Daryl May's travel writing draws from his visits to forty-five U.S. states, nine Canadian provinces, and sixty countries. Whether as a notable hiker or a lowly hitchhiker - or in cars, boats, bulldozers, planes and RVs - his stories are generally wistful and self-deprecating as he faces adversity and extricates himself without losing his sense of humor.

A sign for a caravan park or campsite
Jennifer and I scouted out a future camping vacation in Australia while visiting relatives recently.

The first thing that caught our attention was their different “RVing” language. A motorhome is usually a “campervan”. A travel trailer is a “caravan”. A fifth-wheeler is still a “fifth-wheeler” but it’s towed by a “ute” (from sports-utility vehicle), and not by a pick-up truck. A road sign may direct you to a “caravan park”, in this context referring to all RVs and not just travel trailers. We may rent a vehicle, but Australians “hire” them. When searching the web for RV rental companies, a useful search term (go to http://google.com.au) is “caravans and campervans for hire”.

While we’re talking about an Australian vacation, peak season is Christmas to January 31, and Easter, when it’s warm in the southern hemisphere and the schools are out. That’s typically vacation time for families. Conversely, off-peak is May 1 to September 30, when it’s cooler or downright cold except in places to the

Kangaroo crossing!
north such as Queensland. A shoulder-season is often defined for the remaining parts of the year. Pricing at rental counters and at caravan parks (and other lodging) may be three-tiered according to season.

You know you’re in Australia when the road signs speak about koalas and kangaroos. But even before then, you’ve learned to drive on the left, measured distances in kilometers, and observed constantly-changing speed limits in km/h enforced with sometimes-hidden cameras. If a camera catches you speeding, the rental company may write you to say they’ve charged traffic tickets to your credit card, and added their not-so-modest admin fee. Notwithstanding a reputation for informality, Aussies take their speed limits (and parking regulations) seriously.

Sydney Harbour and the Opera House
After a delightful time in Sydney and Melbourne with our relatives, we departed their welcoming embrace equipped with newly bestowed nicknames. Australians are friendly, and even a strange nickname denotes acceptance. So, thanks to my Australian cousin, David, my real name of Daryl quickly became “Dazza”, and Jennifer became “the Jenster”, though only Dazza really stuck.

So, with my Aussie nickname of Dazza, and in the company of Jennifer, I stopped the car abruptly when we chanced upon Jen and Dazza’s Diner in Cann River, Victoria. Now Cann River is as remote a place as any along an untrafficked portion of the scenic Princes Highway between Melbourne and Sydney. So it wasn’t as if we’d passed a plethora of eateries one of which just had to be named for us. As an added coincidence, a man whom we’d met the day before, eighty miles back in a town called Lakes Entrance, just happened along to take our picture.

Jen and "Dazza" at Jen & Dazza's Diner

Cann River is in the rainforest, insulated from Australia’s two largest cities by three hundred miles of winding highway that dips down to the coast in places, rises into the hills in others, and periodically provides the comforts of lodging and food – while all the time dazzling us with the scenery and spirit of the great outdoors.

After a breakfast at Jen and Dazza’s Diner, we checked out the caravan park, just as we did in many other places. Cann River’s has drive-through concrete pads, electrical hookups, and a central facilities block. With unpowered grass sites as well, it’s by no means fancy, but its prices are modest ($10 to $20). With typical Aussie informality, payment is made at the local hotel, and then one displays the receipt on the windshield.

Bodalla Forest Park, NSW, free overnighting
Traveling around, we quickly saw that caravan parks were amazingly plentiful. Almost any town or village that ranks a motel has a caravan park, while many others are all by themselves in remote areas. They range from primitive, but generally tasteful, to manicured, resort-style parks with every facility. Some are clearly just right for long stays – yet others may serve overnighters. Up the coast from Cann River in Bodalla, New South Wales (NSW), a few miles north of the resort town of Narooma, is the Bodalla Forest Park. Not far from the highway but secluded in the rainforest, it offers free overnight facilites, with picnic tables and BBQ pits, central toilet facilities but no power. Generously spacious, Bodalla Forest Park is just right for a peaceful overnight stay. Though lacking lights, my internal “mug-o-meter”, or danger-sensor, suggested it was safe.

Among many upscale caravan parks is one at Bateman’s Bay, NSW (google “batemans-bay beach-resort”), on the beach in a resort community with amenities like pool, clubhouse, tennis and children’s playground,

Cann River caravan park
miniature golf, bike hire, and even an animal area with wallabies. Though such sites often have cabins for rent, their RVing areas include powered, ensuite sites costing $49 a night for two people even in peak season. Extra people cost $15 each. Declining ensuite facilities saves $10.

Though it was off-season when we visited, the roads had a good sprinkling of RVs, and occasionally a group of ten or so followed one another – clearly organized for some event. Chatting to RVers, many were on the road for some weeks, and were equipped accordingly. Most seemed seasoned veterans, many of them “pensioners” (retirees to us) and clearly RV-proud. Close to surfing beaches, it’s more common to see younger visitors with tents, staying for a day or so before heading back to the city.

Rural Australia is generally more, err, rural than America, and feels undeveloped in a way that has the feel of America fifty years ago. Distances between towns vary widely, as they do in the U.S. depending on your location. But even though Sydney and Melbourne are congested cities a few hundred miles apart – in the midst of which the capital of Canberra is situated – the great outdoors starts barely an hour from their centers, and another hour may carry you to rainforest, bucolic farmlands, desert and a truly uncrowded coastline.

A Koala in the wild
Old-fashioned strip motels are plentiful

While we saw few wild kangaroos on our itinerary, koalas could quite often be seen in the denser eucalyptus groves that are common in Australia, and frequently border the roads. But, being small and often asleep, the koalas don’t stand out. We quickly developed the technique of looking out for humans standing near eucalptus trees pointing up. These people became our koala-scouts, saving us from stiff necks. Just once did a koala move enough to grab our attention – yawning and scratching.

When stopping in motels, we saw they were very often single-story with a strip, or courtyard, layout – like ours some years back. Nearly all our hotel and motel accommodation had coffee-making facilities and refrigerators, and most had wifi and flat-screen cable TV. Restaurants were typically family owned and operated, though franchises (McDonalds for one) were plentiful also.

Food is always acceptable or better, and seafood can be a treat. Except for gasoline and restaurants, which are expensive, things tend to cost about the same as they do at home. In restaurants, tipping more than a token amount isn’t customary.

Gas mileage is measured in liters per 100 km, which is convertible to miles per gallon by inverting it, and then multiplying by 235. (Test yourself by verifying that 10 liters per 100 km translates to 23.5 mpg!) Or maybe the conversion is moot: with gasoline at around $5 a gallon ($1.35 per liter), one is likely to drive economically anyway. At service stations, you pump first, and then go inside to pay.

Generally, it's pump first, then pay inside.
Some currency tips . . . American credit cards are always accepted, but they differ from local credit and ATM cards in that they’re not chip-embedded, and so you don’t use a PIN. We generally assisted the cashier by saying, “It’s a credit card, and I need to sign”. To raise cash, use an ATM card at an ATM machine, just like at home. Tell your card companies that you’re going to be in Australia before you go, so they approve the charges when you make them. Avoid converting money at the airport where added fees take a toll. The Aussie dollar is about equal to the U.S. dollar at the time of writing, making it easy to gauge value. But the conversion rate can change as it’s often done previously.

One not-to-be-overlooked formality: Americans need something akin to a visa to visit Australia. Called an ETA, it’s an authorization that’s handled in a few hours, costing about $10 if you shop around. No paper or passport stamps are involved; the electronic process flags your passport number in Australian government records as “approved”.

Fig tree at Watsons Bay near Sydney
We had a great visit to Australia. Warmly greeted everywhere, no language problems, beautiful countryside, a culture and scenery different enough to be exciting – yet with all the services we’re used to.

“No language problems?” asked Jennifer, challengingly.

“Not for me,” I replied.

“But I just heard that guy say he’d ‘Chucked a You-We’.”

“Oh,” I explained, as if I used that term all the time. “He was saying he’d done a U-turn.”

We can’t wait to go back.

Read more of Daryl May's 'Stories from the Road' series here.

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