here is my baby:

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Hi everyone i am a newbie to this site and a relative newbie to the world of 4WD, well actually i'm not that new. I grew up 4wd as my dad used to rebuild american army jeeps and we spent most of our weekends up to our knee's in mud.

Anyway a year ago my husband and i decided to purchase an allterrain camping trailer and know we  are confirmed campers. We have two 4WD a suzuki grand vitara (one year old) so it is our new baby and a landrover discovery.

Trish

Looks like we have twins as my Vitara is the same colour as yours

Trish

WOW! You guys certainly use your vehicles differently than we do!  Unless you buy a vehicle specifically for "off roading" the vehicles we buy are "tow vehicles" and not used much for off-road.  Folks seem to do that with ATV's instead.    

I have to ask . . . it seems that Australia is mostly flat and so very wide open, so why are the vehicles and campers so much smaller than the 5th wheels and motorhomes that we use in the US?   

I'm quite interested in the differences between our countries, and I'm just curious as to what the major difference is when it comes to camping equipment/gear.

Even though you can see the pic of my truck (which I love dearly!) in my avatar, here's a couple other views when I first brought it home (at our old house).      



In the above picture, I have the "winter cover" on it, covering the grill.  I use that in the winter, as it really helps to ensure I get heat sooner.    Not only that, but if temps get down to 20 F or lower, I plug in the block heater at night.   Here in North Central Wisconsin (the "middle of nowhere"), we get down to 5 to 10 below zero and wind chills of 40 to 60 below zero in the winter.  Those temps only last a few days a couple times during winter, but it's dangerously cold and we need to take care that our vehicles are working properly to get us from place to place in those temps! 

Here's another picture of my baby! 



Julie

Oz uses Celsius Julie.  http://www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm

For example, 0' Fahrenheit is -17.78.

The only place I've lived where I needed a block heater was near Sudbury, Ontario, which is also inland.  I don't need one in Newfoundland, but here's a reference:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_heater 

& here is a discussion:  http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread/t-99149.html

Also, remember in what is called northern areas of this continent we use insulation in our houses.  Insulation also helps us get cool in summer.  Think if me wanting to move to the basement to sleep when the temperatures are above 21'C.