Thread: Affordable ways to visit australia ?

> Am i right in thinking that the cost of everyday living is in accordance with the prices of cars and housing?

Yes, you are absolutely right.

> Is there a way of travelling australia on a budget?

Depends what type you are. I personally feel that hiring a campervan or a motorhome is an excellent way to travel this country. It is less expensive than car hire and Motel/Hotel. If so inclined, you can stay at many absolutely beautyful national and state parks. For some strange reason, it appears that prices for a motorhome are cheaper if you book from Europe than here. You may also alternate the motorhome with a week or two hiring a houseboat on a river. Do not forget to visit Tasmania too, can take the campervan on a ferry. Very nice forests and parks there. Be warned, it is a huge country - 3 months are nothing.

Years ago a lot of people got free tickets to come here and food and lodging was also supplied free of charge...

A lot of the European backpackers, perhaps a little younger than you, get around in these vans

http://www.jucy.com.au/

As we travel around we see a lot of them, there are others as well.

There are lots of backpackers hostels everywhere as well

http://www.yha.com.au/

We have friends in their sixties who travel in Europe and NZ using those.

Another possibility is house sitting or house swaps. Quite often people want to go away and are looking for someone to look after their house, or people swap houses for a period of time.
There are specific websites for this.

PS I am moving this thread to Travel as it doesn't really belong in Metalwork.

Hi Jan
Just to give you an idea, we did a trip from Melbourne via Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin and down the west coast to Perth and back home to Melbourne. 3 months and 17000km. That works out to an average of 200km per day. We drove past a lot of stuff because we didnt have time. I would plan for at least 6 months if I do it again.

Roger

Originally Posted by .RC.

Years ago a lot of people got free tickets to come here and food and lodging was also supplied free of charge...

I know but the trouble they had to go through to be eligible..........

Originally Posted by cba_melbourne

> Am i right in thinking that the cost of everyday living is in accordance with the prices of cars and housing?

Yes, you are absolutely right.

> Is there a way of travelling australia on a budget?

Depends what type you are. I personally feel that hiring a campervan or a motorhome is an excellent way to travel this country. It is less expensive than car hire and Motel/Hotel. If so inclined, you can stay at many absolutely beautyful national and state parks. For some strange reason, it appears that prices for a motorhome are cheaper if you book from Europe than here. You may also alternate the motorhome with a week or two hiring a houseboat on a river. Do not forget to visit Tasmania too, can take the campervan on a ferry. Very nice forests and parks there. Be warned, it is a huge country - 3 months are nothing.

A campervan would in fact be my preferred way of travelling .
I actually was planning to buy a toyota 4x4 converted to camper and have it shipped home to holland afterwards.
But that was before i found out how much it would cost to buy such a vehicle!
Now i am wondering how much it would be to have my vw t3 syncro campervan shipped to and from australia.

cheers
jan

Originally Posted by rogerbaker

Hi Jan
Just to give you an idea, we did a trip from Melbourne via Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin and down the west coast to Perth and back home to Melbourne. 3 months and 17000km. That works out to an average of 200km per day. We drove past a lot of stuff because we didnt have time. I would plan for at least 6 months if I do it again.

Roger

hi Roger,


Luckily i dont mind driving as long as i dont have to be in a hurry to get somewhere in time ( had enough of that in my working days).

cheers
jan

Originally Posted by Big Shed

A lot of the European backpackers, perhaps a little younger than you, get around in these vans

http://www.jucy.com.au/

As we travel around we see a lot of them, there are others as well.

There are lots of backpackers hostels everywhere as well

http://www.yha.com.au/

We have friends in their sixties who travel in Europe and NZ using those.

Another possibility is house sitting or house swaps. Quite often people want to go away and are looking for someone to look after their house, or people swap houses for a period of time.
There are specific websites for this.

PS I am moving this thread to Travel as it doesn't really belong in Metalwork.

Thanks for moving the topic to the apropriate place

I checked out jucy but they only seem to rent out the middle of the road 2 wheel drive petrol automatic gear rather luxurious type of campervan.
Not quit my cup of tea.
I would prefer a spartan reliable 4x4 diesel with a tent on the roof, after all it would be the adventure of a lifetime...

However the youth hostels would provide a welcome brake every now and then, although, or maybe because? , i have gone past my youth a long time ago.

cheers

jan

Originally Posted by cba_melbourne

> Am i right in thinking that the cost of everyday living is in accordance with the prices of cars and housing?

Yes, you are absolutely right.

> Is there a way of travelling australia on a budget?

Depends what type you are. I personally feel that hiring a campervan or a motorhome is an excellent way to travel this country. It is less expensive than car hire and Motel/Hotel. If so inclined, you can stay at many absolutely beautyful national and state parks. For some strange reason, it appears that prices for a motorhome are cheaper if you book from Europe than here. You may also alternate the motorhome with a week or two hiring a houseboat on a river. Do not forget to visit Tasmania too, can take the campervan on a ferry. Very nice forests and parks there. Be warned, it is a huge country - 3 months are nothing.

A campervan it will be.
Tasmania will depend upon the time of year as in wintertime temperatures are comparable to holland i believe.
And i dont intend to bring a heavy sweater to wear during the daytime...


cheers

jan

Here's an alternative to above suggestions...go "WWOOFing"...Willing Workers on Organic Farms/World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

http://wwoofinternational.org/
http://www.wwoof.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWOOF

That is...if you're so inclined. Maybe read up on them, call the "company", ask specific questions, and ask/plan with specific "farmers" and you might find that once you get over here, for the cost of your muscles and attitude, that you could quite possibly see the hugest amount of Australia, coast to coast, and what it's like to live/farm/provide as an Aussie, for a lot less than being a simple tourist...and gee...being an "Aussie" for a while would be sooooooooooooo much better than just simply seeing "the sights". (not that they're not somewhat interesting too)

...I don't mean "simple tourist" as an insult...just that if you experience "farming" and "living" here, in a whole bunch of different locations, you'll see an amazingly wide range of what "Australia as dirt, lifestyle, needs and requirements to survive, truly is". A well planned trip to all the different locations (not necessarily capital cities) will show you just how much of a wide variety of climates, flora and fauna we have here. Man....we've got massive deserts to tropical forests and everything in between.

Originally Posted by janvanruth

A campervan it will be.
Tasmania will depend upon the time of year as in wintertime temperatures are comparable to holland i believe.
And i dont intend to bring a heavy sweater to wear during the daytime...


cheers

jan

I would highly recommend a heavy sweater almost regardless of where you are and the time of year in Australia. You can get snow in summer in the higher country of Tasmania, and in the outback you can have the temperature drop below zero at night from a maximum above 30 during the day.

And that's without considering what Melbourne can throw at you in just one day!

Cheers, Mike

Jan,
For reference, about 6 years ago, my LandRover Defender cost 1840 GBP from London to Sydney. That was in a 20ft sole use container, one way.



Thx
Jon

You might need to check out tourist visa requirements, and plan your stay around that. I have a feeling a Tourist ie not a working visa is max 3mths. It is valid for a year with a max of 3mths at a time. Which means if you leave you can come back 4 times. Pop to New Zealand or Bali and return is done by a lot of people.



Forgot to say, this forum covers all of Australia, how many good friends have you made here? You could "couch surf"….an aussie term for short term stays moving from friend to friend.

Originally Posted by irony

Here’s a good start on price comparisons: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living...y2=Netherlands
It disagrees with your assertion on vehicle costs. for example a VW is actually 20% more in the Netherlands than in Australia. You’d also have to factor into this, VWs in Australia are more expensive than Holdens, Fords, Toyotas, etc.

Petrol is also more expensive in the Netherlands although we usually drive a bit further.

I think you would also have to take into account that wages in the Netherlands are 26% lower than in Australia.

That doesn't help an inbound traveller.

This list does raise an interesting question though: Why would a bottle of wine cost so much more here than in Netherlands, I’m led to believe Australia has a thriving and robust wine industry????

Did you see the numbers for cheese and beer.

I think you will find things vary a lot more in Australia than in the Netherlands. City to country and north west versus south east will show much bigger variations in Australia than in the Netherlands.