On the Road

Van life: Three cruisy road trips to try overseas

Words Matt Castell | Images @stay_lame; @d2lan; @curlsonclouds

The tunes are unreal, snacks are copious, and your bed is only few feet from the steering wheel. You wonder aloud if you’ll ever catch another packed flight or stay in an overpriced hotel again? Your navigator and travel bestie shakes his or her head and mumbles something about missing a turn 100 or so kilometres ago. You don’t care. This is van life, wrong turns don’t exist, and adventure always lies around the next bend.

Van travel is back in vogue, and Australia is one of the greatest places in the world to cruise the bitumen – we have the best beaches, campsites, pubs full of character, and likeminded road warriors – but there are also heaps of overseas road trips to scratch your itch, so get out the map and highlighter and check out three of the best van routes to put on your list!

West Coast USA/Canada

Recommended trip time: 3-4 weeks

Start your adventure in one of the most beautiful city in the Americas – Vancouver. Get your fill of the freshest and cheapest sushi before exploring the Rockies, making picturesque Banff your base to explore mind-blowing mountain ranges and aqua lakes.

Heading south to Washington State you’ll find cosmopolitan Seattle, a city with a bustling culinary scene and the famous Pike Place Fish Market. Aeroplane buffs can’t pass up a tour of the Boeing factory before continuing onto Oregon and its wild coastline. Cruise sand dunes and stargaze beside your beach bonfire then hit Portland for its hipster coffee scene.

From here, it’s a straight shot into Northern California via Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Yosemite and Redwood National Parks. Finish your trip in bohemian Venice Beach, only a stone's throw from LAX airport where you’ll leave your van before flying home.

South Island, New Zealand

Recommended trip time: 2 weeks

Our antipodean neighbours are best known for rugby, sheep, a bloody good drop of wine and road trips with a bargain price tag. The land of the long white cloud is perfectly suited for your first overseas van trip due to cheap flights, similar driving rules and short driving distances. It’s best to choose either the North or South Island as there is plenty to see and do on both and you don’t want to rush.

Pick up your chariot in Christchurch, head south to explore Lake Tekapo, then drive the incredible road to Aoraki Mt Cook Village to see New Zealand’s highest peak. You’ll need the better part of a week to cover Fiordland and Queenstown, camping out in moody Milford Sound and the quaint village of Te Anau. Leave some dollars in your pocket to tick off a few adrenaline-based activities like bungee jumping and jetboating in Queenstown.

Head north back towards Christchurch, hitting Wanaka, Franz Josef and the wild west coast making sure to leave time for plenty of stops at waterfalls, gorges and beaches. When you reach Nelson, stop in Kaikoura at Ohau Stream (between May and October) to see cute-as-heck seal pups frolic under a waterfall.

Ireland

Recommended trip time: 10-14 days

The Emerald Isle is packed with goodies for the van traveller, offering abandoned castles, rocky islets, bustling cities and a perfectly poured pint of Guinness at one of over 7000 pubs. Start your trip in Dublin after dancing the night away to Trad music in one of Temple Bar’s many centuries-old public houses, then cross the border into Northern Ireland to visit Belfast. Book a Black Cab Tour and learn about the history of the area in a light-hearted way.

Next stop, Galway! Get tickets to a GAA football or hurling match and don’t be afraid to ask the person next to you to explain the rules. From here, it’s a beautiful drive towards the imposing Cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland’s most famous natural landmarks.

In the southwest corner of Ireland lies the Dingle Peninsula, full of precarious mountain passes, incredible surf breaks and photo opportunities aplenty! Park up in the town of Dingle, world-famous for delicious sea salt ice-cream, then take the boat to Skellig Michael – a tiny rocky outcrop and a filming location for Luke Skywalker’s refuge in the latest Star Wars films.

Leave a few days to explore the Ring of Kerry, a stunning circuit through a landscape of forests, rivers and quaint seaside villages. Starting from Killarney, make sure you drive clockwise as tour buses travel anti-clockwise (you don’t want to get stuck looking at the back of a slow-moving coach). Then turn back to the capital with an obligatory stop at Blarney Castle to lock lips with the famous stone before kissing the beautiful country goodbye. •

Campervan hire companies exist in all places mentioned. If you’d like further information on pricing, how to get there and best times of year to travel, get in touch with Matt Castell at Curated Travel: matt@curatedtravel.com.au / 0438 100 774 / curatedtravel.com.au