On our most recent trip away we came across this beast of a motorhome. It drove past us on its way to a site complete with Jeep 4WD in tow.

The sticker on the back claimed it was a ‘super smart Starliner by Starwagons Australia’ and it seemed to be on a KIA chassis. I have never seen one before and a quick search on DuckDuckGo left me none the wiser.

Meanwhile, it was going to be a pretty tight fit into their designated spot. Kelly and I were standing by for potential Vehicular Parking Domestics (VPD’s) which are a common covert spectator sport in holiday parks. Instead, the husband and wife operated like a well oiled machine, uncoupling the car and manoeuvring the Motorhome tentatively onto its slab easy as you like. The automatic self levelling jacks worked a treat, water was connected, table and chairs out in a sunny spot….the entire event from roll past to kettle on and TV antenna up took only 10 minutes tops.

I was super keen to have a chat to the owners (and hopefully wrangle a tour of the inside) about their experiences in this motorhome. Give them a few minutes to settle in first I thought. A few minutes later I turned around and they had taken off in their Jeep, to check out the town no doubt. We did not see them again and we left the next morning. Damnit.
It looked like a sweet setup.

Kelly and I discussed the merits of towing a small vehicle behind your motorhome versus having a 4WD pulling a caravan.

Whilst having the extra convenience of wheels-on-demand once your motorhome is parked and unpacked is brilliant, pulling all that extra weight through mountain passes and manoeuvring all that extra length (this was one loooong rig all up) through city traffic does not appeal to me at all. And then, of course, there is the additional VPD factor.

If I did want something offering this sort of size, I think I would prefer the configuration of a bigger 4WD pulling a caravan. Though plenty of people choose the first option.
You can read my discussion of campervan versus caravan here.

It’s a pity we didn’t get to interrogate the owners and get a handle on their own experiences and opinions.