ianandhelena

we just got back from a few days away in NSW. we flew to sydney on the 6.30 am redeye flight from hobart and picked up our campervan from britz (booked via www.drivenow.com.au) and headed off to cessnock in the hunter valley which took about 3 hours-a terrifying amount of traffic compared to tassie though!

we'd prebooked a powered site on the big 4 holiday park in cessnock which as most of them are was v clean and quiet, but unfortunately the nearest pub was 20 mins walk-bugger!-but the food was good.
sun am woke at 6, had brekkie, and headed to pokolbin to run the hunter valley marathon at 8 am (website here for any runners interested in next year's event/results); we were both pleased to finish after months of training on VB and pies.
after the race we went to Harrigan's "irish" bar (why are there so many irish bars in australia?) to stuff our faces before heading off to the coast to relax.
we ended up at the big 4 at karuah which was not a good experience-full of resident bogans playing loud music when we arrived but thankfully they turned it off at dusk. tonight's food option was the RSL in karuah which was good-cheap ale and good scran.
on mon morning we went to port stephens and on arrival found ourselves a boat trip to go out whale-watching-excellent-we saw 10 humpbacks in about 2 hours, plus lots of dolphins.
that night's big 4 was at soldier's point near nelson bay which restored our faith a little-excellent facilities (looked good for kids too) and fine wining and dining at the bowling club next door-the place was huge and everyone v friendly (there must be a lot of money in bowls as the club was brand spanking new).
tues saw us head off inland back up the hunter valley and along back roads to wiseman's ferry, across the river on the boat, and into the local hotel-unfortunately we were on the wrong day to appreciate the delights of lingerie-clad waitstaff (female hopefully, thur+fri, 6pm-8pm if you're interested), then across to the last holiday park of the trip at mona vale just north of sydney.
wed am it was piss*ng down so we upped sticks and took the campervan back and spent the day shopping in town-we found a place called dirtcheap cds-spare a thought for the poor credit card :scared:

back to a chilly hobart wed night and work on thursday

iPom

Great stuff! Got me all inspired to go travel now.

Glad you had a good time. The Hunter Valley is really something, eh?

Can I ask how much your van was for the week. Planning on doing similar in next school holidays with the kids.

ianandhelena

van was $89/day but it was only for 2 of us so a bit cramped.
yes, the hunter valley was good and we'd go again-next time will be a cellar door tour

iPom

I have three children and have been toying with buying or hiring one because we'd have every holiday licked. It really appeals to be able to throw some clothes in, pack the kids and the dog and just drive to anywhere.
Hiring one looks like $2000 for a week, which is some holiday! I'd rather buy and save in the long run I think.

I did the wine tour in the Hunter years back. God, my head the next day!

ianandhelena

yes, i think if i lived on the mainland i'd be tempted to buy-by the time you add the insurance and site fees it'd be cheaper for us to stay in motels, but we do like the idea of just being able to go where you fancy.

iPom

Motels are ok, but there's nothing like camping/campervan imo. I worked out by the time we'd got a huge tent, all the cooking stuff, beds, roofbox for the car/trailer, it was going to work out as very expensive. Would much prefer the campervan.

I did find a site that does a 6 birth camper for $1300 for a week... getting better.

ianandhelena

that looks like a good deal-who's that with?

iPom

That's with this company:

http://www.selfdrive.com/CampervanhireAustralia.asp


I'll keep looking and add to this when I find something I like.