Our Touring Past

One of the fun things about attending an outing like the Motorfest display on Australia day is the amount of people you get to talk to who have had or still have a connection to caravans.

Several people were talking to me about vans their fathers had owned or built, and Graeme Parsons was one of them, he kindly forwarded some photos of his father’s van during construction and later on a couple of trips.

His father, Aubrey Parsons, was a plumber by trade who could turn his hand to anything. His business was located at 673 Botany Road, Rosebery and he lived in the street behind. The van was built in 1953-4 in his workshop seems to have been his own design.

The photos of the construction show it had an interesting chassis, with the main rails tapered at the ends with cut-outs to remove weight. Graeme, who was about 12 at the time it was built, remembers helping his father and said he had the equipment and skills to fabricate the chassis and the body of the van. None of the chassis suppliers I’ve seen advertising for have ever showed such innovation. The van was plywood, fitted with vacuum brakes and was initially towed with a Morris 10 which he rebuilt after being written off, after the previous owner had an argument with a train! The Morris wasn’t up to the job and it was replaced with a Vanguard.
The finished product was called “Karingal”, an Aboriginal word for happy home or camp and there are photos of it at a Caravan Club of Australia meeting at East's Beach in 1955 and closer to home at Palm Beach the same year.
The van was used for about 10 years and then replaced with a 12ft Millard and later a 16ft Millard.
Graeme would love to think it may have survived; does anyone have it lurking about out there? He has even drawn up a plan of the layout as he remembers it and I think we have a budding replicator waiting for the right time.
Here are the photos showing the construction. The finished product at Garie Beach in 1954. The rounded top corner of the rear window is a nice feature. At Palm Beach in 1955. (Nice Vauxhall!) In 1958 with Vanguard. The van in 1958, updated with a coloured flash to match the Vanguard tow car. The rebuilt Morris 10, not up to the job however. Lovely old Post Office, general store with the Bushell's sign-writing. And finally some photos at East's Beach in 1955, I can't actually see the Parson's van in any of these but it's great to see some photos from the period in colour with all those lovely vans and cars.
The big orange van in the middle of the first photo looks interesting, Pontiac for a tow car with it. I've not stayed at East's Beach I but had a look there recently, it seems to cover the whole valley these days with cabins and vans in all directions and a mile hike to the beach from some. Security entrance etc didn't actually look all that inviting to me, oh for the simpler times.

A big thanks to Graeme for taking the trouble to provide the photos and information. Oh, and the plan, I nearly forgot. As Graeme remembers it and very nicely drawn too. George

WOW George.

You have done very well getting the history as well as the photos that go with them. This is what I love about getting the old vans out and using them, people will always come up for a chat and tell you they have this kind of information, but with the Aubrey Parsons history you have struck gold.

The photos of East Beach bring back so many fond memories for me, as we used to frequently go there in the 70's and 80's.

Cheers.
Richard.

Graeme has been in touch since viewing the post and tells me 'Karingal' is indeed in the first and third photo of the vans at East's Beach. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find it. Simple really, keep a good eye out for the black Vanguard.

cheers

George