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Hiring a campervan in Vic

wazza

wazza

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Joined
Jun 24, 2001
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4,620
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Victoria
Well, the timing is coming up for me/us to finally take our child(ren) to camping/doofs. Cassie is 2 years old in exactly a month, our bub almost 3 months so he may need to wait so it'll be just Cassie and I (I think anyway?) for now, who knows really. Have a few thoughts/questions hence felt the need to start a dedicated thread.

So... specs.. Either be gimpy me (I've lost some/lots use of my right arm so I have NFI if I can put up our 8 man tent by myself if my wife isn't there, let alone thinking about trying to keep the kids entertained + watched during the time of putting up said tent. A campervan, whilst $$$ would be better + quicker idea! Hell, I may buy one, not sure. My investment $$$ doesn't mature til mid year so a fair way off (next year!) so I only have mmmm, up to 3-5K 'spare cash' as we got some money to buy a care once needed when our current one dies. Not a car fan, I spend all my time + love (money) on the motorbike, car is a 'necessary evil'.

So, gimpy me, my 2 year old, and at times, my wife with our current 3 month old. Would like toilet, aircon and be comfortable. NOOOO IDEA on costs to hire or buy, just yet. It'd need to be auto, my gimp arm means manual driving really isn't feasible. IDEAS PEOPLE!?!?! Hire and/or buy appreciated, buy would be 3-5K at the absolute max as it's not a main thing, being in chronic pain with my injury means we won't get much time to go camping/doof'ing due to the logistics of my 'needs'. Maybe if I heal enough to find part or full time work, I'd buy a 20-40K 'luxury mobile' but for now, it's semi beggars can't be choosers!

I think we'll try to set up our current tent and *see* if that is a possible goer, if it is, I'd just need to get a trailer as my fully sik subwoofer and big tent fills our EF falcon boot space mostly, where we used to put put/esky + clothes etc is now filled with the kids seats in the back seat, so lots of room is used with the kids, but mmmmm, trailer could be good, I'd double it as a mbke trailer to go to track days. Yeah, I'm gimped but on a mbike, my injury impairment is cut like up to 80ish percent, HUGE WIN for excuses to ride vs pain filled stuff OFF the bike.

Well, that's enough rambling from me, just watching practice 1 at MotoGP racing for the weekend, plus xanax kicking in so I can actually get past my (still happening) insomnia. Damn, I miss doofs + camping but this damn injury and being a loving dad forced a hiatus which I don't complain too much, the family is more than enough in giving happiness + fun I miss from being out there :D


Bring on suggestions hopefully people! Thanks, it IS appreciated.
 
Personally I'd recommend the rental route. For the budget you have nominated you would only be able to buy an older unit without the mod cons you would need. Campers are also harder to sell in the second hand market. Your budget however would keep you and your family in comfort. For that money you could hire a camper less than 3 years old


My partner and I circumnavigated Tasmania in a Maui last year. In the end it worked out similar to hiring a regular car and staying in hotels but the convenience of living like a turtle and setting up digs where ever you like carries a fair amount of value.

Whilst I'm not familiar with your condition in terms of the limited mobility you indicated regarding driving but I can tell you that these things are very easy to drive and handle much lighter than many would expect
 
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wazza said:
Would like toilet, aircon and be comfortable.
Click to expand...

Forget the doof, go to a holiday campsite ;)


I can fully understand your dilemma. I took my then 3 yr old camping to Woodford festival by myself and even without a gimpy arm it was more than a battle to erect our modest 4 man tent between the two of us. I did a trial run at home a few days before hand and managed to teach her how to hold the pole against her body with all her weight while I bent and pegged everything down. It was a mission but I know the group next to us were mighty impressed. You could just hope that the cute factor my win over your doof neighbours who take pity and offer to help you.

Eggman is right, a budget of $3000 is limiting. Some sort of pop-up tent might be your best option. They vary in quality, often they will spring into shape easily but offer little in the way of serious shelter. If you eventually buy a 4WD or SVU you could invest in something like this roof top tent...

equiptrooftent.jpg


They are around $2000 and come with mattresses and are sealed from the elements.

Hiring a camper van is the most affordable option. It might cost as little as $200 a weekend for a base model van. You might not have much room for a cot but if you are happy to all "sleep" in a double mattress then it should the trick.

Still not as cool as this BMW camping concept
bmw-air-camper.jpg



edit: I found this pop up tent for around $600. I don't know how easy it would be to fold up however..
turboliteFS300TENT.jpg
 
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Psilo and I hired a 'wicked' camper van earlier this year to drive from Vic to the Sunshine Coast. It cost us $60 a day and that was the 2nd model up - so it had aircon, cd player, it was also auto though we'd actually requested a manual so both were available. Also came with all cutlery, crockery, gas cooker, water container and pump connected to a sink, small esky (prob better to bring a bigger esy as the one that came with it only really fit one sixy of beer), two chairs and fold out table that you could take out of the van when you needed to set up camp. It also had a big mattress in the back with all that aforementioned stuff stored underneath that in useful cupboards/compartments beneath the mnattress.

I would really highly recommend it, and this company. We spent quite a awhile just living in that van - driving down from the Sunshine Coast back to Melb but spending a few days through central NSW - Nimbin and Port Macquarie - absolutely awesome. There was a lot of storage space (though still the hassle of moving things to get the bed sorted at night) - but not too bad. Perfectly wonderful to sleep in at night. May be a bit harder with little ones though.

Would highly recommend this - we just did a similar trip with Psilo's wagon and while that was no prob, the camper van really was the way to go.
 
Thanks for suggestions and stuff. I've looked into hiring vans and it's like bout $800 for 'ok' vans as all of them want 5 days minimum for hiring out. I think I've found something that looks good, trailer/tent things. Have to look into how they actually work real world before actually purchasing a unit. And if I do buy one, we'll probably head out camping dozen or more times a year, just hope the kids enjoy it!
 
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