Why Hiring a Motorhome is the Best Way to See Australia
Keen to travel Australia? Here's our top reasons why hiring a motorhome will give you the best experience possible.
When you are planning the ultimate “mid-twenties” road trip in eastern Australia with two friends, the first conundrum is, what is the best and most economical way to travel? We had a month to take in all that we wanted before we’d need to find some work, so we started the research. Budgeting was a key factor, while we’d worked and saved up some money, we didn’t know how long this needed to last us, so we wanted to be frugal but not to the point of missing out on doing all the things we had been looking forward to. We had looked at public transport (trains and buses) as our mode of travel, but to get off the beaten path wasn’t always cheap or sometimes even possible. We researched taking our own mode of transport and we quickly discovered the best way to see as much as we wanted in the timeframe we had was to hire a motorhome. Transport, kitchen, bathroom and accommodation all in one box!
The essential beauty of a motorhome is that it provides the freedom and flexibility to travel when and where you please, as well as giving a much needed opportunity to escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Sounds good, right? It turned out to be everything we wanted and more!
We covered 7,000km picking up in Sydney, we travelled to so many amazing places such as: the Blue Mountains, Bellingen, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Noosa, Fraser Island, Whitsundays, Cape Hillsborough and Cairns. It would have taken us so much longer and cost us more money if we’d taken public transport and we all agreed that motorhome hire is the best way to see Australia.
Go your own way
We planned a one-way trip starting in Sydney and dropping off in Cairns, this was a great way to see as much as possible and without the need to double back on our route. We researched the different companies to rent with and decided that Apollo Motorhome had the perfect solution and price. Despite seeing so many places, we felt like we'd only just scratched the surface of what we could have seen on the East Coast of Australia.
Like your location? Stay as long as you please in a motorhome!
If we had pre-planned our East Coast route staying in hotels, hostels or AirBnB rooms, we would have had to follow a much stricter itinerary, leaving no room for flexibility or changing plans. With motorohome hire, we could be flexible about our itinerary! I had heard a lot about Byron Bay and were planning on staying longer than the 3 days that we were there, but it turned out to be a lot smaller than we expected and we did everything we had wanted to, so we just packed up drive on to the next stop! The Gold Coast on the other hand, was the opposite - we had planned to stay 3 just days, but ended up staying for 10, as there was so much to do and see. The Gold Coast is beautiful - the beaches were stunning, and the weather was perfect. The glorious flexibility of a motorhome holiday made staying longer than we'd originally planned possible for us, as we had nowhere to be, and no constraints.
An abundance of campsites
Travelling at the start of the Australian summer (November/December) we weren’t sure if we should book campsites in advance to secure spots with electricity, however wanting to maximize our travelling freedom, we decided against it. The Apollo Connect app turned out to be a lifesaver. It offers so much information on so many locations, caravan parks, day stops, points of interest, dump points, information centres, and water points (toilets, showers, taps). We used this to find campsites near us, typically either on the day or the day before, as there were so many to choose from. We never came across any problems with finding a campsite.
Australia is so big! You will want wheels to help you get around
Hailing from the small island of Ireland, we knew that Australia was big, but the scale of what we actually came to see was so much more than we imagined! It can be a little overwhelming but with our rough plan to go from Sydney, we were by no means at the beginning of the East Coast and still we travelled over 7,000km. Our home on wheels was without a doubt, the best way to get about, especially as we discovered some incredible places along the way - Crystal Creek at Paluma National Park, Promised Land Pools in Bellingen, and Currumbin Rock Pools near Gold Coast just to name a few. These were all pretty remote and out of the way, so they’d have been really difficult to reach via public transport.
Finally - it’s simply wonderful fun
We had heard friends say before we departed that a campervan road trip is a completely different holiday, and now having been there and done it, we can say that it is. It’s so unique and allows you to have so many options. The people you meet along the way and the places you can stop at are just incredible. Having your own home on wheels also really helps to ground you and while the locations change, your own space becomes very familiar and cosy. One day we were on the beach in Noosa, and it suddenly started to rain, so we went back to the motorhome, showered and changed, rustled up some pasta for lunch and then played cards for a couple of hours while the rain hammered on the motorhome, it was such a fun afternoon. Simple and yet so easy to feel at home and comfortable. When the rain stopped, we headed back into Noosa and enjoyed seeing taking in the sights. We quickly became fully converted to life on the road - “van life” is the best! We also agree that Australia is a must-see country. Travelling by motorhome is also the best and easiest way to see it. So, if you are thinking about travelling around Australia, rent a motorhome and do it now - you wont regret it!
Written by Connor Bodhanya