Our trip from home on the south coast of South Australia to the northernmost tip of mainland Australia is over, and we had a ball over the 105 days we took to enjoy the journey.

We managed to visit every destination we had pinpointed to see along the coast of Queensland, with our main aim to make it to the tip and back with ourselves and vehicle intact, and then spend as much time as possible in far north Queensland.

Because of the distance and money it would cost to do such a long trip, we wanted to make sure we soaked up the time and sunshine in the tropical north for as long as possible.

We planned to make our way slowly down the coast and round off the holiday by spending a few days in Noosa as our last southernmost destination in the state. From there we would make a beeline back home through inland Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and eastern South Australia, with just one night stops on the road.

So here are a few of the stats for the trip to give you an idea of the vast distances we travelled and some of the costs involved.

Total Kilometres

The total kilometres we travelled from home in South Australian and return were just over 14,000. Of that, the caravan was towed around 8,400 kilometres from point to point. We left the caravan at Lakeland at the beginning of Cape York and tented for the 13 days and 1800 kilometres on that leg of the journey.  The rest of the kilometres were from touring and day trips from where we were staying.

What went wrong?

In all that time the only two maintenance issues we had were one early in the trip when the high lift jack that we use to stabilise and level the van decided to malfunction and die so that was dumped and a regular jockey wheel bought to replace it. The high lift jack was second hand and we’d had it for quite a while, but even after maintenance there was no repairing it.

The second issue we had was a chip in the windscreen caused by a stone thrown up from a truck when it passed us near Mackay on the way home. The chip although deep, didn’t spread into a crack and could be patched until we get the windscreen replaced now that we’re home.

Fuel costs

The biggest expense for the trip as you might expect was diesel which totalled around $5,200. The highest price we paid over the whole trip was $2.70 per litre at Bramwell Roadhouse on Cape York and the cheapest was $1.75 at Townsville, very early in the trip.

On our return trip, any fuel we could find less for than 2.19 was a bargain. I use an app called Petrol Spy to search for cheapest fuel options when we’re travelling and that way we can buy at the best price in the regions we are travelling through. Overall we were very happy with an average of 18 litres per 100 kilometres.

Site fees

The second most expensive outlay was for caravan site fees. We only had a couple of places where we could stay cheaply for $10 or $15 per night, but we weren’t looking too hard for those options either.

We knew that to have an east coast holiday, especially when we really wanted to be in beachfront positions it was going to be expensive, so the total cost for caravan sites came to around $4000, or $38 per day. This included getting the best deals we could by having memberships to all the caravan park chains, and three of the weeks on our return trip included during east coast school holidays when prices always peak.

We only had around 7 nights in total that were unpowered and even most of our tent camping was at powered sites which we opted for to keep our phones and my camera batteries charged all the time.

We did also notice when we were caravanning off grid, that the batteries in our caravan weren’t doing a great job at keeping a charge so it looks as if they may have lived their lifespan and new ones will soon be on the cards.

Trip Highlights

The highlights of the trip were many, but things that will forever stay in our memories are:

*sharing the beginning of the journey with friends and the fun times in Townsville

*the trip to the tip on corrugated roads with wandering animals, and meeting lovely locals and other travellers in the communities along the way. Standing on the northernmost tip of Australia! This still feels like a wild frontier and a trip that feels incredible to conquer. Travelling by ferry to Thursday Island, even further north but still in Australia.

*being in Cairns for their arts festival which was full of amazing free entertainment

*the gorgeous idyllic Ellis Beach and caravanning on sand with palm trees overhead

*cassowary encounters at Etty Bay

*catching up with neighbours from home in Cooktown, Tannum Sands and again at Hervey Bay and enjoying good food and good times with them

*The sunrises, sunsets and scenic walks throughout the trip – some things should never be taken for granted.

*The wonderful food and drinks enjoyed in waterfront locations – we live in a fantastic country with the best seafood and wines available.

*Our beautiful ancient wilderness areas like the Daintree rainforest, Mossman Gorge, plus waterfalls and indigenous art sites to view.

What went right?

We surprised ourselves with how easily we coped with tenting on Cape York. Not having done any tent camping for 30 years or so, it actually went quite smoothly and we got into a routine of setting up camp and cooking outdoors every night quite easily. We loved it!

The Landcruiser was serviced while we were in Innisfail and there were no issues, just the standard service it was due for. We had taken and used a spare air filter while we at the tip of Cape York and the cruiser got a new fuel filter during the service too.

The caravan had no issues at all and will also get a service soon, now that we are home.

Next time

The things we will consider before our next long journey will be to have a 12v charger for my camera batteries, the caravan might be up for some new batteries and also a replacement auxiliary battery in the Landcruiser will be needed. Other than that, the caravan and car went fabulously well and it was a fantastic, memorable holiday.

Now that we’ve experienced the far north of Queensland and the east coast, we know where we’d plan to stay for a few weeks next time, and which places we could probably skip. We ticked off quite a few destinations and experiences we’ve been wanting to see and do for a long time, and while some were disappointing, most others lived up to and exceeded our expectations.

We are so grateful and feel lucky to have been able to complete another incredible journey through our beautiful country. We’ve loved your comments and tips along the way and are happy if we’ve inspired others to get out there and enjoy the caravan lifestyle. It’s the best way to see this country.

Keep your eye on my website, Instagram or Facebook pages where I’ll have news on stories when they go to print in the near future.

See you on the road somewhere.

Glenys