Take a trip through Caravan World’s June 1999 issue — from Y2K fears to outback tours, early GPS tech and iconic ‘Big Things’ around Australia.
Back in 1999, we were enjoying the last few months of the 20th century in different ways. Some of you were caravanning around the country — good on you!
If you were working in the public sector, as I was, you might have been meeting and strategising in preparation for the Y2K bug, when the world’s computer systems were predicted to crash the very second the clock ticked over to 1 January 2000.
Thankfully, that didn’t occur but gosh a lot of time was wasted sitting around planning for a disaster than never took place.
If you were sensibly travelling this great land in your rig and reading a copy of Caravan World from June 1999 — priced at $4.95 per copy — here are some of the things you were reading about.
I must admit to a bit of déjà vu while flipping through the 130 pages. Yes, a lot has changed in 25 years — but some things haven’t.
Travel tales
The Caravan World team was about to embark on its two-week escorted tour to the Back O’ Bourke, taking in such iconic outback destinations as Cooper Creek, Wilcannia, White Cliffs, Cameron Corner, Tibooburra and Broken Hill. Our current production editor, Amelia Mansell, is a Bourke girl and recently wrote a terrific feature (issue 650 August 2024 and online) about her hometown and the region.
Right up front of the magazine was a full-page ad from Royal Flair Caravans, which celebrates its 50th year of manufacturing this year. Royal Flair entered the impressive 2025 model of its top selling AussieMate in this year’s Caravan of the Year competition, and you can read a review from the judges here.
Another legendary caravan builder — Jayco — was a regular advertiser back in 1999 as well and also celebrates its 50th year of manufacture this year.
Doreen Harding wrote a travel piece about the Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park in South Australia, located midway between Keith and Mount Gambier. There’s a World Heritage-listed network of limestone caves underground — many of which you can go down to witness the popular stalactites and stalagmites. Our son loved the bat cave. You wait at the cave’s entrance about ground until the sun sets and thousands upon thousands of the tiny critters emerge for their nightly feast. Not for the faint hearted but fascinating all the same. If bats are not your thing, head down to the road and stop in at any of the numerous wineries of the Coonawarra, SA.
The Caravan World team had a stand at the New South Wales Caravan Camping and 4WD Supershow in 1999, which was staged over nine days at Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse. Columnist Malcolm Street recently visited the same show, and you can read this his thoughts here.
All the big-name caravan manufacturers were represented but there were more camper trailers on show in 1999, including Kimberley Campers with its tinnie loader model.
Among the new trends was a massive new fifth wheeler, the US-built 8m TravelEze which featured in a review later in the June magazine. Spaceland had its new shower caravan with a special show price of just over $30,000!
Other emerging trends were satellite phones, GPS systems, new 12V fridges and even a 12–24V computer for caravans!
I chuckled reading the travel piece on ‘big’ things around Australia — the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour and the Big Merino in Goulburn, NSW, to name two. At a recent team meeting we pitched this as a potential story idea as Aussies do love sharing their holiday snaps of the big things they have seen on their travels. My contributions to a social media post included the Big Galah in Kimba, SA, and the Big Croc in Wyndham, WA.
Ironically, the June 1999 edition featured a story on the Park Lane Caravan Park in Traralgon, Vic. That park still exists — albeit at a different location — and is part of the Park Lane Holiday Park group of six terrific resorts around Victoria. You can read about them in issue 660 of the magazine, or online here.
The cooking segment in June 1999 was dedicated to tips and tricks to cooking with a camp oven over an open fire. The recipe du jour was an Aussie-style Johnny Cake with just two ingredients — four cups of fruit scone mix and one to two cups of milk — cooked in a camp oven lined with foil. It kind of ended up like a fruity damper. I’m a bit of a scone snob so I’ve never used a packet mix and I’m not sure that a recipe with just two ingredients qualifies as cooking, but hey, each to their own. I’m sure it tasted delicious.
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