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Gunna-Go to Oakabella

Our full time Caravanning life started in 2016. We started at Gunna-Go Caravan Park, Queensland. Six months later we were at Oakabella Homestead in WA.

We were now driving through our sixth state in six months

This is the background, statistics and figures for those 6 months. We have highlighted links to some relevant posts for more in-depth details.

Background Basics

Like everybody we had questions of how, what, when and where. Spending months, in-fact years Googling and saving for our adventure.

After downsizing our belongings drastically, we moved to Hayman Island in the Whitsundays. It was time to focus on what we needed and how we would go about it. Moving here enabled us to save and not spend as much. Larry was on call 24/7 and I started work in a hot humid laundry. 

Next step was deciding what caravan to buy, we decided on a Jayco Starcraft from Jayco Mackay.

Then chose Gunna-Go Caravan Park near Airlie Beach as our base. We parked here for 5 months before taking off on the road. This was a lovely place to start our journey. Hit by cyclone Debbie early in 2017, this family run park is one we will return to on each lap 😀

On weekends we would spend time at the park, swimming and setting up for going off grid. Larry installed inverters, a redarc management system and made sure we had enough solar and batteries. We wanted to be as self sufficent as possible. The van now had two 82 ltr’s of fresh water tanks and a grey water tank. We also chose to have a compressor fridge.

Facts and Figures

We wanted to enjoy travelling for three months without having to work. Calculating the worst case scenario. Top price for fuel, caravan parks every night and copeus amounts of happy hour drinks and nibbles 😀

It turns out we are good with our money. With the help of the WikiCamps app and all it’s free camps around Australia we had been on the road 6 months and still had savings!

Before we hit the road Larry designed our budgeting spreadsheet. Including fuel, food, accommodation and gas bottle usage. Lots of other information has been added along the way.

These are our statistics from the first 6 months, taken from our spreadsheet.

start date of the Journey was	13/11/2016
Vehicle mileage reading started at	42,000 km
Current mileage reading is	57,843 km
You’ve travelled so far	15,843 km
Money spent on fuel to date is	$2,954.65
Money spent on paid sites	$2,010.50
Amount spent of Groceries	$3,784.34
Amount spent on Activities	$128.48
Amount spent on Alcohol	$1,418.08
Amount of snakes seen closely	1
Roos run over	1
Hours of driving approx	188
Flat tyres	0
Mechanical breakdowns	0
Paid sites stayed at	30
Free camps stayed at	34
Average fuel consumption towing	15.25l/100km
Nights In Hotels or cabins	2
Number of Starcraft JS numbers seen	1
States passed through	QLD,NSW,VIC, SA,WA,ACT
Costs of eating out	$1,154
Gas bottles filled	Twice
Spent on Gas refill	$69
Caravan  parks stayed at	8
Farm sits	3
Things brought that we really didn’t need to before setting off	car cover, 3 jerry cans
Things added to our list not considered before leaving	Diesel heater, Weight distribution hitch. Ute solar panel
Things we shouldn’t of bought based on price and gone for quality	Inverters, Circuit breakers, GPS unit
Things we are glad we didn’t buy but were going to originally	Annexe -( heavy and can be considered anti social)
Water used on average	82 litres a week

For our first 6 months on the road we spent $16,561. This is not including larger items we bought along the way. These are items we decided we wanted or didn’t realise we needed before we left. Things such as weight distribution hitch, new GPS and extra solar panel for our ute etc.
If we include everything the total was 19,736.

Our spreadsheet has been hugely popular on our website. You can download it yourself to keep track of your trip for only $4.99

People often ask the question how much does it cost to travel around Australia full time?

This is a wide open question. Every traveller has a different situation. You maybe a couple or a family of five, wanting to do every activity there is and stay in caravan parks. Like us, you may love free camping and just want to enjoy the great Aussie outdoors.

It seems the general consensus when people reply is they say it’s about $1 per kilometre. We agree that a $1 per km is a good guide.

If you are thinking about doing the Big Lap or even part of it,

Don’t Just Dream It, Do It! 

Check out our “ONE YEAR” full time traveling post here!