Books and guides

hi macy517
i havent viewed that one but i have -the complete motoring atlas of australia- which has very easy to read maps of every state including tassie but it dosent have pictures of and info of towns but all of that these days and maps of course is availuble on the internet
one piece of advice i can give in respect to books and vanning is they are heavy and after a while one tends to have quiet a pile of them as you keep on adding to them
because vans dont generally have a big weight margin for what you can carry without being overloaded you have to keep this in mind
of course a good gps is better than a map book on the rd
but i find a good map book is great for when i want to sit down and pre-plan a trip
cheers

Camps Australia Wide is handy, It has maps included with it. Also includes low cost van parks as well

Australia Caravan & Motorhome Atlas is a good start. I feel that the Hema publications are at the top as they have had GPS vehicles checking the outback roads for accuracy for their publications.

As well as books there are some excellent web sites that we travellers assist in maintaining. These are kept fairly up to date as we report the changes as we find them. For caravan parks I use Garry Stratton's MyParkList You use it to produce a local map around a town of interest. When you click on the individual parks you get links to that parks web site and Badgers Caravan Park Reports when they are available.

When you get into free camping there is OzCamps

We have found Caravan Parks Australia Wide to be very useful. The RAC Guides only list parks that pay to be included and many, especially those that don't belong to chains, are left out. This guide covers all states and gives an indication of price level and facilities for even the smallest park in the most obscure place. Camps Australia Wide is also very useful and focuses on free or very cheap places to stay. Both books include Hema Road Maps. Otherwise we use the Internet and all the free info available at Tourist Information Centres as we go, most of which we dispose of/pass on when we leave the area so we don't accumulate too much. Lynne

Have a look at John Basham's Caravan Survival Guide. It's available through the EO shop (as per link below).John has a wealth of experience in 4x4 travel and vanning. The book has recently been updated and the 3rd edition released (sept. just past).

Caravan Survival Guide

Cheers Mick

Hi Macy,

I have been caravanning for 40 years and I find most of the books irrelevant, except Camps Australia Wide. In the early days Caravan and Motorhome magazine was informative especially when Roothy was involved some years back. Maybe I have moved on from those days.

Camps Australia Wide has a comprehensive collection of road maps of every state and territory and list a huge number of the free camps around Australia but not all.
Outside of that I use the tourist info centres extensively for each area we visit.
Many travellers would not leave home without it. Me included.

If you are looking for a book to give you some clues as to what you need and what to do then the best suggestion is to head out on the road to anywhere and give it a go as you will quickly find what suits you best, and you will also find the best source of knowledge is from other travellers. They are one of the highlights af any trip.

OzCamps and Badgers Caravan Park Reports are two good sources of information online but there again many of the reports are subjective. What displeases one traveller may not even be noticed by another and the reverse applies as well.

There is also a chap doing the rounds of the caravan shows who is making a number of DVDs of his travels and his setup. It is informative, especially for the beginner and has a few clever tips in them.
His name is Syd Whiting and his wife Sandy are calling their range of DVDs "Grey Nomad 101 and currently he is up to 104. Check out their website Here. Worth a look and certainly worth buying some of their stuff.

I have no connection with theses people, just a satisfied customer.

Cheers, Bruce