As I'm on a tight budget I have to make do with my car to tow, I have a suburu liberty 2.5i so am looking to buy a small pop top no more than 13ft.  I'm hoping this will work as I'm intending to stick to sealed roads.   Has anyone else  travelled sucessfully without a 4 wheel drive vehicle?    Also is there anywhere where I can get trip planners that let me avoid very steep hills (these make me a bit nervous).  I'm hoping to travel from Melbourne to Qld then follow the coast from there.  Is there any caravan club thats better than others to join or that someone can recommend. 
Sorry about all these questions but as you can tell I'm a little bit nervous about getting started for the 1st time so any advise would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks guys

Hi Gillyb. We only tow a small van 11ft6 Millard Micro behind a Ford panelvan on Gas so its not got a lot of power on gas but is relatively cheep to run,& we stick mainly to bitumen roads & avoid realy hilly areas. With this setup we can park easily in supermarket parking areas if there is 2 parks in line. we also are on a tight budget too. The millard van is a 1978 model & was purchased 2nd hand for $2500 about 3yrs ago. Hope this helps. Daryl

Thanks for that Daryl much appreciated, can I just ask you if there's anyway of finding out if different roads have very steep hills, I'm starting my trip from Melbourne and heading up into Qld, I was thinking of going via the Newell Hwy to avoid Sydney but don't know anything about that route, I don't want to find myself stuck somewhere especially when I'm on my own. Many thanks Gill

Hi Gillyb. We recently traveled to mudge viaBroken hill, Up to Dubbo the land is relatively flat via the Newell hyway is probably be my choice. What i find helpful is to use Google Earth & check the roads that ive picked & follow them on Google earth to get a bit of an idea where hilly stuff is.  Daryl

if you are nervous about hills etc; i would not go up the newell hwy not hilly but its the main truck route from melbourne to brisbane

You shouldn't have too much trouble with the Newel. I travel it every year. Just don't drive at night when the trucks are out, bit like th kangaroos isn't it. Avoid them. After Warrick you will have the Cunningham Gap which I have driven both way but don't like it at all, very hilly, quite stressful, would avoid if you don 't like very hilly areas.

Thank you everyone for your advise I am planning on travelling along the Newell only a few hours each day and hopefully end up around Byron Bay and head to Brisbane from there where I have friends to visit. gold dandelion is there a lot more trucks than other highways ? I think they are something I'm going to have to get used to I guess I'm hopeing that once I've travelled for a little while I won't be quite as nervous or I'll end up just caravaning in my own back yard :)

There are a lot of caravan clubs scattered throughout the country, but the fastest growing is the Australian Caravan Club (ACC) with branches in all states and many regional centres.
This is most advantageous when travelling as you can attend branch musters where ever you go.
Clubs are a great way to meet fellow vanners both for socialising and the gleaning of information in relation to towing, safety, camp spots, Road conditions, and where to go and what to see.
Check out their website: www.australiancaravanclub.com.au
Cheers, ozjohn.

-- Edited by ozjohn on Friday 9th of July 2010 10:02:06 AM

The Newell hwy is a great road by day, the Moombi Range is only very short distance, it is quite steep in sections but there is a slow vehicle lane and you will never be alone on this road. Do yourself a favour and avoid Cuninghams Gap take the left turn to Toowoomba, from here you can head north either via the Warriego down th erange to bris then north on route 1 or you can head out via Crows Nest to Kingaroy and up to Biloela which is my choice route. I lived in Oakey west of toowoomba for 5 years and travelled between here and Sydney and Townsville frequently, the trip from Oakey via Cooyar is a very picturesque route and is a nice leisurely drive on fairly good roads. There is a little heavy vehicle traffic but it is minimal in comparison to the main highways. Happy Days Hoo Roo