My German rellies (couple, middle aged) asked me to find out about travelling Australia in a small, rented motor home. Last time, from Sydney to Airlie Beach, we talked them out of it, and they were very happy with the car & accommodation, but this time they want to go South from Sydney to Melbourne & Adelaide, then up to Alice Springs and Uluru, and are keen to try the motorhome.
Anyone have any ideas,please? They will have six weeks, and would like to go back to Cairns or Airlie for the last week, but will fly out of Alice.Their English is limited, but they get by.
I think the one-way drop-off fee may be a problem.

Hi Carrabella,

Are your rellies used to driving very long boring roads? The drive from Adealiade to Port Augusta is okay but once you leave Port Augusta, well I call it the great nothingness.

Also what time of year are we taking about? If they intend to do it in our summer months then I would highly advise them to ditch the motor home in Adelaide and fly from there to Alice or just skip the centre altogether as it is just too hot to enjoy it and fly to Cairns.

Cheers

Paul_S

I'm an expatriate Aussie living in New York, so my info may be a bit out-of-date, but I had elderly rellies visiting Oz from England some years ago who traveled between campsites in a car but used the stationary campers that are already there. I think they got their info from the NRMA. A few years ago i was visiting Kiama on the south coast and saw one of these campsites, which was in the best possie on the ocean--it was one of those ones where the campers are permanent and equipped with the basics and you just drive from one of these sites to the other in your car. Do they still do this? I was thinking of contacting the NRMA myself one of these days and coming back for a visit as a tourist, not a relative!

Pears43, I think you are referring to on-site caravans. Most parks now have cabins or villas. I think the Caravan Park you are referring to, is the one on the Blowhole Penisula, but more so on the northern side of the hill, with great water views. Just below the Park is a small Seafood shop. I still remember one time when we camped there. We bought a feed of prawns, a few coldies, and sat in our camp chairs, enjoying the magnificent ocean views.

Thanks Paul, for reminding me about the time of year - I forgot to ask them and it is of course, very important. They listen to their own tapes and take turns with the driving - think they enjoy the experience of it all.
Pears 43 and Tropo - I can't wait now to try the Kiama on site van for myself! A great idea! The NRMA still puts out accommodation books, one for hotels and one for caravan parks and camping spots. But they are no longer free, the books I mean.
They drove from Sydney toYI o

We have driven that route in a small campervan and enjoyed ourselves. To be sure, there are some long flat nearly featureless stretches, but you really get a good feeling for the immensity of the country. And, you haven't really lived until you play 'Chicken' with a 4-trailer road train!

The one-way drop-off fee may indeed be a big drawback. It varies widely between companies - shop around.

That Kiama camp site is wonderful - I walk around there each time I'm at Kiama (about monthly).

Those bbq's on the front verandahs are great - one time I'm going to invite myself to someone's breakfast!@

hi there
i'm intrigued... tell me more about the 4 trailer road train!!

A four-trailer road train is nothing to toy around with. It's a gigantic truck with four immense trailers in tow, moving at 100 km per hr at a minimum. You can be sucked into their sides if you get too close. They raise enormous clouds of dust wherever the paving stops. Myself, I get out of their way and always keep a close eye in my rear mirror. One can be on top of you in a flash. You only find them in the outback. I understand lots of cities won't allow them around.
And I can't say I blame them! And they don't stop for anything. We came across six huge adult (and dead) camels smashed to hamburger by a road train -- be warned.

....and many outback roads aren't really quite two full lanes wide; so it's dusk and you realize that the headlights coming toward you belong to a 50-wheeler (I'm not kidding!) road train barelling right down the center of the highway, and he is not getting out of his way for you! You fly off the road, bouncing along the dirt shoulder until the road train roars by in a cloud of dust.

Worse, you want to pass a road train, but that #$*&@! thing is so long that you have to be utterly fearless to spend what seems like several minutes to get the job done.

Here's a photo:
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pi...or/bulls01.jpg