Apollo campervan hire Tasmania: the self-drive island loop that actually works

Tasmania is roughly 315 km north to south and 286 km east to west, which sounds like a Sunday drive until the road starts folding itself around a mountain. The Midlands Highway between Hobart and Launceston is easy sealed running at up to 110 km/h, but the west coast can drag your average down to 25-35 km/h in a motorhome.

An apollo campervan tasmania trip suits sealed-road travellers brilliantly: Freycinet, Bay of Fires, Cradle Mountain, Lake St Clair, Strahan and Bruny Island are all realistic without pretending you hired a rally car. The trick is not distance, it is corners, weather and wallabies.

• Do: drive before dusk where possible; wildlife is thick from about 5 pm in winter and later in summer.
• Do: allow 20-30 minutes for supermarket, water and dump-point jobs. Van chores are not romantic, but neither is a full cassette.
• Do not: plan mainland-style 600 km days. A 220 km Tasmanian day can feel like plenty.

If you only have seven days, stay east: Hobart, Tasman Peninsula, Freycinet and Bay of Fires. If you have 10-14 days, the classic loop opens up: Hobart to Lake St Clair, Strahan, Cradle Mountain, Launceston, Bay of Fires, Freycinet and back to Hobart.

That loop is about 1,000-1,150 km depending on side trips. It gives you alpine weather, convict stonework, beaches white enough to make your sunglasses work overtime, and the west coast rainforests where everything smells like wet timber and old tyres.

• Best first night: stay close to Hobart if you land late, stock up, and learn the van before tackling the Central Highlands.
• Best restock towns: Hobart, New Norfolk, Queenstown, Sheffield, Launceston, St Helens and Bicheno.
• Best booking move: check availability online early for school holidays, Easter and January, when Tasmania becomes the Big Lap with colder beer.

Tasmania is good to van travellers, but it is not a free-for-all. Holiday parks commonly run powered sites around $40-$70 per night depending on season and location, while national park campgrounds are usually cheaper but need a valid Parks Pass and, in popular places, a booking.

Free camps exist, especially around the north-east and some council-managed areas, but rules change by sign, season and self-containment status. If a sign says no camping, it means you too, even if you have a grey-nomad sticker and a very convincing kettle.

• Powered sites: use them every few nights for laundry, long showers, battery top-ups and civilised behaviour.
• Unpowered sites: fine if your van has house battery capacity and you are not running every gadget known to BCF.
• Free camps: arrive early, keep awnings tight in wind, take rubbish out, and never dump grey water on the ground unless clearly permitted.
• National parks: expect a vehicle Parks Pass at about the $100 mark for a holiday pass, with camping fees separate.

Most 2WD campervans and motorhomes use roughly 10-14 L/100 km, more on hills, into headwinds or when you drive like you are late for the Spirit of Tasmania. A 60-90 L fuel tank sounds generous, but the west coast is not the place to test the warning light.

Between larger towns, services can be limited, card-only, closed early, or simply not where your phone reception claims they are. Treat half a tank as empty once you leave the bigger centres. Cooking and heating gas is usually via swap-and-go or refill bottles at servos and hardware outlets; do not leave it until Sunday afternoon in a town with one bakery and a bottle-o.

• Top up before: Derwent Bridge, Queenstown, Strahan, Tullah, St Helens and any west coast detour.
• Carry: drinking water, snacks, a charged phone, offline maps and a headtorch for late camp arrivals.
• Do not: assume every rural servo has diesel, LPG bottle swaps, public toilets and a smile after 6 pm.

Most apollo motorhome tasmania itineraries should stay on sealed roads unless your rental agreement specifically says otherwise. Tasmania has tempting gravel: Western Explorer Road, Cockle Creek approaches, parts around the Tarkine, remote beach tracks, and the sort of forest lanes that look harmless until the rain arrives sideways.

Rental conditions commonly restrict unsealed roads, beach driving, floodwater crossings and certain alpine or remote roads. Bruny Island is popular and mostly sealed on main touring routes, but you still need to consider ferry queues, vehicle length, and campground access tracks before you commit.

• Do: check road restrictions before booking side trips, especially in winter and after heavy rain.
• Do: confirm whether your hire can travel on the Spirit of Tasmania if you plan to bring a van across Bass Strait rather than pick up locally.
• Do not: take a 2WD camper onto Western Explorer or beach sand because a stranger on a forum said it was fine in 2017.

A self-contained camper gives you freedom, but it also gives you a toilet cassette with a deadline. Plan dump points every two or three days for two people, sooner if you are drinking tea like it is a competitive sport.

Useful dump-point towns and areas include Hobart, New Norfolk, Queenstown, Strahan, Sheffield, Launceston, St Helens, Bicheno and larger holiday parks. Fresh water is often available at holiday parks, visitor facilities or designated town taps, but do not assume every public tap is potable.

• Do: use designated dump points only; fines and smells both linger.
• Do: keep a short drinking-water hose separate from any grey-water gear.
• Do not: empty grey water into stormwater drains, creeks or the scrub. Tasmania notices.