Motorhome hire Australia
Hi all
we've got a cruise booked Sydney to New Zealand, leaving Sydney 12 Feb 2021.
We are cruising with 4 (non caravanning friends) who have relatives to visit in Australia. We are planning to travel out a couple of weeks early and hire a Motorhome/ van conversion. The plan is to arrive in Sydney on the 9th Feb, meet up and have a couple of days there before embarkation. The rest can be very flexible.
so, I’m looking to call upon your experience for ideas as to what route to consider, best companies to hire from, any tips/ pitfalls to avoid, places not to miss, where to overnight etc. We also still need to arrange flights Birmingham to Australia then return Auckland, via Singapore, where we are planning a 3 day stopover. Is it best to arrange flights and van hire together or do it separately.
ive done a bit if research and been exchanging emails with a firm called Gallivating Oz. As we want to limit the hire period to approx 14 days they are suggesting we look at Adelaide-Melbourne-Sydney. I think the other popular routes need more time. We are experienced caravanners of 40 years, fairly fit 62 yr olds and we prefer coast and country to cities. I initially fancied cairns - Brisbane- Sydney but apparently the weather up north will be hot and wet, so less suitable and distance against us. I don’t mind driving 250 miles per day but don’t want to make the mistake of driving constantly and not have time to stop and see things. Perhaps have a couple of nights if we find somewhere really nice.
id welcome ideas and suggestions from anyone who has done a similar trip.
thanks
steve and bonnie
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We did a similar tour around the bottom right hand corner of Australia a few years ago, but in the reverse direction - flying into Sydney and out of Adelaide.
The highlights were Sydney itself, the Blue Mountains, little penguins coming ashore at Philip Island, the Great Ocean Road, and wine tasting at smart wineries in the Barossa valley. That said there were some long boring stretches along the way. It is not a small country, and for what it's worth we enjoyed NewZealand more.
We did that trip - four of us - in a big comfortable hire car, not a van conversion, and picked up accommodation easily enough along the way. That included cabins on campsites, a couple of hostels, a very smart furnished log cabin on the Great Ocean road and several good motels. Now that Airbnb has swept the world finding accommodation is even easier than it was then.
All the older people I speak to seem to think of Motorhome hire as the obvious first choice but really it is not the only way at at all. You must choose.
I would say book your flights now - from Birmingham it will probably be with Emirates via Dubai. We have used them many times and have always simply changed planes in Dubai without staying there so I can't advise on that - our two or three day stops have been at Bangkok, KL and HongKong as well as at Singapore. They all have their attractions. All the way to Australia or New Zealand in Economy without a stopover is gruelling .
I hope it goes well.
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PS. I think the current outbreak of bush fires in Australia might make it worthwhile to reach think your plans. There is a map on line of the areas which have been devastated - the Blue Mountains national park looks to have been hard hit, but the fires have been widespread
How about simply flying into Sydney just five or six days before your cruise begins - touring the city, the beaches and the far side of the harbour - and then at the end of your cruise to Auckland making a two week driving tour of North Island NZ instead of in Australia?
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Thanks eurotraveller.
interesting to hear that you enjoyed New Zealand more. We to have been thinking about the fires and the devastating effect.
Touring New Zealand, that may be a good call and nothing to stop us from changing our plan at this stage. One of the things worrying me was that by touring before the cruise we are in Australian peak holiday season. The advantage I see is that by doing it this way round we can relax on the cruise after all that driving.
id be interested if anyone has any experience of north island Motorhome tours v Australia.
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Haven't any knowledge of either Australia or NZ so can't add to anything there.
However if you are thinking of spending anytime in Dubai then it might be useful to know that from October 2020 to end of March 2021 EXPO is on in Dubai. We spent 2 days and nights in Dubai earlier this year and despite my nerves and reservations we really enjoyed it.
Singapore we had 3 days and nights and could have done with more also very nice place and at that time of year neither of them was too hot. In fact Dubai was a lovely temp 26 - 28c and not humid.
I will follow this thread as we might just glean some useful info.
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We were impressed with New Zealand - so progressive and forward looking. It was the first country ever to introduce votes for women, old age pensions, and workers holidays with pay - all those dating back to when "King Dick" Richard Seddon was Prime Minister about 1900 - long before the UK made those moves.
And although relations and integration of the Maori people haven't been perfect the efforts made in that area have been been better than any other country has done with its own indigenous peoples. Think Australia, America and Southern Africa for comparison.
It's such a long way to get there, and the fare isn't cheap, but it's the best country out of 20 which we have visited and the welcome will be warm. Please make the effort to go.
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Specifically re flights, routes may depend on if you are ok with very long flights or wish to stop over in bite sized chunks. Earlier this year, we went Heathrow/Dubai/Singapore/Melbourne. Each leg was approx 7 hours Day time flight with one/two night sleep overs in a proper bed! First two legs with Emirates, last leg with Singapore.
thats our preference as we hate night time long flights.
Cannot comment specifically on motorhomes but we drove in a car from Melbourne around the Ocean Drive to Adelaide in about 5 nights, including a visit overnight to Kangaroo Island. Very interesting route with spectacular scenery and wildlife. (We returned to Sydney from Adelaide via the Indian Pacific railroad, via Blue Mountains).
Final leg of our journey was a cruise, from Sydney up the Australian coast ending at Singapore, then flight home via Dubai.
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Just got back from visiting our son in Melbourne but have visited Sydney, Brisbane, Cairnes, Darwin on business/holiday on previous occasions. Never been South to Adelaide from Melbourne but have driven part of the ocean road to Geelong and onwards. It’s OK but Cornwall is better. Melbourne to Sydney is boring by all accounts.
The popular Motorhome route would be North to Sydney (chasing the sun as winter turns to Autumn) and onwards with Cairns and the Whitsunday islands being the highlights. Brisbane is hot and very humid and Darwin twice as bad, but surprisingly the Whitsundays can be a dry heat and we enjoyed Hamilton Island when we stopped there on a cruise.
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