Vernons

Hello

We are flying out on the 6th (now very scared with current situation on the news) and our plan was to hire a car for a day or two while we purchased our own vehicle and then we were going to drive up to Townsville stopping off at the sunshine coast, Bundaberg, Yeppoon and then Townsville to decide where we would like to live and where there is work for Ian. We were going to stay in cheap motels/hotels along the way.

We have since found out that we can't buy a car as we wont have an address so insurance will be pretty impossible.

Therefore after several hours on the internet I have worked out that it will be quite a bit cheaper to hire a small campervan and stay at the Big4 caravan parks. Fuel for the camper will be more expensive but we can cook our own meals and I think it will be fun (just the two of us, no little ones).

Have looked at www.britz.com and www.backpackercampervans.com. Backpackers are cheaper but don't look as nice.

Has anyone do this, hired a van, or stayed at the BIg4 caravan parks. Would love to hear from you.
Michelle

jayjd12

Hi Michelle, check out 'the Ashleys', they are doing this soon, though in NSW.

I looked at doing it this way but it worked out expensive once you looked at the small print. $5000 excess to pay even for non fault accident, paying a premium to bring this down to a reasonable amount nearly doubled the cost per day, add that to the cost of fuel plus Big4 sites per night amounts to quite a bit. You cant stay by the roadside!

Cheers

Vernons

If only, that would make it much cheaper! Yea the bond is very hefty so we would have to make sure we have no bumps!! Have looked at the Big4 website and the places it has up the coast and they seem really reasonable.

When I have worked out car hire for 31 days, cheap hotel motel for 31 days plus the cost of food as no cooking facilities in most accomodation I have looked at, then fuels and a bit of spending money we are looking at £3400!! :scared: Howver the camper van hire, plus 31 nights in Big4 campsites, plus food (loads cheaper as we can cook in the van and at the camsites for most days), fuel and spends comes in at just under £3000 which is still loads of money but £400 cheaper and that is a lot of money to save.

We love the idea of travelling up the coast before we rent a place and start looking for jobs as it will always be a case of 'what if' if we don't. I want to be certain that Brisbane is for us as we could get to Yeppoon or Townsville and love it. On the other hand we could do the trip and still go for Brisbane.

Anyone get any other ideas of how we could do this on the cheap?

Caroline G

We've stayed at many of the BIG4 sites. All the ones we stayed at were of a very good standard. Always booked to have ensuite though as those shared showers & toilets aren't my preferred choice but again I've used them and they are ok (wear flip-flops). It pays to become a member as you get a discount on all your stays up to a max amount and some other discounts.

Camper vans are ok but you have to empty the toilet cartridge and the showers are small and almost over the toilets. It's a pain folding down the bed each night and packing it up every morning etc. The beds aren't that soft either. The big boys, Britz & Maui are expensive but their vans are good. We've only booked with Britz before as I could get a discount through my work with them.

How about hiring a car and staying in the BIG4 cabins or motels with kitchenettes? Check out www.goldenchainmotels.com.au

We holidayed in NZ prior to arriving in Oz and found the price of motels v campervans was pretty equal. We used mainly Golden Chain Motels and they were good clean and just what we needed. They aren't fancy but do the job. Motels are so much more comfy though and you're not driving a bulky fuel eating van around everywhere.

Or can u use someones address for insurance on a temp basis?

ianandhelena

3 years ago we bought a car in sydney to drive around for 3 months-we had this problem but used the address of the hostel we stayed in and this worked.
ISTR that we had to change the mailing address on our Oz bank a/c to that of the hostel, get the bank to print out a statement with that address on it, and then it was straightforward.
HTH

The Bloke

The problem is that alot of regulations have been tightened up recently, so you may not be able to do it now. You even need electricty/telephone statements to open video hire membership to prove you reside at an address.

bradfordlad

Hi Michelle,
When we came out for 6 weeks last year we hired from Britz.Can't complain about their service.Drove from Perth over to Sydney. We pulled up anywhere and everywhere to stop the night.Even on rest areas on the Nullarbor.Hardly paid a thing. We got a good book that outlines where you can stop the night for free or for very little charge. It's called Camps Australia Wide 3 try www.campsaustraliawide.com. $49.99 when we got here and covers all Australia.
Yes, you have to fold down and fold up beds!! Toilet and shower a bit cramped!! But thats the whole point....you can bed down in the middle of nowhere in your own little house, have a hot meal, a warm shower and a comfy bed!!! You'll love it.
Best of luck

Ian

djfbug

www.motorhomebookers.com
Try these, we hired an Appollo through them in July and the service and vehicle were first class. Also stayed on Big4 sites and would thoroughly reccomend them. They were the cheapest at £450 for 2 weeks but I did take out the extra insurance on top of that.

Vernons

Hello again

Thank you to everyone who has offered me some advice on this thread. I have looked into all your suggestions, they have been great

We were starting to question whether we should be spending time going up north as it is going to cost a bit extra and the longer we are not in rented the quicker we are going to spend our money.

Anyway we have decided we are going to fly up to Townsville (amazing value), hire a car and stay at the Big4 campsites in a small ensuite cabin. Works out a bit cheaper than motels and they have cooking facilities so we can save a dollar or two there as well. We are going to take about 16 days travelling down so we have a couple of days in all the places we are interested in to look at suburbs and speak with recuitment agencies. We may find that it is a big no no and we end up settling in Brisbane, the Sunshine or Gold coast but I think if we don't do it we will always be wondering.

We are heading over with a nice bit of equity from our house but we are so worried of money just going so want to rent as soon as we can.

Anyway hopefully we have made the right choice and will find the place for us to settle. I would love to live on the Sunshine coast but we don't know if Ian could get any work around there. He is a maintenance fitter in a quarry at the moment.

Anway we let you know how we get on.

Thanks again everyone

biggy

Hiya

I know you have said that Ian is a maintenance fitter, but what does he actually do and what is his trade? I may be able to suss out job oportunities for him in this area....even send me over his CV if you want, and I can scan through the papers for you

H

Vernons

Hello again,

We have changes our plans, again and we are now going to head to Brisbane for the first two weeks and check papers and job adverts from there and travel up or down depending on what there is. I was really looking forward to our trip down the cost but we have done our sums and we need to take it steady.

With regards to Ian he is a maintenance fitter/supervisor in a large quarry. He plans maintenance shutdowns of all the large equipment, orders items, books contractors and does some office based work too. He is therefore able to fix large crushers, screens and large quarry plant material but can also plan fixing large machinery and scheduling the quarry to be shutdown when most cost effective, orders time and goods using the SAP systems and deals with the other fitters and outside contractors.

I hope that gives you a bit of an idea, any help would be fantastic. Thanks loads