Travelling around Australia can be hazardous without eyes in the back of your head. There’s the driving in and out of caravan parks, navigating tight spaces and hitching and unhitching the van on a daily basis.
Luckily we have a reversing camera installed on our tow rig which makes these tasks a lot easier and safer.
Below we explain why the reversing camera installed on our tow rig has been so useful and also point out some of its limitations.
Hitching the caravan
At our first campsite on The Great Ocean Road Court tried to give Drew instructions to align the tow ball and hitch. To cut a long story short she was pretty hopeless at it so from there on in Drew has relied solely on the reverse camera to accurately hitch the van each time (and avoid any future arguments).
Navigating tight spaces
The reversing camera has been a godsend when it comes to backing into tight spaces frequently encountered in caravan parks and when out and about 4WDing.
Once the van is hitched and set up we like to park the car closely to our campsite for easy access to our ‘pantry’ located in the back of the vehicle.
So far we’ve avoided any reversing related accidents, and with the continued help of this camera we plan to keep it this way!
Reversing camera at night
We try to avoid driving at night, but sometimes it is unavoidable. When driving in the dark we feel much safer parking or backing out of a site given the reversing camera has its own LED light.
When in caravan parks this is even more useful to avoid colliding with people (especially children) wandering to and from amenities.
GPS Functionality
When we are not using the camera to reverse we have it set to GPS mode to help us navigate our way around the country. Much better than hooking up a separate GPS device or trying to fiddle with Google Maps on our phone.
Limitations
The camera installed on our vehicle doesn’t have reversing sensors, and while they are not absolutely essential, we feel they could further enhance our safety (or just give us a chance to slack off!).
Since we are forever driving across dusty terrain we need to regularly wipe clean the cameras lens as all the dirt can quickly affect visibility. This just means we have to be a bit more diligent caring for our camera, which is probably best to ensure its longevity.
The reversing camera installed on our tow vehicle has been essential to accurately hitch the caravan on an almost daily basis. Its proven assistance to navigate tight spaces and reverse at night has added an extra level of safety to our trip around Australia – one that we wouldn’t want to be without.
In their next article, Drew & Court discuss the tribulations of changing a caravan tyre roadside.
Drew and Court are a Melbourne couple who are travelling around Australia for the next 10 months. They’re writing about their experiences for Without a Hitch, giving us the real story of life on the road.
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