Round Australia Trip Ideas

Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 19, 2013 at 20:51
ThreadID: 101195 Views:1662 Replies:2 FollowUps:2
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We are planning to travel around Australia next year (2014) leaving Perth in June and heading North, crossing the top, visiting North Queensland, NSW, Vic Tasmania and then home. With a 2WD and standard van, we will not be going off road.
Can anyone recommend a good source of ideas and suggestions for such a trip. We have been caravanning for many years and what I have learnt is that there is still a lot to be learned.
We are going to the Perth caravan show this week. Can anyone suggest any books, DVD's or whatever we should look out for?
Of couse we will have a good look at what the Exploroz store has to offer too!
We would be most grateful for any thoughts.
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Reply By: Member - Kiwibound eventually - Wednesday, Mar 20, 2013 at 19:47

Wednesday, Mar 20, 2013 at 19:47
In October 2011 we completed 52,000 kms travelling to every corner of Australia towing a 22 ft caravan and pretty much relied on Camps 6 (new edition is now Camps 7) as our bible. That and the internet was all we required. We also regularly visited information centres for local brochures and advice. It is easy to spend a lot of money on glossy books and find you rarely look at them. Have a wonderful trip.
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Reply By: Member - John and Val - Wednesday, Mar 20, 2013 at 19:58

Wednesday, Mar 20, 2013 at 19:58
Hi Keith,

The best info is, IMHO online, there is no need to buy books which will seldom give the kind of detailed info that you require. There are maybe two exceptions - one is a good travelling atlas, like one of the Hema atlases, and the other is the camps 6 (or 7) book. Come to think of it Camps has a Hema atlas built in so you only need to get one book!

There are two wonderful sources of info on this site in the places and in the blogs sections. You can search the site using the red search button in the top RH corner.

Use the local visitors centres as you travel for good local info and remember to talk to other travellers who often have info about places that don't exist in any publication.

Dont try to plan too far in advance, and dont overplan, except in general terms eg you need to know the best months to be in the northern part of the country, but you dont need to pin yourself down by planning where you will be on any given day 3 months out.

Understand that you are driving a 2WD but remember that there are many wonderful places off the bitumen but still easily accessed along generally reasonable gravel roads. That said there are some places that you will sadly have to miss.

Have a great trip.

Cheers,

Val.
J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein

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Follow Up By: Member - Keith Q - Wednesday, Mar 20, 2013 at 21:58

Wednesday, Mar 20, 2013 at 21:58
Thanks Gill and Peter, and J and Val. That's just the kind of advice we wanted. We will most likely only do the trip once and we want to enjoy and remember every moment of it. We will keep a lookout for Camps 7 at the Perth caravan show.
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Follow Up By: Member - John and Lynne - Thursday, Mar 21, 2013 at 09:03

Thursday, Mar 21, 2013 at 09:03
Yes John and Val are spot on! I would add Caravan Parks Australia Wide to make two books! (Same people as publish Camps 7). This gives a good indication of price and facilities for just about every CP in Australia, while Camps is concentrating on campgrounds and mainly focusses on the main tourist routes. We find the two complement each other well. Even though we like to camp most of the time there are times when we want a laundry and a power pole! The RAC Caravan Park guides are useless as they only include those parks that pay their high charges - mostly the expensive chains with all bells and whistles which we don't need.
We have also added good field guides to birds and trees as it is interesting to identify and learn about all the birds and trees we see.
Have a wonderful trip! Lynne
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