bu1lder

As the title suggests, is it possible to take ours or is it a stupid idea? a reply would be nice Also could i take my tipper trailer i tow behind my 4x4 for work?

DrWho

you can take them I'm sure... but this is caravan & 4x4 trailer central...
whether it's worth it is the question... how much to ship, register, modify to Aus regs, etc...

bu1lder

Thanks mate, you've got a point there. Our lass is'nt bothered about renting our home out to stranger's, she's gutted about flogging the caravan though!

Streaks

thats exactly what happened to us!! I was gutted about selling ours and now we're over here really wished we hadn't. We have been out looking to get another one and they are so expensive (more expensive than the UK) and also the lay outs are different, our old one suited us perfectly. But, and its a big but we didn't look into the cost of shipping and registering etc so dont have a clue how much that would have cost. Good luck

binnz10

Don't know if it is any use, but we know of a family that moved here and brought a van (not caravan) with them, they packaged much of their belongings into the van using that space to cut down the volume of the rest of their things so reducing the overall shipping cost.

Gems

We sold our caravan before coming over. Also noted that they are more expensive here, and will be a long time before we can get another one.

So much to see and do here, you would use a caravan every weekend here. So if you can afford the shipping and its in good condition. Yes, I would consider it.

Google caravan sales in Australia, and get an idea of prices

Gems

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Surely a caravan in Oz would be like living in a mobile oven.

Gems

Caravans here have air conditioning.
Or you can buy a portable airconditioner to put in a caravan that doesnt have one.

Caravans and mobile homes are very popular here.

Gems

Safin

yes they are popular but they have way more ventilation than uk ones - and flyscreens on windows etc. Many are the pop top style - so they fit in a garage, have less wind resistence when towing and more ventilation at the top.

I guess you need to weigh up replacement cost v shipping cost and suitablity for the climate you plan to use it in.

I am very glad we don't camp in our UK tent which I was attached to. We'd've baked in it and it was too big. Camping here is actually outdoors not hiding in the tent from wind and rain! And being able to fit between trees for shade is handy.

Bubsblooms

We took our 2CV (yes, yes the shipping guy said every insult imaginable..) and we could fill it to the brim with all our other stuff so it was effectively a big suitcase! In hindsight I wouldn't have bothered - it was a real expense registering it in NSW and getting all the export documents etc sorted.
We used to go camping every few months and caravanning is huge over there too - can't you sell yours and buy another when you get there?
What seems like a real necessity to make you settle quickly etc is, in my experience because I took everything that would make me feel "at home", a complete waste of money.
Another thought, have you already got your house? Do you know for a fact you have the room for your caravan once there????
By the way - I sold the 2CV on our return (wasn't about to bring it back again...) for a whopping AU$12000!!! So who was laughing then Mr. Shipping guy???

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I missed one very important word out of my original post... it should have read..

Surely a British caravan in Oz would be like living in a mobile oven. Portable Aircon can only do so much and a UK caravan would be built to handle the UK conditions... OK in Tassie perhaps, not much fun in Alice Springs

Lewis2

We had never caravanned in the UK but had looked at plenty, when we first came out we bought a 4x4 and caravan to tour around before settling down. As others have said the OZ vans are built for OZ conditions. Some of the roads we travelled (no not tracks) would shake a UK caravan to pieces, Oz vans have built in waters tanks. Ours was 22 foot (internal not from tip of tow bar). Fixed queen bed, separate shower, toilet/washroom and the fridge was the size of our UK house fridge. I know you may not want all that but do you want all the hassle of registration, roadworthy, OZ compliance. It is something you will have to weigh up. Whilst in the UK we subscribed to Australian "Caravan World" may have web page, we found this a great help.