Australia is a great country to visit with so much to so and see. It is important to remember that unless you have unlimited time to explore you really need to narrow down the area or areas you want to spend the majority of your time. With its cosmopolitan cities, amazing beaches, lush bush and arid outback, there really is something for everyone in Australia. It’s easy to see why so many people we know have taken the plunge and actually emigrated there.
During our last visit down under we covered a lot of ground and saw and experienced a lot of things all while having a great time doing it. How? Simple – we hired a campervan.
Well, actually we hired more than one. We picked up our first campervan – Gracey – a 1970s VW Kombi from the outskirts of Melbourne. She was the perfect companion on our road trip around the Melbourne suburbs, along The Great Ocean Road and through The Grampians National park. Although there were a few hairy moments when we thought she would conk out on us for good. Our second campervan – Ronnie – yet another 1970s VW Kombi shared our Sunshine and Gold Coast adventure with us.
Hire or Buy?
Our adventures in both Gracey and Ronnie are some of the best we have ever had. The happy memories we created during those journeys will stick with us forever. It certainly was a bucket worthy trip and one we highly recommend if you have the opportunity. Hiring is, of course, one option especially if you are only visiting Australia for a short time. But maybe you are thinking of making the move to Australia on a long term basis possibly permanently or maybe you already live there and are thinking of buying your own campervan? If so, check out sites such as Gumtree where you can buy preloved campervans – perfect for packing up and exploring all the wonderful things that Australia has to offer in (of which there are far too many to list!).
If you are still sitting on the fence about whether or not a campervan is for you, we have put together this list of 5 benefits travelling by campervan offers.
Design Your Own Itinerary
As soon as we started planning our Australia trip we knew we wanted to do and see certain things. These included Sydney Harbour Bridge, Surfer’s Paradise, The 12 Apostles etc. Therefore our first ports of call were the companies we usually book organised tours through. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find packages that suited our needs and as we were flying across the world we didn’t want to miss out on anything. That’s when we got the idea to pick up a campervan and create our own itinerary. We included what we wanted, where we wanted to stay and for how many nights. As soon as we realised we could be masters of our own destiny there was no looking back. We left Australia content that we had ticked off everything we had wanted to and had certainly made the most of our time there.
Change Your Mind
By having our own itinerary and own campervan it also meant we could deviate from it when we wanted. On organised tours, you have to go where your tour leader tells you and when. We, on the other hand, didn’t. If we saw a sign pointing to an attraction we had not even heard of, we could simply pull off and visit it. When we fancied spending an extra night in a certain place, then no problem (campsite pitch dependant of course). If we decided against visiting one town in favour of another, we could. Together with the main one for us – if we wanted (or needed if we’d had too many schooners the night before) a lay-in, we could indulge in one. We were on our own schedule. Therefore travelling by campervan allowed us to have not only freedom but flexibility while on the road too.
Save Money on Accommodation
A lot of hostels in Australia are very reasonably priced. That’s a fact. If it wasn’t then it wouldn’t be as popular as it is with the numerous backpackers that visit the country. Therefore, Mr ESLT and I could have picked up accommodation in any of the places we visited at a reasonable price. However, we are not backpackers and we’ve never stayed in a hostel meaning it wasn’t really an option for us on this trip. We would have still needed to hire a car for our road trip. That means we would have had car hire and hotel costs to factor into our budget. Booking both separately just wasn’t cost effective and really didn’t make sense. Plus driving a campervan down the Great Ocean Road was a dream. Therefore combing transport and accommodation in the shape of a campervan was the only way to go.
Immerse Yourself in Nature
This was a big one for us. As city dwellers, we love getting out of the concrete jungle and experiencing first hand what mother nature has to offer. Australia is the perfect place to do that. Yes, it has built up cities too but it also has some of the most breathtaking spots of natural beauty we have ever seen. By having the campervan it allowed us to fully submerge ourselves. If we fancied some fresh air or a walk or a swim we could simply pull over and do whatever we wanted when we wanted. We also chose quite remote camping spots to park up at for the exact same reason. Campsites in Australia are amazing, they are fully kitted out with everything you could possibly need to make your stay an enjoyable – which was great, especially with the rugged views the once we chose offered too.
Feeling Peckish (or Thirsty) – No Problem
Car snacks are one thing, campervan snacks are a whole new level. On a bus, you have to keep them in your bag. In a car maybe you can squash them in the glove box? In a campervan, you’ve got space galore. Also in most cases (well our 1970s campervan did so we assume most do) a fridge. This means that even in the hot Australian sun, that bar of chocolate you grabbed isn’t going to melt and your tinnies aren’t going to get warm. Ours also had a two ring hob which allowed us to cook up a storm whenever we fancied. Lunches were often spent on the side of the road frying up some snags. This saved us the hassle of having to hunt down somewhere to eat. Especially at the end of long days on the road. Also by not eating out all the time it saved us cash, which is always a bonus.
We hope we have highlighted for you that a campervan is the best way of seeing the amazing sights Australia has to offer and why? Pick up your camper, pack your stuff and hit the road – perfect!
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