Journey of a lifetime ends for Follow the Sun winners The Gold Coast's Broadwater Tourist Park was the place to be on Wednesday 15 September, as leading leisure products company Dometic hosted an end of tour celebration for the luckiest road trippers in Australia. It was the last stop for the Dometic Follow the Sun winners, who each scooped a 13-week expenses paid road trip around Australia plus a complete makeover of their RVs with a lavish range of Dometic and WAECO products. The party marked the end of the road for Victorian couple Jay and Diane Goncalves, Westlake couple Tony Johnson and Sue Hammond and Pine Mountain family Ross and Lorraine Turner and their two children Jacob, 11 and Ella, 9. All keen RV enthusiasts, they set off on their chosen journeys from the Queensland Caravan Camping and Touring Holiday Show on 13 June, to tour some of Australia's best destinations and meet new people while being paid to travel around in their newly renovated RVs. The winners each held a free 'happy hour' at most destinations along the way, inviting locals and travel enthusiasts to enjoy a free drink and a friendly chat about their travelling adventures. Free for all to attend, the end of tour celebration included guest appearances from members of the Gold Coast United FC, partners of Dometic – WAECO. Also joining the party were popular personalities from the caravan and camping world including Discover Downunder Host and former Olympian Brooke Hanson, legendary camp oven cook Frank "Tommo" Thompson and leading industry expert Tony Briant, aka The Caravan Man. "It has been the trip of a lifetime. We have seen some amazing sights and met incredible people. We will never forget this experience," said Sue Hammond, who road-tripped through four states with her partner, Tony Johnson. Dometic Australia CEO Andreas Bischof said the Follow the Sun promotion demonstrated the freedom and adventure a caravanning experience offers. "We were thrilled to welcome all the winners back and hear about their sensational adventures," he said. Regular blogs describing their journeys have been posted at: www.dometicfollowthesun.com.au Background on winners: Pine Mountain family, Ross and Lorraine Turner and their two children Jacob, 11 and Ella, 9 travelled on a tropical adventure throughout Queensland in their Jayco pop-top caravan. The Turners started their tour in Brisbane and then headed north to the Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, and Bundaberg up to the Capricorn Coast. From there they stayed northward bound to Cairns before heading back south on an inland route, passing through Charters Towers, Emerald, Cania Gorge and then heading back to the Gold Coast. Westlake couple, Tony Johnson and Sue Hammond, departed for their tour from Adelaide in their Winnebago motorhome and travelled to the Claire Valley and along the Murray to Mildura whilst visiting the fruit growing areas. From there they headed to Bright in the Great Dividing Range of Victoria's high country. They continued their journey to Gundagai before heading to the coast to Eden, Merimbula and Batemans Bay carrying onto Sydney before heading back to the Gold Coast. Berwick couple, Jay and Dianne Goncalves, toured the rivers, lakes and bush of New South Wales in their Nissan Patrol and Kimberley Kamper. Their tour started in Brisbane before heading south to the northern New South Wales coast visiting the river heads and lakes through to Sydney. From there the Goncalves went inland through Forbes, Dubbo, Tamworth, Gunnedah and Narrabri before heading back to the Gold Coast. The Dometic Follow The Sun campaign is proudly supported by ACP/Trader Group, Top Tourist Parks, CRVA, CIAVIC, Caravanning QLD, ExploreOz and Brisbane Holiday Village. The Dometic Group offers an extensive range of leisure products for the caravan, motorhome and truck markets, including air conditioners, refrigerators, awnings, cookers, sanitation systems, lighting, mobile power equipments, comfort and safety solutions, windows, doors and other equipment that makes leisure life more comfortable away from home. |