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It's every backpackers dream to tour Australia in their own fully equipped pop-top campervan and enjoy the luxury of having all the mod - cons of home with them along the way.

To seriously contemplate this you must have at least a budget of $6,000 or more as quality campers do not come cheap, anything less would be "false economy" and would definately cost you dearly along the way. You should also remember that these vehicles are mostly powered by small 4 cylinder engines and are not capable of cruising at high speeds, so you must have plenty of time on your side to do your trip and be in no great hurry !!

For around $6,000 you will find a basic pop-top campervan with a gas cooker/grill, fridge, sink and plenty of storage. Two berth is most common in the budget vans with 4 berth vans normally costing around $7,500 up and come fitted with seatbelts in the rear, so its legal to carry up to 5 persons. These vans will often come fitted with microwaves and side awnings.

At Travellers Mate, we try to stock a range of affordable campervans at realistic prices that we feel are best suited to budget travellers (backpackers) normally priced between $6,000 - $10,000. If your not into "roughing it", a camper is definately the way to go and will be money well spent and remember these vehicles are in high demand so you 'll have no problem selling - on at the end of your trip, providing you keep it maintained along the way. We have compiled a list of campervans that best suit the budget traveller, these are as follows :

Toyota Hiace

The Toyota is definetly the leader of the pack for its reliability and performance and for these reasons are often the dearest on the market $6,500 - $10,000 will get you a early to mid 80's version fitted with all the necessities of life in either a 2 or 4 berth fit out. Most commonly fitted with a 2.0 litre engine and later models a 2.4 litre engine with economy of around 100 km per 12 litres of fuel they will comfortably cruise at 100km/h and come in either a 4 or 5 speed manual, automatics are also available but are not very common.

Air conditioning is also available in some models but of course it only works when your driving van so not much use on a hot north coast night!! overall a great all-round van.

 

Mitsubishi express
A true "budget van" its possible to pick one of these up for as little as $6,000 for a early to mid 80's version in fair condition. An immaculate late 80's one will cost you around $8,000 with all the usual creature comforts you'd expect. They are slightly smaller than the Toyota Hiace and are more suited to 2 people, but they do come in 4 berth versions in either an automatic or manual with engine sizes of either 2.0 litre or 2.6 litre with the latter being the preferred engine size.

They will cruise at around 90 - 100 km/h & economy is comparable with Toyota (100km's =12 litres fuel) and spare parts are easily found being quite a popular vehicle. Overall, i would sum these up as a "poor mans" Toyota and a great choice on a tight budget!!