Australia here we come

[Gee]

Seems like only yesterday I said I would love to see Australia by campervan. Well 3 months on from the initial drink fuelled plan, quit my job, sold the house and now I'm in Melbourne. Bought a cheap van, sorted all the necessary paperwork and done a quick conversion into a basic campervan. Only spent about £1000 on the van, registration, roadworthy, service parts and kitting it out as I reckon I cant lose too much that way, maybe even make a wee bit of beer money. Its a 95 ford econovan runs petrol and lpg and I even got the aircon working (broken wire)

The journey starts tomorrow. Heading up the east coast and back down for June. Planning a leisurely trip so dont know how far I'll get but would love to see the great barrier reef and the whitsundays.
Here's the van after 3 days work.




I'll try keep you posted on the trip as long as my three "feel at home" tariff lasts.

 

[delicagirl]

what a great adventure.... enjoy yourselves......

 

[zimba90]

Be careful, be very careful!

Way back in the 70s my wife and I got really fed up with the life of grind, slogging along the old A13 in the morning and back at night. Hardly saw daylight from Monday to Friday - not a happy life - there must be something better out there so, we quit our jobs, sold our house, bought an old Ford Anglia van and a one-way ticket Dover to Calais and off for a year wandering Europe................................................................................................ 17 years later we returned, with regret, to the UK.

Without doubt the best decision of our lives (going, not returning).

You will enjoy but be prepared to be side-tracked with your plans.

 

[Ron Bones]

Brilliant! I love seeing peoples adventures taking shape, what a great start and a perfect little van for the job. I'm sure you can manage way past June though, Australia's easy enough to find work in and what on earth would anybody come back here for?! I'd just be worried about the spiders!! :O

 

[jeanette]

Have a safe journey and enjoy your travels so jealous:mad1:

 

[jagmanx]

Australia

Have you emigrated or is this just a lovely big travel.

I expect you realise just how big Australia is !
So you could easily spend 2 or even 3 years seeing "most of it"

We plan WA for 3 weeks in December In a borrowed MH so any good spots would be welcome !

 

[Deleted member 20892]

Wel done mate, not only are you living the dream, you are living my dream. In a couple of years when i've taken early retirement, we will def be on the road to some new adventure, we have a couple of pooches, so not sure how much it would be to take em with us if we go to Australia.!

jt

 

[El Veterano]

we have a couple of pooches, so not sure how much it would be to take em with us if we go to Australia.!

jt

A biker mate of mine left the UK (IoW) with two kids, his wife, his mum, his dad and a dog about 8 years ago to live up near Brisbane, and they are still there. I seem to remember the dog costing around £2,000 to take on it's one way ticket.
And Gee, I can probably put you in touch with a few folk on your travels up the East coast, and particularly Sydney and the Whitsundays. And if you're into motorbikes (particularly off-road) it would be even better. Just PM me if you want any details. However you may just want to do it 'your way', it is sometimes better like that!
Have fun in your 'Wizz-Bang', I know you will, because I did it 2 years ago, (but only for 2 weeks).

 

[CAL]

Good luck and keep posting about your trip. Probably got the right idea to keep it basic to start with and see how it all goes.
Did you book it as a holiday or emigration as I've heard the Aussies are strict on visas ? Very envious of you.

 

[Gee]

Thanks all. Not emigrating (Don't tempt me) Just a 4 month adventure till it warms up a bit in the UK.

The visa was easy. If you are only going for up to 3 months holiday and your a uk citizen all you need is a free e-visitor visa (subclass 651) Any longer for 6 or 12 month you need a Visitor visa (subclass 600). I got the 6 month visa cost £75 and took about a week to come through. See immi.gov.au. Watch out for the companies wanting to charge you for arranging a visa.

Travel insurance I found AA were the cheapest at £70 for the single trip. This was with 2 pre-existing medical conditions (mild asthma and mild osteoarthritis) Annual multi trip only covered up to 28 days in any one holiday so was not suitable.

Economy return flights with Emirates from Glasgow to Melbourne with a 2 hours at Dubai were £850 with an Airbus A380 Dreamliner on the Dubai to Melbourne leg. There were flights from London to Melb flying with Southern China Airlines but the saving was only £100 for the return and for such a long flights (23hrs x 2) I would rather pay the extra £100 for the better airline. No jet lag as I moved my watch on through the time zones.

Car insurance with 24/7 breakdown cover through Woolworths insurance fully comp for Au$30 (£15) These are with a Au$500 (£250) excess. UK insurer proof of NCB accepted.

For overnight stops been recommended the wikicamps app. Loads of free places in the regional park and reserves as well as free rest areas.

Phone and internet I got a free payg sim from three before i came out and pay £15 for add on with unlimited internet (no tethering) 300 mins voice calls to any network plus 3000 texts. This add on is valid for a month. The best bit is Oz is Three "feel at home" destination, so I am able to use my monthly minutes and text allowance over here to call or text the UK. The unlimited internet is restricted to 25gb which is more than enough as long as you don't stream vids or do big up/downloads. I can top this up over here using the my3 app and a registered debit card.

Banking I use Norwich and Peterborough BS Gold account which is one of the few visa debit cards that can be used worldwide with no overseas fee or handling charge. £1000 in ATM withdrawals or debit card purchases cost you £1000. Either pay in £500 per month or pay a £5 monthly fee. See Money saving expert for full details

Hope these help anyone thinking about it.

Ps dont blame me if you succumb to the urge