Greatest Manner To Journey Round Australia: Caravan Vs. Camper Trailer…
This submit might include affiliate hyperlinks. We might obtain a small fee, for free of charge to you, for those who make a purchase order. Learn Disclosure.
We frequently get requested what’s the easiest way to journey round Australia – caravan or camper trailer?
Each have their execs and cons, however in the end 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 attraction to this as properly.
So for those who’re deciding on a camper trailer or a caravan to discover Australia, right here’s our comparability of each so you can also make an knowledgeable choice.
Which Is Higher, Caravan or Camper Trailer?
If you happen to’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 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 numerous 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.
Execs and cons of travelling with a camper trailer
There are various kinds of camper trailers you’ll be able to journey round Australia with:
- A flip-over camper principally has a sealed exhausting high when travelling and opens to the rear to develop into the ground which is suspended off the bottom on legs.
- Mushy flooring tents are arrange often 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 much like a caravan.
Execs
- Typically 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 areas as a result of dimension.
Cons
- It’s a must to arrange your tent at every campsite.
- Time-consuming to arrange and pack down (sometimes 90 minutes for us). We’re often shifting campsites each 2-Three days and having to always arrange then pack up turned exhausting over 12 months. In case you are time poor like us and transfer regularly, bear this in thoughts. These campers are extra suited to spending at the very least 5 days in every location.
- Lack of cupboard space means cramped dwelling and fewer conveniences
- Extra gaps, means extra bugs conserving 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
- Much less privateness because the partitions are canvas and simple to look by.
- Much less storage – small bar fridge, restricted storage space!
- Not so nice in dangerous climate (excessive wind, rain, excessive warmth). We had no air/con and suffered for a month within the Purple 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 prompt entry to the inside.
- Mud simpler to enter.
Execs and cons of travelling with a campervan
Caravans are available all sizes and styles, so when you’re researching campervans, you have to consider carefully about what model, dimension, and flooring plan fits you.
Our associates had a New Age Caravan, which I appreciated rather a lot. (And so did they.) We travelled with them for almost six months, so acquired to comprehend it properly.
Different associates we spent a number of time with had a Jayco Expanda.
Execs
- 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 all the pieces in it place / full fridge, so no have to 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 doorways preserve the critters and mud out.
Cons
- Dearer.
- Heavier to tow – that means a probably larger and dearer automobile.
- Much less entry to sure areas, caravan parks.
- More durable to park on the town and retailer.
Our Expertise Travelling Australia With A Camper Trailer
Aside from a tent, and a automobile, our private expertise of travelling Australia was a camper trailer, with a quick stint of time in a motorhome and caravan.
Our opinion relies on what we noticed from the experiences of others on our street journey and other people we turned shut associates with who additionally travelled with youngsters.
We bought a Jayco Outback Swan Camper Trailer on finance after we have been in Victoria, earlier than departing on a street journey alongside the Nice Ocean Street.
We managed to get a brand new one for a good value, and we knew it had resale worth, which was essential 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 dwelling space.
This mannequin was a pop high, which made it moderately straightforward to pitch, although meeting and establishing was nonetheless wanted.
I appreciated 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 would have liked as we have been travelling by a number of seasons.
Towing the camper trailer was tremendous, on the entire, however we had points with screws popping out after we drove down gravel roads. We didn’t take it off the overwhelmed monitor, or down any unsealed roads, simply your standard bumpy roads that you simply’d discover within the Outback.
Nicely, opposite to its title, this mannequin doesn’t do properly within the Outback. We needed to get it repaired 5 occasions 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 a number of 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 may cost our units, and a protracted battery life. This made free tenting very easy for us.
We liked how we may simply pull over and camp wherever we happy. We might 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 need to do with an RV.
General, 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 High Finish, down Western Australia and over to the East Coast.
It could be asking an excessive amount of for the right journey, but when we have been to do it once more, we’d most likely make investments a bit extra and get a caravan as we have been travelling long-term. For over a yr 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, but it surely’s fairly exhausting 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 rapidly turned means too difficult with education the children and a scarcity of area, and particularly working a full-time on-line enterprise, it simply wasn’t sensible.
For some folks, travelling round Australia in a tent is perhaps a dream, it undoubtedly will probably be cheaper.
Sleeping in your automobile
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 a mattress at the back of a van.
All of it will depend on the way you wish to journey and who you’re travelling with? Are you travelling solo, as a pair, or with youngsters 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 chill out!
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 automobile, so you’ll be able to by no means fairly absolutely get arrange for a number of days in a single spot.
When it comes time to discover, you’ll need to pack a number of issues away to drive to city or to your exercise. That’s until you’re tremendous organised and don’t have a number of stuff.
We noticed many individuals travelling round in a lot smaller minivans, hires from firms like Juicy and Apollo. Just like the bigger motorhome, it’s also your automobile so pack up is required every time you wish to transfer.
And naturally, the automobile most definitely gained’t be 4WD, which restricts a number of the locations you may get to.
UPDATE:
We lately skilled a 10 day journey in a motorhome. I stick by what I mentioned above with the constraints. I feel 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 feel they’re too limiting.
I didn’t like having a separate automobile and residential. I discovered it claustrophobic all being in a single and there was no alternative for me to leap within the automobile and escape alone some the place!
Our ladies liked 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 sometimes I couldn’t even hear her.
Older households would possibly take pleasure in this separation, it simply didn’t work so properly with our ladies.
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 youngsters of comparable age to ours.
We met them in Cairns and spent a number of months travelling collectively.
An Expanda is sort 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.
Greatest Autos For Travelling Round Australia
We had a Ford Territory AWD, which is a sort 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 faux 4WD for suburban households. If we have been to do it once more we’d take a hard-core 4WD so we are able to get to extra particular locations.
Keep 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 have to postpone your Australian street journey as a result of you’ll be able to’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, for those who adopted our journey round Australia you’ll have seen we nonetheless had an AMAZING time and acquired to go to so many unbelievable locations in our AWD.
Most locations you may get to on sealed roads, even for those who simply have a daily automobile, 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 most important & most trusted caravan, campervan and motorhome rent market on the planet.
Principally, 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 at all times comes all the way down to price range. You’ll be able to solely do what you are able to do.
We may solely get financing for a certain quantity so we did the very best 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 automobile do it’s a must to tow with?
- do you wish to go off-road or stick with easy accessibility locations?
- how lengthy is your journey?
- winter or summer time 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 regularly
Keep in mind, 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!
Extra Australia Journey Ideas
For journey associated suggestions take a look at these posts:
Pin To Save On Pinterest
Would you journey round Australia in a camper? Tell us what you assume within the feedback!
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!