How to Plan a Lap around Australia (From experienced caravanners!)
Congratulations! How exciting is it when the idea of planning a lap around Australia first pops into your head?!! Maybe you’ve been thinking about it for a while, maybe it’s a new idea. Either way, things are about to get exciting!
But then the overwhelm sets in… where do you start? The good news is you’ve taken the first step in planning. Now it’s time to stop the dreaming and start the doing.
We’ve been travelling on and off full-time over the past few years, and have learnt a thing or 2 along the way.
Have a look at the topics below for some planning ideas.
Set the date for your Lap of Australia
How do you plan a lap around Australia? First step: Grab a pen and go to your calendar (or open Google Calendar) – write a date, any date and lock it in. Now, you have something tangible to work towards.
OK, so you may need to think about big life events – have you got a wedding, big birthday, kids final exams coming up? Work out if you *really* need to be here or not. But write the date down.
The next step is working out how long you can go for, and what you need to start doing to put your plan in motion.
How long do you travel for?
Everyone is set on a year of travel, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Can you do a few shorter trips? Perhaps a big long trip and sell up your house? In our experience, a year isn’t nearly enough to properly see everything Australia has to offer. We spent a year only exploring Western Australia!
What is your ‘why?’ do you want to tick the box to say you’ve done the lap of Australia? In that case, it’s possible to complete the lap in 3 months. It’s a lot of driving, not much sightseeing, but possible.
Do you want to go down every path, explore every beach and taste every cellar door? Then I would suggest planning a short distance, but a longer time frame. Think about what you want to get out of your adventure. Remember, there is no right or wrong answer.
What is your budget?
This is the number one question most people ask when planning their lap. Unfortunately, most of us don’t win the lotto to go travelling. Some save, some work remotely, some use up holidays. There are so many ways to make it work.
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Start looking at what your expenses are at home. What is your weekly spending? Now, take away anything you won’t be paying for while you’re away. Things like gym subscriptions, Netflicks (maybe?!) mortgage or rent?
Add in the additional cost of travel. Fuel is usually the most expensive item unless you’re taking your time and not driving long distances. Accommodation gets pricy if you’re planning on only using caravan parks.
For your guide on how much it costs to travel Australia in a caravan, click here.
Other ‘hidden’ costs are potential repayments on your caravan or car, insurance, and increased cost of food in remote areas.
Typically, our budget was:
- Food: $300
- Fuel: $200
- Accommodation: $200
- Experiences: $50
- Other costs of living back home (bills etc)
Our budget is rather unusual, we travel very slowly, stay off the grid at low-cost or free campsites, rarely eat out and tend to choose free experiences such as beach days.
TIP: Grab a copy of the Camps Australia guide, it’s what keeps our cost down on accomodation
Of course, some weeks the cost is much greater: Accommodation has been as high as $1200, Fuel: $600. If you’re savvy with your funds at home, you’ll also be able to travel fairly cheaply. If you plan on eating out everywhere, going on all the awesome experiences and staying in resort-style caravan parks, then you’ll need to budget much higher.
Some families budget for up to $3000/week. It depends on what you want to do on your trip around Australia: think about if you’re going for a long time, or living it up and travelling for a short time!
Word of warning: Things can go wrong, and cars can break down. Always have an ’emergency’ budget, or access to money if you need it quickly. In the same way, make sure you have insurance that covers your car and caravan and long-distance towing if needed.
Accommodation
Our biggest advice is to go with the flow. Have the first few nights planned, but plan as you go. Especially if you’re travelling with kids! Plan a rough idea of what you want to see and assign yourself chunks of time for locations.
Be flexible, we stayed an extra few weeks at Denmark on the Western Australian coast as it was so beautiful, and the temperature was very hot further north.
However, over the busy times – Christmas, New Years, and School holidays in general, you’ll find the popular places book out far in advance. You can plan your trip around Australia in a few ways.
- Look at the not-so-popular places during peak season. For example, plan an Airbnb inland over the Christmas break and enjoy the peacefulness.
- Look at the general location you hope to be in busy periods and book ahead. Read the fine print for cancellations.
- Wing it. That’s what we did – and people do cancel! If you’re flexible with dates and exact locations, regularly check the booking sites to see if any last-minute places appear. You’ll also find that some towns open ‘overflow’ campgrounds once the caravan parks fill up.
How to plan your route around Australia
Clockwise or Anticlockwise? Honestly, it doesn’t matter! Look at what the average temperatures are of the locations and see if that would interest you.
Be aware the northern parts of Australia are affected by the ‘wet season’, heavy continuous rainfall that closes many access roads. This occurs over the Australian summer and a few weeks on either side.
Check local government websites to see road closures, if you’re planning on driving around Darwin, Cairns or anywhere in the Northern section.
North of about Kalbarri on the western coast is seasonal – many of the tourist operators close or operate on reduced hours in the quieter months. Plan your wishlist adventures at the right times.
Experiences
Have you seen people swimming with whale sharks in the Ningaloo Reef on Instagram? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! But these tours book out far in advance and operate for a limited time each year.
FYI we looked at many tour operators, and Three Islands Whale Shark Dive were our pick. They even include a glass of bubbles at lunch!
Start scrolling on Instagram, and look at destinations (sign up for our newsletter for our picks!) Put together a wish list. Some of these are expensive and need to be booked in advance, so it’s worth a little planning here.
If you’re travelling on a budget, it’s definitely not necessary to book all the experiences. We chose only 1 or 2, and the rest were free local experiences like bush walking or swimming at the beach. Or visiting playgrounds. Lots of playgrounds!
Caravan, Camper or Tent?
If you already know what you’re travelling with, skip to the next section otherwise read on for some ideas.
Caravan
Pros: extra comfy, lots of room (relatively speaking)
Cons: Costly, big to tow, big to park, limited camping spots if it’s extra long.
A caravan is the most common choice. What type of caravan is 100% personal choice. The two main types are off-road or on-road. Off-road caravans are typically built stronger (heavier), bigger suspension and bigger electricity packages. On-road are much like your on-road car – and made for predominantly caravan park stays.
Hybrid Camper
Pros: smaller to tow, get into more campsites, possibly cheaper
Cons: smaller in size, need to set up every time
We have a hybrid camper – it is a pop-top with an outside kitchen. Our family lived in that camper for around one year quiet comfortably. We also tend to like the minimalistic side of life, and would rather the best campsite locations vs big tarj mahal. Go with what you like – not everyone wants fancy, not everyone wants a swag.
Tent/camper trailer
Pros: cheaper, can get into any campsite
Cons: need to set it up every time. If it’s a rooftop tent, you’ll need to pack it up anytime you need to drive.
A tent to travel Australia is a great way to do it, you can really get anywhere. However, a tent may be suited to a single/couple rather than a young family. We tried for a few years with our rooftop tent, but ended up with a camper!
A camper trailer is a perfect option for families who want a simple tent life but going slightly more fancy.
How to pack your caravan for your lap of Australia
How do you plan your packing for your lap of Australia? This depends if you have sold most of your possessions or not! Seriously though, weight plays a big roll in what you can take.
Make sure you have a good understanding of how much weight you can legally add to your caravan. With that in mind, I would suggest taking a week’s worth of clothes. What you take on a standard week-long trip is what you’ll basically need going for a year. Sounds crazy – but there are washing machines, supermarkets etc!
As for the different seasons, pack what you need with a few items for different climates. Our go-to is op shops, grab what you need on the go and swap clothes you don’t need.
Packing for kids – only take what you can fit into their box/cupboard etc. I guarantee you’ll pick up lots of items along the way!
How do I fund my lap of Australia?
These are the most common ways to fund your lap of Australia:
- Savings (see budget above)
- Holiday/long service leave pay
- Rent your house at home
- Ask your current job if you can work remotely
- Look for a remote ‘work from home’ job
- freelance
- data entry
- VAs
- check out seek.com and search for remote work or work-from-home
- Stop in locations for a short period of time to work
- Bakeries
- Pubs
- Caravan Parks
- Farm hand
Or a combination of the above. We fund our adventures with rental income, holiday pay (Tim) and remote work (Margie – writer). YouTube helps, but it’s not worth mentioning for the effort vs the return!
What about the kids’ schooling?
If you have school-aged kids, you’ll probably think what do you do with schooling? This depends on where your home state is located as every state has slightly different rules.
Most families choose to homeschool and register with their home state. Jump onto local homeschool Facebook groups to start your research. If it’s only for a term or so, chat with your current school.
What next?
Have a chat with your family and set that date. Start a list of what to organise, as a recap:
Once you start breaking down what you need to do, it becomes easier. Enjoy the planning stage, because your departure date will come soon enough and you’ll be on an adventure of a lifetime.
