The misses and I are currently waiting for our 175 to be approved (oct 08 applicats) but will be coming to Oz in May/June regardless.

We have never been to Oz to want to travel for a bit to see some of the sights, get a feel for Oz and basically live a little! We are planning on about 3 months so will be hiring a campervan for the trip and plan to start in Brisbane, go down via Sydney/Melbourne/Adelaide/Cober Pedy/Uluru and then back across to Brisbane. We’ve never campervan’d before so were wondering how do you manage getting around once you get to a campsite?

By this I mean, say you camp up for the night at a Big4 site. What happens if you want to go into town for food, go to the beach, etc without having to drive of in the Camper? Hope that makes sense as I just wondered about getting stuck in campsites to far aware from things and being limited with what we can see.

Thx!

Andy

The hardcore campers have a scooter or smartcar that sits on a trailer at the back of the camper!!! They hitch up and then get about like that
We did exactly what you want to do but we got ourselves a good tent (that was simple to put up) and a roomy car. Campsites in Oz are fantastic - they have public BBQs / camp kitchens (with a TV...) with everything you need to cook a proper meal and really decent shower blocks.
I know it's a much nicer way to go in a camper van but they are hellish expensive to rent and not very user friendly size or petrol consumption wise
Think about the camping - spray the tent with insect repellant and the spiders will stay away. People in tents are far friendlier too and the campsites a bit more true Oz

Me, the misses and our 2 kids (10 & 2) drove in a Britz campervan from Brisbane to Cairns, August this year. As has already been mentioned, hiring a campervan is not cheap !
We lived in that van for nearly 2 weeks and loved it, although it was a bit of a nightmare the first couple of nights whilst we got used to the confined space. We used the van to visit beaches, towns etc - you soon get used to packing things away quickly. Plus once you arrive at the beach etc, you've got everything with you, drinks, food etc. We stayed at various Big4 sites and they were excellent. Watch out for those speed cameras !

I have used a pedal bike before in europe , as for the beach it will be to cold you might get the odd day in brisbane but at the time of your trip i think most days will be cold ive been to Melbourne & Uluru in june in melbourne it got up to 12c & uluru warm during the day freezing at night make sure you have your heater on at night pack your coats

I hired a camper van wiht 4 of us in a van. It turned out too small so we drive down the east coast staying in those cabins they have in each camp site - I found them cheap and availability wasnt an issue. I would suggest maybe getting a back up tent set up and then playing it by ear, cabins, on site vans and tenting. Would work out cheaper on fuel, gives you flexibility but just loses a bit the feeling of being on the road with your home on your back.

Camping gear can be bought cheaply from k-mart or the various camping shops around.

Also shop around the car hire places or even maybe buy a car. In sydney Bayswater car hire gives good pricing. Ascot I think was cheaper in Brisbane and Acacia in adelaide.

You can also get some great deals on returning to base camper vans where you take the van back for $1 a day. Usually though on these trips you have to rush a little bit

http://www.standbyrelocations.com/

Viv

We too have camped in a tent (2 adults and 2 kids) and must agree with the earlier post. The camping was easy, campsites amazing and folk friendly..... It was fantastic - so much so we are off again on Christmas day to validate our 175!!!!! Can highly recommend it....

We had a campervan in NZ and just drove it eveywhere - it was a big 6 berth one so a bit tight in some supermarket car parks - probably not so bad in Oz though as the car parks are bigger than NZ.

I guess if you don't mind putting a tent up and down all the time camping would be OK but I thought the campervan was great - just pull up at a beach and put the kettle on!

We had a camper on our reccie in June and travelled around between Brisbane and Hervey Bay. We hired one with a shower and loo in case we wanted to stop somewhere without facilities, but we never used them. Most of them only have trickle charge while you're driving and we couldn't get the stupid shower to work, so we freedom parked one night near some public loos and within walking distance of a beach and two restaurants. The rest of the time we did what we wanted in town and then went to the camping ground and used their facilites. They give you a swipe card so you can go in and out while you're there, but often you are in walking distance or you could use public transport if you really don't want to move again once you've parked. If we did it again we'd hire a smaller (cheaper) camper and stay in holiday parks and maybe pack a solar shower and a shovel in case we wanted to stay out of town.

If you don't want to do that you could stay in holiday park cabins or Backpackers and drive in your car. The beauty of a camper van though is that you can stay in places you wouldn't otherwise. You have water, gas and you buy your food and drink in town before you drive out of it, find a beach or some beautiful spot and enjoy. Several of these out of the way places were within walking distance of a number of bars and restaurants too, eg Tin Can Bay, Qld.

Maybe the compromise is a, simple to set up, hire camper trailer. That way is quicker and easier to set up and take down than a whole tent but can be left at the site whilst you go off exploring.

We always use a luxury tent for 5 which takes a while , but if its a quick 2 man isn't a problem.. That said I yearn for a camper trailer that you pull open and its almost all ready - beds, kitchen in pull out section of trailer etc somewhere for clothes etc and for just 2 of you probably a good compromise.

Having a tent in the back of a big 4x4 certainly gives the flexibility for getting around but it is a pain the backside pitching it and taking it down if you are going to keep moving on every day or two. I would think about either a caravan or fold out trailer tent that you can unhitch in that situation.

It sounds like you may be getting off sealed roads quite a bit so bear that in mind when making your choice - insurance won't cover you if. You can get off-road campervans, caravans and trailers, but of course they cost more.

A final word of advice - you will probably find you can turn up on spec most times and find a pitch but on long weekends / school holidays you need to book months in advance for some places over here.

Thanks for your advice everyone. We have a lot to think about I think.

As we are planning on staying in Oz after this and using the trip to find an area we like, I think we might be better off using the money to buy a decent car and then tent/hostel/hotel/campsite it. At least this way we use the money to better effect in that we keep the car afterwards, plus it gives us the freedom to travel round a bit more.

Still like the idea of a campervan so will have to have a big think about it now.

Thanks and merry christmas everyone!