Wherever the day takes us
This wasn’t the life I thought I’d experience until I was over 65. Driving for hours and sleeping in cramped quarters wasn’t appealing.
However, the kids have dreamt of traveling in a camper van for years. I don’t know exactly where it originated from but every time we’d see an RV, their eyes would widen as if they’ve seen the promised land. So, we thought Australia would be a perfect opportunity to embark on this journey!
Booking our van
There are endless sites dedicated to renting camper vans all around the world. From my limited experience, I found that third-party sites seem to be the cheapest way to rent a camper van vs. directly going to the camper van company’s site. We rented our camper van from an online site CU-Camper. Oddly, CU-Camper, a company based out of Hamburg, Germany, had the best prices amongst all the websites that I priced out, and their customer service was great. For 5 nights, we paid $1216 USD, or roughly $243 USD/night. Pricey in comparison to hotel prices in the area but I couldn’t disappoint the kids. You have to pay for the camper van in full before they confirm and complete the reservation. Their website accepts credit card payments through Paypal so it was easy to do.
Checking-In
My first experience picking up a camper van was a learning experience as some ways were similar to renting a car, but other parts were a bit different.
Like any international vehicle rental, you need to provide your passports upon check-in. We had also gotten an international driver’s license back home and thought that was required to rent a motor vehicle. What I learned was that in countries where English is the primary language you don’t need an international driver’s license as this is really for countries where the driver’s license is not written in English. At least this is what the agent said, so make sure you confirm before taking my word. So, I just showed my US driver’s license and was able to proceed.
The whole process of checking in and getting the keys for the camper van took about 30 minutes.
Insurance
The rental agent went through the details of their insurance. Our camper van company, Britz, had three options to choose from:
$59 AUD/day for full coverage
$49 AUD/day for full coverage except for rollovers of the camper van
A $7,500 AUD deposit that would be returned, minus any deductions for damages, after final inspection of the camper van upon return
We chose to go with the $7,500 AUD deposit option and so they charged our credit card the full deposit amount. Unfortunately, none of our credit cards provided any coverage for large vehicles like camper vans so they weren’t any help there. The rental agency also charged 1.6% for using a credit card which was significant but thankfully we get 2x points on our purchase with Capital One Venture X so we were still net positive on the transaction.
Now, although the deposit was the most cost-effective choice it did have me nervous the entire time we had the camper van. Trying to make sure nothing gets damaged on a large vehicle was a bit nerve-racking so if you think you won’t be comfortable managing a large vehicle, then one of the other insurance options might be the way to go.
Education
It’s definitely wise to get a little education about using a camper van before going on your adventures. Things like how do you use and empty the toilet, how to work the water, electricity, and gas, or even how to work the bed. Everything about camper van life was new to all of us and thankfully there was a 15-minute video at the office that went through all the details. For the most part, things weren’t too complicated, and using the features were pretty logical.
One piece of advice is to always be mindful of how large the camper van really is. Our camper van drove and felt like a regular van and so at times, I had to remind myself of just how wide and high the van actually was. You need to always be mindful of the outer dimensions because you can easily drive into a car park that’s too low or drive into a path that’s too narrow and wreck your camper van. I would highly recommend always having one person outside the camper van assisting whenever you’re looking to park. That helped us out immensely.
Here are a few things about our camper van features that hopefully are a quick intro for those of you who’ve never rented one before.
Our camper van had a four burner stovetop, oven and range hood. It also came with standard cookware, cutlery, utensils, and cups and plates so we didn’t need to bring any of that for cooking.
It also came with a grill which you accessed on the outside of the camper van.
The stovetop, oven, and grill were all supplied by a single propane tank. You are required to refill the propane tank upon return. However, we cooked every day for 5 days and even roasted a chicken in the oven for 1.5 hours and didn’t need to refill the tank because it was still almost full.
There was also a sink with hot or cold water. The faucet could fold down when not in use.
There was also a shower, vanity sink, and toilet. The camper van had an electric water pump that fed the water and also an electric water heater. These were turned on and off with switches on the camper van’s main console. The water heater would use up a significant amount of battery power and took about 15-20 minutes to heat up the water.
There is a freshwater port where you feed the hose from an external faucet. We found the freshwater reserve would last about 2 days of doing dishes, toilet usage, and even a shower. Most all campsites had fresh water faucets so this wasn’t an issue for us. The camper van also had fresh and grey water meters so that you can check the levels.
For grey water, which is water collected from the use of the sinks and shower, you empty it from the waste hose spout. The camper van comes with a waste hose that you connect to the spout and then you discharge the water into either a drain at the site or for some sites just into bushes or a ditch. We’d have to empty the waste pretty much every day.
The waste hose, electric cord, and fresh water hose are all stored in the same area on the side of the camper van.
This is the toilet cassette that snaps into place. It holds a good amount and empties through the pipe you see up on top. Our cassette had a small button on top to help empty it out. Every dump site will also have a hose for clean-up. Dump sites are not at every caravan park so you may have to venture around to find one. Also, make sure to get a toilet chemical baggy for every couple of days you’re traveling. This helps prevent the toilet from stinking up your camper van.
Upon return of the van we were required to return the toilet cassette fully emptied.
For powered sites, you would plug the camper van’s power cord into this connection and then plug it into the outlet at the campsite. Our power cord would light up orange to show that everything was connected properly and powering the van.
We also had a microwave, small tv, and refrigerator/freezer. There are also outlets around the camper van as well. One thing to note though is that the outlets for the camper van do not work unless the van is connected to an external power source. Therefore our microwave, kettle pot, and toaster were unusable at non-powered sites.
The main seating area was very comfortable and had extra storage underneath. This was large enough to hold 3 of our carry-ons. The seating area would convert into a double bed and then the second double bed is lowered electronically from the top of the van. All the beds were actually pretty comfortable and everyone slept well in them. The camper van did come with its own sheets, blankets, and pillows which were pretty decent.
Aside from the driver and passenger seats up front there were two captain seats for the kids as well.
There was a lot of small storage spaces around the camper van as well as a dining table that you have to manually attach/detach.
The camper van runs off a diesel. For driving around Australia for 5 days we used about a little over a full tank and cost $168 AUD. On average the cost of diesel was about $2.33/L around Australia
One other thing that our camper van came with was a navigation system. This was actually pretty invaluable because some of the sites we went to didn’t have cell signal but the camper van’s navigation runs off a small satellite on the roof. I would recommend having a navigation system like this if you’re planning on going to some more rural sites because without it we would have been lost.
On the road
Australia is great for camper van life because there are so many sites where you can park your camper van and hang out. There wasn’t a single location where we went that we found it difficult to maneuver or park our camper van. There are a lot of free sites at many of the sites of interest but we chose to book our campsites online which ranged from $15-30/night. When renting a site there are some that are powered and others that are not. It’s recommended that you power your camper van every 1-2 days. We rented a powered site every 2 days and didn’t have any issues with not having power. Some of the sites in the wilderness were pretty bare bones where you had a public restroom and a plot of land to park your van. Our Wallaman Falls campsite cost us about $20 AUD but was pretty basic in terms of amenities.
On the way to Wallaman Falls
Wallaman Falls
Other sites, like Big 4 Mission Beach Caravan Park and Etty Bay Caravan Park, provided electricity, a dump site for your toilet, hot showers, and even a private kids’ swimming pool. Prices for powered sites like this can run from $30 - 75 AUD. We tried booking our powered sites about a week out and found availability very limited so I would advise booking these sites as early as possible.
Mission Beach
Etty Bay Sunrise
Etty Bay
The Final Verdict
Honestly, I loved the camper van. Yes, the quarters were tight, and sometimes the drives were long but the experience was just something you couldn’t replicate through any other type of family vacation. Is it a luxurious five-star vacation? Nope, but the camper van life offers a simple and intimate way of spending time with your family that’s hard to find elsewhere. Having the freedom to just pick up and go to a beautiful site and experience nature and then pack up and move on to the next beautiful wonder is pretty hard to beat. Every one of the Byeans loved our time in our camper van and we definitely would do it again in the future.
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