Want an insiders scoop into what to do and what not to do before you travel Australia? Don't make the same mistakes we did as we share all of the experience we have learned on the road, we cover everything from budgeting to our caravan setup! Check out our top 10 things you must consider before lapping Australia.
10. You are often not as remote as you think you are
One of the biggest things people hype up about travelling Australia is how remote driving along infamous roads such as the Nullarbor or the Oodnadatta Track can be. Unless you’re planning to take on a track like The Simpson Desert or The Canning Stock Route you are never too far away from help, fuel, water or supplies. Many routes lead you touring through several small towns which have fuel and other supplies to help you get out of strife without too much trouble. Keeping this in mind, you may have to pay a pretty penny the further from big cities you are. For this reason we always suggest carrying a small amount of cash on you so if you were to run into any challenges in a remote area you always have some way to pay as it is not always possible to pay online. At the end of the day, don’t let fear get in the way of driving the road less travelled.
9. Don’t skimp out on camp chairs
It does not get more simple than this, your camp chair is your couch! You will be sitting on them every morning, every night and every lazy moment in between. Make sure you take the time to think about what is important to you in a camp chair. For us it was to be able to recline, have plenty of cushioning and be super robust! The closest thing we could find to heaven for our bums was the Dune 4WD Nomad II Chair from Anaconda. We bloody love them and you can shop them HERE.
Everyone is going to be looking for something different in their camp chair, whether that is comfort, style, storage, weight etc. All we can say is you need to take the time to test out as many as you can find and work out what is most important to you. This way you won’t end up like us, sitting on the poles of a dirty old camp chair that makes your bum want to cry because the cushioning is haemorrhaging out the bottom.
8. Water is the most precious commodity
From our experiences so far, potable water is more scarce and more important than fuel! Before leaving on this trip, we definitely had our priorities muddled with fuel capacity in the forefront of our minds. If we had our time again, we would have increased our ability to carry more water in the car. The reason being, that generally the only thing stoping us from staying at a campsite longer, is the worry we will run out of water. While we currently have a 150L water tank in our caravan it would be a dream to leave everything set up and drive to fill up a 50-100L tank or water bladder which we kept in the car. Thanks to Camec, the caravan and RV superstore, use the code ‘LILANDJAKE15’ for 15% off full priced items, valid until 03/07/2023. Visit Camec here. This is not an affiliate code and we do not make commission.
7. Don’t hang around bad weather
Being Tasmanian and spending 10 months of each year freezing our booties off, we had wanted this lap to be warm 24/7! When heading towards South Australia we had envisaged sunshine and warm water, however, we got some unseasonably cold weather, gale forced winds, huge storms and very little sun. We pushed through for two months and tried to make the most of our time, however, we can safely say we did not enjoy it as much as we would have in warmer weather. If we had our time again we would have headed north towards the Flinders Ranges, even as far as Central Australia or driven West a lot earlier than we did. There will be other opportunities to visit SA again where we can enjoy and appreciate the beautiful state for everything it’s got to offer. Our advice to you would be to head to where the weather makes you happy and remember you can always come back another time!
6. Buy high quality batteries
If you’ve watched any of our Youtube videos from the first two months of our time in WA you will know of the struggles we had with our previous battery setup. At home we never, once had to think about our fridge constantly running, even in summer, it never got hot enough. Did I already mention we are Tasmanians and the weather is always freezing? Anyway, we cannot express the importance of a good battery and solar setup. If you are in the market for some high quality, affordable batteries you cannot go past the iTECH120X PRO 120Ah 12V Lithium Battery which at the time of writing are $500 off. Shop them at iTECHWORLD here! Since we got these batteries, Jake’s hair has started growing back and he can sleep soundly through the night not having to worry about our power going out and our fridge dying.
5. Get a hobby or go insane, you choose
You may think you will be busy everyday, sightseeing, surfing, snorkelling, hiking etc. but we can assure you, eventually you’ll lose the plot without down days. You’re going to need a hobby (unless you are a parent, for which I know nothing about but I imagine you'd be too busy for too many hobbies). There will be days when the weather is too windy, too wet or too hot. Lucky for us, we have you guys, YouTube, our Blog and our Website. For you guys, this might be an opportunity to get into reading, photography and photo editing, start a small business you've been dreaming of or maybe even videography and YouTube! If you are anything like us, it'll be one of the first times in your lives where you will have time to work on yourself and be creative!
4. Make your setup as easy as possible, you'll thank us later
A setup can make or break your trip! Don't get us wrong, that doesn't mean it has to be the most expensive or extravagant or new setup on the market, in fact, quite the opposite. It needs to be SIMPLE and EASY, otherwise we can assure you, you will not use it! We have found this to be the case with out boat, we absolutely love it, its been the most incredible asset for us along the coastline of Western Australia but we did make the mistake of not making it as easy and functional as we could have. As a result, there have been days when we should have put the boat in but couldn't be bothered to get it set up and in the water. As we are learning our setup isn't perfect, we should have built a removable system to help us easily slide the boat off the side of the car. While we are grateful to have a boat on this trip and the inconvenience isn't the be all and end all, the last thing you want to do on your holiday is to be mucking around with your setup rather than enjoying all there is to see and do.
3. It's a lot more expensive than we thought
Travelling Australia is a lot more expensive than we thought it would be! Originally we thought an $800/w budget would be more than enough however it’s most weeks we do blow out to around $1000/w. No thanks to Covid, the cost of campsites and caravan parks have nearly doubled in some places and some previously free camps have now become low cost campsites. Additionally, the price of fuel around Australia is currently through the roof with out most expensive fill up being $3/L of diesel. All of this considered, I would recommend budgeting in a couple of hundred dollars a week on top of your original plan. Having said this, we would not change a thing, or held off and started our trip later. There is never a perfect time, you will never have 'enough money', a 'big enough' set up, 'enough time'. Stop making excuses, we promise you would not regret the money you send on travel.
2. Talk to people
Talk to people! Knowledge is power! The people you meet on the road will be a better source of information than any other! So, don’t be shy to talk to people and ask for help or suggestions! Most people on the road are incredibly like minded, and 99% of the time have visited or are going to visit, all the same places you will. Every traveler we have run into is more than happy to share their experiences, in fact, if you are ever lucky enough to run into Jake, he will be happy to talk your ear off for the next hour and a half about that one time we got bogged at James Price Point, for example. The people that you talk to are currently living these experiences, far more valuable than the local that did the 4WD track 5 years ago and left a scathing review because 90% of the time it is no longer relevant! Thank to people we promise you won't regret it!
1. The plan is to have no plan!
Above all, we think, no plan is the number 1 best plan! Sometimes having plans can seem like a good idea at the time, however, it can affect your opportunities to change your trip on the fly. Maybe you fall in love with a place but have to be at your caravan park booking the next day and you get there and it's no where near as good as the previous spot. From our experience, we never have any troubles with finding a place to stay (except for that week in Albany over Christmas, but there was no one to blame for that one but ourselves - note to self, always book Christmas accommodation if you're going to be in the south of WA). We always roll in and there is usually always a spot for us. Having said that, we do usually travel just ahead of the season to avoid the bigger crowds and make sure we are somewhere further inland for the school holidays as many stay along the coast during these periods.
Lil xx
If you want more of us, watch our video on 9 things we WISH we knew before TRAVELLING AUSTRALIA FULL TIME!
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