# Travel advice please...



## Furley64 (May 6, 2009)

Hi 

myself and the missus are planning (well have booked and still planning) a trip to australia in June and was hoping that I could get some advice on the many different questions we have!

We are planning to land in Sydney and spend 3 nights there then hire a campervan and TRY to make our way to Cairnes in 11, yes 11 days. Along the way we haven't really identified too many spots to visist but I'm worried about the timescale, can anyone advise if this is do-able in the eleven days without spending every day stuck in a van!!?! 

Obviously we want to see some of australia and not just its's tarmac and could stretch to a few more days travelling but want to be able to spend a few days in cairnes.

Also can anyone offer advice on where to shop around for a good price on Campervans please?

We have looked around at Britz, Apllo and others and am just looking for some assurances that these companies are trustworthy and any good?

Also can anyone advise on what the protocol for camping round oz is? Do we have to use the campervan parks or are the some places which we can park up for free and spend the night?

Any help and advice on the points above would be really appreciated, look forward to seeing some threds

thanks


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Furley and you'll be busy doing it in 11 days but not impossible if you give some thought to priorities.
It's about 2700 km. and then you'll need to allow about another 500 km. for detours of the highways for various locations, Travelmate - Australia Accommodation and Hotels, Tours, Car Hire, Maps, Australian Travel Guide for distances/times.

I'd look at a combination of averaging 300 km./day with the possibility of doing 600/700 some days to allow you a full day/2 nights for some places such as Byron Bay/Gold Coast [ which could be combined as they are not much more than a 100 km. apart] and then Sunshine Coast/Australia Zoo or Dolphin tour/Hervey Bay to allow for a Fraser Island tour [one of the musts] - Fraser Island Accommodation - Tours - 4WD Hire - Online Bookings and possibly a half day whale watch tour if they're about.

You could check from headlands as you travel, South and North heads at Sydney Harbour, Byron Bay, Point Danger at Tweed Heads/Coolangatta and Burleigh Heads National Park, grerat walks and views from all.

I'd aim at getting from Hervey Bay to Rockhampton in one hit, Great Western Hotel there for a good meal and vibe, they have an indoor rodeo shed attached to hold rodeos some nights and there's a great botanical gardens with a free mini Zoo attached, complete with Crocs.
If you want a rest day, look at getting over to Great Keppel Island for a day trip, best beaches and snorkelling off beach.

Alternately, make tracks for Airlie Beach and Whitsunday Islands to give yourself a couple of days there to do a couple of reef/island cruises, Whitehaven Beach being a must.

North from there you have Magnetic Island by ferry from Townsville and you're not much more than 300 km. then from Cairns, so if you have a day or two up your sleeve you can take it easy with a stop off along the Mission Beach coast, maybe even doing some of the hinterland south of Cairns for the Curtain Fig Tree, Johnson Valley tree top walk, great old timber pub at Yungaburra, maybe do a night platypus canoe with Atherton Tablelands Backpackers Accommodation & Tours - near Cairns, North Queensland, Australia .

Sydney to Byron is a fair hit in one day and so you may want to allow another day for that stretch, some great places in betweem being Port Stephens and nearby sand dunes on right about 6 km. before Nelson Bay, South West Rocks, both a fair drive off the highway or for a little quiet night pull off, Red Rock Beach about 40 km. north of Coffs Harbour would be OK and then the GC as holiday capital has so much there you might want to allow an extra day there.

Britz, Apollo and KEA are the main higher quality campervan companies but you pay for them and if you can make do with something smaller, there's more budget lines available, some a bit on the rough side using older vehicles and they're all basically a cargo van shell with a mattress and some cooking gear/eaky etc. provided at possibly a bit less than half what you may pay for a larger better fitted out unit, ~ $70 Vs $150 - Google budget campervans and you'll see organisations with 'Wicked" , "Hippie" or "Backpacker" plus a few more in the company name.

Yep, there's places you can pull up for free and you might even find some with a shower though it could be cold, but keep an eye out for where others congregate about 4 PM or so, or if you're near smaller villages you can just about park anywhere if a bit discreet about it, eg., quiet side street rather than carpark right at beach etc.
But there's also nominated legally free places where it's OK.


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