Your First Campervan Trip: What's in the Van and What to Pack

The first night in a campervan is where most of the small problems surface: the fridge has been running on nothing but hope, the bedding you assumed was included is not, and the gas bottle you need for dinner is still on a shelf at the service station you passed two hours ago.

Almost all of it is avoidable with one hour of planning. Here is what the van comes with, what is worth packing, and how the power, water and cooking systems behave in practice.

What is already in the van

Every hire includes the vehicle, a mattress, basic kitchen and cooking equipment, roadside assistance and 24/7 support, with unlimited kilometres on the east coast and in Tasmania (what is included in a campervan hire). Beyond that, specification varies by vehicle, so check the campervan models and what each one includes rather than assuming the last one you read about applies.

A typical two-berth conversion has a double bed on a wooden platform, a small kitchenette with a sink, a portable gas cooker, a fridge or ice cooler, a water tank and a solar panel. A five-berth 4WD swaps the internal bed for dual rooftop tents and adds a compressor fridge, a much larger water tank and a camp table and chairs. What almost none of them have is a toilet or a shower, which is why caravan parks and public amenities matter more than you expect.

• Mattress and bed base — but bedding, pillows and towels are usually not included.
• Kitchen kit: plates, cups, pots, pans, cutlery and a chopping board.
• Portable gas cooker — the gas canister is not supplied.
• Fridge drawer, compressor fridge or ice cooler, depending on the vehicle.
• Water tank, 25L on a small conversion up to 70L on a 4WD, often plumbed to a sink.
• Solar panel and a house battery to run the fridge when you are parked.
• Storage drawers, and usually a table and chairs on the 4WDs.

What to pack that people forget

Pack for three temperature ranges, not one. Even in the tropics, nights inland drop sharply, and the southern states can hand you four seasons between breakfast and dinner. Layers beat a heavy jacket, and a beanie earns its space in the Kimberley in July.

The forgotten items are almost always the small ones: a head torch for late arrivals, a power bank for phones, a spare gas canister, matches or a lighter, cooking oil and salt, a tea towel, a clothesline and pegs, and a roll of duct tape. A cheap esky is worth having even with a fridge, because it keeps drinks out of the fridge and stops you opening it every ten minutes.

• Bedding: sleeping bags or a doona, two pillows, a fitted sheet if you like a sheet.
• Cooking: oil, salt, coffee, a sharp knife, a small chopping board, foil, zip bags.
• Cleaning: tea towel, sponge, dish soap, rubbish bags, paper towel.
• Power: 12V USB charger, power bank, head torch, spare batteries.
• Comfort: thongs, a warm layer, a hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, earplugs for caravan parks.
• Practical: duct tape, a basic tool kit, tyre gauge, first aid kit, copies of your licence and booking.

Power: the fridge, the solar panel and the two-hour rule

The fridge is the biggest draw in the van and the usual cause of a flat house battery. The rule that keeps everything alive is to drive for one to two hours a day, keep the solar panel in full sun when parked, and wipe dust off the panel each morning — a dusty panel can lose a surprising amount of output.

Load the fridge with pre-cooled food. A 12V fridge is designed to hold temperature, not to chill a week of warm groceries, and filling it with room-temperature meat on a hot afternoon will drag the battery down overnight. Leave gaps for air to circulate, and resist the urge to set the dial to maximum unless you are actually freezing something.

Most systems cut out below a set voltage to protect the battery, which is why the fridge can quietly stop overnight and leave you with warm milk and no obvious fault. Some vans have a reset switch near the fuse box that wakes the battery from the starter; the setup guide for your vehicle will tell you whether yours does (campervan setup and appliance guides).

Water: what the tank is for

Water tanks run from 25L on a small conversion to 70L on a 4WD, and they feed a sink or a rear tap. On at least some vehicles the tank is plumbed for washing only and is not suitable for drinking, so ask at pickup rather than assuming. Carry a separate jerry or a few litres of drinking water either way.

Refilling is easy at any standard tap with a hose, and most caravan parks and some service stations have a water point. Empty and drain the hose after use, and turn the pump off before you drive — a pump left running with a closed tap is a small, annoying way to flood a cupboard.

The first night, done properly

Arrive before dark. This is the single best piece of first-trip advice, because setting up a bed, a cooker and a fridge by phone torch in an unfamiliar campground is how people end up eating chips for dinner and sleeping on a bare mattress.

Choose a caravan park or a proper campground for night one, not a free roadside spot. You get a level pitch, a tap, a rubbish bin, a shower and a power point if you need one, and you learn how the van behaves before you rely on it off-grid. Free camping rules vary by state and council, and the apps that list free and low-cost camps are worth installing before you leave rather than after you are tired.

Park on level ground, chock the wheels if you are on a slope, and open a window a crack for ventilation. Condensation is the enemy of a good night in a small space: two people breathing in a sealed van will soak the windows and the bedding by morning.

Cook outside if you can. Gas cookers are for outdoor use, the van smells of dinner for hours afterwards, and a stray gust inside a confined space is a genuine safety issue. Buy the gas canister on day one, at a service station or hardware store, before you are hungry.

The morning routine and the pack-down

A practised pack-down takes fifteen minutes: bedding rolled, fridge closed and latched, gas off, water pump off, windows closed, nothing left on the roof or the bench, rubbish out. Do it in the same order every day and you will stop leaving things behind by day three.

Before you drive, walk around the van once. Check the roof and the awning, the rear hatch, the water cap and the fridge latch. Most campervan damage happens at low speed in a campground, and most of it is preventable by that one lap.

Return the van washed and vacuumed. The rental agreement expects it, and excessive cleaning is chargeable — a car wash at the end of the trip is cheaper than the fee.

The packing list, in one table

If you only print one page, print this one.

Do I need to bring bedding?

Usually yes. Mattresses are supplied but bedding, pillows and towels generally are not, and hiring them is not always an option. Pack a sleeping bag or doona even in summer.

Can I plug in at a caravan park?

Many parks offer powered sites, but a campervan's 12V system runs off the battery and solar rather than mains power. Ask what the site provides and bring a lead only if the vehicle supports it.

How often do I need to empty the water tank?

At the end of each trip, and before long storage. Standing water in a tank goes stale quickly, and a rinse before you refill keeps the tap usable for the whole hire.