Wondering if anyone on this site has any experience, tips etc on how to travel around Australia without towing a van. Thinking of taking a very small tent to sleep in and getting cheap accomodation especially when weather not great. Maybe even sleeping in the car sometimes. No firm plans yet. is there an existing posting forum I can get onto. Thanks for any advice.
We've been traveling/bush camping this great country for 40 years plus. We only bought a caravan just over 5 years ago (we went soft) & would find it pretty easy going back to ''tenting it''.
We still have 3 tents & use them when we go boating.
The main thing if you are moving constantly is to buy a tent that's easy & quick to erect & collapse.
They cost a bit but those 2 minute OZ Tents are pretty damn good, you can get one with an awning, sidewalls to make an annexe & a sloping rear storage area that leaves plenty of living room in crook weather.
Carry plenty of 10 ltr water containers, not clear ones as sunlight causes algal growth & you'll end up getting crook.
Happy travels. Welcome to the forum by the way.
-- Edited by Desert Dweller on Monday 29th of January 2018 07:11:15 AM
__________________
Cheers Keith & Judy
Don't take life too seriously, it never ends well.
Trip Reports posted on feathersandphotos.com.au Go to Forums then Trip Reports.
We to went down/ soft in 2015 we have an RV3 pop up tent as we travel East to West a lot. I would go for an RV3 for yourself as they have Migie fly screens and open up on all four sides to let the breeze through. Buy the fly to help with the sun and Rain $100 extra at most. Do a deal with the supplyer. We brought ours on line. Delivered free.
We tent it as we tow a 6 mtr trailer boat with us. If the weather is good we get the large cabin tent up ASPS. Most of this trip is for 12 weeks in the one spot. Our cabin tent we named the Yardie Novotel.
So as you are going to be on the move, Pay what you can aford. A good tent will see you right.
If you don't like banging in tent pegs, Buy a 18V cordless rattle gun and 12 coach bolts with washers to slip under the hex head. worth every penny.
Hi NYT , I travelled all over the place in my young days in a tent loved it for most , try to think about where your going at what time of the year , tentings great if the weathers ok , but if its pouring with rain or hot as hell for days on end , you'll be looking for your cheap accommodation for sure. I at least had a station waggon most part or a kombi as I got richer . And slept in that , felt safer in some places we stayed. Spent some sleepless nights in some spots listening for suspect noises outside the tent. Theres heaps of folk on this site that wont stay even in their caravans or motorhomes in a lot of spots or on their own , let alone a tent.
I met a couple that were travelling around oz in a troopie. They had a bed in the back with slide out storage under & beside.
It had a stove mounted to the rear door & slide out fridge at rear beside the bed.
It was very compact.
Cheers Pete
Do it regularly on a motorbike. Wikicamps is my friend as is www.gdaypubs.com.au
On a recent trip from Ballarat to Wauchope with 2 friends (wives left at home), we stayed two nights in pub-stays at $25 / head and then the third night it cost us $27 / head for an unpowered site and packed up a wet (dew covered) tent in the morning. Pub stays save packing up a damp tent (dew or rain) and you get tea & coffee, and sometimes breakfast, and a hot shower, even if it is all a bit primitive.
We started our travelling together in a Mini with a roof top tent, including our honeymoon from Adelaide to Darwin and back. All our camping gear was inside. We then had our next Mini converted to layback seats and slept inside. Next vehicle was an Austin 1800 with lay back seats. That accommodated both us and our 2 young kids, all inside. You can travel with whatever you have.