Pros and Cons of Camper Vans

Used to own a Hiace Campervan about 20 years ago. Good vehicle with a 2 litre diesel donk. Served us well at the time.

Two negatives I can think of for my current lifestyle.

1. Need to pack up completely when driving somewhere. Quite often a distinct disadvantage.

2. 2WD Only. (Is there a 4WD Hiace option?) This would restrict you where you can go although the ground clearance is OK.

As far as acceptance in National Parks and State Forest Campsites, I don't see this as a problem at all, unless, as per 2. above, the access tracks require 4WD capability.

Gday Geoff, can't comment about a camper van as we have a camper trailer but I can tell you about the Hiaces.

We have Hiaces in our field service fleet and have never had a problem, our vans carry about 900kg all the time and they have carried this weight from new.

Our oldest one is a 1997 model with about 210,000k, the only things we have done to our vans apart from 10,000k services is replaced clutches at about 120,000k, replaced belts, relined brakes and rebuilt one starter motor.

Even to oldest one still drives as good as our newest one and every one who drives then loves them.

We get about 370k to a tank full of petrol in the city and the same in the country.

regards Richard

There really is nothing better in the camping stakes. When you want to camp yoou pull up and jump in the back zero setting up and zero packing up to take off.
for all the who ha about how hard it is to get a campsite in broome i just poured myself out of the pub at closing time and jumped in the back - its that convenient.
as for campsites - if youve got a park youve got a camp.

Have you considered a PC camper - Britz type. It would give you the best of both worlds - a camper and a 4WD.

We have a Troopy pop-top camper and love it. Best of all worlds - a capable 4WD with our home on its back, no higher than a standard Troopy which is a bonus.

National parks, thats where we prefer to camp. We have camped in some awesome places that are only accessible by 4wd.

We can be setup for beer or gin time in 2 mins from stopping. Beats putting up tents, camper trailers, etc but you need to plan your shopping so if you forget something, tough.

Travel light with a minimum of junk that you don't really need and setup, teardown time is minimal. If you are staying in one spot for a few days, put a small tent up to store junk in while you are away - beware that some camp grounds will not let you put a tent up on a power site - bleep s but we have had that problem at Pottsville, NSW a couple of years ago.

Stevesub