Travel & Holidays Is 'the lap' boring?

I travelled around Australia with my wife and dog for 6 months. Absolutely loved it, and can't wait to get back on the road and explore some areas in more detail.

A couple of things I always recommend for someone doing this:

• Download and install the app Wikicamps on your smart phone. For $5 this little app saved me thousands of dollars and hours trying to figure out where to stop for the night.
• Invest in a bull bar. The amount of Kangaroo's we hit astounds me. Luckily out campervan had a bull bar so we had little to no damaged (a couple of dents on the side of the van and had to replace a headlight. Could have been a LOT worse).
• Have a rough plan before you go with your top must see spots, but allow time for random adventures. Those sponaneous "lets check out whats over here" can often result in some amazing things you would have never discovered.

Enjoy the trip. It will be amazing.

 

Hi Concept - keen to know how you went with your dog? I take it you avoided national parks or is there a way to make it work? My husband and I are thinking of travelling around Aus in a few years but have 2 dogs so trying to figure out the logistics of it all.

 

I found this a total PITA in many areas. Easier if you have your own van and don't need a room. Ironically NZ seems more dog friendly these days, you can take them on leash in some national parks.

 

Not sure if many know about this site,but it will help with the travel budget..
Campgrounds near MOORE, QLD

 

National parks will be your biggest hurdle. When we went through the national parks in NT, we left our dog at my wifes parents place for a couple of weeks (massive property so she loved it). They live in Atherton in Far North QLD. It meant we did a little bit of backtracking, but it was worth it.

Sometimes we were a little naughty. If we want to see a sight for an hour or two, we would take our dog to a local dog park before hand and run her ragged. She would be more than happy to sleep the day away after that, so we could leave her in the van for an hour or two. The van had great insulation and was always cool so we weren't worried.

Many areas we stayed are dog friendly. The app I mentioned will also include whether campsites or caravan parks allow or ban dogs.

 

I hope do a similar trip when I am old and rich

 

Sydney is the best city in the world and a great place to VISIT!

still bad! went down to 24psi and was going as fast as possible(60km!), to get out!

Dont wait til your old! I've noticed so many bandaged up, it's hard to very around let alone not die. We googled injuries in karijini national park and were shocked! And in true" WA mining safety culture" they put in new stairs to the bottom which are good but they left top fenced with chicken wire and provided seats all on lose gravel to help slip into the gorge!

 

Lake argyle

 

A bull bar is a necessity and kangaroos have no road sense whatsoever.
However, if you want to avoid hitting roos, don't drive at dawn or dusk. Day and night are much better. You still might be unlucky but the chances are reduced.

 

There aren't as many roo's on the west coast but coming inland toward nt cows were more common

 

I remember when the old rail used to go to the end of that jetty to bring in the pearl shells off the luggers, a bunch of kids would sit on the rail cart, push like hell and the rest of us on it would jump into the water when it hit the stopper at the end

Used to be quiet a few luggers alongside that jetty in the day, and the mangroves were hacked back to make room

 

Woah. You must have been unlucky.
My Mum just drove around Australia, didn't hit one kangaroo fortunately.

 

Wangi falls Litchfield np. With free wifi out there! No time for it though had to swim out with a 4 year old on my back

Lake argyle wa

 

We've pulled up stumps for a bit and after the last stint of driving katherine to Gladstone, "is the lap boring" stuck in my head a bit... yes it can be! It's a bloody big country and is definitely a marathon. There's some big drives with little in between- this can be a good thing and is part of the uniqueness.
In that last stint we did have some good stops at Longreach and barcaldine, both great towns. Longreach is very touristy which is different for a country town but the people are very friendly. The bloke that runs the bp used to be the mayor, top bloke! Fixed my diff a few years ago and had a look at the van this time cause i knew I'd get good service. .. $15 charge! What mechanic out there would charge less than 50 or 100 these days!?

A mate put this on fb And after some long days driving i think Europe is on the cards next! Or nz

We did 10,500km


Wa is a marathon in itself! Won't be back for a of while I'd say. We noticed the backpackers buy their own pos cars rather than hire the "wicked" vans on the east coast. They are committing to the drive and hiring would blow the budget. From geraldton up to kununurra we took a bit over 3 weeks, wouldn't want to do it much shorter than that! There's heaps to see but a lot of the key things are off the highway so you've got say 100k's there and back to add to the trip!
I wish i got some photos of the cars that do the drive! Honda civic with its butt dragging behind it, suburus that haven't been seen for 20+years and plenty of econovans
Did notice quite a few French/German older people and families hiring the buses and driving eg darwin to Perth

 

We've done it twice now and I agree with all your points. It has beauty but so often you cant get out of the car for 5 hours or more as there's literally nothing bùt bush. Long drives to get anywhere are what's prompted us to move to nz for retirement. Our place on the south island is 50 min drive to the ski field one direction and same distance the other way is the ocean. So many options for day trips because the country's so compact.

We've got the long drive from Broome to Melb airport in Jan then NZ adventure here we come

 

@bob shovel ( or anyone else ), do you have information or advice on the off-road permit system in NT?

Seems incredibly regimented. Understand the need for a level of respect / safety / preparedness, but it makes last-minute changes to plans difficult. E.g. Choosing alternate / new destinations based on discussions with other travellers once in the area. Easy to do if staying in towns but difficult if using national park camping areas.

 

Im not sure what you mean? Permits into aboriginal land or online booking for camping in national parks?

 

I was referring to these permits for off-road access to parks. 5 day processing time.

Many of the parks have 4wd-only routes into some camping areas.

Permits to drive off road in parks - NT.GOV.AU

 

I haven't seen those. We didn't stay in any national parks and didn't take to much notice.

I know qld and wa have gone to the online booking system for national parks. And there's been the same questions and issues raised with booking ahead when plans change or you don't have reception for days at a time.

There's still a few that have the honesty box or a ranger to manage it. In karijini np for example they took online but also had a ranger and self registration.

Im not sure what they do to make it easier or if there's way around it. If it's a popular spot that books out you just have to lock in dates.
We never book ahead and things always change so found it's to do avoid school hols and peak times if possible.

Another problem that we found in wa for the online booking is that grey nomads get in and book the maximum time - 28 days in one spot at $8pp pn.bargain price for an awesome spot in Cape range national park but it means travellers need to book atleast 3 days in advance.no other option they only do online.

They probably need to set aside sites for travelers or last minute bookings somehow.