Going back a bit here but I’ve finally go around to making my 2nd Aussie Road Trip Video. This was all shot in NSW from the Blue Mountains to Evans Head. After the Blue Mountains there were just so many beaches, viewpoints, and national parks to see. I also loved the wildlife I came across along the way.
campervan
The ultimate backpacker guide to buying a van for your Aussie road trip
I recently came across the following blog by Cody Miller and I thought it would be a good one to share. This guide gives loads of great advice and should answer pretty much every question a backpacker might have when looking to buy a campervan in Australia:
Index
- Introduction
- Finding the right car
- Registration and insurance requirements
- Kitting out your vehicle
- Awesome and unexpected things to look out for on a roadtrip in Australia
1. Introduction
Backpacking around the driest inhabited country on Earth is a rite of passage for many international travellers, and something Aussies know all too well requires a reliable and versatile beast of a vehicle to go the distance. For this reason, the second hand van has become the backpackers’ transport of choice.
This guide is designed to prepare travellers for Australia’s precarious open roads. It covers the importance of mechanical checks, the legalities of licensing, registration and insurance, and some essential supplies for an outback adventure. Continue reading
Aussie Road Trip: Blighty to Sydney
It’s taken a while but I finally got around to making it! Here’s the first part of our campervan adventure which took us from rural Blighty to the hustle and bustle of Sydney.
Please Don’t Rob Me
I love my campervan, and I love travelling this way. But shortly after buying our van Chris and I found it wasn’t the most secure. It seems any key, when inserted only halfway, can open the drivers door. And once I accidently started and drove the van with the wrong key. We tried a different lock barrel in the door but it was a dodgy lock too, maybe it’s an ‘old van thing’…
But as Chris pointed out, if someone really wants into our van a locked door won’t stop them, they’ll just smash the window the way they did with our car in New Zealand. I’ll never forget that day at Cape Reinga. We’d been away on an amazing two day hike. It was pissing down with rain but we arrived back at our car in high spirits, only to see broken glass all over the ground along with some of our discarded belongings. I felt sick.
So obviously sometimes it’s hard to relax when leaving the camper, especially after splashing out on two new surfboards. Everything in the world that I own and care about is in that van! And with the surfboards up on the roof racks it pretty much advertises ‘backpackers’. Continue reading
Road Trip: The East Coast and a Detour to Canberra
Driving steeply downhill from the Snowy Mountains and heading towards the East Coast, it felt good. The air was quickly becoming milder and I decided I was pretty much over winter, I couldn’t wait for spring!
We hit the East Coast for the first time at a little beach town called Tathra. Reaching the peak of a hill I could see the long curving bay below, surrounded by trees with cliffs in the distance. I felt excited to see the sea again and everything had a more sub tropical feel. Chris and I got out and went for a walk along the beach, the sand was golden and the water looked pretty inviting, still too cold though.
Road Trip: Blighty to the Snowy Mountains
11 Days ago Chris and I were still in Blighty, NSW. Being our last weekend there, it was pretty busy and non-stop. We cleaned our wee farm house top to bottom, squeezed all our belongings into our campervan, and said our goodbyes to friends, work colleagues, the dogs, cats, and cows. And after 6 months of working and living in the same place, just like that, we were gone. To be honest I was too excited about the thought of travelling again to feel too sad about leaving! And it didn’t take long to used to campervan living again. Once I got used to the colder living conditions, it was like I’d never stopped!
Campervan Hardships
Travelling by campervan can be great. You’re free to explore and go where you want when you want, you have a portable bed and kitchen with you at all times, and overall it can be a lot of fun.
But travelling by campervan can also be hard, especially if you’re determined to freedom camp. I’m coming to the end of my first week back on the road, and although it’s been awesome, it’s not always been easy.
Free to Camp Where You Want
Freedom camping. What a great way of saving money while you explore a country. All you need is a campervan style vehicle, some food, money for petrol, and you’re good to go!
When I was in New Zealand I freedom camped my way around the whole country, determined not to spend a penny on accommodation. There was the odd occasion where I chose to stay at a low cost campsite, but overall, I must have saved hundreds of dollars. Continue reading
From Adelaide to The Great Ocean Road
It had been 2 weeks since Chris and I had bought our campervan and we’d somehow managed to spend all that time hanging around Adelaide. We caught up with a friend, did some couch surfing, and got away with freedom camping at different beaches. But we were both getting that impatient feeling and we wanted to explore and see more of this massive country. So as soon as our car inverter and Camps7 Book arrived in the post from Ebay, we were off.
5 Backpacker Tips for Buying a Campervan in Aus
One of the best ways to see and travel a country is no doubt, by campervan. It’s hard to beat the amount of freedom you have this way. You can go where you want, when you want, and you don’t have to stick to anyone else’s schedule. Sometimes you end up going on detours you never considered taking, and get to see places that the people taking the east coast tour bus can only dream of. Sometimes you can be in bliss isolation, alone, sleeping in a hidden forest campsite. Or you may feel like part of a travelling campervan community, rocking up to a campsite to find about 20 people in campers of all shapes and sizes, taking the same journey. If you have the time to spare, and the money to get yourself going, then for me there’s no other way to travel a country like Australia.
I spent 2 years freedom camping my way around New Zealand and now I plan to do the same in Australia. But when you first arrive in a country, and one as expensive as Australia, buying a campervan as a backpacker can be a bit of a daunting experience. A couple of months ago I bought a 1999 Ford Econovan. Here’s a few tips I learnt from the experience: Continue reading
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