Campervan Australia

Hi,

I will be in Australia from mid october to new year, during this time i would love to hire a campervan and just stop and start wherever and enjoy the hundreds of possible camp sites along the east coast from cairns down to Sydney.
My question is that i have looked at lots of various websites to get an idea on price and things but the BIG worry is the excess that is always charged should an accident arise, has any one had any experiences where they have managed to secure a campervan with a lower excess charge? obviously an excess is required by the companies thats understandable but i am worried that however hard i scrutinise the campervan prior to departure for any marks/dents etc they are still going to be saying 'oh mate thats gunna be 3000 dollars for the dent or that scratch etc etc........is it just me being paranoid or can some one please put my mind at rest, are they out to screw you over or are they pretty fair!!!?
Any comments (useful) would be really appreciated, Thank you Reply to this

The drive from Cairns to Sydney takes are bus about 4 days/3 nights. Personally I would take a car, and if you are wanting to do the campervan, then Sydney to Melbourne or Melbourne to Adelaide, via the Great Ocean road, Grampians National Park and the Barossa Valley are the way to go.

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Is there any chance you could buy a van or a car out there? i am sure my friend said she bought a camper van for about £700, which i thought seemed ideal? anyone know any sites where i can look at this? Reply to this

i have been told one in Sydney to buy would be the most expensive, looking to prob buy in Melbourne where i am looking to head first, think they mentioned they paid about £700 which would translate to about $1350 roughly do not quote me.

think Van will be best bet even if does cost me pretty penny, hopefully it will still save me cash on hostels etc. Reply to this

Hi. I just came back to Canada from Queensland in October. I hired a campervan from Brisbane to Cairns one way and it was about $2100CDN after all the dust settled. It was a brand new van from Maui, and my friend and I both had a berth to sleep in. She upstairs, me down. It had everything but a toilet and shower, but we didn't care, because there were extremely well maintained campergrounds all the way up. We'd stay at a big4 every few days to clean up and do laundry. We burned CD's from my laptop and played our music, we called our trip the great gas station washroom tour, as we hit just about every gas station from end to end to use their facilities. We went for the full insurance policy only because we had never driven in Australia, nor did we know what we were getting into. After seeing how safe and easy it was to get around and drive the Bruce Hwy we were wondering if we over insured. However, the worry about hitting a kangaroo (which didn't happen but evidence on sides of roads and other vehicles with huge bumpers tell us it could have easily happened) we were very happy we took the full insurance....the company was friendly and easy to deal with. The van because it was brand new, we didn't have any issues with any equipment. Except the folding chairs which were broken and the awning sucked. But no big deal. Hope this helps. It was the best way EVER to see this part of the world! Reply to this