Caravan, Camper Trailer or Tent around Oz ?

I have done it with all three and the best way is go in a caravan and take your OZ tent. You will get fed up with a camper trailer especially if you want to stop and have lunch or feed bub. With a caravan you just open the door and you have comfort. We left our caravan at Cooktown and travelled up Cape York and got cheap accommodation at roadhouses and properties and only used the OZ tent when it was too costly or not available. If you plan it properly you can leave the caravan in one spot and make a round tour back to the 'van without retracing your journey.

for me there would be only one solution .. no brainer .. but thats just me :

solid walls ... .. why .. it's the baby ..
get a small aircon and make it comfortable ...

all other more adventure type travel .. later when the kid(s) are a bit older
(4-5+) ..

solid walls either means slide-on or caravan ... most likely caravan ..

ok thats just me ...

I have travelled long distance on my motorbike with a tent and around the world
5 star and everything in between ... as soon as babies and mothers with little kids:
aircon in solid walls ..

good luck
gmd

There are some secondhand caravans up to the task here!

From an very rugged Jayco type to full van

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I wouald agree to go van with baby as protection from elements can be hard

Hi Birdy:

My wife and I went around Oz (clockwise) from Gosford, NSW using the Oztent. We travelled 37,500km between March and August and had no problems pitching the tent most nights. Just out of Karratha I did my back in and had to spend 4 nights in a cabin, but thereafter it was all tenting. We had no problems, loved it, had our setup down to a matter of minutes, and would be happy to do it again.

Our Oztent has all the bells and whistles, side and front panels, fly, and the Ozpod.

We had the choice of dragging a camper trailer with us but elected not to and did not regret the decision.

Jack

Yeh, do what the softies suggest and get a caravan. Then see about half of Australia. Or you to do a car topper or an offroad camper trailer and see a lot more.

It really depends a lot on just where you intend to go. There are a few, a very few, caravans that can cut it in the rough stuff, there are a lot more camper trailers that can cut it, and all car toppers should romp it in.

The setup/pulldown time of campers is an issue for sure...but have you ever watched people erect cartoppers? What a giggle that can be.

Travellers can adapt to any rig of course - hell - we see people on postie bikes through to huge busses - we chose a hard floor camper trailer because it has a mix of convenient comfort and carrying capacity (keeps some weight off the car wheels - allows me to take more toys). Our longest trip has been 5 weeks to date - IMO, your year long trip calls for more comfort ! As others have said, a van would be great, especially when you can flip the air-con on in some of those sweaty caravan parks in the far north (35 degs easy in their 'winter'). With a tent to do a few short side trips, that only leaves the fishing factor - hiring a tinny or doing the odd charter seems the go - I'm a bloody materialist (would be happier with my own tinny while up there) but I'm trying to fight it - hiring can be so sensible in the right circumstances........ you could easily carry a canoe...........
but choose a colour crocs don't like !

Hi Birdy,

While we have yet to do the "big lap", we have done a fair amount of camping. When our kids were younger we had an off-road van that was very comfortable (air-con etc...) and made life easy with young kids. But its sheers size (was only 13"6') was too big for many tracks and I severly damaged both sides of the van (required a re-skin). I found rough tracks not to be an issue, but tight tracks were the biggest problem when towing a van.

Now that our kids are older, we have a camper trailer that can go virtually anywhere a vehicle can go. We find it great, but gotta admit it would be a big ask to do this for a year - a few weeks to months maybe.

Setting up and packing up a canvas tent/trailer in fine weather is easy, but what about when it is freezing cold and poring with rain - thats just not fun and having to worry about a very young child makes it more unpleasant.

Having had a tent, camper trailer and a van, the only way I could contemplate a year long trip would be in the van (and a tent for those times the van won't fit). Maybe I am too soft, but thats the way I would go (but would love to have your problem!).

Cheers

Captain

Birdy,

I think Darian is spot on, when you travel it is amazing to see that people can travel and be happy in just about anything.

I will take issue with your comparison between set up times in a tent vs a camper trailer. Depends on the camper type, but you can set up a camper trailer much quicker than a tent, and by set up I don't just mean throw the tent out, but set up ready for dinner, a beer and a relax. We travelled in a KK for six months and spent quite a bit of that time with family members who brought tents (including an Oz Tent). We were always relaxing and ready to go well before them. Hard floors are obviously better in this regard than soft floors. That said, I really like the Oz Tents.

I always find it interesting that people tend to focus on set up/pack up times as being how long it takes to physically fold your tent/camper. The difference is, in my opinion, measured in a few minutes. The real time to pack up/set up is the time taken to pack all the crap away ready to fold up. This time is significantly increased when you travel with kids and the attendant, bikes, clothes, shoes, sports gear, toys, etc......, etc. In this regard I think that how your gear is organised and accessed becomes more important than how long it takes to physically pack fold your tent/trailer/caravan. This, I believe, is what gives a decent camper or a caravan the advantage because you can invariably organise your gear better.

Roadside stops for lunch or a cuppa? Yeah, the caravan is the way to go, but again a decent camper trailer will serve you pretty well and are often just as quick. Can't sit inside though unless you bother to set it up.

Aircon would be nice, but it is stating the obvious that you need 240v to run it. This ties you to van parks (in which case you might as well get a decent van) or a generator. Just my personal opinion, but if aircon is a major factor in your decision, you are kind of missing the point of travelling around this country. As someone else suggested, over 12 months you should be able to plan your trip to avoid the worst of the heat.

Im.away was right in suggesting that you ask yourself where you want to go and set up accordingly. A van will seriously limit you (unless you are prepared to leave it and take the tent for short trips), a camper trailer somewhat (but really only the very serious stuff that you may not consider with a 1-2 year old anyway) and a tent/rooftop tent not at all. When you do travel you will pick up heaps of info on great spots from other travellers, and will no doubt change your plans accordingly. That is a great thing, but you will be disappointed if you hear of somewhere you would like to go and find you can't because of your chosen setup. My advice, plan for some decent 4WD stuff.

Again, there is some confusion I think (probably caused by marketeers trying to get their product into a lucrative market) about what constitutes an off road trailer/van. I'd warrant that I could get most caravans available on the market along the Gibb River Road, Mitchell Falls, etc. But what kind of condition will it be in at the end and for how long could you do it before a catastrophic failure? To me, 'off road' is not so much about getting over a tricky, rocky, twisty short section, but doing thousands of kilometres on corrugated/rough dirt roads without significant failure. Here I think most caravans (off road or not) are at a distinct disadvantage to a decent off road camper. Tents are not an issue at all of course.

Lastly you mention coughing up some creature comforts by going from a van or camper to a tent. More than you might think. A week or two away is one thing, but the 12 months you propose is an entirely different kettle of fish and some of those small inconveniences can magnify over that sort of time frame. Still, as Darian pointed out people can, and do, travel with some amazingly simple set ups and still have the time of their life.

I'm obviously camper biased, but good luck with the decision and hope you have a great time.

Matt.

Hi there
I would recommend having a fantastic drawer set up in the back of your car, which you can then use like an onroad kitchen - no need to unpack heaps, which would then give you the flexibility that a caravan/camper would offer, but none of the trailing hassles; then tent it with an oztent stored on the roof. This would give you the best of many worlds, as you can go wherever you like, and have an easy set up at your destination, or an easy pit stop on the road. I have a set of Tanami _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx, and the inevitable fridge, with a small stove which can sit on the rear tray for cooking/tea/coffee etc. We travelled for three months with this set up, with two kids, albeit older than a baby, and at no time did we feel the need for a van or trailer. All the food, plates etc go in the _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx, (along with recovery gear in another drawer), then gear can go in the space above it, or in a roof bag if you've got lots of stuff.
Helena

Hi Birdy,
We have travelled a variety of ways. All have pros and cons. There is no perfect solution, just one that suits you and your family. The points to consider:
1) Over 12 months you are going to get the full range of weather no matter how much you duck and weave. You have a young child and need to consider the effects of more extreme weather. They get cold, hot and can dehydrate quickly.
2) What do you really want to see and do?
3) On a 12 month trip it is very unlikely that you will move every day. We don't on a six week trip. So if it takes a little longer to set up camp who cares.
4) If your budget is flexible you an always use accomodation if required.
5) It is not always possible to get a tinnie so I would seriously think about taking your own.

Steve

Birdy,

I think you might have missed something. The 1 year old baby.

It has had 12 months to try and get into a routine of sleeping and eating and learning in familiar surroundings. All this is going to change and I think for the worst.

If the baby is having a nap during the day now , how is it going to cope, will you be able to feed the baby on demand? All this and more while you are trying to enjoy yourself and see Australia. Will you be able to handle the want and needs of a baby.

The baby will not be able to tell you when it is thirsty or not felling well. Outback a doctor might be days away. This may sound harsh but so is dehydration.

There is a lot more to consider, but think about putting the trip off until the baby can handle the trip.

Wayne

maybe somebody can put me right, here, but whenever I go over to give somebody an earbashing, having seen their new KK or similar, having looked with envy at those gleaming, shiny panels on their camper, one thing I always notice is the pile of crap all over the floor and under/around the CT. They just don't have the storage unless you have the full setup, which you wouldn't bother with for shortish stops. Just an observation. Or maybe I've just met untidy campers.

Very interesting read as I have planned a trip round oz too, but I notice you only talk about either vans, campers or roof tops but what about a troop carrier set up inside with the high roof, double bed, sink fridge and cooker? Like the ones you see on fraser?
I have done a bit of work with one on fraser and found it to be pull a park and grab a chair and a beer and relax (for lunch ) or pull up, set up a tarp, pull out your chair table and your set. Only hassle is pulling out your bed boards and setting up the bed every night. Guess this setup is only siutable for one maybe two persons.

I don't have much experience with caravan A/C but do they really work? I stayed in a van with A/C (the in-laws). It is a split system (no idea if thats good or bad) but you need to run it all day to keep van interior coolish and if the kids leave the door open.. there goes all the cold air (not that your's is going to be opening the door). Unlikely you'll want to be sitting inside the van all day anyway. This one was pretty noisy both inside and outside, and overall... highly over-hyped IMO.

No doubt everyone will defend their setup... maybe this particular one just doesn't work very well.

Another thing... most small vans (that I've seen) are two person things... the baby is probably still having midday snoozes and goes to sleep pretty early at night (not to mention waking up in the middle of the night!) so you need to think how that's going to work. Don't want to have to make it's bed up out of the breakfast table/seating every day for a year!

My wife and i went around oz last year towing an of road jaco finch, takes ten minutes to set up but could do it quicker all depends who is watching or how thirsty i am.We done twenty five thousand ks fourteen thousand on dirt took the Jaco everywhere including the old telegragh track cape york ,through the whole of the kimberly including kalumberu.The worst road was to Wolf creek it was a shocker.The only place i didnt take the van was through the simpson desert i left it at Marie.I also like to fish and you do need a boat for most places but was glad that i never took one i will leave that to next time when we will be traveling with friends.By the way i had cooper STT on the 80 series and ST on the Jaco never got a flat or anything great tyers.Only problem with the Jaco the steps got a bit bent at the start of the telegagh track going up to cape york other than that nothing its ready to go again.
cheers
streety