One thing you can’t do without when you are travelling around this wonderful country with your caravan or camper is FUEL! We are very lucky to have regular fuel stops in our top tourist areas and if we are going off the grid, making room for jerry cans is a must.
UPDATE: At the start of 2022 we saw turmoil & war break out in Europe – the flow on affect of this has seen an increase in our fuel prices in Australia.
- There are estimates that over a quarter of motorists will struggle to fill up at current prices
- The trucking industry warns the oil price shock could force many operators out of business
- Costs for products from coffee to groceries to airfares are expected to soar if fuel prices stay high
For our travelling community, this is having a huge impact on how far we are travelling and many caravanners are adjusting their travel plans and are having to re-budget.
We wrote this article back in 2016 when we encountered high fuel prices in outback Australia – little did we know that we would be seeing these prices at the bowser in our home town and day to day!
High fuel prices at Petrol Stations on Orrong Road
We found the cheapest and most accessible fuel during our Outback Queensland adventure in 2021 with FUELCHARGE
You can read more about it all here…
The cost of fuel fluctuates right around the country. You will obviously pay more in remote places and also some high traffic tourist spots will inflate their prices. The highest fuel price we have seen recently was in Aileron NT – $1.99.9 in Aug 2016 and $210.00 in Boulia Outback Queensland in 2021.
What can we do to save our fuel and reduce our fuel costs?
Here are our tip 5 tips:
- Pedal to the metal: This is one that Wayne has tried to drill into me for years. I love putting my foot down for take off…vrrrrrrmmmm. Hahaha. This, however, will use more fuel – Doh!
- Easing off: Another one that I often forget. Easing off the accelerator when you know you need to slow down will also save your fuel. Seeing the speed limit change and easing off well before can make a big difference.
- Don’t carry any unnecessary weight : this can make a massive difference as you can chew up the juice with overloaded cars, trailers and caravans.
- Close your windows: We have all heard terms like ‘aerodynamics’ and ‘drag’, driving on open highways with your windows down will make your car work harder. Time to close the windows and use your air vents.
- Tyres: When they are low on air, your car will work harder. Regularly check your car tyres PLUS your caravan/trailer tyres too.
- Avoid idling…
- Use cruise control on the highways…
What is the highest fuel price you have seen on your travels? What are your top tips for saving fuel?
Happy & Safe travels everyone…xx
Have you seen our Caravan/Camper Log Books?
Our CARAVAN LOG BOOK is an A5 2 part book that will help you keep track of the places you stay and the kilometres that your caravan or camper trailer does.
The front part of the LOG BOOK allows to you note down where you stayed, rate it and jot down some notes that you can refer to later…
The back part allows you to keep track of the kilometres the caravan/camper travels. There is a FUEL column too and it has been endorsed by the Caravan Industry of Australia.
We found we would set up at a park, and then drive around taking in the sights…but then we would lose track of how many km’s the Caravan did…not what the car did. This will come in handy when you get your caravan/camper serviced or want to sell.
Originally, like many of you, we used an exercise book to keep track of all this information. However, when we were designed our Travel Journals, Wayne wanted to turn his notes into a ‘real’ book too. This is his little baby and he gets great joy in filling it in and recording all of our adventures.
