Our travel has come to an abrupt end due to Coronavirus. We hope to be traveling again soon, but realise that we have been fortunate to have had 18 months travelling Australia so far. So here are some statistics for you.
Overall, our travel expenses equated to a weekly average of $839 per week.
We were on the road for 546 nights.
We drove 65 000 KM, averaging 835km per week.
Our average campsite cost per night is $12.29.
We spent 261 nights in Free Camps.
Below I have given further detail for all categories in the hope that it helps people in their planning stage.
Accomodation Stats:
In 18 months we set up camp a total of 259 times. With a total of 52 overnight stays.
We moved regularly. Although it was faster than some people, we did it at a pace we were comfortable with. Many who stay longer in places are fishermen or those who can lay on the beach for hours, we are neither of those.
Our longest stay was 7 nights, and that was for service and maintenance. We felt most relaxed and comfortable with 3 night stays, although we found some places have a deal “pay 3, stay 4” so we took advantage of those sometimes. From our experience, staying 2 or 3 days was long enough to see what a town had to offer. We drove a maximum of a few hundred km’s to our next camp, but it was often as little as an hour away.
Almost half of our nights were in free camps – a total of 261 nights.
We searched out campsites with a cost under $20. This was our preferred paid option. To keep our costs down, when staying in caravan parks, we chose to stay in unpowered sites if available.
In the 18 months we only had 79 nights with power. We do not carry a generator, and have not ever needed one. The powered nights have been in towns where unpowered options were not available, or on a few extremely hot nights when we “just wanted air con” Thankfully, our caravan batteries and solar set up has been sufficient, even down south in cloudy, overcast Tasmania.
Our average accomodation cost per night over the 18 months is $12.29
Eating out costs:
This category is much higher than at home. At home we only eat out for a birthday, and we might get take away pizza every month or two. I have never been able to justify the expense of take away, even when we were busy working full time.
While traveling we ate out when we free camped at Country Pubs, once or possibly twice per month, drinks with our meal at the pub were included in eating out costs.
We occasionally bought fish & chips when in seaside towns, or a pie from a country bakery for lunch on drive days, but otherwise we always ate from the food I have in the van.
Our “eating out” total also includes coffee’s, cold drinks & ice blocks.
We spent an average of $79 per week eating out.
Fuel stats:
We did not do a typical “Lap of Oz” We intentionally did a lot of zig zagging which explains the large amount of KM’s. We wanted to see more than “a typical lap”
Travelled 65173km averaging 835km per week.
Towing 80% of the time.
Spending $18000 in fuel
Average 16.09L/100k
Groceries and Grog:
These costs were variable depending on location. We found we spent more on these items than we do at home. We live in a city with lots of supermarkets, fresh produce and major liquor stores. These were not plentiful on the road. Fresh produce is quite expensive in some outback areas and alcohol is restricted in more places than we expected, meaning purchasing a small amount when ever we could. It was not unusual for the cheapest bottle of wine to be around $12. At home, we can get a bottle for half that.
Our weekly grocery average was $171
Our weekly alcohol average was $44
Tours and attractions:
This expense included all tours, but it also included small costs involved with visiting museums and even attractions with a donation for entry.
We were very careful to search out free activities to keep this cost down, and we found lots of great things to do for free. Between us, we scrutinised the cost of every paid activity before committing to a tour with a cost.
There are some tours that are necessary to enhance your understanding and appreciation of an area, so we did not begrudge spending money for these activities, and we are thankful that these tours contributed to our positive experience, but realise that being so selective, potentially saved us a significant amount of money.
Our most expensive tour was WA’s Horizontal Falls at almost $2000, but it was worth every cent! It was always a part of our trip planning budget. Obviously that particularly large expense made our weekly average much higher, without it our weekly average would have been just $65.
Our weekly average for tours was $91.50 per week.
There were other miscellaneous expenses. For us, the largest of these was gas. We have a 3 way fridge and mostly camp unpowered, we also use the gas BBQ and caravan gas stove for almost every meal, so a gas bottle usually only lasted around 2 to 3 weeks.
Our average gas costs were $10.80 per week.
We are waiting for this Coronavirus Pandemic to ease, or more hopefully, for a vaccine to be found, so we can travel again.
Next time we hit the road, we will travel slower, we will find work while traveling and our expenses will be lower. We always intended to initially travel Australia as tourists, traveling this way is more expensive, with hindsight we are glad we decided to travel this way. We have seen so much of Australia before the Pandemic forced us to stop.
Even though we feel cheated that our trip has been cut short due to Covid-19, we are also grateful to have so many amazing memories.
65000km is so much more than others will ever see. The fact that we only had 400km left to complete our lap, will always niggle at us. The fact that we need to travel 4500km to complete that last 400km makes it more difficult to plan a completion, but, we are both young, and we have lots more years of traveling ahead of us. Happy Campers Australia will always be here for our followers!
One day, our lap will be complete, but in the meantime we have so much content to continue posting on our FB, Insta and YouTube indefinitely!
Traveling fast meant that we couldn’t keep up with posts and you guys missed out. Our only hope is that we get to share everything with you before we hit the road again 😜
Thanks for all that amazing info,
You are welcome. 👍
Thankyou for all this information. We hubby and small dog, are planning to do a similar trip heading off in August if we are allowed to by then. I would love to here more about your trip. Like the places you stayed and the best sight seeing in each place. Thankyou again I will be following your site like a hawk.
Hi Robyn, check out our page in detail. Also check out previous blogs on our webpage for ideas and tips. If you have any further questions we are happy to help if we can.
Hello Vicki and Glenn
Thanks for all the valuable information. You mention you travel without a generator, what solar/battery setup do you have on your Kokoda?
I would love to save the weight and leave the generator at home! Thanks again.
Kind Regards
Tim
Weight is why we do not carry one. We have 2x 120amp batteries and 2x 160W solar on the van. We also have a 120W foldable solar panel we can add to the van if needed. Our vehicle has an extra battery and solar to run our Waeco in the car. It helps because we travel every few days, so the batteries are topped up while driving. But, it was comfortable to know we NEVER had a need for 240V.
Very nice write up. I enjoyed the read and the facts. I hope you get back on the road soon.
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the read. Cheers!
Thanks for all this info. It’s perfect for us when we head away as soon as the restrictions are lifted. I agree with you about the need to stay with the country pubs and support them getting back on their feet.
We do love staying at country pubs. They will need our support more than ever when these restrictions are lifted. 👍
This is almost the same as we want to do
I need to find a way to keep the information from you
You can follow our FB or Instagram. We also post small movies on YouTube. But, our blogs will always be on the webpage for you to refer back to in the future. Cheers!
This is so informative…thank you. My husband and I have been planning our big lap ever since we bought our motorhome 3 years ago. We had hoped to start in 2021 when we sold our house but now with Covid 19 we are thinking we may need to stay working until the real estate prices recover.
Interesting that you moved on every 3-4 days. My husband agrees with this whereas I prefer to stay put longer and save on fuel costs in our weekly budget.
I think we might try and stock up on alcohol at Aldi prices before we go!
Thank you again for a wonderful account of your trip.
You will work out your comfortable travel style as you go. We were happy with this pace, but if you love laying on the beach or spending hours fishing, you will want to travel slower. Staying longer will keep costs down. What ever you decide, you will have a ball!
Great well documented and very very helpfull info. I hope you get to complete your lap
Thanks, so do we!
Fantastic, thank you so much for sharing. So much time and effort has gone into writing this for respectful blog in a way that it makes it so easy for us to read. So much helpful good information. You are inspiring.
Thanks for your appreciation. It is time consuming to create a detailed blog, but we love to try and help others 😃
Just sitting at kitchen bench reading your notes, how exciting , we head off next year if all this virus pandemic comes to and end 🤔it is worrying times. I just want to sit here all day and get lost in your journey, thank you it has made my morning, safe travels for you both when the time comes cheers Carolyn and Rob
I am so glad I brightened your day. Your adventure will still happen, and you will appreciate the opportunity even more than ever! Stay safe.
An excellent read. Thankyou for such concise costing.
Thanks. I am a little bit “anal” about keeping records 😂
Enjoy reading about your trip, this is our dream trip in 2yrs time and pick up work as we go, was there work out there on your trip ?
There was plenty of work available. We were always going to do our lap first, so we didnt follow through with job opportunities. Hopefully, the jobs will still be there when we head out again when it is safe.
Thanks for the information, you did very well with your documentation on this trip.We were to leave home on 4/4/2000 for a road trip. We have been delayed due to virus.
It is so disappointing for so many. Hopefully you will be on the road soon 🤞
Great in site on costings. We were due to start our lap on 20 April. Had to re arrange work which I had given notice, cancel rent on house, total chaos. We will be heading off in April next year now. Very similar route just around coast. Thanks for your info. Great to follow someone that’s done it.
Wow! Such a lot of inconvenience for you. Best wishes, and next year will be worth the wait!
Great post. Thank you. Very typical of our trip. Next time when viruse has gone slower, less tours, leave some stuff behind. And we are 72. Hope you complete your trips soon. Thanks again . Regards. Kev
Best wishes Kev.
Very impressed with your review .would love to do they way you sumerized your trip with costs and logic.Unfortunately cannot share it.
It can be shared from our Happy Campers Australia FB page as it is a public page. You might be trying to share it from a private group. Cheers
Great experience and wonderful time spent camping
Made even better by spending a small amount of time camping with you and Carol 👋
Hi Glen & Vicki,
Great site Happy campers, enjoyed reading it and would love to know your thoughts on towing with the Everest and then changing to the Ranger, pros & cons?
We currently tow a JB Gator behind an Everest.
Hi guys, I have actually written a blog about both vehicles. If you use the search icon on our webpage, search “Ranger” the comparison will come up. Cheers and Happy Travels
Can I ask what length your van is
We tow an 18 foot 6inch Full Off Road van. 👍
Great informative article
We did the same back in 2007
Won’t go into detail but we averaged $11.60 per night for accommodation However recorded food cost but in the final accounting took out basic costs because you would have to buy food at home
Will look forward to your next adventure
Hi Kevin,
It is difficult to know what to include. Even though you buy food at home, we found the prices differed a lot from home, so the grocery cost was relevant for us to include.
Cheers.
What a great trip. Is that a Ford Ranger you are driving, if so what’s your opinion of the ranger for towing?
What size van where you towing? Looks a good setup
Cheers
Hi Adrian, we tow a full off road van. 2.8T. We started our trip with an Everest, but it was written off last March. We replaced with a Ranger. Check out our webpage for details of the accident and replacement vehicle 👍
This is so good and I thank you for the tips , let’s hope this virus disappears as quick as it came.
Amen!
Thanks for all the details. $839/week sounds a lot. Does that include fuel, food, tours and site fees? How long were you travelling for?
Our weekly average includes everything you asked plus more. We traveled 18 months. Touring Australia can be done for much less than that if you want to travel slow, not do any expensive tours, and stay a week or 2 in one place, lots of people are happy to travel this way. We wanted to enjoy our lap as a touring holiday rather than just living on the road, so our costs reflect that. Now that we have seen the country as tourists, next time we leave we will travel slower and work as we go. Next time our costs will be lower. Cheers!
Hi Happy Campers!
I have loved your information and re-affirmed that what I am doing is maybe going to work one day
……I have begun a small tour business in Mansfield, Victoria. Not an overnight ‘whim’ or easily accomplished….
I have completed a Tafe course (covering practical, OHS, safety, Wilderness First Aid etc); Have local Licences as registered Tour Operator; all relevant insurances; purchased a mini bus; have had a website built; have a formal arrangement with a friend to be on standby as a future staff member; etc etc.There are so many costs associated with being a Licenced Tour Operator!
I am glad to hear that you scrutinise the tours you go on. Many of the ones I am hoping to run (without threat of bushfire or covid19) are ones confident bushwalkers could do on their own, but for the rest of the population, knowing where to go, how long it will take, what else is available and options like a stop at a winery on the way home are what I would envisage being the ‘added value’ of a tour as opposed to ‘self guided’.
However I would love to have your thoughts & ideas on what you look for in the tours you have been willing to pay for, why you have chosen them and what you valued most from the organised tours you have been on, and of cause what you see as value for money.
Thankyou in advance for your information and advice.
Kind regards,
Monnie Richardson
http://www.mansfieldbushwalks.com.au
Hi Simone, congratulations on your new business venture. You have some really good questions that we would be happy to answer. I will check out your website and grab your email from there. I will respond in detail in the next day or 2.
Cheers,
Vicki
Hi there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that
would be ok. I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and
look forward to new posts.
We use FaceBook, Instagram, YouTube and Blogs on our webpage. Sorry, we do not use Twitter. Glad you are enjoying our blogs.
Hi Vicki & Glen, it was so nice to meet & chat with you today. Safe travelling.
Cheers Paul & Anna.
Hi Paul and Anna, it was great to meet you too. We hope you are loving your new van!
Hi, you both are an inspiration! We are currently renovating a bus and hope to early retire to travelling around our beautiful country. We plan to house sit or pick up work where we can. We reckon it’s like you said stop saying why you can’t do it and just go for it!
Fantastic! We hear of lots of travellers who house sit and there seems to be plenty of work around. Enjoy your travels!