The brief was clear: take two brand-spanking-new Ezytrail Ceduna off-road caravans on a three-week sojourn around Regional NSW finding the most beautiful places to set up camp and the most delicious things to eat. Well, okay, boss! Doesn’t sound like your average caravan review, does it? That’s because we were shooting the first few episodes of RV Daily’s uber exciting new television show, RV Daily’s Foodie Trails. The show kicks off on December 1 on Channel 10, but for now, let’s focus on the Cedunas.

Marking Ezytrail’s entry into the caravan market proper (the brand’s Parkes pop-top model is marketed as a hybrid camper-trailer), the Ceduna is a hard-top off-road caravan that aims to provide everything you need for adventure in the one package. Ezytrail doesn’t believe in an options list as long as your arm, which is an approach I quite like for general touring; you won’t be caught out paying thousands of dollars more for your van than you first anticipated. The Ceduna is more or less ready to go, with plenty of hardware for exploration off-road, self-sufficient touring and comfort away from home.

For the first round of our Foodie Trails adventures we took the two-berth Ceduna 13 and the four-berth Ceduna 15. We lived out of these vans, becoming intimately familiar with what worked and what didn’t. Here’s the verdict.

OFF-ROAD CARAVAN

WORDS EMMA RYAN, IMAGES STUART GRANT AND RV DAILY

The Ceduna is a value-laden off-road tourer that keeps it simple yet comfortable

An off-road tourer
Although compact at 13- and 15-feet respectively, the Ceduna is not the lightest of small caravans. The Ceduna 13 weighs 2100kg Tare with a 2800kg ATM, while the Ceduna 15 weighs 2380kg Tare, with a 3000kg ATM. And while this is stretching the friendship for smaller tow vehicles with three-tonne towing capacities, particularly in off-road environments, for the Ram 1500s with which we were hauling them, it was a piece of cake. That said, our off-road testing was limited to well-graded gravel tracks into a handful of the campsites we encountered, so we can’t claim to offer a comprehensive off-road review. But, like Ezytrail’s other off-road camper trailers and hybrids, the Ceduna has all the right hardware for the job: independent trailing arm suspension with dual shocks; anti-chip underbody protection; an AL-KO off-road ball coupling (which we swapped for the optional McHitch Uniglide auto-coupling system which worked a treat – click here to read more on that); 12-inch electric brakes; and 265/70R17 off-road tyres, including two rear-mounted spares.

And in proclaiming the Ceduna a full off-road caravan, Ezytrail is putting its money where its mouth is by providing first owners with a lifetime warranty on the Ceduna’s chassis and drawbar, protecting against fault demonstrated in both on- and off-road situations. The Ceduna is fitted with Ezytrail’s ‘F5’ chassis and drawbar, which have both been engineer-certified ADR compliant for off-road use.

The F5 Chassis is made from 100 x 50 x 4mm Q345 galvanised steel tube while the F5 Drawbar is 150 x 50 x 4mm. The body of the caravan is aluminium RHS frame with composite panel cladding and has black aluminium checker plate trims.

The front storage box doubles as a stoneguard with anti-chip protection, and has two gas storage compartments plus a larger central compartment for jerry cans and tools.

ABOVE There's a lifetime warranty on the chassis and drawbar now 

ABOVE Gas struts are part of the easy bedroom set-up process  // BELOW Rough dirt wasn't an issue with the RAM and Ceduna combination

Self-sufficient camping
The Ceduna won’t just get you to that remote campsite, it’ll let you stay there camping independently for several days. It has 240L of freshwater storage, split across front and rear tanks with 1.5mm checker plate protection and independent 12V pumps. There’s a 67L grey water tank to catch your used bathroom water, while a chemical canister loo takes care of the gritty business. There’s capacity to securely stow 18kg of gas, with the aforementioned twin 9kg gas bottle holders, convertible to 4.5kg holders.

One options box I’d recommend ticking is solar, which adds 3 x 100W roof-mounted solar panels into the equation. With these on-board the Ezytrail electrics system works a treat, providing near-constant charge into the 3 x 100amp deep cycle batteries. There’s a 25amp 7 stage charger, plus 240V power input. It’s all monitored by an effective battery management system.

BELOW Exterior lights look after the alfresco kitchen duties, as well as an after-dark photo processing situation

ABOVE The control panel is easy to read and see what's going on // 
BELOW The gas bottles live inside part of the huge toolbox upfront

The Ceduna 15’s bunk beds have a single on top and a king single below, with mixed density foam mattresses. My illustrious co-presenter on Foodie Trails, Chef Macca, slept on the bottom bunk of the van he shared with RV Daily editor Tim Scott, and reported it to be comfortable enough for the two weeks-plus we were on the road.

There are reading lights at both bunks and two at the main bed, with adequate internal and external lighting throughout the rest of the van.

The Ceduna 13 and 15 we used both had the optional Dometic reverse-cycle air-conditioner, which got a look in during the cold September evenings when we had mains power, sufficiently taking the edge off the chilly night air.

For music and telly, the Ceduna comes standard with an entertainment unit with Bluetooth connectivity and a 19-inch TV mounted near the main bed.

Comfort on the road
Hot water comes at the flick of a switch, which fires up the Swift 240V/gas 28-litre storage boiler, plumbed to both the bathroom and kitchen sink. The on-board ensuite in surprisingly spacious on such a compact van, with shower, sink and Thetford chemical toilet. The Ceduna 13’s bathroom has a handy storage shelf for toiletries and towels (this space is taken up by the bunk beds in the Ceduna 15). The bathroom has a roof hatch and exhaust fan, plus a handy wall-mounted, mirrored vanity cupboard.

The main bed is a luxurious king, with innerspring mattress with pillow top. This folds in half during transit. Presumably this bed is designed for north-south sleeping, but I found myself sleeping east-west because I don’t find the join where the mattress folds in half comfortable at my hips. If I owned a Ceduna, I’d quickly invest in a dense comforter as a quick fix to alleviate this issue.

ABOVE The smaller of the two still has a huge, king-size bed as standard

ABOVE Spacious, nay, commodious bathroom // 
BELOW The 13 Ceduna has a bank of wardrobe cupboards

BELOW Aircon from Dometic is an option - but we think a worthwhile one

ABOVE Generous window provision great but is more window space for heat to escape 

ABOVE One practised (read, do it once) then this is child's play // 
BELOW Tim spots a spider

BELOW We can testify that the kitchen stands up to heavy use

Cooking is alfresco, with an external slide-out kitchen, per other Ezytrail models. This has a four-burner gas stove, stainless-steel sink, two drawers, a folding dish drying rack and a small bench extension slide on the end – plus an adjustable support leg to keep it all sturdy. This works well, although the sink area would be more functional if the sink sat a couple of inches out from the body of the camper rather than flush with it. This would make washing up larger items much easier. Those super-sized windows at the bed are a bit pesky from the kitchen, too, impeding upon one’s headspace when standing at the sink.

There’s a separate lockable pantry drawer alongside the kitchen slide. The fridge slide is positioned on the other side of the van’s door, measuring 1000 x 530 x 480mm with exhaust fan and a sensor light, plus Anderson plug, 12V and 240V connectivity.

The absence of an indoor kitchen might bother some, but didn’t worry me. I love cooking outside; it brings me quiet joy to have grass underfoot while concocting some delicious meal, a glass of local wine in hand and the breeze in my hair. I’d much prefer that to the splattered fat of lamb chops on my bedding. But, granted, sometimes the breeze is a gale and the grass is a puddle and the wine comes from a box. For those sad times, the option to cook inside would be appreciated. But you never know, perhaps this is in the works at Ezytrail for future Ceduna models, particularly if a larger van is added to the line-up.

Layout 
The Ceduna has a blessedly quick set-up time, with the rear bed extension pulled out in less than two minutes and the Dometic awning wound out and pegged down in five minutes more. This comes with a lightweight annexe to enclose the outdoor space.

Inside, there’s a central dinette and wardrobe. The Ceduna 13 has a front storage area with a handy amount of bench space, although this could benefit from 240V outlets for the use of appliances like a coffee machine and device chargers. The Ceduna 13 also has a large 2.1m external tunnel boot with access from both sides – an extremely handy, cavernous storage space.

The Ceduna 15 swaps this front storage out for the previously mentioned bunk beds. They both have top and tail windows and reading lights, and the manner in which they tuck behind the ensuite makes them cosy, private little nooks kids would love.

The main bed has oversized windows on both sides, plus a large head window. And while these large windows frame the view and allow great airflow, it does mean the van isn’t as insulative against cold weather such as we experienced in the Central West, Far South Coast and Yass areas. I’d prefer smaller windows near the bed to provide greater insulation and a sense of privacy. And while the Ceduna has privacy screens on each of the windows, there isn’t a blind for the glass panel of the door, which was an issue for me at night.

Thanks to its hard-top fixed roof, the Ceduna provides more functional internal storage space than any Ezytrail before it. There are overhead storage compartments all round, plus underbed and under-seat storage.

BELOW Sturdy catches are used throughout and are all lockable

The verdict
If you’re looking for a comprehensive, affordable and compact off-road caravan that has most of the boxes ticked for comfortable yet simple touring, the Ceduna is well worth a look. Competitively priced and backed by a lifetime warranty on its chassis and drawbar, this capable, intrepid van is a value proposition for fuss-free caravan adventures.

For more info visit: ezytrail.com.au

PROS
• Excellent value with almost everything included
• Loads of storage
• Lifetime off-road warranty on chassis and drawbar

CONS
• No privacy screen on door
• Oversized bed windows aren’t insulative and impede on kitchen area
• More power outlets needed

SPECS: CEDUNA 15
Tare: 2380kg
ATM: 3000kg
Suspension: Independent with twin shocks
Brakes: 12in electric
Coupling: McHitch Uniglide Auto coupling (optional)
Style: Hard-top off-road caravan
Length: 6650mm
Width: 2200mm
Height: 3050mm
Kitchen: Stainless-steel side-out with plumbed gas and hot water
Battery: 3 x 100Ah AGM
Price: From $54,990

SPECS: CEDUNA 13
Tare: 2100kg
ATM: 2800kg
Suspension: Independent with twin shocks
Brakes: 12in electric
Coupling: McHitch Uniglide Auto coupling (optional)
Style: Hard-top off-road caravan
Length: 6150mm
Width: 2200mm
Height: 3050mm
Kitchen: Stainless-steel side-out with plumbed gas and hot water
Battery: 3 x 100Ah AGM
Price: From $44,990