3 Months on Tour with an Explorer Motorhome by Dr Michael and Bettina Muller of Germany.

My wife, Bettina and I have made for the first time this year on a longer tour of Australia.

Our motorhome was delivered in late April, 2015. Everything was smooth and went well. It was particularly exciting for us because we had never seen the vehicle before, we bought sight unseen from Germany! Choosing solely on descriptions, photographs and our experience with campers generally. But in his correspondence John made a confidence-inspiring impression, so we took the chance and were certainly not disappointed. Explorer Motorhomes lived up to our expectations.

We went on a four-week test tour to check all in function and to see what would possibly be improved. In short, everything was perfect. After everything was settled we wanted to start our trip at the end of January go to big tour around Australia. I have to add that we are particularly fascinated with the wildlife in Australia.

We started at Brisbane and went almost directly to Melbourne, then via the Great Ocean Road, along the coastline to Port Augusta. Along the way we have visited many wonderful bays, such as Whaling Station near Port Lincoln. It was impressive to see swimming dolphins and manta rays from the beach.

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Near Port Augusta we passed another Explorer coming towards us and we waved and tooted! We kept on driving on the Nullarbor Plain to Esperance. The Nullarbor Plain is not nearly as bare and without vegetation, as we had imagined. There are areas in Australia, which are much more monotonous, such as on the route from Cairns to Katherine. The bays on the south coast of Australia are some of the most incredible we had ever seen: white sands, turquoise water, granite rocks and blue sky.

We now wanted to turn to North Queensland, but since there were heavy rains with road closures at this time, we changed our entire trip planning and booked the ferry to Tasmania. Driving through the Red Centre and Coober Pedy, we struck such a violent thunderstorm that we just quickly sought out the next Caravan Park for safety.

Shortly before Melbourne, we saw on the way to a campground in the woods an echidna and shortly afterwards a koala only two meters away. It’s a really special experience to see a koala so close to you.

The days on Tasmania flew by, unfortunately we could only stay 8 days, because the ferry was fully booked. Farm Stays and secluded campgrounds were among the highlights of our trip. The Walk to Wine Glass Bay was exhausting, but was rewarded with fantastic views. Tasmania is well worth a detour.

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On our way we had been given the advice by a friendly Australian if we wanted to see wombats in the wild to go to Bendeela. Said and done: immediately we got to see close up at dusk seven Wombats. It was now be time to think of our flight back to Germany, so we drove back to John and Katrina, where we prepared a camping dinner of fried barramundi burgers.

Conclusion of this trip: with our Explorer everything was fine, many evenings we sat indoors and enjoyed our meal without suffering from flies. Seasonally I look forward to our next tour in September. The dry season means less water, more wildlife observation, less hot and drier air, and then when you arrive at the south, you get there at the beginning of spring and enjoy the many wildflowers in Western Australia.

Compliments to all Australians: you are “top” always friendly and helpful.

Michael & Bettina Muller