attention when your vehicle is effectively a small house.
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