RACV Caravan Club

Join Us

Would You like to Join us? You are welcome to email Cherie Evans or call on 0404 851 025 and she will send you an information pack or you can visit any division of your choice to find out for yourself. Check the Rally Calendar for a weekend and destination that suits you. We just ask that before your third visit you join the club. If you would like to give us a try please contact the secretary of your selected division and let them know that you are coming. Everybody will make you very welcome. ….And if you enjoy your caravan and enjoy fun and friendship we are sure you will love the RACV Caravan Club.
Visit our Downloads page for a Member Application Form and Rally Calendar.

Committee

The Executive Committee of the club comprises the President, the immediate past President, the club Secretary, the club Treasurer, the Activities Director, and the Vice Presidents of the 6 divisions of the club. The Newsletter Editor is not a member of the executive but attends executive meetings for the purposes of collecting necessary information for publication in the newsletter. The details of the responsibilities of these executive members may be found in our constitution but as a group they are responsible for the management of our Club.

Downloads & Links

About Us

In 1937 Melbourne witnessed a cortege of hand-made caravans heading out on their first-ever rally. The RACV Caravan Club, the first such club in Australia, had just formed. Its 100 members with their 32 caravans were heading for Barwon Heads for the weekend. Thousands turned out to see them.
Sandra Eldridge, (pictured) its “official historian” says that in the early days RACV was keen to replicate the growth in caravanning then happening in the UK and US. “RACV was formed in 1903. By 1936 there had been an increasing number of articles extolling the virtues of caravanning and the wonders of camping beside the beach or beside nature for very little cost,” she says. ‘Motor gypsying’ was portrayed as the cheapest way for a family to travel, and the idea became so popular that the RACV magazine published instructions on how to build a caravan.

Only during World War II did the rallies stop, resuming in 1946. Slowly the membership grew, and suburban caravan parks in Frankston, Eltham, Sorrento, Yackandandah, Daylesford, Mildura and Tallangatta became club favourites.

People joined through word of mouth and by the 1970s it was the biggest caravan club in Australia with 1200 members. The club was divided into five divisions and each organised its own rallies. Members would leave home on a Friday, drive to a rally, set up in a caravan park and then the fun began – eating, socialising and playing games. It still happens that way.

“We do silly things… people dream up activities,” Sandra says. “There are dance and movie nights, picnics, visits to local attractions, campfires, games for the kids, fishing and afternoon tea. The conviviality is quite unique. Our children loved it.”

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