The Collier's

The Collier's Taking a year to do life on the road
Family of 5 + 🐶 exploring our backyard
Sharing the good, the bad and all that’s in between

16/12/2025

Caravan parks have their place. Power, hot showers, laundry, a playground when the kids need to burn energy, so. we use them when it makes sense.

But if we’re being honest… we’ll choose a free camp over a park most days.

We love being out in the bush, away from crowds, traffic noise and boom gates. Pulling up somewhere quiet, setting up, and actually feeling like you’re in Australia, not just parked next to it.

15/12/2025

Travelling to Ningaloo without a boat?

Make sure you’ve got a paddleboard!!! It’s a fantastic alternative if boating isn’t your thing

15/12/2025

Cape York will always have our hearts….

2025 was hard….yes we had some incredible experiences around Australia, but we missed our Cape trip and it was devastating.

Cannot wait to get back up to this remote Great Barrier Reef sand cay.

Bring on 2026

Travel Australia Budgethttps://www.instagram.com/the__colliersIt’s always a hot topic of conversation- how much money do...
12/12/2025

Travel Australia Budget

https://www.instagram.com/the__colliers

It’s always a hot topic of conversation- how much money do I need to go and travel Australia? We didn’t do a full lap and only actually travelled for 10.5 months in the van this trip

How long is a piece of string? It is such a personal question and it completely depends on such a huge number of factors such as:
- Caravan parks vs free camps
- Couple vs family
- Winers and diners or happy with home cooked meals
- Full-time indefinite travel vs doing the lap for a year
- Rig including van and tow vehicle
- Paid activities vs free activities
- Moving fast seeing as much as you can vs focusing on one area for longer and moving slower.

Please note, this is our budget and will be COMPLETELY different to yours. This does not include any costs associated with our house back home

We are a family of 5; 2 adults, 3 kids (8, 10, 12 years old). For one month in April/May we had an extra adult travelling with us.

Nights on the road: 321
Caravan park stays: 37 (some places you don’t have a choice)
Free Camps: 44
Cheap/donation/national parks: 57ďż˝
Average cost per night: $39.85 (we are members of TAWK, Big 4, NRMA parks. One stay in a park savings usually covers min 12 months membership

10.5 months actual full-time travel on the road. Pulled up at family before and after (these costs are the main ones)

Groceries: $20,229
Fuel: $16,477
Accomodation: $12794.70
Repairs and Maintenance: $8808.24
Paid Activities: $7,911
Shopping: $7522
Insurances and Rego’s: $5393.22
Transportation: $5,042.13
Others: $10,255.78 (incl: alcohol $3641, Eating out $2244, Entertainment inc Starling $1676, Fishing tackle and boat stuff $1098)

TOTAL COST: $94,436

MONTHLY BREAKDOWN:
Feb: $8486.04
March: $7173.53
April: $13,182.63
May: $13,094.44
June: $6708.24
July: $13980.07
Aug: $6,321.51
Sep: $7313.23
Oct: $8472.23
Nov: $7135.31
Dec: $2569.23

Photos in comments of the Wiki trip
We left Brisbane and headed south:
February- travelling south to Geelong
March/April- Travel around Tasmania
May- Great Ocean Road, Kanagaroo Island, north from Adelaide and crossed NT- WA and into Kununurra
June- Gibb River Road the WHOLE month
July- Broome, Dampier Peninsula, Karijini, Exmouth
August- Ningaloo
September- Worked our way down WA coast Carnarvon-Perth
October- Perth- Margaret River (if you love wine and eating, and want to spend some money, spend a couple of weeks in Margaret River)
November- South WA- Experience- SA
December- Vic to QLD via NSW

How we modified our van for ‘the lap’. Follow us for more travel tips, advice or must see places to visit. https://www.i...
08/12/2025

How we modified our van for ‘the lap’.

Follow us for more travel tips, advice or must see places to visit.

https://www.instagram.com/the__colliers

Thinking about doing the lap? Every van is different with what they come standard with, what you can add, and depends if you design/build a van or buy a second hand one. We bought ours second hand. When we bought it, we had no intention of doing a lap or living in it for any period of time (more than 3-4weeks), but things changed and one day we just decided to hit the road. I’ve done up a little bit of information about the caravan mods we’re SO glad we did — the ones that actually made life easier, and more comfortable!

✔️ Dust Reduction System�Even if you swear you’re not doing the Gibb… trust me, Siri and Google Maps have other ideas. One “shortcut” and suddenly you’re on a corrugated dirt road wondering why you didn’t install one sooner.

✔️ Diesel Heater�We planned on chasing the sun… but Australia had other plans. Even in “warm” seasons, we copped plenty of cold nights. Off-grid or on, the diesel heater is warm, efficient, and honestly one of our favourite comforts.

✔️ ISI Bike Carrier�After a LOT of research (and many chats with other travelling families), we landed on the ISI. It fits four bikes, but we only carry three because we also strapped a boat to the car… . Super sturdy and easy to use.

✔️ Stone Stompers�We had Rock Tamers on our old setup — they didn’t survive a few rough roads. Upgraded to Stone Stompers and never looked back. Sent our measurements, picked them up, installed them ourselves. Worth every dollar, especially when maps keeps sending you down dirt tracks.

✔️ Anti-Flap Kit�No idea why this isn’t standard. If you plan to actually use your awning, this is a must. Less flapping, more relaxing.

Hopefully this helps someone if you’re ummming or aaaahing about what you need/don’t need 😊

06/12/2025

Wandering through the Valley of the Giants feels like stepping into another world. Walking high above the forest floor, surrounded by ancient tingle trees and quiet stillness, is something you don’t forget. It’s peaceful, magical, and one of those places that makes you slow down and really take it all in. If you’re exploring Denmark WA, this one is an absolute must-do.

05/12/2025

This rig takes us everywhere that we want to go….

Yes, sometimes it’s tight, and she has a few extra pinstripes down the sides, but we could not be happier with how the ram and van performed over the last 12 months….

Christmas baking
05/12/2025

Christmas baking

Address

Morayfield, QLD

Telephone

+61423775493

Website

https://linktr.ee/the__colliers

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