Tassie - Campervan

Part I - Campervan Living

This is a short article on the quality of living in a campervan. First, lets discuss the "cramp-ness". Easpecially during colder weather, everyone sharing the campervan would want to hide indoors. Even when cooking, washing the dishes, lying down reading a book or fiddling with the laptop.... everyone will be in the same van. Therefore in my opinion, if its during the colder weather, two is the maximum number of ppl for this campervan.

Travelling ten days in the campervan really saved us a lot of time. Checking in and out of the campervan did not require any effort at all. Just like hotels, you make a quick payment at the entrace of the park when checking in, and you just drop off the key when checking out.THe best part is we didnt have to pack and unpack any luggages. Btw, shower amenities are a short walk away (depending on where your parking slot is location.)

Having the fridge and gas stove meant that we could whip up instant meals at any time. That was good because sometimes I just didnt fancy the ozzie food available....

And we really enjoyed the nature!

Quick but hearty meals

At Cradle Mountain's campervan park
- a rare "dining & kitchen" area which
is fully enclosed indoors :-)

It even has its own fireplace.

Treasure Island Campervan Park (near Hobart)

Easy made brekkies & lunches

Part II -- About the Rental

Video on the campervan

Here’s some general information about our caravan rental. This mini “motor home” served as our faithful car taking us 1300 km around Tasmania (more on the itinerary later). More so, it was also our cosy home for that 10 days of road trip.

Sleeping – Fortunately, Ad & myself, we are not very claustrophobic people and adapted well to the small space. At the back of the van, apart from the “amenities” area, there’s basically a sofa setting with a movable table top. This “sofa setting” could be transformed into a queen sized bed by removing the table and adding on some wooden planks and cushions. Clean sheets, ample pillows and blankets were all provided. The bed was surprisingly very comfortable. No complaints! (you can even sleep a third person at the “top” – but lets not go there.)

 

Amenities – There’s basically and sink and water pump. From my recollection, the car can store up to 70 litres of clean water. So you can top up the water supply every 2-3 days. There’s two gas stoves which can be used at any point of time; and not least there was a fridge. There’s also a microwave but to operate it we would need external electricity power supply.

Electricity – We being conservatives decided to stick to the campervan sites for the nights (instead of parking anyhow anywhere). We usually book in advance so that we can get the powered sites – powered sites meaning that you can plug electricity into the campervan. Key benefits are that we can switch on the heater fan all night long (good for the freezing nights), use the microwave for defrosting dinner or make a random cuppa hot chocolate and most importantly we could watch unlimited amount TV series until we doze off (yes we brought a laptop!).

Added ons – For no costs, the company provided ample glasses & mugs, plates & bowls, utensils and cookwares (kettle/ frying pan / cooking pots), etc.. it has even more supply than some home kitchens. They also provided a foldable table and three foldable chairs at AUD$35 and a heater fan at AUD$15.

*This information below is past information and might not be accurate. Pls use as a rough guide only.

Vehicle Category: 2-3 Berth Hi Top (Campervan) (Manual)

Daily Rental: AUD$80 per day (If you have Automobile Association membership, you will have 5% discount= AUD$76/day)

Additional Costs: Fan Heater - AUD$15.00 / Table & Chairs AUD$35.00

Airport Access Fee: AUD$16.50 – to pick you up from the airport, otherwise, the taxi cost to and fro their site is also about the same price.

*Standard Liability (Bond: $5000) – means you have to “deposit” AUD$5000 with the company upon renting the vehicle (may use credit card), after you return the vehicle safe & sound, the amount would be debited back to you. If there are damages to the car, the damage costs would be deducted from that AUD$5000. That said, the maximum amount you are liable for any damages is capped at AUD$5000.

We had a light dent at the back of the vehicle. It was probably caused when we were in one of the campervan sites on a rainy day, and unknowingly reversed into a high wooden curb. That dent was barely visible and we didn’t even notice it until the guy came to inspect the vehicle after we have returned it --- but it cost a whopping AUD$260. Unnecessary costs due to vehicle damage could really add up.. so you would probably need experienced drivers for this type of road trip. (Especially around the West of Tassie, some parts are very mountainous and roads are extremely windy.)

Total costs~ AUD$830 for 10 days (including 5% discount on daily rental; excluding damage costs)