Thread: Campervan hire in Tasmania

Try some of these. Tasmania Cheap Motorhome Rentals - compare discount campervan prices at cheaptasmaniamotorhomehire.com.au

At least they allow you to drive on Bruny Island.

Thanks , that's a lot of useful info all in one place.

All of the companies I looked at or contacted, allow you to use the ferry to Bruny, it just that with some of them, you can't drive over half of the island because the roads aren't sealed. Others will allow you to drive on any recognised road sealed or not while you're on Bruny but on on the 'big island'.

The local Hertz operation (Autorent) doesn't explicitly say you CAN drive on dirt roads but there's a clause that cancels your insurance excess reduction options if you have an accident on dirt road so do I read that as a yes?. .

Just when I was starting to believe it was all a conspiracy to keep me out of Tasmania or at the very least making me stay in tent, I had an email from Tasmania Campervan Rentals who said something along the lines of 'Most of the roads to tourist destinations in Tassie are dirt or gravel and we know that vehicle renters will use them. As long as due care and attention is taken, it's OK' [Don't take this as their company policy, I'm paraphrasing what they said to me]
The fact that they bothered to actually answer my question rather than quoting the T&C has pretty much ensured that they'll get me as a customer

There are a couple of other things in their favour, the vehicles they have are automatics (haven't driven a manual in 25 years) and their prices, even with the extra insurance options, are very competitive.

Now just to select the level of comfort I can afford.

[My apologies if my original post sounded like a rant, it was ]

We have hired camper vans like the one in the pic below a couple of times now.... there is a VERY good reason why they shouldn't go off a sealed road.... they weren't made for it & they are not good at it.... guess how I know.

When we were in the NT we took a Sprinter 2 berth to a 'locals only' beach 'cos a local told us how to find it.
There was 25Kms of gravel road, it took us 45minutes each way & stuff still fell off the bloody thing.

I grew up in the bush, I learned to drive in the dirt & 130KPH in the dirt doesn't faze me one bit but there were places that I couldn't do more than 17KPH in that thing.

The next time we go to the NT we will do it in a 4WD so we can see some of the places we had to skip.

On another note, I have done that road to Cockle Creek & it isn't bad BUT... knowing what I now know, I wouldn't do it in a Sprinter.

Cliff,

Thanks for the heads up. Trouble is most, if not all, of the vans offered are Sprinter (or VW) based.
There are a few of the larger ones that look like a Fiat Ducato but they're all 6 berth vans and there's just me that will be in it.

It's also the insistence that the van has a toilet and shower that's guiding my choice.



[The 2 or 4 berth motor-homes in this list are the candidates.]

OK, so, if you are going to do it & not tell them.... if the road is flat, you will get there, it is just going to be a veeeerrrrrryyyyy slow trip.
If there are pot holes that you can drive around, you will also still get there but it will be even slower still.
If there are pot holes that you can't drive around, expect to drag the water tank several times & maybe even get stuck or (like I did) bend the water tank protection plate hanger. (it didn't leak {much} but I am very glad that the young girl who inspected the van when we returned it... was young.... & a girl. )

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

....
It's also the insistence that the van has a toilet and shower that's guiding my choice. ....

My wife insisted on that too the last 2 times & out of a total of 18 days hire (2 trips) I personally used the shower about twice & the loo about never but I was still the dill that got the job of dumping & cleaning it.

Next time will either be in a 4wd camper & we camp near a loo & showers/clean creek/river (with no crocs) or we will just take a cheap rental car & stay in hotels/motels/cabins.

My friend who going to be driving the support truck and trailer for the Tawe Nunnegah thinks all this is hilarious. She loves roughing it on a camping trip and can't understand my reluctance to give up the basic comforts.

And I still have to arrange Internet access for the trip



[cleaning, I'd forgotten about that ....]

I finally found a rental company that have a much more flexible attutitude (and policy) on driving on dirt roads in Tasmania. As long as I'm not using a fire trail or driving on the beach, I'm covered.
Company is Tasmanian Campervan Rentals

Booked this little beauty for 10 days next month to coincide with the WBF.



I've since found out that my friend's daughter will be documenting the Tawe Nunnagah on HD video and I'm 'IT Support' (unpaid and uncredited). Now I have to take my laptop along - after I add some serious disk capacity to it.
Next thing to arrange, wireless broadband.

And they call it a holiday

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

Next thing to arrange, wireless broadband.

Check the coverage maps for Southern Tasmania before selecting a wireless provider.

Originally Posted by KevM

Check the coverage maps for Southern Tasmania before selecting a wireless provider.

Thanks Kev,
I've been doing this most of the morning (when not helping the budding film maker choose her camera and accessories).

It looks as if Telstra is who I'll go with. The coverage seems best, fastest speeds and I'll get a better deal than listed by bundling it with my land line and mobile. There are better deals with data quotas from some suppliers but the coverage seems a bit sketchy.

If you can offer any advice as a local, I'd be grateful.

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

Thanks Kev,
I've been doing this most of the morning (when not helping the budding film maker choose her camera and accessories).

It looks as if Telstra is who I'll go with. The coverage seems best, fastest speeds and I'll get a better deal than listed by bundling it with my land line and mobile. There are better deals with data quotas from some suppliers but the coverage seems a bit sketchy.

If you can offer any advice as a local, I'd be grateful.

The other carriers are slowly catching up but the Telstra coverage is probably still the best at this stage even if a little more pricey.

Originally Posted by KevM

The other carriers are slowly catching up but the Telstra coverage is probably still the best at this stage even if a little more pricey.

Optus is the only one with close to the coverage of Telstra but their plans are limited.
Vodafone coverage only just goes as far south as Southport.
I'm only going to be the far south for a couple of days this trip but for the future, it's a consideration.
No one comes close to Telstra's (claimed) speed. It will be interesting to see what sort of speeds I can actually get.

FWIW when back of beyond (must inc. all of Tassie!) I use a cheap Telstra blue tick prepaid phone as a modem hanging off the laptop. Samsungs are good.

Speeds aren't fast but good enough for email and occasional website browsing.

And the phone gives you the best option for emergency calls short of a Spot 2 tracker.

Have fun over there snowyskies; it's a great place.

Ern,
Thanks for the tip, I hadn't thought about using my existing phone service. I think it would work out expensive as my mobile plan doesn't have much allowance for data.
There will be a number of people on the sailing/rowing legs of the trip and I'd like to be able to offer them Internet access. Even if this is limited to email, it could add up for 50+ people.

This will be my 3rd trip to Tassie in the last 12 months, next trip is one way