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We regularly get requested what’s the easiest way to journey round Australia – caravan or camper trailer?
Each have their execs and cons, however finally we selected a camper trailer for almost all of our 18-month street journey round Australia.
Can we remorse it? Would a caravan be higher?
Having street tripped in a caravan on separate events, we are able to see the enchantment to this as effectively.
So when 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 determination.
Which Is Higher, Caravan or Camper Trailer?
When you’re quick on time and don’t need to learn our full expertise, then the short reply is that a caravan can be higher than a camper trailer to journey round Australia.
The explanations for it is 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 prone to break.
In fact, that is only a fast abstract. There are a lot of 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 will get a greater image of what that was like.
For now, right here’s a abstract of the professionals and cons of every.
Professionals and cons of travelling with a camper trailer
There are several types of camper trailers you’ll be able to journey round Australia with:
- A flip-over camper largely has a sealed laborious high when travelling and opens to the rear to turn into the ground which is suspended off the bottom on legs.
- Tender flooring tents are arrange normally by eradicating the tender vinyl tonneaux cowl, pulling the canvas out & extending the interior 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 just like a caravan.
Professionals
- Usually cheaper than caravans.
- Lighter to tow, consumes much less gasoline and never as sluggish as caravans.
- Safer to tow – extra imaginative and prescient to see out the again and fewer fishtailing.
- Nearer to nature with the canvas roofing and sides – extra open so pure air can enter.
- Simpler to retailer.
- Can entry extra off-road places on account of dimension.
Cons
- It’s important to arrange your tent at every campsite.
- Time-consuming to arrange and pack down (usually 90 minutes for us). We’re normally shifting campsites each 2-3 days and having to always arrange then pack up turned exhausting over 12 months. If you’re time poor like us and transfer regularly, bear this in thoughts. These campers are extra suited to spending no less than 5 days in every location.
- Lack of cupboard space means cramped residing and fewer conveniences
- Extra gaps, means extra bugs holding you awake at night time
- No facilities. Nothing beats your individual rest room in the course of the night time and a bathe when campsite facilities are filthy
- Much less privateness because the partitions are canvas and straightforward to look by means of.
- Much 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 Crimson Centre with temps over 40 levels. And one among our beds broke in excessive wind in Denham, WA.
- Can’t pull over on lengthy drives and have instantaneous entry to the inside.
- Mud simpler to enter.
Professionals and cons of travelling with a campervan
Caravans are available all sizes and shapes, so when you find yourself researching campervans, it is advisable to think twice about what model, dimension, and flooring plan fits you.
Our mates had a New Age Caravan, which I favored lots. (And so did they.) We travelled with them for practically six months, so acquired to realize it effectively.
Different mates we spent lots of time with had a Jayco Expanda.
Professionals
- Some campervans include photo voltaic panels so that you don’t want to fret about discovering powered websites.
- A lot much less arrange and pack up time!
- Extra cupboard space to have every thing in it place / full fridge, so no must set all of it up while you arrive in a brand new place once more.
- Can pull over the aspect of the street and also you’re able to sleep, or you’ll be able to seize your self a cuppa and a snack (cheaper)
- Simpler to be self-sufficient.
- A bit extra luxurious with air-con, TV’s, and separate bedrooms and loos (you’ll be able to go much more lux with some!)
- Much less cracks and display screen doorways hold the critters and dirt out.
Cons
- Dearer.
- Heavier to tow – that means a probably greater and costlier car.
- Much less entry to sure areas, caravan parks.
- Tougher to park on the town and retailer.
Our Expertise Travelling Australia With A Camper Trailer
Other than 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 is predicated on what we noticed from the experiences of others on our street journey and folks we turned shut mates 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 street journey alongside the Nice Ocean Street.
We managed to get a brand new one for an honest value, and we knew it had a great resale worth, which was vital to us as we didn’t have plans to remain in Australia permenantly.
Though it was a small area for a household of 4, it was total 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 fairly straightforward to pitch, although meeting and organising was nonetheless wanted.
I favored 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 effective, 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.
Effectively, 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.
Nonetheless, there have been just a few advantages to the camper trailer, regardless of its flimsy design which was not suited to our stage of journey. It had solar energy, so we might cost our units, and an extended battery life. This made free tenting very easy for us.
We cherished how we might simply pull over and camp wherever we happy. We’d 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 must search for a powered tenting spot, which you’d need to do with an RV.
Total, regardless of there being apparent challenges with the camper trailer, it did get us round Australia for over a 12 months and we’re very grateful for that. It travelled hundreds of kilometres, from Victoria in South Australia alongside to Adelaide, as much as the Prime Finish, down Western Australia and over to the East Coast.
It could be asking an excessive amount of for the proper trip, 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 12 months of street tripping, having to pop up your tent every night time is a bit garbage.
Different Methods To Journey Round Australia
Travelling Australia with a Tent
Tents are nice for bush tenting and small journeys, however it’s fairly laborious core to do a lap of Australia in a tent relying in your circumstances.
We started our street journey round Australia with simply a tent, and it shortly turned means 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 individuals, travelling round Australia in a tent may be a dream, it undoubtedly will likely be cheaper.
Sleeping in your car
Many individuals 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 behind a van.
All of it will depend on the way you need 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 is usually 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. Inside 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 one drawback is the house can also be your car, so you’ll be able to by no means fairly totally get arrange for just a few days in a single spot.
When it comes time to discover, you’ll need to pack just a few issues away to drive to city or to your exercise. That’s until you’re tremendous organised and don’t have lots of stuff.
We noticed many individuals travelling round in a lot smaller minivans, hires from corporations like Juicy and Apollo. Just like the bigger motorhome, additionally it is your car so pack up is required every time you need to transfer.
And naturally, the car probably received’t be 4WD, which restricts lots of the locations you will get to.
UPDATE:
We lately skilled a ten day journey in a motorhome. I stick by what I mentioned above with the constraints. I believe they’re nice for small journeys and in locations that don’t require off street exploring.
However, 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 cherished 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 far-off behind the motorhome and sometimes I couldn’t even hear her.
Older households may get pleasure from this separation, it simply didn’t work so effectively with our women.
Expandas
Our mates Nick & Emma (The Blockshoppers) run TheBlockShop web site which is related to the fact 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.
Only 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.
Finest Automobiles For Travelling Round 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’ll be able to take it.
It’s extra like a pretend 4WD for suburban households. If we had been to do it once more we’d take a hard-core 4WD so we are able to get to extra particular locations.
Bear in mind, clearance is important.
Our Territory sat fairly low and we acquired bogged in Kakadu and couldn’t cross a number of rivers like alongside The Gibb River Street in The Kimberley’s, needed to rent a 4 wheel drive to do Fraser Island, and undoubtedly couldn’t do Cape York.
A tough-core 4WD is the easiest way 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 must postpone your Australian street journey as a result of you’ll be able to’t afford a 4WD. There are all the time excursions and issues you are able to do to get round that for locations you’re dying to get to.
HOWEVER, when you adopted our journey round Australia you’d have seen we nonetheless had an AMAZING time and acquired to go to so many unbelievable locations in our AWD.
Most locations you will get to on sealed roads, even when you simply have a daily automotive, so don’t stress an excessive amount of and never journey OZ since you don’t have a 4 wheel drive.
However in hindsight, a 4WD can be our alternative subsequent time!
Outdoorsy Motorhome Leases
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.
Mainly, it’s the Airbnb of the motorhome world! They’ve a variety of motorhomes and campervans from classic campers to trendy trailers. Plus, they arrive with as much as $1M in insurance coverage protection.
The Verdict
Sadly, it nearly all the time comes all the way down to funds. You may solely do what you are able to do.
We might solely get financing for a certain quantity so we did the most effective we might on the time. It’s as much as you to determine whats’ finest financially for you.
It additionally comes down to those different components:
- who’re you touring with? (solo / couple / household)
- what automotive do you must tow with?
- do you need to go off-road or stick with easy accessibility locations?
- how lengthy is your journey?
- winter or summer season locations?
So what’s the decision? For a 12 months lengthy journey round Australia or extra, we extremely advocate, in case your funds permits, a caravan.
For shorter journeys in Australia, a camper trailer will likely be enough so long as you aren’t shifting regularly
Bear in mind, these are simply our opinions. Our state of affairs, and tolerance ranges, could also be totally different to yours so all the time do your due diligence and select what’s finest for you!
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