Around Aus in 6 months 2019
Discussion
I drive past this one every day on the way to work. No idea if they are any good or not. They do seem to have the back packer vans and then also the fancy motorhome type vehicles as well. There is a Quest apartments opposite it to. Mind you, it is very close to the airport so you would get a lot of Aeroplane noise.
https://www.apollocamper.com/campervan-hire-locati...
https://www.apollocamper.com/campervan-hire-locati...
Thanks for the info, it seems therir website is undergoing maintenance at the moment, but I'll keep checking, plans are to arrive melbourne in 11 months, and then head around the island/continent, Interestingly, your website is LS based, I'm hoping to take my LS7 powered Ultima to the nurburgring this autumn......mighy try and pick up some hot bits for the car during the lap.
Thevet said:
Thanks for the info, it seems therir website is undergoing maintenance at the moment, but I'll keep checking, plans are to arrive melbourne in 11 months, and then head around the island/continent, Interestingly, your website is LS based, I'm hoping to take my LS7 powered Ultima to the nurburgring this autumn......mighy try and pick up some hot bits for the car during the lap.
Yes, I might have a couple of LS powered vehicles! 
Sadly they stopped making them in Oz at the end of last year.
LS7 Ultima, very nice.
As well as Apollo, other big ones are Britz:
http://www.britz.com
And Maui:
http://www.maui-rentals.com/au/en
But hiring for six months would be astronomically expensive. If it was me and I had the cash I'd definitely buy something.
I can't help with recommendations but there is a very healthy market for this stuff so I really don't think you'd struggle to find something while waiting for the dogs to clear quarantine. You could sell it cheap at the end of the trip and still be far better off than renting.
Another option would be to buy a 4x4 and caravan. I found that was the most common weapon of choice for the "grey nomads" because it allows you comfort without sacrificing the freedom to explore.
It depends how much you'll be stopping though of course. If you're moving on each night then a motorhome would be better.
http://www.britz.com
And Maui:
http://www.maui-rentals.com/au/en
But hiring for six months would be astronomically expensive. If it was me and I had the cash I'd definitely buy something.
I can't help with recommendations but there is a very healthy market for this stuff so I really don't think you'd struggle to find something while waiting for the dogs to clear quarantine. You could sell it cheap at the end of the trip and still be far better off than renting.
Another option would be to buy a 4x4 and caravan. I found that was the most common weapon of choice for the "grey nomads" because it allows you comfort without sacrificing the freedom to explore.
It depends how much you'll be stopping though of course. If you're moving on each night then a motorhome would be better.
Friends of ours have just set off on a 6 month round the country trip. They've never been anywhere in a caravan before...as in they only bought it a couple of month's ago specifically for this trip, and have had maybe 2 or 3 nights away in it before setting off.
He bought a brand new Holden Trailblazer and a second hand caravan - must have set him back close to $80k all up.
His biggest issues have been:
- learning to tow / reverse a caravan
- getting all the wiring sorted out (car has 7 pin plug, caravan has 12)
- weight - he is 8kg under the GCM for the car, and that was after removing the bike rack the PO had added to the caravan, and the 3rd row of seats from the car.
If it was me I'd buy a campervan - much less hassle than trying to work with a car and a caravan and should be easier from a weight point of view. You may be better to rent although it will be expensive - I don't know how insurance here works if you have no permanent address and a UK licence. Edit: could you use your stepson's address?
Try https://www.caravancampingsales.com.au to see what is available and prices etc
Do a lot of research on when to go - bits up the top get impassable at certain times of the year. They all seem to set off about now no matter which way they are going.
As for the dogs - speak to your vet - I think QLD has fairly widespread heartworm so they might need to go on something for that. And be aware that it will be significantly hotter and more humid here than in the UK, so they might struggle.
He bought a brand new Holden Trailblazer and a second hand caravan - must have set him back close to $80k all up.
His biggest issues have been:
- learning to tow / reverse a caravan
- getting all the wiring sorted out (car has 7 pin plug, caravan has 12)
- weight - he is 8kg under the GCM for the car, and that was after removing the bike rack the PO had added to the caravan, and the 3rd row of seats from the car.
If it was me I'd buy a campervan - much less hassle than trying to work with a car and a caravan and should be easier from a weight point of view. You may be better to rent although it will be expensive - I don't know how insurance here works if you have no permanent address and a UK licence. Edit: could you use your stepson's address?
Try https://www.caravancampingsales.com.au to see what is available and prices etc
Do a lot of research on when to go - bits up the top get impassable at certain times of the year. They all seem to set off about now no matter which way they are going.
As for the dogs - speak to your vet - I think QLD has fairly widespread heartworm so they might need to go on something for that. And be aware that it will be significantly hotter and more humid here than in the UK, so they might struggle.
Edited by Jader1973 on Wednesday 11th April 11:07
Edited by Jader1973 on Wednesday 11th April 11:14
I did this trip when I was a backpacker about 4 years ago. I did it in a Mazda e2000 campervan and to be honest most places I could get to with it just fine.
As soon as you add 4x4 and campervan together the price seems to go up astronomically. An easy solution is either a 4x4 with a rooftop tent, or a ex rental troopcarrier which has the high roof and equipment inside, like a small camper but half the size. Or a 4x4 single cab Ute with a demountable camper section on the back. Although I don’t think any of these cheaper solutions would really work as you have dogs in tow.
People seems to be ignorant on just how big Australia is. Once you head west, it feels never ending. Having a rental will give you the piece of mind for breakdown assurance, but if something does happen you are going to be days away from rescue regardless.
I think if I was doing this I would get some quotes from Britz and Apollo. Also try GoCruisin. But I think the best way will be to buy. There are a lot of buses that people convert and then tow a little Suzuki jimmy behind for when they want to get to harder to reach locations. That’s got to be the best set up available.
Best of luck, enjoy your trip! Don’t neglect the west coast, it is by far the best bit in my opinion!
As soon as you add 4x4 and campervan together the price seems to go up astronomically. An easy solution is either a 4x4 with a rooftop tent, or a ex rental troopcarrier which has the high roof and equipment inside, like a small camper but half the size. Or a 4x4 single cab Ute with a demountable camper section on the back. Although I don’t think any of these cheaper solutions would really work as you have dogs in tow.
People seems to be ignorant on just how big Australia is. Once you head west, it feels never ending. Having a rental will give you the piece of mind for breakdown assurance, but if something does happen you are going to be days away from rescue regardless.
I think if I was doing this I would get some quotes from Britz and Apollo. Also try GoCruisin. But I think the best way will be to buy. There are a lot of buses that people convert and then tow a little Suzuki jimmy behind for when they want to get to harder to reach locations. That’s got to be the best set up available.
Best of luck, enjoy your trip! Don’t neglect the west coast, it is by far the best bit in my opinion!
supraboy said:
I did this trip when I was a backpacker about 4 years ago. I did it in a Mazda e2000 campervan and to be honest most places I could get to with it just fine.
As soon as you add 4x4 and campervan together the price seems to go up astronomically. An easy solution is either a 4x4 with a rooftop tent, or a ex rental troopcarrier which has the high roof and equipment inside, like a small camper but half the size. Or a 4x4 single cab Ute with a demountable camper section on the back. Although I don’t think any of these cheaper solutions would really work as you have dogs in tow.
People seems to be ignorant on just how big Australia is. Once you head west, it feels never ending. Having a rental will give you the piece of mind for breakdown assurance, but if something does happen you are going to be days away from rescue regardless.
I think if I was doing this I would get some quotes from Britz and Apollo. Also try GoCruisin. But I think the best way will be to buy. There are a lot of buses that people convert and then tow a little Suzuki jimmy behind for when they want to get to harder to reach locations. That’s got to be the best set up available.
Best of luck, enjoy your trip! Don’t neglect the west coast, it is by far the best bit in my opinion!
To add to this - most national parks don’t allow dogs in them!!! As soon as you add 4x4 and campervan together the price seems to go up astronomically. An easy solution is either a 4x4 with a rooftop tent, or a ex rental troopcarrier which has the high roof and equipment inside, like a small camper but half the size. Or a 4x4 single cab Ute with a demountable camper section on the back. Although I don’t think any of these cheaper solutions would really work as you have dogs in tow.
People seems to be ignorant on just how big Australia is. Once you head west, it feels never ending. Having a rental will give you the piece of mind for breakdown assurance, but if something does happen you are going to be days away from rescue regardless.
I think if I was doing this I would get some quotes from Britz and Apollo. Also try GoCruisin. But I think the best way will be to buy. There are a lot of buses that people convert and then tow a little Suzuki jimmy behind for when they want to get to harder to reach locations. That’s got to be the best set up available.
Best of luck, enjoy your trip! Don’t neglect the west coast, it is by far the best bit in my opinion!
I can completely understand why you’d want to take your dogs with you on the trip, but would reconsider as they are really going to hold you back a lot I would imagine.
Thevet said:
I understand that dogs can't go everywhere, but if you met us and the dogs you would understand the connection that means they are part of the troop, just how it works for us, and so it shall be.
Not sure if you have looked into the doggie aspect fully yet BUT Australia has very strict quarantine laws for livestock. Best you contact or look on web for Australian Quarantine Service I think you will find they will need to be cleared by them after a considerable and expensive stay in their facilities .We do not have rabies in Australia and they fully intend to keep it that way, so anything coming in from OS gets checked out very thoroughly.That is not an issue, the dogs will be tested and certified, and on arrival will have to spend a minimum of 10 days in quarantine if they pass all the required tests. Mutley has been vaccinated and tested for rabies antibodies (aka immune not infected or carrier) since 2014 and the other pooch Teagan came from Cyprus to UK so had to pass similar standards as Aus..... Hopefully it will all go to plan.
Starting Melbourne where kennels are approx 1st may 2019, then following the road as close to the coast as a campervan/motorhome can go, anticlockwise........taking 6 months to cover 10k miles, we are just starting to put the pins in the map, checking if roads are ok, dogs allowed in that area etc Researching as many blogs on where to go as poss. don't think we will be going to Uluru/Alice springs, just staying close to the coast.
Thevet said:
Starting Melbourne where kennels are approx 1st may 2019, then following the road as close to the coast as a campervan/motorhome can go, anticlockwise........taking 6 months to cover 10k miles, we are just starting to put the pins in the map, checking if roads are ok, dogs allowed in that area etc Researching as many blogs on where to go as poss. don't think we will be going to Uluru/Alice springs, just staying close to the coast.
How is planning going for this? If you want to ask any questions about bringing a dog over, send me a message. We brought ours over 3 months ago while we are also on a temporary visa, so must have been equally as mad. But she handled it fine, my wallet let so. A return is not so expensive due to no need for quarantine, thankfully. The second hand camper scene is huge here understandably, the best thing I found when we bought ours was Facebook and Gumtree. There are specific groups that buy and sell them, including some bigger rigs.
Jimmy No Hands said:
...
The second hand camper scene is huge here understandably, the best thing I found when we bought ours was Facebook and Gumtree. There are specific groups that buy and sell them, including some bigger rigs.
A word of warning : I helped out a group of mostly French 20-somethings who were doing the fruit-picking circuit a couple of years ago.The second hand camper scene is huge here understandably, the best thing I found when we bought ours was Facebook and Gumtree. There are specific groups that buy and sell them, including some bigger rigs.
I loaned them some tools as they were having an impromptu maintenance break in my local station car park. I cannot see how at least one of the vans could possibly be roadworthy.
At least in Victoria you must have a roadworthy cert. to sell a registered vehicle, but there's still the occasional "friendly" garage, although it's much better than it used to be.
AW111 said:
...I loaned them some tools as they were having an impromptu maintenance break in my local station car park.
As a side note, good on you for this. Our van was a dud and broke down many times but we often had help from strangers. There was an auto-electrician who we took the van to after the central locking had gone crazy in our first rain shower. He showed us the mess of wiring, saying it was a crappy DIY job, then worked late into the evening on it. We picked it up the next day and he didn't even charge us the full rate. I'll never forget that.
The only time our Land Cruiser had a problem, it would turn over and but just wouldn't start. After an hour getting nowhere, a bloke suddenly appeared out of the bushes, declaring that he was a diesel mechanic and had heard the cry from across the park. He eventually got it running (dirty solenoid).
AW111 said:
A word of warning : I helped out a group of mostly French 20-somethings who were doing the fruit-picking circuit a couple of years ago.
I loaned them some tools as they were having an impromptu maintenance break in my local station car park. I cannot see how at least one of the vans could possibly be roadworthy.
At least in Victoria you must have a roadworthy cert. to sell a registered vehicle, but there's still the occasional "friendly" garage, although it's much better than it used to be.
Completely agree, do your due diligence. Infact double it. The sheer mechanical ignorance I have experienced here in my 3 months (we've bought two vehicles, one private and one from a trader) would absolutely blow your mind. I pointed out a significant oil leak on a used Territory to a dealer (not a sweat or a weep, it was a main seal) and he flat out laughed and told me it was impossible to buy a used vehicle without an oil leak. The three or four camper vans I viewed privately were also horrendous. Just be very careful. I loaned them some tools as they were having an impromptu maintenance break in my local station car park. I cannot see how at least one of the vans could possibly be roadworthy.
At least in Victoria you must have a roadworthy cert. to sell a registered vehicle, but there's still the occasional "friendly" garage, although it's much better than it used to be.
A lot of second hand older vehicles here in WA will not see a ramp, possibly for years. The good thing is an RAC inspection is not too expensive and a lot of local garages will do pre-purchase checks for you. There is a lot of s
t on Western Australian roads. Certain states are probably better as you say!Thevet said:
Starting Melbourne where kennels are approx 1st may 2019, then following the road as close to the coast as a campervan/motorhome can go, anticlockwise........taking 6 months to cover 10k miles, we are just starting to put the pins in the map, checking if roads are ok, dogs allowed in that area etc Researching as many blogs on where to go as poss. don't think we will be going to Uluru/Alice springs, just staying close to the coast.
By sticking to the coast you are not going to see much of anything that makes Australia different to most other temperate/tropical/sub tropical coastlines, picturesque for sure but not that different to many other coastlines.It's a big place and a long haul out to the middle or at least well into the outback you will/would find both the country, the night sky and the people unique.
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