Expert: Megan - 3/17/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello. My wife and I are planning a trip to OZ this coming October. A good friend lives in Crystal Creek, N.S.W., less than an hour from Gold Coast Airport. The other day I saw in a magazine, an article about renting a 4WD type vehicle or van and doing a driving trip. We have about three weeks and I don't really want to spend the whole time just hanging out with our friend. There are things to do and see where she lives so we will plan enough time to stay there, but not be a burden.
I thought we could fly to Adelaide, rent a vehicle, and then spend some sightseeing time on the road up to Darwin, camping along the way. We need to be at her place for her birthday, so I thought do the driving trip first and eventually end up at her place. We could see Ayers Rock and there are some parks and other places I am sure. I think it would be great, but don't really know that much about doing it. I know the roads are really bad when it rains and we will be there in October, like I said, maybe starting out on driving around the 18th. Would a week be enough time to do the drive and still be able to stop and see things? I've checked out a couple of places that rent vehicles for this purpose and they come with extended range fuel tanks. I am sure fuel is a concern, and I don't know about food supplies, although we will be stocked up to begin with. One last thing, is it hard to get to Gold Coast Airport from Darwin? I've checked for flights, but can't seem to come up with anything.

Thank you

ANSWER: Hi David,
The drive from Adelaide to Darwin is about 3,000km and would take about 36 hours of continous driving to make the trip. I would suggest around 10 days which would mean 3.5 hours of driving per day. Of course this is upto you if you wish to drive longer or less time just adjust by the number of days. I have not been to the Northern Territory but did some research on Australian sites and found a guide as follows:

"First stop is Port Augusta. After that, things are a bit sparse between there and Alice Springs apart from Woomera and Coober Pedy although there are some remote service stations along the road.. North of Alice, there are plenty of stops and you will see the desert slowly transform into the tropical savannah and then the tropical woodland of the Top End. Places worth a visit are Barrow Creek, Tennant Creek, Daly Waters, Mataranka, Katherine and Adelaide River before you get to Darwin."

If you are interested in national parks these are sites that list the national parks so you can get an idea of where they are located.
http://www.atn.com.au/parks/parks.htm
http://www.australiannationalparks.com/

I also looked up flights and you can not fly dirrectly from Darwin to the Gold Coast. Your best bet would be to fly from Darwint to Brisbane. From Brisbane you can choose to fly to Coolangatta (Gold Coast) aiport or you have a couple other options. Firstly you can catch the train. There is a train that runs from the airport to the Gold Coast often these are express and take about 1 hour. The other option is you can rent a car and the drive is about 1 hour. This time is approx and is to central Gold Coast the airport is south of the centre so add maybe another 30 min or so. Or you could get your friend to meet you in Brisbane. The 3 main airliners in Australia are Virgin Blue, Jet Star and Qantas. Qantas is 90% of the time the most expensive (Jet Star is the Qantas owned cheap airliner) and Jet Star and Virgin Blue are quite comparitive. If you want the url's for these please let me know.

Have you also considered taking the Great Ocean Road trip from Adelaide to Melbourne? It is a shorter drive (approx half the distance) and there is lots and lots to see and do. It is very scenic and the stops would be less far apart. You would be able to do this in a week easily. Also flights from Darwin are some of the most expensive. You would be looking from Darwin to Brisbane about $200 per person whereas Melbourne to Brisbane is usually at least half of that plus from Melbourne you can fly direct to the Gold Coast. This is the website of the Great Ocean Road:
http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au/

It really depends what you want to see. As I said I haven't been to the Northern Territory so can't advise from personal experience however the Great Ocean Road is beautiful. Please let me know if I can help any further. I hope this helps.

Megan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: If we do drive in the south, would it be better to visit our friend first, around the end of October, then do our driving trip in early November, or, drive first, mid-October, then end up visiting our friend for her birthday around October 24th? I was just curious as to the weather.

Thank you,
David

ANSWER: As the North has lovely weather basically all year round (we are very lucky with that) I would suggest visiting your friend and then doing the drive down south. You will be at the end of Spring/beggining of Summer and it should be very pleasant. Although the beaches down south are quite a bit cooler to swim at (just keep that in mind) QLD and Northern NSW beaches will be in the 20's that time of the year probably around 22 or 23 but it will be colder down south if you are looking to swim. Also if you are interested in wine some of the best wine regions are in the Adealide Hills and the Yarra Valley. Depending how much time you have and if you do want to visit any cities you might want to consider even a night in Melbourne. It is very interesting and is just under the population of Sydney although many people don't know that. It is very cultural with lots of performances and art. It also has beautiful little backstreets and cafes all through the city giving it a european kind of feel. It reminds me a little of San Francisco as Melbourne too has "cable cars" (we call them trams here).

Also just a quick note. If you really want to do the trip through the centre but perhaps a bit quicker you can take the train. The Ghan runs from Adelaide to Darwin stopping at Alice Springs. The trip takes 2 days. There are several trains that run within Australia and I believe outsiders can get train passes (similar to the Amtrak passes or the loops in Europe) that are for international guests only which may make it a viable option. I'm not sure if this is something you would be interested in.

I hope this helps. If you have any more questions please feel free to ask :)

Megan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Megan,

Not really questions but I just wanted to take time to thank you again for your help. If anyone is planning a trip from the U.S. to Australia, Qantas has a $299.99 special (one way) from selected cities. Pretty darn good. The offer ends 3/20.

We will be applying for our Electronic Travel Authority (ETA).

One more question really, kind of a weird one, but what is the take on long hair? I'm 57, an old 60's guy, and I have long hair that I sometimes pull back in a pony tail. Is that something one might get kidded about?

Thanks again,

David

Answer
Hi David,

There are def some great deals on flights out there at the moment it really is a great time to travel. I'm heading to the US myself in June July.

In regards to your hair I don't think it would be a problem at all. Australians are pretty easy going and I really don't think it would be an issue. If you come and you feel uncomfortable you can always look at getting a trim here but like I said you won't get any trouble. Australians are very accepting and won't care as long as your a good bloke what you look like or how your hair is done. One of the great things about Australia.

If you have anything else you would like to ask please feel free. :)

Megan