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It’s not only Jacqui and Robert Woods who like to travel around the country in their caravan – they also have some VIPs (very important passengers) who call their On The Move home.
Georgie and Bella, two cocker spaniels aged two and eight, join the couple on their adventures.
“They’re part of our life, they’re part of our family and we wouldn’t travel without them,” Jacqui said.
The couple, who are based in Buderim in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and are both semi-retired, working part-time, purchased their Traxx Series 4 van in January this year with George and Bella in mind.
Jacqui said the main reason they wanted to bring them along was simply they didn’t have anyone to care for them when they went on holidays.
“My son’s got a dog, but they don’t get along and they’ve got little babies as well, so it’s just too much work for them. I’ve started to look for people who would look after a dog on the Sunshine Coast, but at the moment, if we go, we’ll just take them with us,” she said.
While it took a little bit of adjusting for everyone in the beginning, all are happy in their home away from home.
“They’re really happy,” Jacqui said.
“They love the car and we don’t have any problems with car sickness or anything like that.
“We really wanted to see more of Australia and I mean, where do you take dogs? You can’t put them in hotel rooms – you can get some Airbnbs and things like that, but they’re too expensive. This gives us a lot of flexibility and the fact we can have the dogs with us is a bonus.”
Jacqui said the only downside to travelling with dogs was that they couldn’t take them into national parks. If there were certain locations they wanted to visit, they’d have to go separately, with one watching Georgie and Bella and then swapping babysitting duties.
“It has its challenges, but I wouldn’t want to leave them at home, we wouldn’t enjoy it as much.”
After a few little practice trips, the family headed off to South Australia for eight weeks, returning the month before the 2024 On The Move Owners Retreat, which they enjoyed immensely.
“Having the dogs hasn’t stopped us from doing anything, it just means it’s a bit harder to join the group activities. We went to Byron Bay and then we took them to Kyogle, Yuki and Nimnin too.”
As for their future travel plans?
“We plan to do bigger ones around Queensland before it gets too hot and we’ll head up north, but we don’t want to travel too much in the wet season,” she said.
Jacqui said they weren’t sure about the idea of travelling and living on the road full-time, but might consider it in the future.
THE SETUP
Jacqui and Robert purchased their On The Move Traxx Series 4 van, in January. They’d almost purchased another van earlier, a Royal Flair model, but got cold feet because it was their first and they weren’t really sure what they wanted.
But then they saw On The Move at a caravan event and knew it was the right one.
“It’s hard when you’re buying for the first time but I love the kitchen, it’s nice and big and we’ve got a big bathroom. When we did our 7000km trip to South Australia and back we didn’t have a single issue, so that was pretty awesome,” she said.
Jacqui said the key to a successful trip with their dogs was the modifications they’d made to the caravan.
Working for an animal emergency service, she said she saw many dog fights, so keeping Georgie and Bella safe was their number one priority.
1. The car
The first thing they did was make sure Georgie and Bella were safe and secure inside the car.
Already wearing body harnesses, they get clipped onto a harness in the backseat of their Cruiser.
“It’s really simple, but it’s really important so they stay safe,” Jacqui said.
“They love being in the car, mostly spending their time sleeping.”
2. Secure fencing
Jacqui said the hardest thing is when they first arrive at a caravan park or camp site, working out what to do with the dogs while they set up.
“They need somewhere to run around and get rid of their energy, but at the same time they need to be safe because almost all caravan parks want them to be on the lead,” Jacqui said.
So, the couple created an outdoor enclosure at the front of the van that included a skirt around the caravan to keep them from running underneath the van and a lightweight caged fence.
The skirt is attached to the caravan using press studs and the fence is hammered into the ground and secured together using zip ties.
The skirt was designed to go around each side of the van, with access points if they wanted to let the dogs run around underneath.
For larger spaces, Robert uses a shade cloth with eyelets, secured with spikes.
“It’s so quick and easy,” Jacqui said.
3. Making them feel at home
Inside the van, Georgie and Bella have some designated areas with comfortable bedding – but which ones do they actually favour?
“The one by the bed is their favourite,” Jacqui said.
The couple had a bolster made to fit between their bed and the wall, under the window, for the dogs to sleep on.
Robert also made them another bed, one that fits underneath the van’s dining table, but unfortunately, the one closest to them was the winner.
The longer term plan is to replace the queen bed with a king size one, with room for everyone.
