I’ve no idea why, but something recently popped up on my Facebook page advising me of changes to towing regulations in the UK in mid-November. I had a quick look which turned into a much longer look, mostly because of the ifs, buts and maybes. I always thought towing regulations, given the involvements of the various states, were a bit complicated in Australia but the British ones are in another league altogether. For instance, if you obtained your driving licence before 1 January 1997 the tow vehicle/trailer combination should have a Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) — that’s Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) for us — up to 8250kg. If you gained your licence between 1 January 1997 and 18 January 2013 then the tow vehicle MAM/GCM is 3500kg or less and for trailers up to 750kg MAM (ATM for us) the MAM/GCM for tow vehicle/trailer combination is 4250kg. The additional requirement is that the laden weight of the trailer must be less than the unladen weight of the tow vehicle. Anything over those figures requires a separate tow vehicle and trailer driving test — that is, a licence is required.
After 19 January 2013, the rules are the same, except that the combined MAM/GCM of tow vehicle and trailer has to be no more than 3500kg. Still following? Talk about complicated! Apart from anything else, I wonder just how many people can remember when they first obtained their driver’s licence? I happen to know mine because when I was at school, the big thing amongst the boys was to get your provisional driver’s licence on your 17th birthday, something I managed to successfully to do.
There’s another change coming on 15 November in the UK which changes things again, the important item being that the trailer can have a maximum MAM/ATM of 3500kg. This sounds a bit like Australia, except that here, the licencing system is fully based on the tow vehicle and the tow vehicle manufacturer specifies the towing weights.
MOVING OUT — EVEN SHORT DISTANCES
As I write this, travel possibilities are starting to emerge from the COVID-19 lockdowns — sadly, not consistently I have to say. About now, because I live in NSW and am double vaccinated, I can probably book myself an air ticket to London or San Francisco in the near future but not necessarily do the same for Brisbane or Perth. That’s life under different state and federal governments.
In my local area, there are any number of caravans and motorhomes that have been parked up in driveways and on the street during the most recent lockdown. I suspect many of the owners will be planning their next getaway as soon as they can. Hopefully everyone has been keeping their RV maintenance up to date and they can head off as soon as they can.
It’s all little bit of pipe dreaming here because at the moment I’m still restricted to the Greater Sydney Area, which does leave me with a few possibilities, like the very scenic Blue Mountains area to the west of Sydney, for instance.
It’s an area I quite like visiting because of the multiple number of attractions available during every season of the year. In some ways, the Blue Mountains suburbs along the Great Western Highway looks a bit like an extension of Sydney suburbia but the advantage of the mountain suburbs is that they are surrounded by the Blue Mountains National Park. For those who desire to avoid the suburbia bit, there’s always the Bells Line of Road which is usually considerably quieter but does lead to some spectacular lookouts and an alternative route to the western town of Lithgow.
This is but a brief look but there are any number of bushwalks, scenic lookouts, waterfalls, photographic opportunities, restaurants and places to stay. There are two caravan parks, one at Katoomba and one at Blackheath and quite a few freedom camping spots, although discretion is required. In recent times, the national parks department seems to have closed a few off. Although places like Echo Point (the Three Sisters) are a bit overrun with tourists (in normal times), there are plenty of quieter, equally spectacular places to be found with a bit of careful research.
That’s just within my current local area but I’m sure there are equivalents wherever you might be able to travel to. It does seem to be small steps at the moment but let’s take them!
The Blue Mountains are fantastic for your first trip out of lockdown in NSW