Thanks to everyone who visited us at the Brisbane show - both owners and lookers! The shows always provide a great opportunity for everyone to inspect our fifth wheelers, and we received many favorable comments from passers by.

There were quite a few fifth wheelers at the show this year, yet another increase over last year. Brisbane certainly seems to be the most prolific for fifth wheelers, and fifth wheeler fans! We were thinking back to the early days when we were the only small fifth wheeler exhibiting at the shows. We spent so much time talking to people about the benefits of the fifth wheel concept. This year, I hear people explaining to their partners how much better a fifth wheeler is for towing as they point to the hitch in the back of the ute!

It was very disappointing for us to see so many non-compliant units being offered for sale at the Brisbane show - a comment reflected by the industry association in their recent newsletter. Many of the units for sale - especially imported fifth wheelers - have not been modified to be fully compliant with Australian standards. Units are being sold with American/Canadian wiring and American/Canadian gas fittings, and much of the public is none-the-wiser. The only time that the customer will realise is when they are picked up in an inspection, or damage is caused to their van because of unsuitable fittings. There have already been cases of some imported units catching fire and being destroyed. Venture Fifth Wheelers are Australian  made and comply with all the relevant Australian standards.

Some units STILL have the entry door on the right hand side only. Others overcome the legal requirement to have the door on the kerb side, by placing a small (normally unusable) door on the left hand side. One of the issues with this, while being legal, is that the unit becomes difficult to use in more normal caravan parks, as they are designed for the living area to be on the kerb side of the van.

Many of the imported units are also fitted with appliances (fridges, hot water systems etc) that are not supplied by Australian distributors - they are imported with the unit. Although the appliances will normally function fine in Australia, they are not covered under warranty in our country. Even if the fridge is branded "Dometic" for example, the Australian Dometic distributors will not cover warranty issues if the fridge was imported as part of a van.