Explore Australia – Part Two
Posted on 11 May 2009 by Natalie
Transportation
As for transportation, the options are similar to New Zealand. A traveler can buy a car or a camper van, rent a car or a camper van, buy a bus pass, or even hitch hike. Be aware, if driving in Australia, during certain seasons, roads can become treacherous as drivers must avoid hitting Kangaroos. This is similar to the problem in the Midwest (of the U.S.A.) of hitting deer.
Money
It’s easy to travel Australia with $20-40 US per day. ATM’s are readily available in all of the cities, but plan ahead and carry some cash for more remote over land travel. Australia becomes even more accessible to the apprehensive traveler through being an English speaking nation. The best way to save money in Australia, is through self catering. Buy your own food at the store instead of eating out 3 meals a day.
Best to Explore
Australia offers so many wonderful places to explore including Sydney, Melbourne, Fraser Island, Nimbin, the Gold Coast, and the Great Ocean Road. Sydney was an awesome city, and we found lots of FREE activities.
Although Justin and I have not visited Melbourne yet, we have only heard positive recommendations on Melbourne. Aussies have described it as beautiful, friendly, colorful, artistic, and inviting. Looking back, Justin and I really wish we would have made a few days in Melbourne a priority. But it’s good to have an excuse to return and explore Australia. Melbourne is currently ours excuse to return. If you have been to Melbourne let me know what you think. Is it truly an awesome place?
Problems
Now not all of Australia is perfect. In fact, the long distances between one point of interest to another is a major hindrance if you have not set aside an adequate amount of time to explore Australia. It can also become dangerous to attempt driving a multi-day road trip across more remote regions of Australia. Make sure you have properly loaded your vehicle with extra gasoline (or petrol), water, food, spare car parts, tools, and other necessary supplies.
Individuals complain that exploring Australia can become very expensive, quickly. If you are looking for a cheap budget destination perhaps consider a trip to a less expensive country. If your heart is set on exploring Australia, opportunities exist in order to avoid holding a ‘WILL WORK FOR FOOD’ sign.
Explore for Less
Many individuals get around the expensive of exploring Australia through working. Work is not difficult to find and 12 month Work Visas are available online. If you don’t have 12 months to spend exploring Australia, know that other opportunities exist. In Australia it is popular to spend 2-4 hours working each day in exchange for accommodation. Justin and I only spent one week in Australia and we did not participate in WWOOFing, however we spent two weeks in New Zealand working at a Pub on the Great Barrier Island for our food and lodging. Just because we only spent 2 weeks receiving FREE food and accommodations, doesn’t mean you can’t spend several months lowering your travel expenses through becoming a WWOOFer. You could even work at an alpaca farm!
Waiting to Explore
While waiting to explore Australia I would recommend the following as fun ways to learn and plan:
- Check Australia guide books out at the library
- Rent a movie based in Australia (Lord of the Rings doesn’t count, it was filmed in New Zealand)
- Read a fictional book (not just guide books)
- Hang a map of Australia on the wall – great inspiration to save money
- Need more inspiration? You Tube beautiful Australia videos
- Look into WWOOLFing opportunities
- Set up a buzz alert with Kayak to monitor airfare prices
We currently have one year visas that are valid until early 2010. Although we have only seen one week of Australia, who knows what the future could bring, we may even head back to the Outback?
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Tags | Australia, itinerary, urban exploration
The work for accommodations is a good deal. And for a slightly more expensive country/continent like Australia, it could be the way to go for many of us. Thanks for the post.
It’s true Brian! Working for your lodging is a perfect compromise. Save money and experience the culture in a way most travelers miss out on.
Travel Insurance is very benefecial for those who travel regularly as it give lot of benefits to them.
Hunter Valley Accommodation
I would suggest the long over-land distances are not actually that ‘dangerous’ in regards to fuel. Growing up I travelled extensively around Australia with my family, and only once did we almost have a fuel emergency. This was driving from Norseman towards South Australia across the Nullabor Plain, and we only encountered the problem because the fuel station had no been re-fuelled (the tanker had completely bypassed them, and boy was the owner of the fuel station angry. He was starting legal proceedings against the tanker company).
We knew we were approaching a long strip of road without any fuel stations, and we stopped at one station where we were told the next fuel station (which would be the last for a few hundred km) had cheaper fuel. So on we went – only to discover, of course, that they had no fuel left. We didn’t even have enough left in our tank to go back to the last station. Fortunately a passer-by sold us some of his fuel that he siphoned into a jerry can, which got us back to the previous station to fill up. Otherwise we would have been stuck at that fuel station (which also had accommodation) for two days til another tanker came through.
So unless you have the misfortune to come across a dry fuel station, you should not have any fuel problems in Australia (unless of course you’re irresponsible and do not pay attention to the signs warning you of long, fuel-station-less strips of road, and fail to fill up your tank.)
Kangaroos are also not a major threat except at dawn and dusk when they are most active.
Knowing the condition of your car is important. Don’t drive a bomb across the centre of Australia. The worst car-related incidents we had was once when our gear box blew out near Emerald in central Queensland. Fortunately for us they had just the right model in the shop and were able to replace it for us, meaning we were only delayed by one night. The other ‘worst’ car-related incident was when our air-conditioning failed on a trip to the Northern Territory in October! We spent the rest of the trip driving with the windows wound down.
And if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CAR. Your car is far more visible than you are – both to passing by vehicles and search helicopters. It also offers you protection from the sun (very harsh in Australia).
Leah thank you for all of your wonderful insight and advice.
It is great to get a realistic view from someone who has lived in Australia and traveled extensively while growing up.
I really love your last advice on not leaving your car, if it breaks down. I guess our instinct is sometimes to leave and get help, but it would be best to stay with the car patiently.
Thanks for your insight!