RV'ing in Australia??

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camperAL

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Curious if anyone has ever RV'd in Australia? If so any comments? Would it be best to rent or can you take an RV over on the boat? Would that be cost effective if so? Is it cost effective to rent?

One place I'd like to visit and stay for a time and seems this might be a good way to go in order to see some of the outback.

CamperAL
 
We have several Australian RVers that post here from time to time so hopefully they will chime in since I don't know much about RVing in Australia. I do know that in Australia they call it Caravanning. If you do go to Australia remember no one goes into the outback with less than 2 spares and the ability to change said spare. Not a lot of RV repair shops in the outback, so it is best to carry a lot of spare parts.

As a scuba diver and a bird photographer it always makes my heart beat faster thinking about visiting Australia. They have the Great Barrier Reef and an amazing collection of birds that can't be seen anywhere else. I just haven't found the right highway yet.
 
You will need to rent, lhd vehicles are not allowed on their roads. Go for it, that would be the trip of a lifetime. 8)
 
RoyM said:
You will need to rent, lhd vehicles are not allowed on their roads. Go for it, that would be the trip of a lifetime. 8)
I had never heard of lhd vehicles being illegal to use in Australia so I Googled it and found the following information:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_it_legal_to_drive_left-hand-drive_cars_in_Australia

It appears that it is legal to drive lhd vehicles in Australia, but the rules differ from state to state.
 
It most certainly is legal to import a lhd vehicle into Australia. If it was illegal there would never be any lhd vehicles there.

http://www.aaa.asn.au/touring/bringing.htm
 
I seem to recall that forum staffer Lou Schneider rented an RV in Australia some years ago. Hopefully, Lou will see this and jump in.
 
As I understand it, any permanent import has to meet Australian Design Rules, which preclude Lhd among several other things that are generally incompatible with US RV standards. Glad to see they have an exception for temporary touring - that's quite nice of them!
 
Hi folks, sorry I am in the middle of the Santa Season so cant look it up for you but there is a Limited Import program whereby LHD and other vehicles can be imported. There are a swag of conditions and requirements and you would need to be talking to professionals about it but the simple take away is that YES, AFAIK you can import LHD vehicles into Australia.
 
We had a Aussie here a couple years ago who was going through all kinds of machinations because he was not allowed to import a LHD US motorhome. He was trying to find one that was most suitable to being modified once it reached Austrailia, which apparently was something that several shops specialized in becasue a lot of non-Aus spec cars get imported.  He also said he would also have to have to shipped direct to the modifying shop - couldn't pick it up at the dock and drive it there.  There was also a strict rule about the location of the entry door - it could not be on the Aussie street side.  That meant that every US made RV would have to have its US curb side door sealed off and another cut in on the opposite side (the Aussie curb side). Seems to me there were a couple other glitches, but they were minor compared to to the drive and door issues.
 
[quote author=Tom]I seem to recall that forum staffer Lou Schneider rented an RV in Australia some years ago.[/quote]

I forgot that Lou previously corrected me on this one. See his post here.
 
Oops, sorry Lou. Just wanted to correct my error and lapse of memory  :-[
 
Hi All,

Thanks for the many responses  and links posted here. I did do a search but didn't seem to get the right responses that I wanted. Probably wrong key words.

Looks like it is a straight forward process of taking your RV with you, if you are only going to be there for a short period (six months or less). My idea would be there for a couple of months or a bit longer.

I'll try to do some research on cost of taking your RV with you. Don't know if that would be cost effective or not. Only problems I see is driving in a reverse environment. My idea is not to drive in populated areas but rather rural settings. I am familiar with some of the hazards that are there. I'd most certainly want to take it slow and easy.

Any other comments people can offer are most welcome. Are there enough people here that might want to caravan in a trip together sometime?? There would be strength in numbers and safety where help can be several hundred miles away. I think the beauty and ruggedness of the country would be worth the trip.

Camper AL
 
O.K., did a bit of research (not much) and found that it costs about $3,000 U.S to ship an average size car from the US to Australia. I'd guess that an RV (even a B class) would cost one and a half to two times or even more. I didn't go to the trouble of getting an actual estimate at this time at various places.

There is one place that checks all the shipping companies at once and provides you with choices on price a insurance and so forth.

So it is obvious to me that you don't want to ship your unit over there as the cost is high enough that you can probably rent a nice unit and come out ahead on the deal. There are positives and negatives doing it either way.

Since we have some Aussies here on the forum, I hope to bend their ear and get some info on where to go in order to rent units. I do see that some of the past threads address this cost. Best to all!!


http://www.costhelper.com/cost/home-garden/ship-car-overseas.html
 
Greetings,

Looks like it takes about 24 to 31 days from California to travel by boat to Australia. O.K. if you have lots of time. I'm not that fond of being on the water but if taking an RV with you and traveling for 24 days I might be tempted.

With the expense of shipping an RV along with the time getting there  (24 or more days there and 24 or more days back) It is becoming crystal clear that flying in about 14 hours and renting is the only way to go, unless you shipped the RV then flew to get your RV as it arrived (which ultimately sounds the best way to go).

I'll keep looking at various options until I figure out what is best. Thanks again for the good advise on this so far!!

CamperAL
 
One thing not mentioned is are the US/CA RVs allowed in AU.  I seem to recall a list of modifications needed that was mentioned a few years ago on this forum.  I think a check with the AU consulate in the US before you go very far in this.
 
Hi Jim,

I think there are links in this thread that touch on this subject. If not then somewhere else in this area of RV'ing outside of the US.

From what I have gathered, if you are not taking the rig there for more than six months, then you don't have to meet the Australian requirements. Talking to the authorities there would be in order to avoid delays and trouble later on.

Hi Gary,

I appreciate your posts! That was my point to put it on a ship and fly over to meet it but the cost seem way too high to justify it (shipping the RV). Probably $4,000 to $6,000 one way! Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.

Flying there and renting seem the cheapest way to go.

CamperAL
 

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