Camper van, excess Sydney to Great ocean road.

In the Surfcoast Shire only park overnight at camp sites, otherwise you are breaking the law and will receive a hefty fine. Surfcoast Shire is basically the GOR.

I can just see the campervan company rep saying, no insurance from us, no renting from us!

Not sure about the insurance. The camp sites - A lot if not all of the areas you are travelling would have fines for not camping at sites (assuming you get caught). For example, I live in a small town an hour inland from Pambula (halfway between Sydney and Melbourne on the coast). Heaps of caravans etc park for the night on the rive and ignore the camp ground. with public toilets better than the ones in the camp ground it is not a surprise. They don't get bothered. There are quite a few nice state forest/ National park camp grounds along the coast road. Try www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au .
Places I like are
mystery bay - about 9km soth of Narooma, camp next to bay. www.mysterybaycampground.com.au
There are a few nice spots in Murramarang nat park - can book online at above nat parks website.
For a proper caravan park, Pambula beach is lovely. It is huge but shouldn't be too busy outside school hols/long weekends. Kangaroos roam the caravan park (where shoes - kangaroo poop everywhere) and it is right on the beach.
Not a camp site but the little town of Mogo is cute (just below Batemans Bay). Try to allow an hour or so to wander the shops. Berry is nice too, just haven't been for years, so couldn't give you any info.
Sorry I cant help once you are in Victoria
You will likely want a proper caravan park occasionally to empty sewerage, fill water etc.

#2, They're not talking all insurance insurance excess is what you pay over and above insurance. Some travel insurance policies and credit cards cover this.

#2, They're not talking all insurance insurance excess is what you pay over and above insurance. Some travel insurance policies and credit cards cover this.

A number of the campervan hire companies have a base hire rate that includes an excess damage component. The excess for some campervans (such as Britz) is around $7,000. This means that if you damage the vehicle you pay the excess. All hire companies have an option for an additional charge where you can waiver some or all of the excess which can add quite a lot to the hire cost.

Some premium credit cards and travel insurance policies have an excess car hire insurance component or you can take out car hire excess insurance yourself (which is often cheaper than what the hire company will offer).

In Australia the automobile association in Victoria (RACV) has a good policy. Your profile says you are from the UK so you could try the AA.

You also need to be aware that for campervan hire if you don’t take out their excess insurance they will pre debit the excess damage cover from your credit card BEFORE you take the campervan. This means for a $7,000 excess you need the $7,000 credit available on your card and you will not be able to use this credit while you have the van. And if you have taken out excess insurance separately this pre debit still applies!
So you need to check the fine print i.e. the hiring conditions.

For free and low cost camping the bible is Camps8. You can buy it in most shops that sell camping gear.
http://www.campsaustraliawide.com/camps-8/

Feb and March through to Easter you won’t have any problems with caravan parks – no need to pre book. However over Easter things are always very tight.

Once you cross from NSW into Victoria the highway runs inland from the ocean so you need to turn off to beachside places such as Mallacoota.

In Victoria the parks organisation is called Parks Victoria so have a look at their website for national park camping options –
http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/

Along the way most towns will have a tourist information centre. You’ll find these places very helpful with local things to see and do including good camping spots.
Depending how long you’ve got you might like to go to Wilsons Promontory, Phillip Island (the penguin parade) and then down to the Mornington Peninsula crossing on the car ferry at Sorrento/Queenscliffe to the start of the Great Ocean Road.

Camping on the foreshore over looking Port Phillip Bay would be nice. Is all along the stretch from Rosebud to Sorrento.

From the way I read it, it was more so that they (OP) were wanting a cheaper campervan insurance overall, bypassing the massive charges the campervan company charges.

Thanks for all your helpful replies,
Some good advise on parks.
The camper van is insured, but it is the excess which is the killer.
I looked at credit card / holiday insurance to get cover, but no joy.
You can buy independent excess cover online, which is about half the price of the rental company.
Worldwideinsure.com. rentalcover.com do this.
Again thanks.
Cheers Shug119

Is it better to pay rip off insurance,?
No mention of this in terms and conditions.