Touring Oz in a Camper

As we met and married in Australia, before bringing up a family in Galleywood, we have always said that we would revisit Australia. Once we had both retired, it was the obvious trip to make. The decisions that we had to make were: duration of trip, which places to visit, where would we stay, and how would we get around. The first solution considered was to rent a car and stay in Motels. This was soon ruled out as not only would it mean three months of expensive motel bills, but it would also mean eating out for the whole duration which would also be costly. An alternative to this would be to stay in cabins in caravan parks, but there is no guarantee that they would be comfortable or clean. Another option, soon dismissed, was renting a car and staying in a tent.

So the obvious compromise was to rent a campervan which provides both transport and accommodation. This left us with the question of what type of camper to rent. It was quite easy to review the possibilities available on the internet. Especially searching www.google.com.au which restricted the search to Australian websites rather than UK ones who would add their commission on to the costs. Top of the range are the Maui, Britz, Kea and Apollo vans – all pretty new for which you pay a premium even allowing for any long term discount. Most of the companies offering car and campervan rentals in Australia seem to offer a base rate with a high insurance excess, with an additional daily cost to get the excess down to a reasonable figure. So we had to make sure that we were comparing like with like.

There are a wide range of campervans available to rent, ranging from a version of an estate car with a tent arrangement attached to the rear door, to the huge Winnebagos, the size of a coach. If you discount the two extremes, the major decisions to be made are; do you need an onboard shower and toilet, and do you need air-conditioning when the van is on site. (Most have air-conditioning when driving).

As we needed to rent the campervan for nearly three months, daily rate was a significant factor, so we opted to rent a van from one of the companies that rented out second-hand campers. Generally speaking, if you choose to have a van with a shower, then it will also have A/C and vice versa. These vans are larger than the HiTop, but don't have to be as large as the American Winnebago. There are plenty of Winnebago campers in Australia, but they are much smaller than their American cousins.

Our Hi-top Toyota Campervan which we rented from Calypso Campers from Melbourne on the Maroondah Highway, was originally a Britz van. It was first registered in 2002 and as Britz appear to run their vans for two years, it was then sold to Calypso who re-registered it in 2004 in Victoria.

The next size up from the HiTop that we rented is based on a Sprinter van and looks very comfortable for two. Apart from the WC and A/C, the main advantage over our van is that they have overhead lockers, which would make it a lot easier storing clothes. Plus the wardrobe probably takes more than two shirts. However they need a larger space in the supermarket car park. Having said that, generally parking hasn't been a problem. There are no narrow country lanes to negotiate, even the country roads that seem to go nowhere, are pretty wide, often with a gravel hard shoulder for large vehicles to pass. So, we have found our camper just about large enough. We wouldn't want anything smaller – it gets us from A to B, it has a basic kitchen and it provides us with a reasonable bed. As mentioned previously, storage is its downfall.

Fuel is half the price of UK, which is just as well because of the longer distances to be covered. For the duration of our stay in Australia two of the bigger supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths have offered fuel discount vouchers if you spend $30 in store. Like the Tesco or Sainsbury fuel promotions, these vouchers discount the fuel price by 4cents per litre. Sometimes you can get another 2cents per litre if you spend $2 or $5 in the petrol station store.

We have found, as we have travelled around Australia, that there are plenty of campsites to choose from. The price for an overnight pitch with power has been very reasonable on average. Again they are about half the price of UK or French campsites. Prior to Christmas, we had paid an average of $28.91 for our overnight stops in campsites. Since restarting our travels in the New Year the average has increased to nearly $32 per night. Not helped by one night at the Big4 Site in Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road where the price was $79.

Fortunately we joined the Big 4 Club on our first stop in Darwin and we were entitled to a 10% discount. Having spent 29 nights at Big 4 Sites we have more than recouped our $40 joining fee. Big 4 is a chain of independent sites that must meet a certain standard and also provides an onward booking service. There are two or three other chains of campsites including Top Tourists and Family Parks Association. The latter chain also provides free membership to overseas visitors for a period of two months, also giving a 10% discount. Most of the campsites have had swimming pools, albeit small and close to the road. The shower blocks and toilets have, for the most part been very clean and acceptable.

We have averaged around 250-300 kilometres per day aiming to arrive at new destination by mid afternoon so as to take in the surroundings especially if it is only for one night. It has been very interesting to meet people of all nationalities on our travels, whether they be 'Grey Nomads' (Australians who have sold their family home and permanently travel around towing a caravan) or similar people to ourselves who have reached a certain age and want to see the world while they are still fit enough to do so. Then there are the younger 'backpacker' brigade who want to see the world before being bogged down by responsibilities.