Thank you to Louise & Phil Pearce.
Our story is probably a quite familiar one for very many people out there. Our trip towards being happy Cub owners started well before we even considered owning a Cub. Like many, our annual family holiday saw us driving in cars of suspect reliability packed full of kids, gear, and of course, towing the box trailer full of essential camping items into the January swelter heading north. Our destination was our top-secret campground at Grassy Head, about a five-hour drive from our place. Air conditioning was never an option for us back then, nor was any pretence of comfort in the car so by the time we arrived, normally around 3pm, we were pretty much exhausted and that was before we faced the biggest task of the day, setting up!
Picture this: four kids, bikes, one large tent, a few smaller tents, food and an ice box, a huge silver tarp and seemingly hundreds of those slide together extension poles and spreaders to deal with in the blazing sun. The worst bits were hammering endless flimsy pegs into the sandy ground and putting up that dreaded tarp. The whole process took around three hours (did I mention the sun?), and by the end of the process the only thing to look forward to was the ice cold long neck – the best tasting beer ever.
To make a short story of it, this all happened on a Saturday. Each year on the Sunday an old bloke would turn up at the site next to ours. He drove a small Corolla and behind it he had an ancient Cub Camper. This camper had tiny wheels and super thick canvas and was basically a bed on wheels but here’s the thing; his setup took him, by himself, about five minutes. I was just so envious, ‘Gunna get one of those one day’, I would be thinking to myself. Quite a few years later the opportunity to own one of these campers presented itself. The camper was a Kamperoo by Cub. It was tiny but when opened up it offered an incredible amount of room. The whole rig weighed under 300kg, and it boasted, of all things, an inner spring mattress. Sheer, delightful luxury. Our camper was something like 22 years old, but the canvas was in excellent order and there was no rust nor undue signs of wear. Heavier springs had been fitted and the previous owner, quite the inventor, had slung a 100-litre garbage bin underneath across the rear for extra storage. That’s where the long stuff went. We had so many holidays in that camper, and it took us from Sydney up to Lamington National Park, down the south coast and even along the Bridle Trail near Bathurst being pulled by our faithful i30. We did a lot of kilometres with that camper and had no issues with it at all. I remember buying new tyres for it which was a bit of a challenge, and the tyre bloke came up with some Kenda 10 inch tyres for it. My only previous knowledge of this brand was that they made cheap bike rubber. They were great and dirt roads didn’t stop us at all.
Our wonderful Kamperoo after negotiating the Bridle Trail.
Retirement
I had zero aspirations of becoming a grey nomad, I never will but we both loved camping and decided that we deserved a little more than what our Kamperoo could offer. Our experience with this little trailer was so positive that we saw absolutely no reason to change brands. A quick visit to Cub HQ saw us talking to a salesperson with a difference; he actually listened to us and asked all the right questions. Originally, we were intending to look at one of the larger models but after asking us lots and lots of questions, he said something like, ‘You know what? I think you need a Brumby in your life’. We were shown the current Brumby and instantly realised that he was totally right. Not wanting to rush things though we left, talked, and ordered one at the Rosehill Show a few months later.
The Brumby
This was an altogether different beast that I was used to. It had bulk, it had size and it was built tough. The bed was comfortable and all of a sudden, we had something that our little camper couldn’t offer, storage space! The kitchen was a dream as was all the extra interior space. We could spread out and not have to duck under a pole as we entered the van. We did many trips with our Brumby but by far the best were a couple of tag-alongs we did with the NSW branch of the Cub Club. The first one was the Sea to the Source trip that traced the mighty Murray River from its mouth right up to Tom Groggin, the trip was great, and we met so many super nice people. The second trip we went on was the incredible Victorian High Country and we were delighted to share the experience with many of the same folk and we also got to meet new friends. One thing I have appreciated about owning a quality camper was that the experience of being away is to be enjoyed for what it is and not being ruined by breakdowns or faults. In the years that we owned the Brumby, the only fault that we had was a leaky water pipe which required a quick five-minute repair. That was it. Reliability is everything when it comes to safety and comfort.
Our Brumby (rear) whilst camping with friends who enjoy using their Weekender.
Goodbye Cub
Getting older and perhaps a tad softer saw the two of us looking for a bit more convenience and comfort that even the Brumby could offer. Unfortunately, the Cub 16 footers didn’t fit in our small driveway, so we made a difficult decision. We saw a small, imported hybrid van at the Rosehill show that we liked and bought it. The Brumby sold very easily, and we were the owners of a van. To be honest, it was pretty good, although heavy for its small size. It has proven to be quite reliable and comfortable but strangely, for both of us individually, there was a problem: It wasn’t a Cub.
The H14
Cub announced the introduction of the H14, if I remember correctly, on a Thursday. We ordered one the following Tuesday. Incredible to think that we were willing to part with a good bit of cash on something that hadn’t yet been made. At the time of writing, we have been told that our H14 is about to go into production. The hardest bit has been working out what accessories we need and what we don’t. The imported van has been sold and currently we are van free which is a bit of a strange feeling.
We are so looking forward to getting the new H14 and it is my goal over the next 10 years to try to wear it out, but I really think that I have no chance of doing that. What we do know is that our entire Cub experience has been very positive and do not expect that to change with our new hybrid. Our future travels will be comfortable, adventurous, and fun with our new luxury H14. The vans are great but the best thing of all is that by owning Cubs, we have met so many wonderful people who have become close friends although we rarely actually see one another. It’s a very strange thing.
