We decided to trade in our hostel accomadation for a campervan...more like a campercube. We considered doing this in New Zealand but it was just not feasible. So when we had the opportunity to do this in Melbourne, we refused to let it pass us by. Tour buses really aren't our thing and public transportation can't take us to all the unbeaten paths. The cube gave us the flexibility we wanted while putting our home on wheels.
Ohh you think that print is bad?....well at least we didn't get this one we saw while we were in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand.
OR any of these interesting vehicles....
The company is Wicked Campers and they pride themselves on their colorful, funny, and usually also crude campers.
Jonathan drove on the left side of the road and kept his cool even after I had a freak out because I thought we were on the wrong side of the road.... which is just embarassing!
The tent was on top of the cube and when it was all set up it looked like this:
Pretty cool, eh?We took the cube to Phillip's Island where we saw koalas in their natural habitat and little penguins emerge from the ocean and waddle to their homes for the night. They are the smallest of their kind and it was the cutest thing ever! We couldn't take pictures of them, so I encourage you to click the link above for a visual. The next day we drove to Wilson's Promontory or "The Prom" which is a national park with loads of kangaroos, rabbits, wombats, and we even saw a fox. Our camp ground was close to the Tidal River pictured below:
We did some hiking up into the mountains. I conquered my irrational fear of heights by standing on the summit of Mount Oberon!
We spent two nights at the campgrounds before making our way back to Melbourne and returning the car.
I am really happy that we decided to rent the campercube because we were able to move at our own pace while seeing the beauty of Australia. We are now in Cairns and looking forward to the Great Barrier Reef. Stay tuned for more of our adventures.
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone!
The camper cube looks really cool. Its an awesome and practical idea. The penguins look so cute!!! Questions though: where do you shower/use the rest room while camping? Or are you truly just "roaming natural"? haha. We love the updates...keeping having fun and stay safe.
ReplyDeleteThe campercube was very practical! As far as a Nissan Cube, I would not recommend that car to anyone. It is cheaply made, a gas guzzler, and the least aerodynamic vehicle. That said, it still fit our needs for camping.
ReplyDeleteThe little penguins are absolutely breathtaking! After a day of hunting for food in the ocean, they emerge out of the sea and onto the sand once the sun sets. They stand erected in small groups of at least 10. (I thought this was the cutest part) They scope out the scene to make sure there are no obvious predators. After they determine that it is somewhat safe, they then quickly waddle in their penguin parade to their homes for the night. On the boardwalk you get so close that you want to reach out and touch them but there are painful consequences for that because they are still wild animals. So I refrained.
Back to camping...we stayed in a campground. There are spots that are powered and others that are non powered. We chose the ones that were not powered since we were not staying for an extended period of time. They have public showers and restrooms so I did not have to completely "roam natural" lol. After the three days camping we returned to our hostel in Melbourne which is the nicest one we have stayed in. Although we enjoyed our camping accomadation, nothing beats sleeping on a real bed.
Thanks for following!! Stay tuned, tomorrow we snorkel The Great Barrier Reef!
What a fun idea! (the campercube thing) I've never heard of anything like that, it's brilliant! Can't wait to hear about the Great Barrier Reef! You guys are awesome <3
ReplyDeleteIt was very convenient and so easy to set up. As you can imagine, sleeping in a tent on top of a car is not the most comfortable thing in the world but comfort was never what we were after on this trip. The experience made it all worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Check out Jon's blog post on the Great Barrier Reef. If you subtract the rough seas, it was amazing. We plan on seeing another part of the reef when we make it to Whitsundays. We will be sure to post about it. Thanks for following us Hannah! Hope all is well in Nicaragua! Stay safe!
DeleteYeah that rooftop tent is really cool. In that first photo, the shadow makes it look a little like Jon has a mustache. Also, I like the dream catcher Christine!
ReplyDeleteRooftop tent = the simplest tent. The setup took less than 3 minutes!
DeleteSince being on this trip, I am lucky if Jon shaves once per week so the mustache you think you see may be 20% shadow and 80% true mustache.
Thanks about the dreamcatcher. It's a little something I picked up in Queenstown and i hope it lasts through the trip!
I really like this idea for my cube what tent and cross bars are you using?
ReplyDelete