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Camper van vs car?

Camper van vs car?

Old Oct 18th 2006, 8:01 pm
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Default Camper van vs car?

Has anyone any views on whether it is better to hire a camper van or hire a car & accomodation when travelling around Oz?
Family of four with a 6 & 7 year old are looking to travel the length & breadth in three months!
Have looked into prices & would probably work out roughly the same. :scared:
Has anyone done this with two little ones?
Also any advice on itineraries & timing with a view to wet season up north & summer down south etc.
All advice/experiences gratefully recieved.
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Old Oct 18th 2006, 8:32 pm
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

Originally Posted by daisylilymum
Has anyone any views on whether it is better to hire a camper van or hire a car & accomodation when travelling around Oz?
Family of four with a 6 & 7 year old are looking to travel the length & breadth in three months!
Have looked into prices & would probably work out roughly the same. :scared:
Has anyone done this with two little ones?
Also any advice on itineraries & timing with a view to wet season up north & summer down south etc.
All advice/experiences gratefully recieved.

Hi,
We came out on a reccie last year and looked into a camper or car... we have 2 kids too at the time they were 7 and 10... we decided a car, which for us worked as we didn't have to look for designated areas to stary overnight..... there were plenty of motels and were very reasonably priced, in fact I think we saved money.... we took a portable dvd plasyer and a cool box with snacks and drinks in so it was fine. The deal of it was we only stayed in places which had pools so we could have a swim after a day in the car.
we only travelled for 2 weeks so was a lesser time than you, and we travelled from Sydney to Brisbane, and surrounding areas
For us it was definately the right decision as it gave us more freedom to go where we wanted.
Jane
x
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Old Oct 19th 2006, 9:04 am
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

Originally Posted by daisylilymum
Has anyone any views on whether it is better to hire a camper van or hire a car & accomodation when travelling around Oz?
Family of four with a 6 & 7 year old are looking to travel the length & breadth in three months!
Have looked into prices & would probably work out roughly the same. :scared:
Has anyone done this with two little ones?
Also any advice on itineraries & timing with a view to wet season up north & summer down south etc.
All advice/experiences gratefully recieved.
That's a lot of driving in 3 months ! The wet will be starting soon, you really want to avoid the summer months if you wish to travel way north. Winter is the best time if you wish to see northern Australia, try June through till Sept.
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Old Oct 19th 2006, 11:01 am
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

Originally Posted by daisylilymum
Has anyone any views on whether it is better to hire a camper van or hire a car & accomodation when travelling around Oz?
Family of four with a 6 & 7 year old are looking to travel the length & breadth in three months!
Have looked into prices & would probably work out roughly the same. :scared:
Has anyone done this with two little ones?
Also any advice on itineraries & timing with a view to wet season up north & summer down south etc.
All advice/experiences gratefully recieved.
We are going to be travelling for two months in a camper van when we arrive in November. We weighed it up and decided that it was best for us and offered more freedom. I couldn't be doing with the thought of packing and repacking cases to move on every few days. However, we don't have any kids so its a bit different for us.
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Old Oct 19th 2006, 11:05 am
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

My kids LOVED our recent camper van experience. It means you can pull off the road anywhere or you can drive into a campsite which most places have and plug in to facilities there.
They're really useful for driving long distances and to be honest, for children, a lot more fun than a motel room.
The poster who said they save on the unpacking etc is so right... just put the stuff on and take it off again at the end.

Also, because you'll pick up souvenir type things, the camper van will give you more storage options, cos I tell you, cars run out of space pretty quickly.
The van also had a table in between the seats where the kids were, so they played games to keep themselves busy and could eat and drink whilst travelling without it going everywhere - I really liked that.

Enjoy it, whatever you do.
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Old Oct 19th 2006, 12:53 pm
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

We kind of did both - we spent 3 weeks covering Brisbane to Port Douglas in a car then 2 weeks on South Island NZ with a camper van, travelling with 2 kids 2 & 4 at the time. Have to say we loved both for different reasons. It was great being able to pull up by a beach in the van and make a cup of tea (it was cold in NZ). The car/ apartment/motel option was great - no work for me but you can get bored of eating out after a while! The kids definitely preferred the camper van - more fun for travelling in despite lack of TV and they loved their beds etc.
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Old Nov 1st 2006, 9:44 pm
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[Hi, we hired a motorhome for 2 weeks and covered 1300 miles or so touring from Airlie Beach up near Mackay and travelled down to the Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise. The motorhome was absolutely fantastic. Our children 11 and 7 still talk about it now. The sites you see whilst sitting in the back of the motorhome are out of this world (husband did alot of driving!!!). We didnt have to worry about finding places to stop. We jumped in the van and away we went. Pulled into places when dusk was falling and there are alot of sites to park at. I would advise you to find a site, rather than just pulling in to one of the lorry parks, because it gets very hot in the van and there is an air conditioning system inside which is wonderful but you need to link up to the electric. Believe you me, if you dont you will sweat!!!!!!

One word of advice - be careful where you park, we parked over an ant hill and the van inside had thousands, not hundreds, thousands of ants! Make sure you get some ant powder or stuff like that first, just incase. All we had was a broom!!

Another word of advice!!! When you park up for the night, ensure that you have the fly screen closed at all times if your windows are open. Not just flys get in, big crawlie beasts will get in too!! But its all the fun of it and your kids will love it. I would not change a moment. So much better than home comforts, better than being in a hotel. Pulling up somewhere and watching the sun go down is undescribable, with the pelicans sitting on top of the lamp posts.

If you havent been to Oz before, the first thing you will notice are the sounds at night time of the wildlife. Undescribable again. The butcher birds and crickets will definitely wake you up.

We enjoyed our holiday so much that we are going back in March 2007. The kids talk about Australia all the time.

The sites are so clean too. With fab facilities and cheap.

Last edited by kurrikurri; Nov 1st 2006 at 9:50 pm.
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Old Nov 2nd 2006, 5:14 am
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

How much did it cost for 2 weeks camper van hire, if you don't mind me asking? We have 2 kids aged 7 and 11 and I just know they will love the experience. We are thinking of going around Feb/March time. Which company did you use? Jane
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Old Nov 2nd 2006, 7:38 am
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Hi, I cannot remember the price exactly, something like $3000 sticks in my mind, because I was just getting used to the dollar against the pound, but I know I have the paperwork somewhere, I will hunt it out and let you know. We used Britz, and hired it from Australia whilst we were there. We didnt have much choice in which company we used - we hired a van just after the hurricane in Cairns, and we had originally wanted to travel from that area. I rang a few companies first, but they had no vans left because they had hired them out to the people who had lost their homes. Britz were the only people that had one motorhome left - so we had to change our route and fly from Sydney to Mackay instead and pick the van up in Mackay, but it was worth it. Looking back, I dont know how we could have possibly travelled any more miles if we had gone further North.

Another point - we wrongly assumed that the van would be at the airport for pick up - but it wasnt! We then had to go through our bag and get all the paperwork out and ring the firm from Mackay Airport. It was 4.20pm when we landed and the office closed at 5pm! There was a long queue at the only phone working at the airport, so time was ticking by. Taxi queues from the airport were also long, so consequently we didnt get to the britz office until 5.10pm - they waited for us!! I dont know what would have happened if we had to then start looking for a motel with two kids and luggage!! Just check times and places of pick up. This was a bit hectic to say the least.

We have brilliant memories. Took hundreds of photographs - get as big a memory card as you can for your digi camera. If you havent got one, get a digi camera. That is also money worth spent.

Last edited by kurrikurri; Nov 2nd 2006 at 7:41 am.
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Old Nov 2nd 2006, 9:46 am
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

Originally Posted by stumo
How much did it cost for 2 weeks camper van hire, if you don't mind me asking? We have 2 kids aged 7 and 11 and I just know they will love the experience. We are thinking of going around Feb/March time. Which company did you use? Jane
Try http://www.ezitours.com.au/ there are some amazing deals on there and you can barter with them too. We are travelling for 10 weeks from Nov to Feb (the most expensive time) and they offered us a large mercedes 4 berth for $8000 including the reduced waiver for the insurance.

Unfortunately we had literally just booked another smaller 4 berth for $8900 with http://www.campervans-australia.com/ which we were a bit miffed about but thems the breaks! Britz are probably one of the most expensive and they are not open to doing a deal eventhough we were travelling for such a long time.

Be careful where you travel in Feb/March as it will be very humid up in Cairns at that time.
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Old Nov 2nd 2006, 4:07 pm
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

Thanks for that - I've bookmarked the sites. We are going to do W.A and possibly fly to the East and do a week there too.
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Old Nov 2nd 2006, 6:03 pm
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

Smaller companies are generally much cheaper, but they have limited vehicle and often want it returned to home base.

The one we had in NZ was less than half the big companies prices.

Oz search

http://australia.motorhome-holidays....&dm=11&dy=2006

The NZ company we had

http://www.wendekreisen.co.nz/campervans/index.html
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Old Nov 2nd 2006, 6:30 pm
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

The one we had in NZ was less than half the big companies prices.

That's interesting - you would think the larger companies would be cheaper. I can see it pays to shop around. Thanks so much for the useful info.
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Old Nov 3rd 2006, 11:55 am
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

Originally Posted by daisylilymum
Has anyone any views on whether it is better to hire a camper van or hire a car & accomodation when travelling around Oz?
Family of four with a 6 & 7 year old are looking to travel the length & breadth in three months!
Have looked into prices & would probably work out roughly the same. :scared:
Has anyone done this with two little ones?
Also any advice on itineraries & timing with a view to wet season up north & summer down south etc.
All advice/experiences gratefully recieved.
We just returned this morning from 12 days travelling from Brisbane up to the Whitsundays and back spending 4 days in Hervey Bay. We hired an X-Trail from Redback which only had 8,000k on the clock - which is considerably higher now as we did 2,100 miles in it. With both drivers it cost us $820 for 11 days. The car was delivered to the airport and we returned it back there.

Although only two of us, we stayed in the en-suite units with 3 companies - Big4 being the best with nice swimming pools etc. these units are like small mobile homes with their own kitchens and bathrooms - 1 double bed room and 2 or 3 bunk beds. The most expensive was $78 per night some were cheaper at $55 (Top Tourist - not great!). Can definitely recommend the Big 4 Point Vernon site at Hervey Bay - everyone was so helpful and friendly.

Originally we were going to use a camper van but I am glad we didn't as I think the lack of space would have driven us insane.
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Old Nov 3rd 2006, 4:31 pm
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Default Re: Camper van vs car?

Originally Posted by daisylilymum
Has anyone any views on whether it is better to hire a camper van or hire a car & accomodation when travelling around Oz?
Family of four with a 6 & 7 year old are looking to travel the length & breadth in three months!
Have looked into prices & would probably work out roughly the same. :scared:
Has anyone done this with two little ones?
Also any advice on itineraries & timing with a view to wet season up north & summer down south etc.
All advice/experiences gratefully recieved.
Hiya we have recently returned from Queensland,we hired a car which we picked up at Townsville but in town not at airport ,air con and cruise control a must.We took out membership with BIG4 which gets you discount at sites and stayed at Walkabout Palms Townsville at a junction on busy road so a bit noisy but good pool and friendly staff,Capricorn Palms Yeppoon nice and quiet and across road from beach then Point Vernon Hervey Bay friendly staff lots of trees so birds wake you with dawn chorus and finally Northside Caravan Park Aspley Brisbane which had a good games room but next to road.I found driving easy enough apart from getting lost a couple of times(u-turns helped),we had a Nissan Pulsar which was ok but not loads of space in back for our two kids (7&10)and all the associated toys,books etc.Petrol varied in price from $1.24 in Townsville to $0.94 round the corner from site in Aspley.

Gary
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