Jucy Campervan Australia

Should I Rent a Jucy Campervan in Australia?

Time to see the real Australia with endless roads, unique wildlife and sun-kissed beaches up and down the East coast. Grab your beach towel and your hiking shoes as a great Australian adventure starts and ends with camping.

There are many options for camping but the best way is to have everything you need in your own set of wheels. We decided to rent a campervan to travel up the coast and explore Australia. We opted for a Jucy campervan and we weren’t disappointed by our new ride.

Jucy campers come loaded with Cd/Radio, DVD player, fridge, sink, water tank, gas cooker, and kitchenware. If that doesn’t impress you, it as also fitted with 2 bench seats and a table that converted to a comfortable double bed at night. These campers are everything you need to explore on your own.

Jucy Campervan Australia

Of course, it doesn’t stop there, finding a place to park your mobile home is half the adventure of being on the road. There are many different options for campsites throughout Australia, many of the best ones are hidden but will put you right on the beach.

Roadside stops are also good options some are like truck stops and others have grass camper sites where you can stay to sleep. A huge benefit to the roadside stops is they are free but bathrooms are not the best and most do not offer showers.

A great paid option is any of the National parks you will be driving through. They have been nice to stay at, averaging around $30 per night, but there you have your own tucked away spot where you’re hidden in the park with bathrooms and showers.  This usually allows you some great wildlife spotting opportunities as well.

Most parks and rest stops have BBQs for cooking. It costs a little more to stay in the parks and you can try to play the get there late and pull out the early game to avoid the fees but the park rangers are pretty diligent about keeping track of everyone.

Caravan Parks are also a good option if you’re looking for a pool, powered sites, hookups for water and kitchens. To me they are nice but you’re renting a campervan to get away from civilization not to be in a campervan town. 

Jucy Campervan Australia

Our best campsite we found was right on the ocean, with rustic bathrooms and a 3-minute walk to swim, surf, and suntan. We have stayed at a variety of paid and free sites throughout our journey and all the campsites have been safe and friendly. Australia has a revive and stay alive campaign going on where they have free coffee. So you can find a free overnight stay and free coffee, that’s a win!

Campsite wildlife is everywhere from two-legged to four-legged animals. Working our way up the East coast from Melbourne to Cairns we saw kolas, kangaroos, wallabies, possums and all kinds of birds in their natural habit. We weren’t prepared for the abundance of wildlife we would see and it was a pleasant surprise while traveling and camping up the East coast.

One of our best wildlife stories happened one night while we were working in our Jucy campervan. We were sitting in the van with the side door open, as it was a hot, humid night and Lina looked over at me saying there’s something out there. I grabbed my headlamp to shine out the doors. Sitting there, right next to the van were four possums about to climb into the van with us while we were working. You don’t get much closer to wildlife than that. If I were to do it again I would bring a large flashlight for night walks. Most of Australia’s animals come out in the evening when the sun has gone down.

Jucy Campervan Australia

Cooking in the Jucy campervan is made easy with the gas grill in the back of the van. Having your own chill box enabled us to stop off at markets and stock up on fresh food, so we were able to camp for many days at a time and not worry about finding restaurants. We could cook a large variety of meals during our time on the road.

Breakfast ranged from egg dishes to cereal, it was nice to have the option of cooking a big breakfast when we wanted to. In the afternoon we would do a soup and sandwich deal or salads. Dinner you really can cook anything; it comes down to just how inventive you want to be. We did beans with sausages, steaks, fried rice, pasta and tacos on most occasions. Cleanup is easy when you have your own sink to clean up your dishes.

The freedom of having a Jucy campervan is unmatched while you are traveling through Australia. We were able to take as long as we wanted to drive of a stop along the way. We had the freedom to make stops at unique places and camp in different towns while we made our way up the East coast. There was no need to rush and this made our travel through Australia very relaxing and enjoyable.

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Lina Stock at Hobbiton New Zealand

Following in Frodo’s Steps at Hobbiton in New Zealand

A visit to New Zealand is hard to say as complete without taking a moment to geek out and visit Hobbiton. I don’t mean that in an offensive way at all. I was actually really excited to visit the iconic movie site. So much so, that I forced a room full of guys to watch Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in the TV room at the hostel in Kaikoura a couple of nights before our visit.

Our trip started from Rotorua and it was a long bus ride to get us out to the farm that the movie set is on. Once we arrived at headquarters, we checked in and loaded back onto the bus for the drive out into the field. Our driver did a nice job of telling us the history of the site, how it came to be and all the little stories that surround the moment when Peter Jackson decided that this farm was going to be the site.

Hobbiton New Zealand

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Hobbiton New Zealand

The road into the movie site is very impressive, built by the military it is very industrial and is not something that was built to go away when the movies are complete. It will be there forever.

As we wound our way through the rolling fields we paused occasionally for the herds of sheep to disperse while we made our way. The driver pointed out various locations where certain actors or important Hollywood people had their motor homes and setups during the filming of all the movies.

Arriving outside the movie set, we were told how the original movie set for the Lord of the Rings series was actually temporary and was destroyed after the first set of movies were done. Upon agreements to film the Hobbit, the Shire was rebuilt to the permanent form we would visit that day and because the Hobbit is still being completed, it is still considered an active movie set.

Hobbiton New Zealand

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Hobbiton New Zealand

Our guide for the tour of the movie set took over the narration once we reached the entrance to the set.  She explained to us the rules for our visit, which included not walking on top of the Hobbit holes and following the directions on any posted signs. After making our way into the first part of the scene, she gave us good narration on what part of the set we were looking at and what films it appeared in.

It was extremely interesting to see the setup in person and learn how the director used the scale of each part of the set to manipulate the heights of the Hobbits versus Gandalf. We meandered through the lanes where the opening shire scenes were shot in the Fellowship of the ring, the field where Bilbo Baggins celebrated his birthday and the infamous Bag End, where Frodo and Bilbo live. The place is beautiful and all the way we learned about the little intricacy of the site and the filming.

Hobbiton New Zealand

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Hobbiton New Zealand

Our tour concluded with a visit to the Green Dragon pub. This is the only part of the site that has been built as an exact replica of the movie set. Yes, that’s right, those Hobbit holes have only about 4 feet behind them. They were used for the exterior scene only, the rest was filmed in the studio in Wellington. I sipped my ginger beer and contemplated the tour that we had just taken of Hobbiton.

Having the opportunity to visit this site was a cool experience and I had been pretty excited about it. But for some reason, we were left feeling a little incomplete with the visit. In the end, both David and I decided that the whole place just lacked the magic you get from the big screen.

It is rather a dry and dull tour. Yes, it is awesome to say we have been there and to be able to now watch the movies and see the places where we stood, but that magic you feel when watching the movies is most certainly missing from the tour.

We both would love to see Hobbiton come to life with people dressed as characters from the movie, infusing a little bit of life into the whole set. Maybe they aren’t allowed to do this yet, but it is something that would be really neat for the future of the set.  Do we regret our visit, not at all. Should you or shouldn’t you check it out on your next trip to New Zealand, well that is up to you to decide.

Hobbiton New Zealand

~*~Hobbiton New Zealand

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Fergburger Queenstown

Interview with a Fergburger Waitress: Queenstown, New Zealand

The locals will say you haven’t actually visited Queenstown until you have stood in the queue and eaten at Fergburger.  We wanted to make sure we earned our right of passage while in Queenstown, so we made it an afternoon and headed to the infamous Fergburger.

First impressions are that it’s a hole in the wall burger joint located on a busy street near all the clubs in Queenstown. I guess this impression isn’t too far off but the place does impress with the mass amounts of people that flock in for their famous burgers.

After placing our order and then devouring (almost finishing) both our burgers, we decided to catch up with one of the waitresses and find out what it’s like to work at such a busy burger joint in a place like Queenstown.

Fergburger Queenstown
The Fergburger and the Camera…

 

Who are you and where are you from?

My name is Frankie and I am from England. I was traveling through New Zealand and came to Queenstown, I remember at that time thinking it was an amazing place and that I definitely wanted to return and work here when I was done traveling at the time.
 

Of all the places to work in Queenstown, why Fergburger?

I love working at Fergburger, seriously one of the coolest jobs I’ve ever had. Lots of my friends say to me ‘How can you work here? It’s so crazy’ but I absolutely love it. I love the people and have met so many cool people while working here.

What’s your favorite Fergburger?

Well, I’m a vegetarian! But the most popular is the Southern Swine. I can literally tell you everything about every burger but hands down the most orders we process are for the Southern Swine.
 

Is it weird working at a burger place and being a vegetarian?

No, I’m not bothered by it at all. Some people that are vegetarians would be offended, but for me, I choose to be a vegetarian and those that want to eat meat don’t bother me.
 

We know that Queenstown is known for it’s nightlife and Fergburger is open pretty late. What is the craziest thing you have ever seen while working the late shift? 

So many times working the night shift, like so many people just lying on the floor, lying on the street, running into cars, knocking themselves out, fighting. People literally get so drunk here and McDonald’s and Fergburger are literally the only places open in the middle of the night, so we have seen it all.
 

Do people come in late and place crazy orders?

Yes, people come in and order loads of stuff, with no clue of what they have ordered and then they just run away.  We require that everyone pays when they place their order because people literally will order things and leave, all the time. Even now that people pay when they order, we see loads of orders left behind.  One time a guy ordered 2 Big Al’s and 2 orders of fries, all for himself and he was so wasted he couldn’t even stand up and he just stood there and devoured the whole order!
 

Who is the most famous person you have seen at Fergburger?

Do you know who Heather Mills is? She’s married to Paul McCartney. I met her here once. Johnny Depp ordered a burger here the other day, obviously, he didn’t come in, but one of his people picked the burger up for him. Lots of non-famous people come in here; half of them we don’t know at the time but then later hear they were here.  We get a lot of professional skiers in the winters that are famous Olympians.
 

Favorite thing about working at Fergburger?

Hands down the people. We meet so many amazing people working here and everyone is so happy and singing. There is a lot of joking and banter that goes on and the managers are so quality as well.  It’s good that it’s busy, you can be here all day and before you know it, you’re at the end of your shift.
 

What is the weirdest Fergburger order you have seen?

Oh yeah, I put one together once that was a Double Big Al with Cockadoodle Oink, fish and it had a bulls-eye on it. It was literally a foot tall and I thought it was disgusting. We couldn’t even wrap it; we had to wrap it in foil all the way up.  People also mix the sauces up a lot too, we see everything here.
 
Fergburger Queenstown

 So there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. Fergburger seems like a pretty cool place to work and you definitely shouldn’t miss a visit to this place if you find yourself in Queenstown.

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