CARAVANNING NEWS


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Brisbane Weather Forecast, Australia

May 2008

Editor: Dennis Amor
PO Box 678
Caloundra
Queensland 4551
Australia
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Imran Zilic

POLICE RECOVER IMRAN'S BODY

POLICE have now removed the body of little Imran Zilic from a mineshaft in South Australia's outback. The three-year-old toddler vanished after leaving a SA caravan park with his 33-year-old father, Aliya Zillic, who has been detained under a mental health order. Imran's body was found by police in a 7m-deep mineshaft in a remote area about 50km south of Coober Pedy. Several caravanners stopped for morning tea at the side of the Stuart Highway, unaware of the grim discovery and police activity just a few hundred metres away. Mr Zilic collected Imran from his Perth home three weeks ago for an access visit. They were last seen together leaving the Poochera Hotel Caravan Park in the small grain belt town in the north of the Eyre Peninsula heading for Coober Pedy. Police said steps were being taken to issue a warrant for the arrest of "a suspect" but its execution depended "on a number of circumstances".

Caravanners hit back
Bowser blues as fuel prices hit new highs

Story and photo by Dennis Amor

CARAVANNERS are reeling as fuel prices across the nation continue to hit record highs.

Now they are demanding urgent government action to stem the spiralling cost of petrol and diesel which, they claim, has soared by more than 50 percent in less than two years.

Many caravanners, especially cash strapped grey nomads, say visits to petrol stations have turned into an "horrendous" experience and they are being forced to cut back on costly caravan parks and long journeys. [More]

Grey nomad cruisers lash out over illness
GREY nomad cruisers have blasted a major cruise line for keeping them in the dark over an outbreak of Hepatitis E. The Brisbane caravanners were horrified to learn they could have been exposed to the liver disease during their world trip of a lifetime. [More]

Jayco pledge on caravan jacks
AUSTRALIA'S biggest caravan manufacturer has promised to supply safe vehicle jacks. This follows news that the giant Jayco company breached rules governing the distribution of the lifting devices. [More]

Mobile skills help fill outback void
GREY nomads are helping fill a skills void in regional Queensland, it has been revealed. Travellers are finding skills they have had for years are suddenly in demand in outback towns, turning a stay of weeks into months. [More]

$12 million park taken off the market
A QUEENSLAND caravan park which was on the market for $12 million has won a reprieve. Brisk business has resulted in the popular seaside park being taken off the market. [More]

Rest area 'shortage' putting lives at risk: claim
CARAVANNERS have backed a call for more rest areas in the Northern Territory. This follows claims lives are being put at risk because there are too few areas where tired drivers can stop and rest. [More]

Shipwrecks prove new draw for park
THERE'S a new attraction at a South Australian caravan park - shipwrecks! Proud ships that once plied the River Murray but were left to lie in the murky depths as wrecks are surfacing again as water levels fall in the drought. [More]

New guide to outback adventures
A NEW guide will help caravanners to fossick for dinosaur fossils, stargaze or meet 'fair dinkum' Queensland locals. It is part of a new bid to entice travellers and grey nomads to embark on outback adventures. [More]

Be food smart, urges government
AUSTRALIA'S senior caravanners have been urged to be food smart during their travels. The warning comes as thousands of caravanners and motorhomers prepare to flee the chilly southern states and head north in search of winter sunshine. [More]

Oz Parks member celebrates green status
ANOTHER member of the Oz Parks chain is celebrating green park status. The Queensland caravan park joins a growing number of sites which are developing programmes caring for the environment. [More]

Thief legs it after robbing world champion
POLICE are hunting a brazen thief who legged it after robbing a world champion sportsman at a Queensland caravan park. The heartless bandit escaped with the former Paralympian's $6000 artificial leg. [More]

Villagers win battle over free camping
ANGRY locals in a small New South Wales village have won their battle to have free overnight camping banned. They protested it was taking business away from the local caravan park. [More]

Police warning after spate of thefts
POLICE have stepped up patrols after a spate of thefts at caravan parks in South Australia. And they have warned caravanners on the State's York Peninsula to take more care of their property. [More]

Welcome mat out for travellers' pets
CARAVAN parks on NSW's South Coast have finally put out the welcome sign to travellers' pets. A dozen beachfront, riverfront and lakeside parks have lifted a ban on pets and will accept them for a trial period. [More]

Parks collect Gumnut awards
BATEMANS Bay Beach Resort and Durras Lake North Holiday Park on NSW's South Coast have won Bronze and Silver Gumnut Awards respectively. The accolades were awarded after the parks launched successful projects to protect the environment.

Trio hurt as rig flips on highway
THREE elderly caravanners were hurt when their rig rolled in Queensland. One was trapped in the wreckage of their Toyota 4WD which flipped as they headed south on the Bruce Highway. [More]

For stories from the last six editions of Caravanning News, click on the appropriate month:

Caravanning News - March/April 2008 edition
Caravanning News - February 2008 edition
Caravanning News - January 2008 edition
Caravanning News - December 2007 edition
Caravanning News - November 2007 edition
Caravanning News - October 2007 edition

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LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR

Joining a caravanning organisation

WE are Kiwis who are coming over your way later this year to spend two years or so travelling round the country. We joined the Campervan and Motorhome Club but only because we thought we would buy a motorhome. As it turned out we went to the Sydney Supershow and bought a caravan (it will be ready at the end of September) so we now want to join an organisation for caravanners similar to the CMCA. Can you help?

Rhys Mathias
Ohaupo

The Campervan and Motorhome Club is a long-established organisation which accepts caravanners as associate members, though they have no voting rights. Alternatively, there is a comparatively new Australian Caravan Club based on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Its website is www.australiancaravanclub.com.au

Come on, wake up to our needs

SO sad to read that council red tape is thwarting plans for a new caravan park near Caloundra. It's about time council bureaucrats woke up and realised there is a drastic need for new parks because so many have already fallen victim to residential developers at a time when the number of caravanners on our roads is mushrooming.

Philip Speed,
New South Wales.

Travellers a responsible bunch

AFTER your story on the closure of Wyllie Park rest area near Brisbane, maybe people will now realise that it's not always the caravanners and motorhomers who are responsible for problems at these areas. When will the knockers realise that these travellers are usually a pretty responsible bunch.

Barbara Turner,
Queensland..

WORLD BRIEFS

Underground grass unearthed after caravan fire

A CARAVAN blaze led to the discovery of an elaborate underground drugs factory in England. Four people, including an 82-year-old woman, were arrested after police uncovered the fully equipped cannabis-growing complex in buried shipping containers at Goddards Green, Sussex.

UNDER privileged people in remote areas of southern Lebanon will soon be flocking to a mobile 35ft caravan which has been given a new life as a fully equipped computer and internet school. The original caravan was destroyed during the 2006 war with Israel.

A SEAFRONT caravan park in northern England is to have a spruce up ... to the tune of $1 million. It is hoped the revamp at Sandhaven Holiday Park in South Shields will attract more tourists to the windswept coastal area.

HUNDREDS of caravanners burned tyres in the Har Bracha settlement near Jerusalem as Civil Administration and police attempted to destroy a caravan park. Families have been living in the settlement since Independence Day, 1982.

A UK caravan park has copped a $20,000 fine after a 71-year of staff member was run over by a dump truck. Itchenor Caravan Park in West Sussex was found to be in breach of health and safety laws by ignoring an electrical fault which allowed the engine to run while not being driven.

TWO people, including a two-year-old boy, died when fire ripped through a fifth-wheeler in Arbuckle, California.

IT NEVER rains but what it pours! England's Safeguard Insurance company has reminded caravanners that last year's overly wet July is a "good example" of why insurance is vital.

HOLLYWOOD star Matthew McConaughey of The Wedding Planner, A Time to Kill and Fool's Gold fame, has turned his back on flashy and expensive mansions ... he prefers to live in a caravan. "It sounds like I'm a travelling wandering vagabond, but I like that way of living because I know exactly where my stuff is and it's how I like it," he confessed.

SOME English caravan parks have come under fire for their outdated emergency procedures. In fact, the fire drill at one park in north Norfolk still involves stirrup pumps and the ringing of a handbell.

CARAVANNERS in the UK are in a spin after the government recently introduced new car tax bands which puts large 4WDs into a bracket that could cost owners up to $2000 a year in registration fees.