by Loreena Walsh | Vehicle Guide
One of the major considerations when heading off to travel within Australia, is finding the best type of car for your dream holiday. Australia’s landscape is large and varied, and the type of car you decide to take will depend entirely on how and where you plan to travel.
We’ve just been through this very process, and I won’t lie, it’s one I don’t really look forward to going through again. There is so much to consider, and we felt like we’d gone around and around in circles and still weren’t sure of what the right choice was to make! Now we’re out the other side I’m glad we researched as thoroughly as we did because we know we made the right decision!
However, we’re here to help and hopefully guide you toward making the process of choosing a car so much easier. Welcome to our first installment of choosing the best car for your Australian family holiday!
Choosing A Car to Suit Your Australian Travel Destinations:
STEP 1 – Deciding the Destination:
The first vital step is understanding WHERE you want to be able to travel on the road. If you plan on sticking to major highways and sealed roads, then your options will be very different to someone who wants to explore rough washed out four wheel drive tracks.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Do we want to drive on unsealed roads? – Sedans can handle unsealed roads, although an all wheel drive may be better.
- Do we want to drive on 4wd tracks? – For regular 4wd tracks an all wheel drive may be fine, for more remote or extreme tracks a dedicated 4wd is probably better.
- Will we be travelling remotely? – Long range fuel tanks (or the ability to have one fitted as not all cars can have one) may be beneficial
STEP 2 – Choosing your Towing Capacity
Once you decide if you’re looking for a sedan, all wheel drive or a dedicated four wheel drive, you will need to decide on what towing capacity you’ll need. This will depend greatly on whether you decide to tow a camper trailer, small caravan or pop top, or a larger full van. We found in our research, that towing capacity is one of the most under researched abilities of cars, and came across numerous people who’d purchased a car and van only to find that towing their van with their car would be totally illegal!
You need to understand the tow capacity of your prospective car e.g – our Nissan Patrol Manual can tow 3.2 tonnes but the X-trail we sold only had a tow limit of 2 tonnes. But that’s not the only capacity you need to understand, there is also a ball weight capacity. For instance, when looking at the Mitsubishi Pajero, it was advertised as a 3 tonne tow capacity, but a bit of research showed us that over a certain weight the ball weight reduced to 180kg’s not enough to cover most caravans!
Things to Know:
- The weight and ball weight of your desired “home away from home” e.g – camper, caravan etc
- The tow capacity, ball weight, GVM of the car you are considering (research these things and understand what they are!)
- Find a balance between these 2 things, you may need to compromise on the accomodation or car to get the best of both worlds.
STEP 3 – Researching Your Narrowed Down Car Options
Once you’ve found cars that fit your destination requirements and your tow requirements, the next step is to research whether they will be something you’d like to own. Although we didn’t think the X-trail would quite be able to do what we wanted, we were really surprised after tracking down a Nissan X-trail Review or two, as to what the car was capable of. So although we did discover it would take us many places we were planning to travel, the tow capacity just wouldn’t meet what we wanted and it wouldn’t have been fair to the car, which is why we upgraded.
You’ll find reviews on 4wd forums, carsales.com.au, magazines and on 4wd tv shows. The most important thing is not to believe everything you read or see. There are often very extreme opinions floating around the internet, and it’s important to read reviews and opinions objectively.
STEP 4 – Set Your Budget & Go Shopping
While most people would advise to set a budget first, when you’re planning extended travels within Australia, the abilities of the car you choose are the most important thing. The next step in setting a budget will really define the age of the car you purchase, and perhaps let you narrow down between 2 options if you’re having trouble deciding. Start to check out local car dealers, online car sales websites, ebay, gumtree and newspaper ads, as well as travel forums etc for cars that are advertised. This will give you an idea of what you’ll get for your money. Take time with this part, test drive and wait for the right car. It will definitely be worth it.
Enjoy!
Choosing a family car for travelling Australia can be a lot of hard work, but take your time, understand your requirements and then keep a close eye out for the best car you can get for your money and here’s to lots of great travels in whatever car it is you decide to buy.
by Loreena Walsh | Thoughts & Ideas, Trip Planning
Today, I am the proudest mum, a heartbroken mum, and an inspired mum.
As we sort through our belongings, our “stuff” and sell it or donate it, and get closer to our journey of living on the road and exploring Australia, I question so much about my dreams and my goals for our little family. I question the validity of our desire to work our way around the country without a bricks and mortar home to return to, and how this amazing journey will affect, or is affecting our children.
Our dream, is to give our children a spectacular life. A life that showers them with the beauty of the amazing country in which we live. A life that inspires them to truly believe that anything is possible, and that they can achieve it. A life that sees them blossom into amazing teens and adults who have an appreciation and respect for mankind and the amazing earth and it’s creatures that sustain us.
Making dreams come true requires sacrifice, and our dream is no different.
As with anything in life, a big change requires big decisions and a certain degree of sacrifice. So as our process of decision making and sacrifice shapes our lives over the next few months, it’s the new task of selling all of our belongings that really brings the gravity of our decision to life.
Parting with the things that have shaped, and still do shape our lives forces a type of self analysis that may ever be undertaken otherwise.
Even the most mundane, boring item brings with it a sense of past memories. Letting go of our house full of mementos, serves of a stark reminder of the reality of our decision and how it is and will shape the lives of our children. I truly believe that our children will have an amazing experience travelling and exploring, living on the road, and they are so excited about the journey that lays ahead. As a mother, watching them make decisions about leaving behind their “things” and put trust into our judgement that this radical change will be worth it is just inspiring!
Goodbye Pets
One of the things we’ve had to begin parting with, are our pets. Our dog will be travelling with us, but we’ve also had reptiles since the kids were tiny. Rehoming them is not too difficult, most of our snakes were Matt’s, so the kids had no real emotional attachment to them, but their bearded dragons, and Jackson’s python were different all together.
Jackson was very happy his carpet python went to a new home with kids to enjoy him, and he’s looking for the right child to pass his bearded dragon on to. I watched as he readied the cage so I could take some photos to email, and held his pet with such pride so he could show it to the prospective buyer.
I watched with pride, and realised just how mature he was being over this entire process . “You’re being very brave about having to sell your pets mate, are you ok?” I asked him. “Yes mum, I just have to trust that it will all be worth it” was his reply.
Well at that moment, the gravity of what this journey means to our children really hit me. I’m sure we’ll give them memories of this amazing country that will be the envy of many others. I’m proud because they “get” the dream and understand the possibilities, I’m heartbroken because of the unknown and seeing them having to be so brave, and I’m inspired that they do, truly understand the magical possibilities that lay before us!
I hope however, with all my heart, that they do truly believe that leaving this life, and all our things is worth it!
by Loreena Walsh | Family Travel
Eco Family holidays are growing in popularity, yet it’s easy to turn any family adventure into one that is gentle to the environment. You don’t need to rely on expensive eco resorts to share a green holiday experience with your children. We take a look at how you can turn your next family road trip into one that’s green and environmentally friendly.
1. Reduce Packaging:
One of the most environmentally damaging aspects of a holiday is the trash that quickly adds up when purchasing take away food and drink. A really easy way to reduce your environmental footprint while on holidays is to avoid constantly eating take away foods with excess packaging (some of which is non biodegradable). Constantly purchasing drinks is also expensive and creates a lot of waste plastic bottles. Carry stainless steel refillable water bottles for a much more environmentally and economically sound option.
2. Avoid Food Wastage:
The other consideration when eating out all the time is the fact that children often get excited by the menu options, and then distracted by the fact they are eating out, meaning they can easily over order and then not eat what has been purchased. This not only leads to food wastage, but also becomes an expensive part of your holiday.
3. Drive Greener:
While not everyone can drive around in a low emissions electric car, you can do things to reduce your car’s eco footprint when on holidays. Be sure to have a full service done prior to leaving, this will ensure that your car is running correctly. Check tyre pressure, this simple step can help you lower fuel usage, less fuel used equals less cost to the environment. Drive to the conditions, driving fast and erratically is going to make your car struggle much more, driving at a safe, suitable speed puts less stress on your car, again using less fuel, this is especially true when towing.
4. Minimise Washing:
When on holidays, it’s easy to get caught up with having to throw loads into the washing machine and then straight into the dryer, as time is short. If you’re on a beach holiday or spending a lot of time in the water, be sure that swimmers and towels are hung and dried, this will make them last longer. Be sure to dress appropriately for the weather outside, and if camping especially, it’s ok if clothes get a bit dirty and worn a bit longer than they might otherwise be in a home environment.
5. Be Kind to Wildlife:
When travelling within Australia, chances are you’ll come across wildlife in one way or another. It’s important that any families on vacation in Australia understand the considerations that need to be made for co-existing with animals in nature. Consider limiting your driving time to daytime driving where possible. When travelling at dusk or dawn as well as night time, there is a greater chance of hitting and injuring wildlife in your vehicle, as well as doing damage to your vehicle. Another thing to note is that native wildlife should not be fed by visitors. Not only does this encourage them to become accustomed to humans and cause problems for themselves and people, human food can also cause illness and death in some animals.
Most of all, just use common sense. Limit your rubbish output, try to minimise waste, drive safely, be mindful of wildlife, do not pollute or litter, and keep our country looking amazing for all family holiday makers for years to come.
Do you have any eco friendly family holiday hints?
by Loreena Walsh | Photography, Thoughts & Ideas
I’ve dug out some of our favourite travel quotes, and some of our favourite photos of Kakadu National Park, and created a little bit of goodness, that I hope inspires you to get out and explore 🙂
We’re taking part in Wordless Wednesday (although yet again we couldn’t resist adding a few words) 🙂
by Loreena Walsh | Gear Guide
When it comes to the best camping gear for families, we know how to put it to the test.
Torches are no exception to this rule. As a family of 5 you can be sure that at least 3 of us will end up needing a torch at exactly the same moment.
While in the past, such a situation may have caused all sorts of chaos and tantrums to take place, as we scrambled in the darkness to locate enough torches for everyone (if we’d even remembered to pack enough torches) during a visit to our local camping store, we were really excited to find a product that we figured would save all our problems!
The Coleman Quad LED Torch – Great For Families
This lantern offers a unique design that gives great flexibility to families, or groups that are camping, or, for that matter, even just to have around the house.
The torch can operate as a full lantern, or 4 smaller style lanterns can be removed individually from the centre section, allowing up to 4 people to use the torches individually.
The smaller torches operate by charging from the main unit, which runs on 4 x D size batteries. Surpisingly the batteries last quite some time which is great news if you’ll be away from shops for a while, but to be sure, take spares also.
Do We Recommend This Product?
We sure do! It offers great flexibility for a family, or anyone who might need separate torches. We’ve used ours during power outages, every camp trip and on long drives it’s always in the back of the car in case of emergencies.
by Loreena Walsh | Photography, Slider Features
My family are from a rural area, born and bred.
Me, I was born in the city, and I remember vividly when mum and dad told me we were moving to “the country”. I was 8 and I thought everyone would be watching black and white television and wearing colonial style clothing. (Nope I’m not joking, the thoughts of a child huh!) We still live in regional Australia, and my kids are more worldly and travelled than I was, but it’s still very important to me that they understand and appreciate rural Australia and the farmers that put food on our plates.
So, to help achieve that, as I’d already mentioned, we were excited to be participating in Farm Day. We headed off last weekend to Booroomooka Angus Stud, and I have some wonderful stories to share. But first up, here’s some photos of our amazing day.
We’re linking up for Wordless Wednesday too.
