Australia

[Enn]

Just bought tickets to Singapore with the final destination to Australia. We plan to spend some 2,5 weeks in first half of April 2016 there with my wife. The only small problem being that we know not much about that part of world. I've seen quite few Australian guys around here, so some good advice is badly needed:

• where should we go? Ideally we would travel around the country (I guess considering the distances it would be by plane), spending 3-4 days in each location, renting a car to drive around. So where are the best locations? We like beautiful nature, hiking, sea, wine regions, etc., not really art museum-people
• best sites to book accommodation? would prefer smaller and cozy places, reasonably priced
• where to rent a car? prices?
• where to rent a bike? (we may consider that as an option) Can one also rent the driving gear? (it's a bit tricky to bring our own with us, would take too much space)
• any festivals or happenings during that time?
• last but not least: what's the weather alike?

We ourselves are in our early 50-s (read: youngsters in the context of this fine forum) and not overly demanding, we never say no to a pint of cold beer or a glass of good red wine though ...

Thousand thanks in advance

Enn

 

[beemerdons]

Up until my bad bike accident on 2/15/15 I was going to ride Australia in 2017, that has now gone in the trashcan. But, I have saved lots of resources:

https://www.bikeroundoz.com/advice_and_information.asp

I own this book, pricey at $45 but it is incredibly informative.

 

[mcatrophy]

Just remember they drive on the left side of the road, and do not get in the way of any road trains. Whichever side of the road they are on.

(Click on image for larger view)

 

[Nanahanman]

There are motorcycle rental places in Melbourne. Get a bike ( a bit pricey)and travel The Great Ocean Road. Spectacular!

Fly into Alice Springs and rent a motor home ( reasonably priced) and travel to Uluru. More spectacular!

 

[PhilJet09]

I have experience renting a bike in Sydney - riding in the Blue Mountains, highly recommended.

I've also stayed in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, but all on the company dime, so I might not be very helpful in that regard.

 

[BigOgre]

To help whet your palette.

Probably isn't going to help much with what you asked but a decent excuse to bump a damn fine ride report. Separately, either her story-telling or photography skills alone could make for a great read but put both together and Wow!

 

[Surly]

Hi Enn,

Australia is really quite a big place with many types of climates most of which be fairly dry when you plan come . What locations, regions are you going to explore. South West of Western Australia, North West of Western Australia,

Far North Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania and so on, Best to do at least a little research to see what suits you best. We have a lot of very good National Parks which may be to your liking. When you narrow it down a little it may be easier to try to help.

Best regards

Steve

 

[beemerdons]

^^^^^Enn if you want warm beer and cold women, then Surly is your man! JSNS, Oi!^^^^^

 

[bigjohnsd]

Enn, I assume you are going to start in Sydney, PM Festar on this forum and get his input, he lives in Taree, just a few hours NW of Sydney

 

[Enn]

Hi Enn,
Australia is really quite a big place with many types of climates most of which be fairly dry when you plan come . What locations, regions are you going to explore. South West of Western Australia, North West of Western Australia,

Far North Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania and so on, Best to do at least a little research to see what suits you best. We have a lot of very good National Parks which may be to your liking. When you narrow it down a little it may be easier to try to help.

Best regards

Steve

Thanks a lot for many good answers so far.

Well, this is exactly the hardest part to start from- which part? I wish I knew. Yes, I am currently doing research, the thread up here being part of it.

Right now I am thinking of spending some time around Sydney (Blue Mountains, etc), drive or fly to Melbourne (Great Ocean Road) , then fly to Perth and explore surroundings (Albany?) around there, from there perhaps to places like Alice Springs, as suggested by Nanahanman. I have roughly 16-17 days, so something like 4 days per location will do, I guess. Or is it too much for such a time?

How is it with hotels/motels? Do I need to book in advance or can I find enough offerings in the morning for the coming night? Do you usually use Booking .com or is there any better net-engine available locally?

Any suggestions on car rentals? Can I rent a car in Sydney and leave it in Melbourne without paying for return?

 

[Surly]

Hi Enn,

May I suggest that you have a look around this web site,

https://www.westernaustralia.com/au/Destinations/Australias_South_West/Pages/Australias_South_West.aspx

There are school holidays between Saturday 9 April - Monday 25 April, this will make it most advisable to plan and book ahead.

The South West (Albany) area is a very nice place to visit, consider the coastal route for a number of interesting stops along the way. To do this area justice will take at least 2-3 days, it is a 5 hour drive alone from Perth to Albany the quickest way with minimal time for sightseeing. I think that you will need an International Drivers Licence to hire a car. I am sure that you can leave rental cars at the airport but check in advance

While in Perth visit Kings Park, the Beaches, and Zoo.

Best regards

Steve

 

[festar]

Hi Enn,

Australia is really quite a big place with many types of climates most of which be fairly dry when you plan come . What locations, regions are you going to explore. South West of Western Australia, North West of Western Australia,

Far North Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania and so on, Best to do at least a little research to see what suits you best. We have a lot of very good National Parks which may be to your liking. When you narrow it down a little it may be easier to try to help.

Best regards

Steve

Thanks a lot for many good answers so far.

Well, this is exactly the hardest part to start from- which part? I wish I knew. Yes, I am currently doing research, the thread up here being part of it.

Right now I am thinking of spending some time around Sydney (Blue Mountains, etc), drive or fly to Melbourne (Great Ocean Road) , then fly to Perth and explore surroundings (Albany?) around there, from there perhaps to places like Alice Springs, as suggested by Nanahanman. I have roughly 16-17 days, so something like 4 days per location will do, I guess. Or is it too much for such a time?

How is it with hotels/motels? Do I need to book in advance or can I find enough offerings in the morning for the coming night? Do you usually use Booking .com or is there any better net-engine available locally?

Any suggestions on car rentals? Can I rent a car in Sydney and leave it in Melbourne without paying for return?

Enn,

16 or 17 days is a very short time frame to see Australia.

There are obviously a lot of ifs and buts, depending on how much riding you intend to do.

If riding is a priority I recommend Tasmania but again that depends on your riding style as it has a lot if twisty roads. The Australian Alps are also great riding. Pubs are a good cheap option for accommodation and unless there is some event in town a bed is usually easy to find. Cars are quite expensive to rent and bikes are even more so not to mention fuel.

There are some sites which offer rentals really cheap whereby you actually return vehicles between major cities if that makes sense.

TRIVAGO is not a bad booking site for accommodation too.

Hope this helps a little.

Brian

 

[Enn]

Yep, for sure this is far too short time frame to see Australia properly. The issue being that this place is so, sooo.... far from us that most probably it will be our only trip there in this life. Sure we want to take maximum out from this one and only occasion.

No, riding is not priority, it is just one option do explore a place or two, just thinking to rent it for 4-5 days. Rest is by car.

Luckily we have enough time for preps, so no panic....yet.

Thanks to everyone for great response!

 

[rbentnail]

From another FJR forum. Excellent write ups and pics.

https://www.fjrowners.com/forums/12-touring-tales/50753-have-toys-will-travel.html

 

[Surly]

Hi Enn,

This is a possible route to Albany via the coast. This is starting from Bunbury which is about 1 hour south of Perth.

https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/Documents/10.RCN-D15%5E23120799.PDF

Another option for you could be a campervan.

https://www.apollocamper.com/campervan-hire-locations-perth.aspx

Best regards

Steve

 

[Enn]

Hi Enn,This is a possible route to Albany via the coast. This is starting from Bunbury which is about 1 hour south of Perth.

https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/Documents/10.RCN-D15%5E23120799.PDF

Another option for you could be a campervan.

https://www.apollocamper.com/campervan-hire-locations-perth.aspx

Best regards

Steve

Thanks a lot, Steve, very tempting indeed. Now the main question for me is whether it makes sense to cover Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in 16-17 days? Would it leave enough time to explore these cities and surroundings properly? Will go and buy myself a Lonely Planet or something like this, hopefully helps me to make up my mind.

 

[SacramentoMike]

My ex-father-in-law (from New York) never made it to California before he died. He didn't want to come all that way and not see "all" of it--so of course he didn't see any of it. Estonia is smaller than most U.S. states, and Australia is as big as all of them together. And way more than twice a big as Europe. You're going to have to do a lot of picking and choosing before you start. I know you've thought about that, Enn, but you might have to experience those distances to really appreciate how damn far away everything is from everything else. Still, it should be a wonderful trip with a lot to see that you won't find anywhere else. Enjoy it.

 

[Surly]

Two very different places but if you can you should see them both,

https://www.valleyofthegiants.com.au/

https://www.kalbarri.org.au/things-to-do/kalbarri-national-park

with time constraints more difficult to get here,

https://www.monkeymia.com.au/pages/1486/home

This could help also

https://rac.com.au/travel/car-hire

best regards

Steve

 

[Enn]

arrrh.... I want to see it all!