Gipatik: 05.12.2017
On Sunday morning we started our journey. We picked up our campervan from Britz in Melbourne at http://www.britz.com.au. This was a so-called relocation booking through the website www.coseats.com. It means that you have to move the vehicle from one location to another within a given time period and pay only a small amount for it. In our case, it meant traveling from Melbourne to Brisbane within 4 days. We only paid $5 per day for our campervan. It is a very inexpensive way to travel from one place to another and see the landscape. The website offers various deals, including partial coverage of fuel costs. We had bedding, towels, and all necessary utensils for cooking included. To find a suitable campground for overnight stays, we can recommend the WikiCamps app (costs €5.49).
We spent the first night at the free SunValley campground near Campbelltown. It is a private nudist campground (you don't have to be naked to stay here 😁). The owner was very friendly and showed us the facilities and our campsite for the night. Although the campground looks more like a junkyard, it is beautifully located by the river and the shower/toilet facilities were very clean!
We spent the second night at the Johns River Tavern. Again, it was a free campground located near a not particularly nice bar. At the tavern, they only serve meat pies and drinks. It is best to stay for a beer and use the campsite and clean toilets for free (no showers available!)
The first 3 days of our trip had very changeable weather, cloudy, partly rainy, and rarely sunny (that's why there are few photos from these days). We hope that the weather will improve as we continue up the coast towards Brisbane.
For our last night with the camper, we opted for a paid campground in Lennox Head. One of the many Reflections Holiday Parks in Australia. We paid $35 for one night's campervan site for the van and both of us. The facilities and the entire campground were very clean, and you have the choice of going to the beach or the lake from here. The water of the lake is brown colored, and the skin looks like it's been rubbed with iodine in the water. There are plants or roots that grow here and color the lake (but you don't see them on your skin or swimwear when you get out of the water). Very nice clear water and a pleasant bathing temperature. We would have liked to stay longer, the weather was finally beautiful (30 degrees with bright sunshine), but we had to return the camper on Wednesday.
We drove along the Gold Coast to Brisbane.
We have planned to stay 2 nights in Brisbane with Airbnb.
We were more than satisfied with the rental of the van and the campervan itself. We slept very well, and it was a great feeling to be so independent.