Documenting Our Lives | it's a 60 Years Journey: Road Trip

Showing posts with label Road Trip. Show all posts

Say Hi to Our United 2+1 Premier Motorhome!

Basic specifications of United 2+1 Premier Motorhome

Different recreational vehicles companies classified vehicles differently. For United Campervans, they classified their campervans based on the number of capacity (people). We opted for the 2+1 (i.e. 2 adults and 1 child) for the extra space for our very huge luggages and I must say we had definitely made the right choice! Our United 2+1 Premier Motorhome is modified from a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

(Taken by iPhone 4S) A better idea of how huge it is, here's a comparison!

Now let me bring you a little visual tour around our campervan. Get ready to be amazed by its awesomeness!

Day Layout. Spot the TV!

(Left) Overview of the kitchen area. Microwave oven on top, griller and stoves right above the fridge.

(Right) Interior of the mini fridge. Good enough for two. Also given that it was in winter when we were there, there are some food like chocolates can skip the fridge.

(Left) Storage for food or whatever you want to put inside.
(Right) Pots and pans in different sizes.

Full set of kitchen equipment. Spoons, forks, knives, plates, bowls, whisk, kettle and etc.. You name it we have it!
(Top Right) Mugs, glasses and even wine glasses.

(Left) What's behind the mirror is the toilet!
(Right) Switches for water pump, heater, water heater, lights..

(Left) Power socket which can only be used when the car is connected to a ground power source.
(Top Right) Overhead storage space which we used it for our clothes and other stuff.
(Bottom Right) There is even a safe deposit box inside the campervan.

And so, if you are wondering how do we sleep at night.. VIOLA!

Night Layout.

I was really really amazed and impressed by how well equipped it is. From kitchen (fridge, microwave oven, griller, pots in different sizes, full sets of cutleries, dish towel etc) to the toilet to the bed (pillows, bolster, pillowcases, sheets, duvets etc). The things that you probably have to bring will be your personal toiletries (shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, lip balm etc). If in any case, it doesn't come with whatever you need, my advice is just buy them from any of their huge supermarket.

Yeap, that's about it! I will be doing another post on the FAQ of life on campervan. How do we bathe, where do we park at night and etc.. Be back to read on my upcoming posts to find out more about our road trip and life on the campervan in New Zealand. Till then! :)

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Information that you might be interested:

United Campervans New Zealand
http://www.unitedcampervans.co.nz/motorhome-fleet/united-21-premier-automatic

Rent A Campervan
http://www.rentacampervan.co.nz

Difference between Campervan & Caravan

This is one of the posts that I've been anticipating to share since the day we started this blog. I've forgotten how exactly the idea of driving and/or staying on a campervan stroked us but I'm really glad that we did it! :)

A lot of us thought that both caravan and campervan are the same. So did I! They are actually different. When I started doing our research for our road trip, the different names and terms used to describe the different types of vehicles available for hire are really confusing. Apart from the term caravan (commonly heard and used), there are words such as campervan, camper, motorhome and RV (recreational vehicle).

The one that we have gotten was a campervan. So yes, here's the question. What is a campervan? What is a caravan? What exactly are the differences between them?

Recreational Vehicle

Commonly known as RV. It's an umbrella term being used in North America to describe motorised vehicles used as a means of travel and as a temporary home. The term can be used to refer to both motorhomes and campervans.

Camper
Another generic term for a motorised vehicle. Same definition of RV above.

Motorhome
Motorhomes are larger berth vehicles, generally built on a long-wheel base. Motorhomes usually include kitchen and bathroom facilities, as well as other features typically found in home (e.g. television, DVD player, air conditioning).

Caravan

It is generally an unpowered vehicle, pulled/ towed by a powered vehicle. Basically you tow a mobile home or trailer, fully equipped with household accessories and towed behind a vehicle. It is designed to be occupied as a house would and depending on its size contains sleeping quarters, ablution facilities and cooking facilities. I personally find caravan is a rather more dangerous comparing to the rest of the available options especially when you are an inexperience tow vehicle driver driving on a foreign country. Manoeuvring a caravan is definitely not easy for us Singaporeans.

Campervan
A van equipped as a self-contained travelling home, they are normally small than a motorhome. There is generally no divide between the cab and living quarters. Comes with basic facilities for cooking, washing and sleeping. The term campervan usually refers to a smaller 2 to 3 berth vehicle. They are usually more compact than either caravan or motorhome but definitely easier to drive compared to the other two.

Different types and sizes of campervans

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Information that you might be interested:

To find out which is the right type for you
http://www.discovery-motorhomes.co.nz/whichcampervan.php

Rent A Campervan New Zealand
http://www.rentacampervan.co.nz

Day 04: Back to Melbourne

Checked out our apartment and headed off to The Twelve Apostles for the second time! We were hoping to get to walk down to have a look at the popular tourist attraction which we missed out the previous day due to the unpredicted wet weather. But guess what.. Apparently we are totally not fated for the famous natural structure, it was raining non-stop again when we were there! :( What a pity..

Good bye, Great Ocean Road (with a heavy heart of disappointment).. and we drove off back to Melbourne, another long day of driving (for the prince actually).

Hearty breakfast to start off the day!

Definitely don't get to see rainbow so often in Singapore.

Will be great if the weather had maintained this way throughout.

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Braved through the wind and rain for a shot together.

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Stopped by at Geelong for a quick bite and ended up in the supermarket instead. Bought some snacks and continued on the driving.

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Along roadside of the Princes Freeway (links between Melbourne and Geelong), we saw littles boards that goes like "Direct from Farm", "Cherries $10/plate", "Strawberries $5/strawberries" and etc.. And these boards led us to Fruit2Go! A fruit store with pretty lots of varieties but it wasn't as cheap as I have expected.. AUD7.90 for our strawberries and cherries.

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Headed down to The Baths Restaurant & Cafe Brighton the moment we reached Melbourne for our very late lunch. The restaurant was closed when we were there and only open for dinner later in the evening. So we headed to the cafe instead. Both the cafe and restaurant overlook the sea and paint a really nice backdrop and amb. Bright colours interiors of the cafe. Prices wise, AUD52.50 (SGD64.60) for a cup of hot choco, fish & chips and spaghetti. Taste wise, it was normal. Definitely not worth my every cents.

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Beautiful skyline of the City.

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Drove a little down to Dendy Street Beach Brighton, home of the 82 colourful Brighton Bathing Box, another popular tourist icon and cultural assets. We didn't get to head down to the beach as it was closed (for don't know what reason) when we were there.. only managed to get a glimpse from another car park further down the road. What a disappointing day! :(

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Checked in to Cosmopolitan Hotel (again) for the night. The same hotel and (coincidentally) same room that we stayed for the first two nights in Melbourne and the day ended off with a range of yummy snacks!

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Information you might be interested in:

The Twelve Apostles
Port National Park
Great Ocean Road
Port Campbell VIC 3269, Australia

Fruit2Go
Along Princes Freeway
(links between Melbourne and Geelong)

The Baths Restaurant and Cafe Brighton
251 Esplanade
Brighton VIC 3186, Australia
http://www.middlebrightonbaths.com.au

Brighton Bathing Box
Dendy Street Beach
Brighton VIC 3186, Australia
http://www.brightonbathingbox.org.au

Cosmopolitan Hotel Melbourne
2-8 Carlisle Street
St Kilda VIC 3182, Australia

Day 03: Great Ocean Road

Checked out our hotel early in the morning and we went off for our road trip to the Great Ocean Road! The Great Ocean Road is a total of 243 km drive, along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool, it's one of the world's most scenic coastal drives. The road wind its way around rugged cliffs, through lush rainforest and windswept beaches.

"The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I. It is an important tourist attraction in the region, which winds through varying terrain alongside the coast, and provides access to several prominent landmarks; including nationally significant Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations."

The road wind around rugged cliffs, through lush rainforest and windswept beaches. I'd say the drive along the Great Ocean Road can be quite a challenge to inexperience drivers even experienced drivers need to be extra careful too. The views are great and definitely worth the drive. Started off as a bright sunny day and left St Kilda at around 9AM, but as the day went on it slowly became overcast and started pouring..

Our route of the day from St Kilda to our destination, Warrnambool.

Probably the best (double) rainbow captured through my lens.

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Stopped by at Lorne Pier to settle our hungry tummies. This Lorne Pier Seafood Restaurant we went turned out to be surprisingly good! AUD57 for our garlic bread, oysters, scallops, seafood pasta and tea. For the big portion and yummy food, I thought it's really worth it! The restaurant also served the best garlic bread I've ever had. No joke! It was really that good! But we were too hungry and gobbled down the bread before snapping a photo of it. Anyway, two extremely satisfied customers here! :)

Look at the gloomy sky! :(

Very interesting blackboard menu of the restaurant.

*DROOLS*

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The Great Ocean Road is also the home of the famous The Twelve Apostles, a popular tourist attraction. The Twelve Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park. Planned to arrive at the Twelve Apostles for the sunset but unfortunately, it was raining and we couldn't walk down to admire the beauty of the famous icon of the Great Ocean Road. What a pity!

"Created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland beginning 10-20 million years ago, the stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone, forming caves in the cliffs. The caves eventually became arches and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 metres high were left isolated form the shore."

The wind and rain showing no mercy to us.

Didn't get to see the Twelve Apostles but here's a photo of it from Google.

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Warrnambool marks the end of the Great Ocean Road and it was also our destination. Checked in the (pre-booked on Booking.com) City Central Apartments that was hosted by an extremely friendly host. We even got a free upgrade from a Budget One-Bedroom Apartment (AUD80/ night) to an Executive One-Bedroom Apartment, also comes with complimentary WiFi and parking. Service was good, value for money, clean and spacious, basically no complaints about our stay there. Definitely recommend it!

Full set of kitchen equipment and cutleries.

Separated laundry and bathroom.

Looking cosy isn't it?

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After being very happy with our apartment, we drove to the nearest supermarket to do our groceries shopping for dinner and next day's breakfast. First cooking session for our adventure!

Chef Young and our not very appetising and nice looking dinner.

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Information you might be interested in:

Lorne Pier Seafood Restaurant

Lorne Pier

Lorne VIC 3232 Australia

Port Campbell National Park

Great Ocean Road
Port Campbell VIC 3269 Australia

City Central Apartments

14 King Street

Warrnambool VIC 3280 Australia

http://citycentral.net.au

Woolworths Warrnambool East
Corner Princes Hwy & Gateway Road
Warrnambool VIC 3280 Australia