louie

We are planning on taking a year or two off when we finally make it to Oz (whenever that might be), buying a Winnebago and going whereever takes our fancy. By then we'll be early 50's I suspect. Every now and then hubby sends me links to adverts for RVs for sale. Bl**dy hell they are expensive. Looking forward to it even though I can't yet make any concrete plans.....

livinginreality

I think it sounds like a good idea!My cousin and her OH in Oz are thinking of doing it in the future.As I live in the UK,I would'nt mind heading off to India for 6mths!I've always liked the idea of doing some voluntary work,and as OH and I have helped build a school in India (North)it would be a great experience to help out some more!

ozbound2

There's also a whole load of retired silver tops who take off with thier 4x4's and caravans evry winter from Perth and south west WA and head north to spend the winter up there. I know one family home schooling their kids while they slowly travel all the way round..been at it about 4 months so far and are half way round. Some people love it, others get and on the road and then discover its not for them. I think in northern WA and NT where campsites are few and far between there can be alot of competition to get on the sites.
The latest thing apparently are GreyPackers... dont take a caravan/mobile home, just travel to places and stay in the cheap backpackers/dongas etc.

livinginreality

Some of my friends home schooled their kids also when our kids were alot younger!My cousin initially asked me about grey nomads but we've been thinking about it ourselves for a while now (a gap year or 6 mth stint in maybe India)and I think its a brilliant idea.I did head off from Oz backpacking when alot younger so I would'nt mind a second shot at it,this time with more money!I quite like the idea of the freedom aspect,not tied to anything for too long ect so yeah might give it a go myself!Thanks all for your info xx

ozzieeagle

Seems to be a spate of people I know doing this at present. The consensus as to the best way to do the trip nowadays is a simply as possible. Which is with as new a Station Wagon as possible (one with roadside assist)... large enough for one to sleep in. As little Luggage as possible... one big Plastic box on wheels each. One each for clothes.. one for cooking accessories... and one for Sundries... including tent and a few cans of food... large enough to act as tables at camp sites.. 1 Portable Toilet, just a seat on legs basically...Shade cloth and a pole for an annexe.... 1 Primus stove and of course an Esky..opps and edit two fold up chairs. I'd personally be inclined to take a 3 way fridge, but people I talk to reckon thats overkill.... I guess it is easy to get Ice in most places... especially when filling up with petrol.

Reason being, a lot of the off beaten tracks. IE Broom to Alice have halfway points where you can only get petrol 2 days a week so travelling that way and other off road areas means you are stymied by having to carry lots of extra fuel. Whereas most of Australia is now easy to get around with an everyday car. Broom to Darwin and across to Cairns, or down to Alice... is easy in a standard vehicle. Works out a lot cheaper and means you can have more time on the road.

Just letting you know, how the "Aussie couples" I know are doing the trip these days.

livinginreality

Sounds like a pretty good idea to me!

the troubadour

There are some free camp grounds to be found in the NT,which provide basic but ok facilities and a chance to natter with a diverse range of folk from many parts.
Some of the overseas younger fraternatity do it in some very dodgy vechicles to say the least.
But yes there is something of a feeling of freedom on the road and a worth while experience to boot.

ozzieeagle

I must add, that the above method, is for mostly staying in Cabins or Caravans.... With roughing it in a tent or the car as backup.

Did you know it costs around 12,000 bucks for 13 weeks to hire a adequate touring camper van.... would cost at least twice as much as the station wagon I'm talking about to run as well.

Thats just about half the price of a buy in Station wagon that will do the job. My workmate is buying some kind of Suzuki by all accounts. My cousin was more free with his dosh and bought a Suburu. When you get home you've got a near new vehicle for your trouble as well.

livinginreality

Not sure what my cousin is planning to do vehicle wise,she just asked me if I knew about the grey nomads (which I did'nt at the time)as they don't have a computer at the mo!I have been jotting some notes down from these posts to pass on,so thankyou to those who have been some help,much appreciated!

ozzieeagle

There is also this method, that a visitor to my house used. Working for ones keep... probably better suited to backpackers, but he did say that he saw older people doing this as well.

Woofing Australia.

http://www.wwoof.com.au/

livinginreality

Yeah known about that one for ages.I used to read Grass Roots/Earth Garden (my bibles at that time!)and knew alot of people woofing!Thanks for that though,reminded me of a happy time in my life!