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We usually get requested what’s one of the simplest ways to journey round Australia – caravan or camper trailer?
Both have their execs and cons, however in the end we selected a camper trailer for almost all of our 18-month highway journey round Australia.
Do we remorse it? Would a caravan be higher?
Having highway tripped in a caravan on separate events, we will see the enchantment to this as effectively.
So should you’re deciding on a camper trailer or a caravan to discover Australia, right here’s our comparability of each so you may make an knowledgeable choice.
Which Is Better, Caravan or Camper Trailer?
If you’re quick on time and don’t wish to learn our full expertise, then the fast reply is that a caravan can be higher than a camper trailer to journey round Australia.
The causes for it’s because there’s much less time wanted to pack up and get going, you do can get caravans with energy so that you don’t have to fret about powered websites, and they’re much less more likely to break.
Of course, that is only a fast abstract. There are many execs and cons of touring Australia with a camper trailer and caravan.
Later on this information, we share our expertise of touring round Australia with a camper trailer, so you may get a greater image of what that was like.
For now, right here’s a abstract of the professionals and cons of every.
Pros and cons of travelling with a camper trailer
There are various kinds of camper trailers you may journey round Australia with:
- A flip-over camper largely has a sealed onerous high when travelling and opens to the rear to grow to be the ground which is suspended off the bottom on legs.
- Soft flooring tents are arrange often by eradicating the gentle vinyl tonneaux cowl, pulling the canvas out & extending the inner body.
- A wind up with a tough flooring and roof like our Jayco Swan. Some have beds that come out the ends. The inside is then much like a caravan.
Pros
- Generally cheaper than caravans.
- Lighter to tow, consumes much less gasoline and never as gradual as caravans.
- Safer to tow – extra imaginative and prescient to see out the again and fewer fishtailing.
- Closer to nature with the canvas roofing and sides – extra open so pure air can enter.
- Easier to retailer.
- Can entry extra off-road areas because of measurement.
Cons
- You should arrange your tent at every campsite.
- Time-consuming to arrange and pack down (usually 90 minutes for us). We are often shifting campsites each 2-3 days and having to continually arrange then pack up grew to become exhausting over 12 months. If you’re time poor like us and transfer steadily, bear this in thoughts. These campers are extra suited to spending a minimum of 5 days in every location.
- Lack of space for storing means cramped residing and fewer conveniences
- More gaps, means extra bugs maintaining you awake at night time
- No facilities. Nothing beats your personal rest room in the course of the night time and a bathe when campsite facilities are filthy
- Less privateness because the partitions are canvas and straightforward to look by means of.
- Less storage – small bar fridge, restricted space for storing!
- Not so nice in unhealthy climate (excessive wind, rain, excessive warmth). We had no air/con and suffered for a month within the Red Centre with temps over 40 levels. And one in every of our beds broke in excessive wind in Denham, WA.
- Can’t pull over on lengthy drives and have instantaneous entry to the inside.
- Dust simpler to enter.
Pros and cons of travelling with a campervan
Caravans are available in all styles and sizes, so when you find yourself researching campervans, you should consider carefully about what model, measurement, and flooring plan fits you.
Our associates had a New Age Caravan, which I preferred so much. (And so did they.) We travelled with them for almost six months, so bought to comprehend it effectively.
Other associates we spent a variety of time with had a Jayco Expanda.
Pros
- Some campervans include photo voltaic panels so that you don’t want to fret about discovering powered websites.
- Much much less arrange and pack up time!
- More space for storing to have the whole lot in it place / full fridge, so no have to set all of it up if you arrive in a brand new place once more.
- Can pull over the aspect of the highway and also you’re able to sleep, or you may seize your self a cuppa and a snack (cheaper)
- Easier to be self-sufficient.
- A bit extra luxurious with air-con, TV’s, and separate bedrooms and loos (you may go much more lux with some!)
- Less cracks and display doorways preserve the critters and mud out.
Cons
- More costly.
- Heavier to tow – that means a probably greater and costlier car.
- Less entry to sure areas, caravan parks.
- Harder to park on the town and retailer.
Our Experience Travelling Australia With A Camper Trailer
Apart from a tent, and a automotive, our private expertise of travelling Australia was a camper trailer, with a short stint of time in a motorhome and caravan.
Our opinion relies on what we noticed from the experiences of others on our highway journey and other people we grew to become shut associates with who additionally travelled with children.
We bought a Jayco Outback Swan Camper Trailer on finance after we had been in Victoria, earlier than departing on a highway journey alongside the Great Ocean Road.
We managed to get a brand new one for a good value, and we knew it had a superb resale worth, which was necessary to us as we didn’t have plans to remain in Australia permenantly.
Although it was a small area for a household of 4, it was general snug sufficient and we by no means had any points sleeping.
The center part was kitted out with cabinets for storage and a kitchen space. It additionally doubles out as a residing space.
This mannequin was a pop high, which made it moderately straightforward to pitch, although meeting and establishing was nonetheless wanted.
I preferred the layouts of this mannequin, with the sleeping compartments on both aspect, and it additionally had A/C and heating, which was precisely what we wanted as we had been travelling by means of a number of seasons.
Towing the camper trailer was fantastic, on the entire, however we had points with screws popping out after we drove down gravel roads. We didn’t take it off the crushed monitor, or down any unsealed roads, simply your regular bumpy roads that you just’d discover within the Outback.
Well, opposite to its identify, this mannequin doesn’t do effectively within the Outback. We needed to get it repaired 5 instances on our 18-month journey round Australia, and after we visited Darwin, we needed to wait as the one repairman for this mannequin was busy.
However, there have been just a few advantages to the camper trailer, regardless of its flimsy design which was not fitted to our stage of journey. It had solar energy, so we may cost our gadgets, and an extended battery life. This made free tenting very easy for us.
We beloved how we may simply pull over and camp wherever we happy. We would get up to the sounds of wildlife, see kangaroos hopping round, watch the dawn over the hills, and see nobody round us. It was bliss.
It additionally meant we didn’t have to search for a powered tenting spot, which you’d should do with an RV.
Overall, regardless of there being apparent challenges with the camper trailer, it did get us round Australia for over a yr and we’re very grateful for that. It travelled 1000’s of kilometres, from Victoria in South Australia alongside to Adelaide, as much as the Top End, down Western Australia and over to the East Coast.
It can be asking an excessive amount of for the proper journey, but when we had been to do it once more, we’d most likely make investments a bit extra and get a caravan as we had been travelling long-term. For over a yr of highway tripping, having to pop up your tent every night time is a bit garbage.
Other Ways To Travel Around Australia
Travelling Australia with a Tent
Tents are nice for bush tenting and small journeys, nevertheless it’s fairly onerous core to do a lap of Australia in a tent relying in your circumstances.
We started our highway journey round Australia with simply a tent, and it shortly grew to become method too difficult with education the youngsters and an absence of area, and particularly operating a full-time on-line enterprise, it simply wasn’t sensible.
For some folks, travelling round Australia in a tent is likely to be a dream, it positively will probably be cheaper.
Sleeping in your car
Many folks use their autos and switch them into fairly cool sleeping quarters at night time. Some simply come out a tent or swag or sleep within the tray.
Some have pop-up tents on the roof of their autos. Others by means of a mattress at the back of a van.
It all is dependent upon the way you wish to journey and who you’re travelling with? Are you travelling solo, as a pair, or with children like us, and what your consolation stage is?
Motorhome
A motorhome generally is a nice choice to journey round Australia in. Like a caravan, arrange is minimal, simply plug in and calm down!
We used to get so jealous when a motorhome would pull up subsequent to us in a caravan park. Within 5-10 minutes they’re arrange and kicking again of their camp chairs with a glass of vino in hand – 90 minutes later we’re nonetheless slaving away!
The solely downside is the house can also be your car, so you may by no means fairly totally get arrange for just a few days in a single spot.
When it comes time to discover, you’ll should pack just a few issues away to drive to city or to your exercise. That is until you’re tremendous organised and don’t have a variety of stuff.
We noticed many individuals travelling round in a lot smaller minivans, hires from corporations like Juicy and Apollo. Like the bigger motorhome, additionally it is your car so pack up is required every time you wish to transfer.
And in fact, the car almost certainly gained’t be 4WD, which restricts a variety of the locations you may get to.
UPDATE:
We not too long ago skilled a ten day journey in a motorhome. I stick by what I stated above with the restrictions. I believe they’re nice for small journeys and in locations that don’t require off highway exploring.
But, for longer journeys and travelling round Australia, I believe they’re too limiting.
I didn’t like having a separate car and residential. I discovered it claustrophobic all being in a single and there was no alternative for me to leap within the automotive and escape alone some the place!
Our women beloved it however I felt Savannah was nonetheless too younger. She’s 5 and nonetheless fairly demanding so it was very awkward for me to take care of her when driving. She was too distant at the back of the motorhome and infrequently I couldn’t even hear her.
Older households would possibly get pleasure from this separation, it simply didn’t work so effectively with our women.
Expandas
Our associates Nick & Emma (The Blockshoppers) run TheBlockShop web site which is related to the truth TV present, and so they travelled round Australia in a Jayco Expander with two children of comparable age to ours.
We met them in Cairns and spent a number of months travelling collectively.
An Expanda is form of a cross between a caravan and a camper trailer.
Just a small a part of the roof pops up and so they have wind out beds. It’s much less arrange than our camper trailer, however they nonetheless felt it took them fairly some time.
Best Vehicles For Travelling Around Australia
We had a Ford Territory AWD, which is a kind of 4WD, however has low clearance and no low-range so restricted with locations you may take it.
It’s extra like a faux 4WD for suburban households. If we had been to do it once more we’d take a hard-core 4WD so we will get to extra particular locations.
Remember, clearance is important.
Our Territory sat fairly low and we bought bogged in Kakadu and couldn’t cross a number of rivers like alongside The Gibb River Road in The Kimberley’s, needed to rent a 4 wheel drive to do Fraser Island, and positively couldn’t do Cape York.
A tough-core 4WD is one of the simplest ways to discover Australia as a few of the particular locations are distant and require a excessive clearance 4 wheel drive for entry. That comes with the next value and gasoline consumption.
No have to postpone your Australian highway journey as a result of you may’t afford a 4WD. There are at all times excursions and issues you are able to do to get round that for locations you’re dying to get to.
HOWEVER, should you adopted our journey round Australia you’d have seen we nonetheless had an AMAZING time and bought to go to so many unimaginable locations in our AWD.
Most locations you may get to on sealed roads, even should you simply have an everyday automotive, so don’t stress an excessive amount of and never journey OZ since you don’t have a 4 wheel drive.
But in hindsight, a 4WD can be our alternative subsequent time!
Outdoorsy Motorhome Rentals
New to the motorhome, campervan and caravan rental market in Australia is Outdoorsy.
It’s the biggest & most trusted caravan, campervan and motorhome rent market on the planet.
Basically, it’s the Airbnb of the motorhome world! They have a spread of motorhomes and campervans from classic campers to trendy trailers. Plus, they arrive with as much as $1M in insurance coverage protection.
The Verdict
Unfortunately, it virtually at all times comes right down to price range. You can solely do what you are able to do.
We may solely get financing for a certain quantity so we did the perfect we may on the time. It’s as much as you to determine whats’ greatest financially for you.
It additionally comes down to those different elements:
- who’re you touring with? (solo / couple / household)
- what automotive do it’s a must to tow with?
- do you wish to go off-road or keep on with quick access locations?
- how lengthy is your journey?
- winter or summer season locations?
So what’s the decision? For a yr lengthy journey round Australia or extra, we extremely advocate, in case your price range permits, a caravan.
For shorter journeys in Australia, a camper trailer will probably be enough so long as you aren’t shifting steadily
Remember, these are simply our opinions. Our state of affairs, and tolerance ranges, could also be totally different to yours so at all times do your due diligence and select what’s greatest for you!
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Would you journey round Australia in a camper? Let us know what you suppose within the feedback!