Looking at travelling around Australia

by Samantha
(Leicester, England)

A friend and I are looking at doing a little bit of travelling around Australia (for 3 mths starting in Sep 08). Are there some tips you could give us? For example where are good places to go? We would like to hire a VW Campervan if possible but they come up expensive so I think we are looking in the wrong place. =/

Any other tips/hints would be greatfully received.

Thanks Samantha x

Response to:
Looking at travelling around Australia

Hi Samantha,

Your question is so general, and Australia so huge, that it is impossible to answer. September is still far away, so you have plenty of time to figure out the details. That's good!

Which part of Australia are do you plan to see? Do you hope to do a big loop around the whole continent? Or drive through the centre? Then back along the east or west coast?

Do you know much about Australia yet? The climate, the different parts and how they are different? If not, then that's where you need to start. You are talking about a whole continent, not a little island :-). And you won't be able to see all of it.

I can't tell you which parts you should see, as that is a very individual decision. Everybody likes different things.

I can give you one recommendation now, but this is so obvious that you probably know it: if you want to see the north, say the Darwin/Kakadu/Litchfield area, or the Kimberley, then you need to start your trip there, because from September onwards it will get hotter every day, and from October onwards the chances of rain increase. Trust me, you do NOT want to be in the Kimberley or the Darwin area in November.

(Having said that, a canoe trip in Katherine Gorge is a great thing to do when it's hot.)

The center of Australia (Alice Springs/Uluru) will also heat up. I would also not leave that too late. (Since that heat is drier I find it easier to bear. But everybody is different.)

If you are not so interested in the wild north west, but more in the populated areas in the south and east (From Adelaide over Melbourne and Sydney up to Brisbane), then you picked a good time. But I can't help you much with specific places to go. There is way too much down there, and the info I can give would be no less general than what you can read in any Australia guide book.

So, do a bit more general research if you haven't done so already, and decide which areas you will cover, and which route you want to take. Then we can look at more specific tips for things to see and do.

Regarding the campervan hire: I'm afraid that simply IS expensive. The best company for your purposes would be the Wicked Campervans. If that's still too expensive then you will need to find another way to travel around Australia.

Well, that's all I can tell you for now. Please feel free to use the comments area to ask follow up questions once you have more of an outline for your plans!