New gear: Australia Free 4

Travelling around Australia by RV is one of life's great pleasures, but the on-road costs add up; what with rising fuel prices, steep caravan park fees and often costly tourist attractions.

So anything that can help stretch your travel dollars further while still having a great holiday, is a good thing in our book...

Described as the "go-to book on free activities in Australia", the fourth edition of 'Australia Free' has just hit the book shops, aimed at budget travellers as well as those who want to enjoy free activities and rest/camping areas wherever they travel throughout Australia.

Author Mike Koch, who also invented the original OzTent 'Foxwing' awning, travelled around 120,000km over a two year period to compile the first Australia Free book back in 2014, and the latest edition has been fully updated with more than 3000 entries in total covering all the states and territories.

As well as listing around 1500 free camping and rest stops, there are hundreds of free activities listed in the various regions, including swimming spots, waterfalls and beaches, no-fee museums and public buildings, parks and gardens, and other free-access walks, lookouts, annual events and attractions.

Most entries have an accompanying colour photograph, and each is pinpointed on a map in an atlas section at the end of each chapter, to make them easier to find. The latest edition also includes new expanded capital city sections, as well as a handy list of RV dump points at the end of the book.

The large-format, 470 page book is easy to read with large plastic spiral binding and equally durable hard cover protection, although it's pretty heavy at about 1.5kg so not great if you're travelling light.

'Australia Free 4' has a RRP of $59.99 and is available in bookstores as well as cheaper online.

There's also an Australia Free companion App available for $5.99 on iTunes and Google Play.