The REAL costs to Travel Australia over 24 months
We read so many Budgets online and on travel pages but we believe ours is the most accurate and fully detailed report. It provides all of what you need to be prepared for and to know what it really costs to travel Australia. There’s more costs than just Caravan Parks, Campgrounds, Fuel and Food. You need to Budget for all the potential costs or at least be prepared for what might happen.
We detail everything that it costs to travel Australia for us over 24 months, nothing is missed. There’s also no guesses, we keep receipts for every cent we spend and record them into a spreadsheet. We rarely pay cash for anything so it’s all able to be checked against our statements. We know exactly what it costs us to the cent.
About us
We were 3 adults as our son who had just turned 23 traveled with us and we paid for almost all of his costs. After 2 years, once we got back home to Brisbane, Matt moved in to his brother’s place and from now it’s just Adele and myself however for the duration of these Expenses, Matt was with us. We drive an 8m Winnebago Motorhome RV with no tow car and therefore it was our only vehicle.
Kevin has run his own businesses now for 30 years and Adele did the bookkeeping for many of those years so keeping accounts and accurately recording the information is just part of our everyday life.
The difference between what we spent in the second year in comparison to the first is significant. You may be smarter and more experienced in the beginning than us and be able to keep your costs down a lot better than we did.
We are not mechanical in any way so maintaining your vehicle yourself will also save a lot on the costs we incurred to maintain ours over the 2 years.
We aren’t saying what we spent is what it will cost you, but by reviewing our Expenses you can more accurately determine how much you might need to budget for to do the Big Lap with less likelihood of running out of funds half way into your trip.
Our Trip
We spent 2 years traveling around Australia and still live in our Motorhome.
The first thing we learnt is everyone’s experience is different, no two people’s trips are the same and everyone has their own budgets and travel plans.
For us, we started out with a 2.5 year plan before going back home. We wanted to see as much as absolutely possible as we expected we wouldn’t be back.
But something happened along the way, we fell in love with the Lifestyle!!
Our Blog Indefinite Leave also grew so fast, we weren’t expecting that, and we wanted to show our followers as much of Australia as we could to inspire them to hit the road and chase their dreams. We tried to see as much as we could and present that so others could follow.
Lessons we learnt
When we left Brisbane on Feb 1, 2016 we were complete and total rookies. Basically we had no idea what we were doing and just learnt along the way.
We learnt about our costs and how to manage our expenses and were able to stop staying in Caravan Parks and almost entirely Free Camp. We began catching a lot of our own food, Fish, Prawns and Squid were often filling our freezer. Eating out stopped and Pub stays, while they might be Free or low cost, you end up having a meal and some drinks and before you know it the Free Pub stay just cost $100 or more for a night. We rarely stay at Pubs or if we do, we prefer ones where we pay a small fee and there’s no expectation of having to eat or drink there.
We searched for the best value Fuel and looked to conserve fuel by reducing weight. Rather than before we left, we didn’t fill up our water tanks until we got to our destiny therefore reducing weight and better fuel economy. We continually sent back to home anything we weren’t using, clothes, tools, kitchen utensils and anything that we realised we wouldn’t need or use. If we hadn’t used it in 3-6 months the likelihood was we wouldn’t need it again.
Our Highest Costs to travel Australia
We found the Top end of Australia was the most expensive to travel for a couple of reasons.
- The heat had us staying in caravan parks so we could plug in to electricity for our air con.
- There were so many more major attractions with tours to experience. From sailing the islands off 1770, Yeppoon and Whitsundays, scenic flights over the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns and visiting the islands, staying at and seeing Lake Argyle, the incredible trip to Horizontal Falls from Broome and we didn’t even do places like Bungle Bungles which were on fire at the time we went past. We also spent a lot in Winton and especially Longreach, there’s so much to do there. For us, the south of Australia was easier to control the budget. Cool nights made Free camping easy and there was so much more choice for Free camping in the South. The sights to see weren’t nearly as hard on the budget except the cost to Tasmania and Kangaroo Island.
The more experienced we became the more we were able to reduce our costs. There are tours all over the country for Lighthouses and old Gaols to visit but once you’ve seen a few it’s hard to get excited about seeing another one. We didn’t visit any Zoo’s as we always planned to do Dubbo Zoo which we finally did near the end of the 2 year adventure. The budget frees up a bit as you go in this regard.
A couple of quick tips for traveling Oz
1. Don’t have a washing machine
Two of the greatest issues you will face traveling Oz is space and weight and the washing machine effects both. It will use so much water and they are so small you need to do so many loads. I recently asked a Mum parked next to us as we discussed her washing machine in the caravan and they were a traveling family of parents and 3 children, How often do you wash? I was already expecting the answer and wasn’t surprised when she said, Every day!!
For us, we would prefer less washes in bigger machines and if we were doing road tripping Oz when our kids were younger that decision would be even more so.
The cost for us the whole trip to wash our clothes in Laundries and Caravan Parks turned out to be just $726 over 2 years. $360 a year ($1 a day) is a ridiculously small amount of our total overall budget and we don’t have all the issues of carting a washing machine around with us. I know many others love their washing machine, fair enough, but we don’t expect we would ever travel with one ourselves.
2. Pets
It’s so hard to leave your pets behind, we couldn’t do it either, MACKS had to come with us. If it were for just 3-6 months we probably would have left her at home but for 12 months or more that’s a tougher decision.
Traveling Australia though is so much easier, cheaper and less restrictive without animals.
If you’re goal is to really explore the country and you have a good option where they could stay, then maybe best to leave them behind. If you know you are planning to go traveling and thinking of getting a dog, our advice would be wait until your trip is over and get your puppy then.
There’s no right or wrong decision here, just the right one for you.
If your plan is to travel long term then there are plenty of options to travel with your best friend and see everything there is to see. Here’s how we did it
3. Phone coverage
Telstra has the best coverage by far. If you rely on phone reception choose Telstra or possibly Boost. Optus and Vodafone are not going to be suitable if phone coverage is important for you. Our videos of everywhere we have stayed let you know what phone coverage was available.
4. Wifi
Matt managed to find lots of Free Wifi all around the country. Maccas, Cafes, Bunnings, Info centres and more.
When Caravan Parks say they have Free Wifi, it’s a miracle if it’s anything useful. Usually it’s terribly slow, very limited in the amount you can use and that’s assuming it actually works. Don’t rely on Caravan park Wifi, many of them should be ashamed of their claims of having Free Wifi.
Ok, let’s look at all our costs of traveling Australia over 24 months
Groceries 🍞🍉🥪🧀
$21,999.65
That’s $916.65 per month or $211.54 per week
The last 3 months without Matt it is $1539.68 per month or $118.45 per week.
This suggests it costs $60pw each for Adele and I.
Takeaways 🍟🍕🌭
$3,561.61
We didn’t tend to do a lot of takeaway, we preferred to create our own meals. We would rather spend our budget on places to see.
This equates to an overall cost of $34pw for takeaway.
Dining Out 🍽️🍸
$6,391.69
Last 6 months $162
Like Takeaway, we didn’t dine out very often. In the last 6 months our weekly budget for Dining out was just $6.23pw.
Overall our total Dining Out expense was $61.46pw
Accommodation 🚎🎪♨️
$13,453.63
$18.98 Average per night
$6880.70 First 6 months
$4572.83 Second 6 months
$1310.10 Third 6 months
$690 Last 6 months. This equates to $3.79 per night 🤣🤑😴
This involved almost exclusively Free camping and staying with friends and relatives where we traveled.
As you can see, there’s considerable savings to be had on our budget by way of reduced costs in Accommodation. We could no doubt reduce our first 12 months by $3000 – $5000 now if we did it again but our budget will always be higher in the north than it is in the south.
Our Website and YouTube channel has 230+ videos of every Free Camp, Campground, Caravan Park, Pub Stay, Station Stay and RV Parks we stayed in across Australia.
Fuel ⛽
$13,163.72 58570.3
Most expensive was Kings Creek Station at Kings Canyon @ 199.9c
Uluru was 190.9c and Barkleys Homestead 179.9c
We have found United Fuel to be consistently the cheapest and almost always use them. Metro in some areas is great also.
We use the Fuel Map app to find the cheapest fuel.
Our fuel costs were probably higher than for someone towing a caravan as we always had to drive the Motorhome as opposed to being able to explore and run around town in a Car.
Our fuel costs over 2 years averages out to $126.57pw. We did approx. 55,000 kms during those 2 years.
Winnebago
Costs related to the Motorhome part of our vehicle was:
$5,226.39
Some of the big costs were:
$699 for a new Waeco 40L fridge that we keep in the Motorhome for our drinks
$680 for 2 new house batteries
Iveco
This is the Costs related to the mechanical part of the Motorhome.
$6,594.44
This includes
3 Services
8 new tyres
1 new windscreen and 1 repair
1 Radiator
Our biggest unexpected Bill shock was $2,882.80 for new Radiator, Coolant Hose and Windscreen in Perth
Entertainment 🏊♂️🎣⛰️🏝️🚁🚡
$18,429.31
We wanted to see as much of Australia as we could, have lots of fun and experience adventures so we did do quite a few tours.
First 6 months
$8,258.40 – Brisbane to Cooktown to Katherine. Included 3 fishing charters, Hummer 4wd on Fraser Island, 1770, Lady Musgrave Island, Keppel Island, Whitsundays and Cairns Scenic Flights, Kuranda Railway & Skyway and Katherine Gorge were just some of the adventures.
Sleeping in a Swag on the Great Barrier reef
13 Must do in Airlie Beach and Whitsundays
Best Things to See in Cairns
Second 6 months
$5,733.90 – Darwin to WA to Tasmania. Included Horizontal Falls, Swimming with Humpback Whales, Broome Fishing Charter, Rottnest Island
Best of Broome
Things to See and do in Darwin
Third 6 months
$2,113 – Tasmania to Great Ocean Road to Uluru to Darwin to Mt Isa. This also Includes Tasman Island Cruise and Bruny Island Cruise plus Gordon River Cruise
The Very Best Things to See and Do in Tasmania
https://youtu.be/sWDhpoK7U3A
Fourth 6 months
$2324 – Karumba to Cairns to Longreach to Murray River to Gold Coast. Incl Fishing Charter, Cobbold Gorge, Qantas Museum, Stockmans Hall of Fame, Cobb & Co Stagecoach Experience and Thompson River Cruise.
Our Highest Entertainment Costs
Our biggest adventure costs were:
$1,707 for Adele and I to go to Horizontal Falls.
$1,366 for the three of us to do Reefsleep in the Whitsundays
Your costs for these tours and adventures is going to be dependent upon your budget and what your plans are that you want to experience. For us these were incredible experiences that we will never forget, but they do cost money and often don’t come cheap.
This is our second largest expense of our adventure after food.
Readers who enjoyed this also read:
Our Best Free Camps
The Best Campgrounds we stayed
Our Favourite Experiences around Australia
Cost to go to Kangaroo Island
Day Trip to Fitzroy Island in Cairns
Gas
$897
Such a small part of the budget.
We have 2 x 4kg bottles.
We find BCF works best for us, they are in most places and the cost is consistent at mostly $13.99 for our 4kg bottles.
Otherwise we check the website at https://gasbottlerefills.com/ for the cheapest local retailer.
Alcohol 🍾🍷🥃🍻🍸
$4,926.90
It is what it is, we do enjoy Happy Hour but aren’t big drinkers. We drink often but not a lot.
When I see Bundy Rum on special I tend to buy a few bottles and I buy Cider by the carton. Adele is happy drinking the $5 bottles of wine.
Cost is $47.37pw
MACKS, our dog
$3,373.04 in vet and medications etc
Sadly we had to let her go 14th June 2017 so no costs since then.
She did make it for 16 months of our trip.
Dog Sitting
$959
We used Dog Sitters wherever possible to allow us to visit National Parks and do tours wherever we wanted to go.
Read about travelling Australia with a dog
Read my tribute to MACKS
Adele’s Nails
$959
Some things a girl just has to do lol
Clothes
$2,488.41
We bought some new clothes along the way as we needed. We took very little winter gear with us as we spent the first 12 months in hot conditions but Tasmania quickly meant some winter shopping was required.
$23.93pw was spent on clothing
Fishing
New rods, tackle, bait and gear
$1,452.90
$13.97 pw was spent of fishing.
Laundry
$726
This is such a small cost. We started with a washing machine, never used it, found it way too small to wash our clothes yet takes space and becomes a weight issue. Also commits you to staying at places that cost money to access so much water. We use Laundries and find it easy to do.
Our laundry costs were $6.98pw
National Parks
$250
Such a minuscule cost. Don’t worry about the cost for Kakadu, just do it, it’s amazing and a very small amount when looking at your total expenses to travel.
Medical
$1,401.05
It’s inevitable that you will need some medical supplies along the way. There was also a Dentist visit for a toothache. This includes Adele’s regular prescription medication.
$13.47pw is our cost for medical attention along the way over the 2 years.
Miscellaneous
$2,909.52
This is the lots of little things you buy along the way. On their own they don’t cost much but then they all add up. Batteries, presents, sunscreen, insect sprays, a new camp chair, bits of hardware and the list goes on.
This is an expense of $27.98pw
Hair & Beauty
$370.90
Adele looks after her own hair so no extravagant costs there and Kevin has no hair, definitely no contribution from him!!
Our Total Costs to travel Australia
Total amount = $109,534.16
Total average per week = $1,053.21
How to reduce your costs to travel Australia
In summary, could you do it cheaper, Absolutely!! Your costs to travel Australia could be much lower!
As mentioned, we could probably shave $3000-5000 off our first 12 months accommodation if we did it now.
With more mechanical and handyman skills than I have you could save a lot of what I spent on servicing and repairs.
You could choose not to do the tours and fishing charters but most of them were our greatest highlights of the adventure so far. So many memories.
If you don’t have a dog you would save almost $4500 on our costs.
You may save a little on us in fuel if you are towing a caravan or camper trailer as you would have your vehicle to drive around in. If you’re in a Campervan (Whizzbang) you’d likely save a lot more than us in fuel.
There it is, our complete guide on what expenses are involved. We hope this helps you in your research and planning of your trip.
Safe travels and please say Hello if you see us on the road.
Our Story
We are Kevin & Adele, originally from Brisbane in Queensland Australia.
Adele has visited 24 countries and since Feb 2016 we have been driving around Australia exploring all there is to see. Our passion is to assist you to plan your adventures.
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Canon 800d – https://amzn.to/2vGuQUt – the latest DSLR Canon 24mp camera, buy here to save.
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Sigma 10-20mm lens – https://amzn.to/2JcLDqn. My wide angle lens for all my inside photos & video plus lots more, love this lens.
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Mavic Pro Platinum Drone – https://amzn.to/2URtUXG. This is an absolute ripper of a drone. The Fly More Combo will provide you with everything you will need. I use this for all my aerial footage and this price is well below other retail stores. _______________________________________________________________________
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