NSW on a Campervan

[kiss01]

i'll do a review on mighty campervan when i'm back. i'm booking them for 8 days.

 

[touchme]

So sorry bro, there will be no review of Jucy from me. The idea did not fly with my wife. I even enlisted my son to petition. But to no avail. I also need to consider her discomfort especially when she is under a lot of work stress lately. So, no campervan this time.

Btw, I tried skyscanner and various combinations. It is impossible to get Sydney 2-way flight in Jun 2014 for 3 pax for $800. You got a terrific deal!

chay, brought up in modern living, no choice.

Scoot tiks were the last few, left with Saturday flightout (straight after school end), surprisingly $50 lower for kids. In the end, booked Friday dawn flight, so kid pontang school, just to extend 14 days itinenary.

Have fun planning and touring East Coast.

 

[touchme]

i'll do a review on mighty campervan when i'm back. i'm booking them for 8 days.

Actually, I also wont be doing Jucy in Sept, as I found one with same new layout from Apollo

Anyway for June rates on Hi-tops styled vans:
Apollo : $37
Britz: $47
Mighty : $67
Jucy: $97
Apollo (jucy layout) $67

I'm quite fine with Apollo, since newer vans, calling for some discount as ex-customer, and wont be taking up CDW.).


Mighty actually Britz/Maui franchise, so shd be same service and newer vans.

 

[sellun]

changing title? haha i'll be doing a campervan trip to NZ south island this late may - early june! 11Days 10Nights

 

[touchme]

changing title? haha i'll be doing a campervan trip to NZ south island this late may - early june! 11Days 10Nights

Will be helluva time, sceneries and adventures.

 

[kiss01]

Theres a list of simple car-camping essential items, you may wanna grab beforehand, or as I offered kiss01, freeloan from me.

touchme, my trip is coming up in early Mar. looking forward to it!
can i meet u to end Feb to borrow your camping stuff? thanks a bunch!!

 

[touchme]

touchme, my trip is coming up in early Mar. looking forward to it!
can i meet u to end Feb to borrow your camping stuff? thanks a bunch!!

Sure, hope you catered for excess baggage if on budget flight. But nothing much (no need all)
Campchairs/table/hammock (alfresco stuffs), basic bino and electrical stuffs .

 

[spacehole]

One of my more exciting trips I had, this time as family of 4, 13 days, mid-end May 2013.

This is more of an outdoors/nature/driving/car-camping tour rather than the edmw-favored food/city/shopping or backpack travel threads. Trip was to share camping & hking xp with kids. This thread also shares some general tips about campervans , on request by a couple of campervan-curious edmwers here.

I won’t be sharing about Sydney here, as there are many good threads on Sydney.

Roadtrip (2000+km, 13 days):
Mainly the Pacific Highways, and into New England, Oxley and Waterfall Highways thru Oxley Wild Rivers NP and Dorigo NP Region, 1800 km round trip, north of Sydney



We repeated this trip which we rushdrived thru from Coffs to Sydney in a day 13 yrs ago. Back then, we felt the region has a lot to offer in terms of beautiful nature trails, waterfalls and magnificent views, we were right! (except our photoskills and mobilephones din do the place justice)

Hi TS,

Saw your posts awhile back and I went ahead to book a JUCY Grande for my upcoming trip. Need your advice on this road trip.

We are on a very tight schedule and we we'll be spending 2 nights in Sydney, then renting the campervan for 5 days, before ending our trip with 3 nights in GC.

We will fly in from SG-GC and will be taking a domestic flight to Sydney to do the touristy stuff.

What I've planned for the 5 day road trip is to spend 1 night in Blue Mountains and make my way back up to Brisbane(drop off point). However, I am not too sure which route to take, the Coastal road or the New England highways. Because, there are so many places that we want to visit them all!
My friends and I enjoy being outdoors, so we do not mind hiking,waterfalls and sightseeing., swimming or just tanning. And since we will be spending 3 nights in Gold Coast, i figured we probably would not want to travel the Coastal Road.

So, if we were to travel the inland roads, where should we spend the remaining 4 nights? Should we stay at different places each night? Will all the campsites be similar? (We'd like to sleep with a view and will be very keen to camp at the RoyalBotanicGardens!)

Do we have to book the campsites in advance? or do we have to drive-in on a first come first serve basis? How early do we have to arrive? As we plan to do many stops!

Appreciate your help and looking forward to your advice!

 

[touchme]

Hi TS,

Saw your posts awhile back and I went ahead to book a JUCY Grande for my upcoming trip. Need your advice on this road trip.

We are on a very tight schedule and we we'll be spending 2 nights in Sydney, then renting the campervan for 5 days, before ending our trip with 3 nights in GC.

We will fly in from SG-GC and will be taking a domestic flight to Sydney to do the touristy stuff.

What I've planned for the 5 day road trip is to spend 1 night in Blue Mountains and make my way back up to Brisbane(drop off point). However, I am not too sure which route to take, the Coastal road or the New England highways. Because, there are so many places that we want to visit them all!
My friends and I enjoy being outdoors, so we do not mind hiking,waterfalls and sightseeing., swimming or just tanning. And since we will be spending 3 nights in Gold Coast, i figured we probably would not want to travel the Coastal Road.

So, if we were to travel the inland roads, where should we spend the remaining 4 nights? Should we stay at different places each night? Will all the campsites be similar? (We'd like to sleep with a view and will be very keen to camp at the RoyalBotanicGardens!)

Do we have to book the campsites in advance? or do we have to drive-in on a first come first serve basis? How early do we have to arrive? As we plan to do many stops!

Appreciate your help and looking forward to your advice!

First of, I'm a little puzzled by your flying schedules, and why not just keep the camper for 7 days to GC (isn't min rent 7 days?). and isn't flying int'l in/out sydney cheaper than GC?
Private apartment by the GC beach may be nice for your group.
Which period is your trip?

Nonetheless, whether coastal or inland, i reckon take the routes as you please on-the-go. It can get quite sianz after 2-3 continuous days of either. With your own ride, when you sianz, just driveoff, that's the freedom you get to enjoy.

However Dorrigo NP and the Waterfall highway (featuring Tia, Danga, Ebor Falls) rcmded not to miss. You may wanna plan your route zigzagging out and inland...prolly 2 hrs more each way.

THe RoyalBotanic Gardens' esplanade has a nice view of the OperaHouse overlapping right in front of the Harbour Bridge.

Certainly you need to stay at different places, afterall Brisbane and Sydney are >1500km apart. Most official free campsites are similar, + or - electric bbq pits or free firewood. But like i said, most of these, and paid ones, are obscured from the nice sceneries. Good only if you guys wanna cook up a good hot bbq feast, with bonfire burning thru-out the night.

For the umpteen time, sleepover at any beachfront/open spots/car parks/high grounds, as the views fancies you, and near toilets for convenience. We ever beached on sand in WA.

At some beachfronts, the car parks by the beaches are gantried with a height limit. Few times already, we drove in from the exit side, and parked overnight with no issues. Passing patrols din question us either, guess it's against cargo vans/truckers only.

When inland, and no moon, you may wanna drive off deep away from street/town/village lights, to sleep under thousands of stars, and catch shooting stars...quite an awesome and rare sight.

 

[pinkdior]

Hi TS,

I'm flying to Sydney next month. Saw your thread and got very inspired to do this. It's my first time and we have 4adults traveling together.

Base on your experience, how many days is enough to do Sydney to GC and coming back to Sydney? I'm traveling by scoot, so should be reaching slightly after noon and departing at noon on the departure day. I have a total of 8days including arrival and departure day.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[touchme]

Hi TS,

I'm flying to Sydney next month. Saw your thread and got very inspired to do this. It's my first time and we have 4adults traveling together.

Base on your experience, how many days is enough to do Sydney to GC and coming back to Sydney? I'm traveling by scoot, so should be reaching slightly after noon and departing at noon on the departure day. I have a total of 8days including arrival and departure day.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

For GC to Coffs Harbor, I'm likely not the right person to comment/for latest updates. The 1-month trip from Brisbane/Noosa to Melbourne/Great Ocean route was way back in 2000, GC-CH was only 1 day's slow drive then.

SYD-GC about 1000km apart, 8 days def. not enough, assuming you wanna check out Sydney more thoroughly, and theme parks/beach in GC. No point touch-snap-go. At least 2 weeks for your plan.

Otherwise, shd be SYD (2d)/ SYD-GC with Dorigo(2d) / GC(2d) / GC-SYD (2d) with any coastal lake towns or Newcastle (pretty city).
Possible but quite hectic driving 1 must say.

Guideline: Anything more than average of 200km/day for trip is not quite healthy/relaxing.

 

[touchme]

Hello,

I read your blog about the Australia campervan trip, it is very informative.

Is there a shop in Sydney to get cheap camping supplies?

Thanks,

Millon

sorry, million, pm full. quote and answer you here.

Many stores in Sydney, but retail not cheap.
I went to ebay.au prior to trip, looking for gears, paid online for 2x Oztrail camping chairs for AUD15 each, retails AUD$25 or nearly S$50 locally. and pickup there:

5/2 Pile Rd Somersby NSW 2250, Ph 02 4340 1671, hours 9 – 4.30 Monday to Friday, 9 – 3 Saturday, regards Chris@campingmegastoreaustralia

~ about 80km up north of Sydney, just by major M1 highway (lost contact no.)

They operate warehouse and solely online sales, doing 10-20% off retail. The chairs were promotional.

You might wanna check out ebay.au or other oz estores, and pickup if along your convenient way.

 

[touchme]

All go for another NSW camper trip, this June.

This time down south, Sydney-Melbourne and back, in convoy of 4 families in 3 campervans. Looking forward to escape the extreme heat here

 

[kiss01]

South of WA on a campervan

I'm back from my 11 days WA trip and as promised, here is my feedback on the campervan.

We rented from Mighty, they belong to the same company as Maui & Britz. Price is cheaper for Mighty, but we were given a Britz van. Yayy!

We checked-in for our van online prior to flying in. So when we arrived at the depot, our van was waiting for us, with the GPS inside. We signed some papers, selected our options (pre-paid fuel & LPG gas or not, insurance coverage or not etc.) watched a short video on setting up of the van, got the keys, loaded our bags, keyed-in our destination on the GPS, and off we went!

For a first-timer camping, I must say we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The van we were given (a Hi-TOP) was clean, light enough to overtake heavier vehicles on the freeway, had enough space for 2 adults on the lower bed, with a upper bed (for child) which we used as storage compartment for our luggages, and had a microwave, cooker, refrigerator (surprisingly big enough to store bacon, steak, chicken, hotdogs, 2 large container of juices, fruits), sink, a small compartment to hang 3-4 days' clothes, 4 drawers full of cooking utensils including knifes, forks, spoons, teaspoon, chopping board, 2 kettles, toaster, plastic containers for the microwave, plates, mugs, glasses, frying ladles, soup ladles etc. At the back, there is a small dustpan, broom, hangers, pegs to hang clothes, clothing lines etc.

We were surprised that a van could be that well equipped. I'm not sure about other brands such as Apollo, but after having used Mighty/Britz, I'm really impressed by their efficiency. My SO floored the clutch at a steep location, and there was a burning smell. We were afraid that the engine had overheated as we had just covered more than 500km that day, so we called up Mighty's 1800 number. Within 2 minutes, i received a text of the nearest mechanic's address for a check-up.

Also a word of advise to 1st time campers. Please top-up your petrol as and when you come by any station. There may not be any petrol stations from point A to point B and you must remember that WA is not like SG. Their petrol stations close by 5pm !! We got caught along the Peaceful Bay stretch which was a road cutting across the woods for about 180KM running on near empty tank and it was approaching dark. The load of worry and stress is not worth it.

All in all though, we enjoyed the camping holiday. Thanks to touchme for all his advices and lending us his stuff.

 

[touchme]

For this year's trip, no more getting special rate thru branch direct.
Told to get agent's quotation and email quotation to head office to price match for 5-10% less.

As example, and quite usual, Apollo website quotes $50/day. Reseller quotes $40, Apollo usually only collects $35/day (winter low season rate).

Kiss01, where's your Mighty review? (Britz/Maui depot)

 

[sellun]

Will be doing a 11days NZ South Island campervan trip in one more month. Already booked KEA at quite a good rate. First time driving such a large van (6berth), but the traffic at south island should be alright. Any advice for winter campervaning?

Will post feedback when i'm back in june

 

[touchme]

Taking up an Apollo Endeavor ($766), and a Britz- Mighty Hibal($593) for party of 7 this coming 2 weeks, Sydney-Melbourne-Sydney.

Screwed up a little on price matching, due to late booking. Could have been lower, if matched earlier, with

 

[buzbuz]

For Britz/Maui/Mighty, send alternative quotes to pricematch to direct.sales@thlonline.com
New Zealand franchise: more pro/reponsive/enthusiastic, cost slightly more, come across cleaner.

For Apollo/Hippie/Cheapa, PM to pricematch@apollocamper pricematch@apollocamper.com (Australian franchise)

Note: Their respective agents' quote are not applicable.

Avoid cheapie Travellers' Autobahn. Less well-maintained, older vehicles, (bad reviews from international reviews)

 

[touchme]

At Sydney, Lembara riding on Vodafone good value.
2gb for 30 days, cumulative (not allocated 200-500mb per day). Signed as group of multiple Sims, free calls between each other. $1 credit (few calls) for local numbers. Ideal for visitors.

Supposedly free incoming (intl/local) but not happening, checking with salesperson@airport.

 

[sellun]

Just got back from a campervan trip to South Island NZ. Best trip of my life!!! OMG. I would do it again anytime!