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Last Updated 6th November 2026
Australia was basically made for road trips. Waking up by the beach, driving from coast to coast and following the sun… If that sounds like your perfect adventure, what you need is a campervan hire.
The Aussie East Coast is one of our best-selling regions here at Adventure360. So Mariela, our Product Manager, felt inspired to explore it herself, alongside one of her best friends, Florence. Here’s what she had to say. 🦘
I’d never gone that far out! I’ve travelled to Asia, South America, and North America before.
Australia has always been on my list, and September just seemed like the perfect time to go.
There’s nothing I love more than a plan. It’s my favourite thing in the world.
So I did have a plan, but when we got there and started driving around, that’s when we made adjustments. You don’t really know what you like until you’re there.
We stayed at one destination, which I really loved, called Bonny Hills in New South Wales. Rainbow Beach was literally at the campsite. It was so beautiful! So I stayed there for longer.
That’s one of the best things about hiring a campervan. You can be so flexible. You just drive to wherever you want to go. Because September wasn’t peak season, there was a lot more choice.
I would still recommend booking campsites in advance, though. The campervan hire bookings portal has an app, which shows you nearby campsites and their ratings. I also found that the national and local tourism boards for Australia were great for research.
Our goal was always getting to the beach as quickly as possible. So we’d wake up, spend the morning relaxing in whatever destination we were in, then chat about our plans for the day. Around 3pm, we were either on the road or still at the beach. I was so happy. I loved our routine.
Our campervan had a really cool setup, too. We had a fridge and a stove, which was super handy.
We bought this multi-pack of cereal, the small ones with different flavours each day. My favourite was Special K.
Me. Although we didn’t really cook. We mostly had brunches.
Australia’s brunch scene is insane. Best coffee ever. I had so many acai bowls, and a lot of poached eggs and avocado toast. There was also chilli scrambled eggs, and a bap on the menu usually.
The roads are a lot wider. And the vehicles are bigger. Lots of RAM cars and 4x4 vehicles.
But the drives themselves were beautiful, especially when you catch the sunset. It was better to drive during the day, since there aren’t so many street lights.
A top tip would be to look at how far away your campsite is from anything. The campsites we chose were pretty secluded. Make sure you’re stocked up on food items, because for us, the nearest supermarket was like a 30-minute drive away.
It actually comes with a name! Every campervan hire has its own name. Mine was Speedy Gonzales.
You hear about Aussie wildlife, but I was surprised by how many animals you see, even in popular areas.
My favourite animal I saw was called an echidna; it’s like a little porcupine. It was so cute. And the seals were also really cute.
I didn’t see any snakes, which I was very happy about. Didn’t see any spiders either, which was great, because I hate those too.
Yeah, I would. I’d definitely go for longer. I crammed a lot into my two-week road trip.
I want to visit Cairns next time. And I’d really love to do Western Australia. Perth looks amazing, and those beaches look insane.
Before my road trip, I went to Adelaide in Southern Australia for a few days. It was a super chilled city. The nightlife was really fun. They had a great food scene going on. Big mix of cuisines, like Thai food, Japanese food, and barbecue as well.
What I loved about Adelaide is that the city is shaped like a square, with a botanical garden. So you’re literally surrounded by this huge park. In every part of the city, you can see the valley.
I did wine tasting there, which was just the most amazing day. The wine itself was really good, and mostly organic, which means you don’t get such a hangover (Author's Note: Don't try that at home 🥴).
In the vineyard area, I saw a whole family of kangaroos hanging out. Three grownups, one baby, and one joey in the pouch.
I think I am! I’d love to go back to Australia and do another road trip there. But I also really want to visit New Zealand, go to the North and South Islands, and do all those campsites.
5 days
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