After a nudge from Jonno and Jo over at Jwalking I believe it’s time that I explained one of the more important aspects of caravanning for couples and that is “Blue Jobs and Pink Jobs”.
We tend to have our favourite and not so favourite jobs that we each choose to do. Now I’m quite sure that it does vary from couple to couple and of course also depends on one’s own physical abilities.
When we arrive at a caravan park site and have levelled the van we set to work:
Blue Jobs
- Plug into power.
- Remove load levellers / sway bars.
- Unhitch (undo chains and cables from car) attach the jack, raise drawbar off the tow ball and drive car away from the van.
- Drop legs.
- Attach water hose after determining the length required and what state we are in (location not mental) which hopefully will be a guide as to the size of the fitting required. Wrap with Plumber’s Tape if it leaks.
- Attach sullage hose.
Pink Jobs
- Put step outside (so we don’t break a leg).
- Put keys in Front Boot, Tunnel Boot and Back Storage Locker (for some strange reason most vans are shipped with no two locks being the same). These lockers hold the mats, the table, the sway bars when camped and hoses.
- Change fridge to Power mode.
- Turn on 12volt switch.
- Unlock the bathroom and shower doors that are locked for safe travelling and generally make the place look homely again including winding up the toilet roll that has managed to roll the full length of the van and is now happily consorting with two stray oranges beside the bed.
- Unpack the coffee machine.
- Test the water pressure and fill the coffee machine.
- Extend the awning.
- Lay the exterior mats on the ground.
- Put out the chairs and stow the sink cover under the bed.
More Blue Jobs
- Attach the awning de flappers whilst standing on the ladder with ones’ arms fully outstretched.
- Attach guy ropes.
- Wind up the TV aerial, point to the nearest Antenna (using AntennaMate app) and tune in.
Pink and Blue Jobs
- Swear at the table whilst standing on the underside and pulling with all our might to extend the legs without getting our fingers caught in the mechanism.
- Pour a drink, put Bandaids on fingers, make lunch and vow to buy a new table.
- Oh, and put chocks behind the wheels so that the whole bloody thing doesn’t roll away.
When packing up to leave its pretty much the same in reverse, the outside heavy, wet, dirty and cold jobs are ‘blue’ and the inside tidying and stowing are ‘pink’.
But I haven’t mentioned the most important job. The one that I’m sure most ladies will insist is a Blue Job – emptying the toilet cassette!
Oh so not as easy when only one has to do both pink and blue jobs!!!!!
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And put up the satellite dish!😜
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You are so right with the pink and blue jobs, we have only a few variations but the loo…that’s a blue job absolutely!
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Are you hoping to encourage others to give your lifestyle a go with this list? 😉
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Ha ha I’d choose cleaning a caravan anyway!
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All a bit sexist, I’d say 🙂
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🙃
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Made me chortle.
And YES on the toilet!
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😜
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Yep, can relate though we don’t have a loo in the camper.
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At least you now know in advance who’s job it will be 😎
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Yes, we are pretty much the same, although virtually all outside jobs are blue. The very first Pink job is to open all windows and blinds to the maximum allowable so that the van cools down immediately. For some reason, our van seems to always need to have the passenger side wheels placed on a ramp, (maybe our bubble votes Labor leans to the left?) , and that is a combo job that requires great Blue/Pink cooperation.
You must have a teetotalling toilet roll, ours seems to want to mate with the Emu Export cans that have escaped from the carton in the ensuite!
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Ha we entertain our neighbours by always putting the ramps on the wrong side! I quite like the idea of keeping the beer in the bathroom. For those moments when a man’s got a thirst eh?
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Mix blue and pink together and it makes purple. So for solo travellers like me all jobs are purple!
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Love this. Our goes pretty much like this.
Blue jobs:
Everything you have listed above
Pink jobs:
Switch fridge to electric
Look after baby and toddler while husband sets everything up.
Bless him, he is a star! ⭐️
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Oh Gawd did I forget the fridge? He deserves a cold beer!
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Men always get the sh*”ty jobs!
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But they’re so good at them.
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Cleanup aisle 3!
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😂
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We’re pretty much the same. The outside jobs are blue, the inside jobs are pink. I get cranky if Paul starts locking down the cupboards etc inside when we’re getting ready to depart. I methodically Work my way around the van and when he interferes is when something gets overlooked. Nothing worse than opening your van to find the cutlery drawer has swung open then smashed while being swung around and deposited all the contents from one end on the van to the other.
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It’s almost a certainty that something will go wrong if your routine gets interrupted.
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The reason all the locks for caravan bits are different is that the caravan manufacturers source all the parts from different suppliers. To get them all re-keyed with matching locks would be costly I guess. But it is frustrating for sure.
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Hahaha! This is 100% true.
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