Finding the right rig to accompany you on your travels to the Red Centre, the Coral Coast or Far North Queensland can be overwhelming. But when you find the right van for you and your family, the one RV that ticks every box and is as reliable as they come, is a pure joy. That’s been the experience of husband and wife Graham and Marianne Reid, who have been travelling full-time in their 22ft 6in Hilltop Grampian for over five years now. We caught up with the Reids at a beautiful free-camp in Seymour, Vic, right on the Goulburn River. They were kind enough to give us the grand tour. So step inside – we think you’ll be impressed.
YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE
The Grampian is the Reids’ second Hilltop, or Hilltop Number 2, as they call it. The purchased it in October 2018 following a very happy experience with their first Hilltop. The Grampian sports a 6in A-frame and a 6in chassis with 4in raiser. It’s built in the traditional Hilltop way, with a meranti timber frame and aluminium cladding. And as expected, the fit and finish throughout is first-class. Graham and Marianne couldn’t be happier. The Reids decided on Hilltop as their manufacturer after a factory tour. They noticed a clean, well-kept factory, happy staff and sound quality control, and they quickly developed a rapport with Hilltop Caravans owners Dham and Dula.
“Dham and Dula are very welcoming and professional,” Graham said. “He runs very good quality control within the factory. They made buying a Hilltop a great experience.” One of the van’s highlights is unquestionably the particularly large bathroom in the rear. It is equipped with seemingly endless storage space, a large bench and vanity, complete with a frontloading washing machine, on the offside, a corner shower and more. It’s one of the largest bathrooms you’re likely to find on a 22ft 6in van, and that was a major ‘selling point’ for Graham and Marianne. “We live permanently in the van so a large bathroom was a necessity for us – it helps us to stay longer on the road,” Marianne said.
The rest of the layout is, clearly, very liveable for two people. The kitchen is large and the dinette is comfortable. The pantry, though, is particularly noteworthy. It stretches almost the height of the van, with one main cupboard door that conceals a series of individual drawers. These drawers feature a soft-close mechanism – just give the drawer a gentle nudge inwards, and the soft-close mechanism will pull it inwards the rest of the way and lock it so that it can’t be accidentally opened by road undulations, etc.
“We both love the pantry,” Marianne said. “We can quite often go weeks without a grocery story – everything we buy can be stored in the pantry. Nothing moves around in there as we travel and the doors remain shut. We couldn’t ask for anything better.” Electrically, their 22ft 6in Hilltop Grampian is very well kitted out with optional equipment. This includes three 120Ah lithium batteries charged by four roof mounted 160W solar panels, and a 2000W inverter.
This allows the couple to run all of their electrical appliances as needed, including their 218L compressor fridge and all-important coffee machine. The system is so effective, in fact, that the generator they keep in the van’s offside-rear locker is rarely used. Their Hilltop Grampian is equipped with three water tanks. As standard, there would’ve been 95L tanks; however, the Reids upgraded them to “extra large capacity” tanks. Two of these tanks run off one water pump, while the third has its own pump.
The twin-tank setup is their ‘primary’ water supply. When that runs dry and they switch to the third tank, they know it’s time to hunt for water. One comfort that Graham and Marianne wouldn’t do without: their SatKing Pro satellite TV system, which gets reception anywhere in mainland Australia and Tasmania, provided the dish has an unobstructed ‘view’ of the sky.
“Because we’re in our van all the time, we decided to spec it up so we are comfy,” Graham said. “You only live one, so we wanted to be comfy, which we are. It’s an excellent van.”
TOWING THE HILLTOP
Grampian with a Ford Ranger. According to Graham, the van tows “like a dream”, and they have no need of towing aids – except for the sway control system built into the van itself. Unladen, the Grampian has a ball weight of about 200kg. However, once loaded up for travel, that increased to 250-260kg – well within the capacity of the Ranger. The cargo area of the Ranger is where they keep their main source of transport when at camp: a couple of foldable electric bikes. These bikes get excellent use, too.
“We’ve ridden them all over the place – we went all around Uluru one way one day, and then the other way the next,” Graham said. Among the external fitout, the Grampian is equipped with a storage box on the A-frame, a slide-out tray within the tunnel boot that perfectly suits their barbecue. The fact that the gas bayonet connection is built into the van, rather than mounted to the chassis rail or similar, is a neat touch. Naturally, the van is also equipped with an external TV locker, allowing the Reids to watch TV from under their awning, and there’s also a picnic table, speakers and more.
It truly is a well-equipped caravan for comfortable full-time caravanning. As you’d expect, the Reids have nothing by praise for Hilltop Caravans. So much so, that they are already planning their third Hilltop, which will also be a Grampian. “The whole van is great,” Marianne said. “Everything works well together and compliments different parts of the van. You don’t feel like you’re in a caravan – it’s like an upmarket Sydney apartment, except it’s on wheels.”
