oh we are so new to all this..where do we start

mongy · Member

oh we are so new to all this..where do we start

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Welcome both of you from me, enjoy here and on the road. You will get heaps of advice from very experienced and helpful people here.

Boroma577 · Guru

Firstly mongy...WELCOME to the forum.

Next suggestion is to have a look back thorough some of the old threads here and gleen as much info as you can.

Then I would head out to the nearby campgrounds and CPs and talk to the travelers there.

They will tell you the good and bad points of what they have and why they chose what they did. Far better than talking to any salesperson.

You have a wonderful journey ahead....ENJOY.

JRH · Guru

Boroma577 wrote:
Firstly mongy...WELCOME to the forum.
Next suggestion is to have a look back thorough some of the old threads here and gleen as much info as you can.
Then I would head out to the nearby campgrounds and CPs and talk to the travelers there.
They will tell you the good and bad points of what they have and why they chose what they did. Far better than talking to any salesperson.
You have a wonderful journey ahead....ENJOY.

Good advice there Boroma.

Welcome from me also Mongy.

Pejay · Guru

First off, welcome from us in 'the wood shack' as well, but if I may, DON'T head up nth Qld during the wet season - it's bl*****dy wet, wet, wet at present. We have a good reason though, our little grandson is turning ONE next Saturday - now that will be some party!!

May we suggest buying the Grey Nomad Book as you said you were going to do, then sit down and read it cover to cover with a glass of wine in the other hand!! It really is a wonderful read, and goes hand in hand with the website/forum.

Cruising Granny · Guru

Hi there and welcome. Happy browsing. There is so much to be discovered. Tell us a bit more about you.

nomadic1 · Senior Member

Hi and welcome to the forum. It doesn't seem so long that I was wondering what to buy. I was going to suggest hanging around your local campsites and talking to the people who are actually living the life but Boroma beat me to it. Whatever you finish up with I hope you have a wonderful time in your travels - and I know you'll meet some fabulous people.

the rocket · Guru

Boroma577 wrote:
Firstly mongy...WELCOME to the forum.
Next suggestion is to have a look back thorough some of the old threads here and gleen as much info as you can.
Then I would head out to the nearby campgrounds and CPs and talk to the travelers there.
They will tell you the good and bad points of what they have and why they chose what they did. Far better than talking to any salesperson.
You have a wonderful journey ahead....ENJOY.
great advice boroma. I second that.yeh. 2 new friends we have not met yet. welcome,welcome,welcome. rocket n strop

mongy · Member

thank you all so much for the lovely welcome..judy

Elle on Wheels · Guru

Welcome to the forum guys. There's lots of collective wisdom and info on here. As the others have said use the search facility to check out some of the old threads and you will see lots of relevant discussions about vans and types of set ups. Look forward to hearing more from you.

Esmeralda · Guru

Hi Mongy - welcome to the Forum. First things first - take a deep breathe or two then sit down with a cuppa and read through some of the old threads and get as much background as you can.

milo · Guru

welcome to the site

jonathan · Guru

Welcome Mongy ..

I'm sure it'll all happen when its meant to .. enjoy the learning curve !

Jon

mongy · Member

yes we have been thinking of buying one of those good fridges..

Cupie · Guru

mongy wrote:
oh and how do you get to be a guru ????

Hadn't noticed that I had achieved that milestone, until you drew my attention to it.

It seems to be based on the number of posts you make to the forum.

Looks like the magic number must be 500.

It's taken me 5 years to get there. I browse more than i post.

Some get there in a very short time indeed.

Ps. Sounds that you are going to work your way round Oz. In that case the larger van with en-suite might be the way to go. My neighbour, a very experienced vanner, has an en-suite van & is pulling it with a current model Prado.

cheers.

-- Edited by Cupie on Monday 27th of February 2012 02:21:57 PM

Boroma577 · Guru

mongy wrote:
thank you all so much for the lovely welcome..judy

You are most welcome Judy and remember there is no such thing as a dumb question.

We all had to start somewhere.

Dunco · Senior Member

Welcome....one quick suggestion....buy a car fridge to save you buying ice each day. Will save you heaps in the long run !!

Cupie · Guru

First of all a big welcome. I wish that we were just starting out. All the excitement and satisfaction ahead of you! Fantastic.

Just to address some of your questions ...

mongy wrote:

hi all...hubby are i are working towards doing the big lap...he is 50 ..i am just about 53...
Starting off at a good age. Far too many of us leave the great adventure too long.
we have a campertrailer which we brought when we gave up smoking last year as our reward..now its time to step up..which way to go ..campervan..like jaycos etc...or a pop top ..or caravan
As suggested by others start talking to all the others at CPs, free camps & Nat parks. Happy hours are are good tool for gathering info. We are all differnt in our wants, needs and circumstances. You will find the set up that suits you .. at the present piont in time. Great to hear about the non-smoking. I gave it up in 1969. Pitty about my drinking habit though.

...we have a prado 4000 petrol to tow with
Good start. Prados are well regarded for towing. Have a look at Toyota web site to find out what you can pull with the prado (what weight that is) & what the maximum ball weight is.
Once you know this then you will be well on the way to knowing what range of vans you can consider if you want to keep the Prado.

...want to do state forest along the way..so need shower and toilet for when we are there...we are pretty self sufficent with the trailer..just need ice daily..thats the biggest pain...
Many people get by without showers/toilets built in to the van. There are lots of good portable/camping types. To build them in can add lots of weight and cost & increase fuel costs to pull the bigger/heavier rig. It's all a compromise & everything has its price/cost.

i am going to buy the grey nomads book ..so i get all the tips...
Good move. If you can get to a local library, they usually have lots of back & maybe current issies of Caravanning magazines. Read in particular the articles about tips & questions from readers. I still have a mountain of caravanning mags & if you are in Brissie you can have them. I even wrote a 'book' on our experiences in starting out & what we learnt over the years. Free if you want a copy. Just PM me. Most grey nomads love sharing their experiences.

i think if we go van ..i would find i would need the bigger fridge..full oven would be nice..an island bed ( i have vaned in NZ and the bedding was all wet from the condensation as it was next to the wall..so i figure island bed solves that problem...and solar and deep cell batteries and a large water tank....does that sound about all we need.
You can get by with lots less than that .. but we have all of that sort of thing in ours .. forces us to use a large Patrol to pull the thing. I'm sure though that there will be a light weight van available with all that in the Prado's towing range.
As was mentioned by others, get a car fridge. We use an Engel but there are lots of good alternatives.

..help...its so confusing...watching ebay alot atm ..waiting to pounce on the perfect van if it comes up...cant wait to do the big lap hopefully this year..cheers

Be patient please ... and it will come up .. after you have done all the research and therefore know what the 'perfect' van for you is.
Best time to start on the lap if going anticlock is to be in the top of WA around March or majbe just a bit later. Of course it depends on how long you have .. but again don't rush it. Unless there is a compelling reason, I would be looking at a 2 year lead up, with trial runs in the new rig. But that's just me.

Best of luck .. Do it your way ... Cupie

-- Edited by mongy on Sunday 26th of February 2012 06:03:07 PM

mongy · Member

wow thanks for all that information...we are doing the research atm...so hope to have it all sorted..hubby brought the camp 6 book last night on ebay...so thats a good book i hear for people to go caravaning....we are not planning on going north in summer...that will be a winter thing....we live in brissy..so planning on going south or west first up...might look at working our way around..is there much work out there does anyone know..we can both put our hands to anything pretty much ...but we also have skills which we would rather have a break from..

mongy · Member

oh and how do you get to be a guru ????

mongy · Member

hahahahaha/..well if its taken you years to get there ..if i really get into it im sure i can bring that down to months for me...i have a big thirst for knowledge..lol

mongy · Member

thanks for the welcome

mongy · Member

can i please ask what kind of money you need daily to travel ..we plan on maybe travelling about 3-4 hours then pulling up to stay a few days or a week ..depending on how much we like it there

cannylass · Senior Member

Welcome and it all depends on the price of fuel three hours ist very long, we make it about five some times 6, and 7 is the most we have drove we do stop for morning tea and lunch, and we try to get to where ever we staying by 3pm, we really don't have a set time just how we feel on the day

neilnruth · Guru

Welcome from us too. Have fun.

Smokeydk · Guru

lot of good advice from Cupie there..............we started with a campertrailer then upgraded to a 12ft poptop caravan......after years of CT.we used to cooking outside etc.not locking ourselves away in a big AC caravan...as others have said......do a search on topics here and ask questions......you wont know if you dont ask....

Welcome

Cupie · Guru

mongy wrote:
can i please ask what kind of money you need daily to travel ..we plan on maybe travelling about 3-4 hours then pulling up to stay a few days or a week ..depending on how much we like it there

For fuel costs planning its a bit like how long is a bit of string, A good question though that raises lots of very important questions .. like how much should you load the rig, how fast should you drive & how important it is to plan ahead....

(Some free spirits among us don't see things this way though)

1. You must first know the consumption of your vehicle when towing. This will change greatly depending on your speed/how you drive, the weight & shape of the van, the terrain - mountains/hilly/undulating road surface, head or tail winds etc. That's assuming bitumen of course, sand & corregations are another story. If you are getting around 12 round town you could expect around 17 pulling a loaded van.

This is one of the things that you learn on your settling in trips.

When starting out you should be meticulous in keeping fuel consumption records or you will eventualy be caught out.

Get used to expressing consumption in the Standard .. ie. Litres per 100Km (L/100k). Some people still use so far per tank, or Km per Liter or even MPG would you believe. Use L/100k.

2. Know the approximate price of fuel in the area. Google web sites on fuel prices to get a range of sites that are regularly updated with this info.

3. If you intend to drive for a set number of hours then take your intended speed ... say 90Km/hr (a very sensible speed for a number of reasons) and then subtract 10. ie at 90km/hr you will cover 80km each hour on average. We find that this always works out about right. So if you intend driving for 3 or 4 hours at 90km/hr then you can expect to cover 240 to 320 km.

4. Fuel costs can then be easily calculated ...

vis. (L/100k) x distance traveled /100 X fuel price per litre.

Perhaps a rough estimate using the above assumptions could be

17L/100 X 300km/100 X $1.70/L = $86.70 per day

hope this helps just a bit..... G

AmandaJayne · Guru

Just adding my welcome to the group on the end here :)

mongy · Member

hi again ..thank you all who are helping me to work out which way to go..im still trying to get my head around the site,,,i have never been on a forum page like this and its taking me some time to get used to everything...a question...is avatar a picture of myself...or one from another planet..haha *( i did see the movie in 3 D)...if its not how do i post a picture on here...

mongy · Member

thanks for the welcome :)