You may or may not have seen our recent post on our 6 month road trip around Australia itinerary, showing you all the places and exact route which we plan to take. Even though this is a fairly rough guide we wanted a solid foot before we set off. Now that I’ve officially finished University and Yannick has finished work, our dream of travelling around Australia is quickly becoming a reality.
Next week we fly to New Zealand for 3 weeks, then onto the Cook Islands for another 11 days before arriving back in Sydney on Christmas Day. On the 8th January 2018 we officially start our road trip around Australia! With only 2 months left, we have a lot to sort out, including packing up, building the bed in the back of our 4×4, making sure we have everything and buying last minute items. You could say we are feeling pretty stressed right now!
Despite the stress, I don’t think we have ever been this excited about a trip before! It’ll certainly test us but we can’t wait!
This is the biggest and longest trip we will have been on together, but we’re sure it’s going to be an epic one that we can’t wait to share with you.
Why Did We Choose Australia?
#1. We’ve lived here for the past 3 years
Having lived in Sydney for the past 3 years due to University, we thought it would be a great idea once I graduated to travel around Australia for 6 months, whilst we still had the opportunity to do so.
#2. One of the most diverse and vast countries in the world
Australia is so diverse from snowy mountains to desert and rainforests, it’s basically an own continent. Experiencing the vast lands of Australia and immersing ourself in the outback is going to be one big adventure!
#3. So much natural beauty without the crowds
Apart from in the larger cities, Australia has one of the lowest population densities in the world. In addition, there is so much natural beauty everywhere you look and with many of these sites you’ll likely be the only ones there.
#4. The weather and climate
Australia can get hot. very hot. We’ll be starting in the height of summer and heading south to chase the sun!
What Mode Of Transport?
Roughly half a year ago we bought a 2001 Mitsubishi Pajero for AU$5500, which was a great deal seen as it included a bed in the back (which we dissembled to allow our friends in the car whilst we were still in Sydney), all new bedding, mattress, and camping gear like cooking utensils, tables and much more!
We wanted a 4×4 as we’re planning to do quite a bit of off-roading in the outback including the Outback Highway from Yulara to Laverton, the road up to Cape York, and hopefully the Gibb River Road (if it isn’t closed).
However, there are many different modes of transport you could take to suit your budget, including: a standard sedan/estate car whilst still being able to sleep in the back (very popular with backpackers), or a 4×4 with a camping trailer or a camper-van (also popular with backpackers).
If you’re travelling for two months or more, definitely consider buying a car, as it might be cheaper than renting one. Plus you can still sell it at the end of your trip. If you want to go off-road, buying a car could even make sense for as little as four weeks, because renting cars that are allowed on dirt tracks would be very expensive. Read this post on our comprehensive guide to buying a car in Australia.
Where Are We Going?
As we’re only road tripping for 6 months (which may sound a long time), we won’t be able to see ALL of Australia, but challenge accepted. In order to do this, we’ve set up a rough itinerary which you can check out here! Or if you’re a little lazy like me, here is a rough outline to where we will be going.
Outline:
Yep, you’ve seen that correct! 18,189km if we went directly this route without seeing any sites! We’ve predicted around 30,000km in total!
We’ll be starting from Sydney and heading in a clockwise direction. Hopefully making it to the north just as the wet-season ends.
We also just added in Tasmania! Last week we booked our ferry tickets for an 11 day trip to this island, we’ve heard many great things about Tasmania so we’re really looking forward to it.
Rough Itinerary:
January = Southern NSW, Tasmania & Victoria
Canberra, Jervis Bay, Wilson Promontory, The Mornington Peninsula, Hobart, Launceston, Port Arthur, Cradle Mountain, Tamar Valley, Freycinet National Park, Wineglass Bay, Melbourne, The Great Ocean Road, & The Grampians.
February = South Australia, Northern Territory & Western Australia
Adelaide, Port Augusta, The Barossa Valley, The Flinders Ranges, Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, Kings Canyon, Uluru, Tjuta, Esperance, Denmark.
March = Western Australia
Margaret River, Perth, The Pinnacles, Cape Le Grande National Park, Monkey Mia, Cape Range National Park, Ningaloo Reef, Karijini National Park, Port Headland.
Photo Courtesy of: Robert Young
April = Western Australia & Northern Territory
Broome, Cape Leveque National Park, Windjana Gorge, King Leopald Ranges, Katherine, Litchfield National Park, Darwin, Kakadu National Park.
May = Queensland
Lawn Hill National Park, Cairns, Port Douglas, Daintree Rainforest, Cape Tribulation, Cape York, Townsville, The Whitsundays, Fraser Island, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast.
June = Northern NSW
Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Central Coast, Sydney.
On The Road
When we’re on our road trip around Australia we will be blogging and sharing our photos on social media to our 105,000+ followers as we go along. We want to show you just how amazing and beautiful this country is, and we want to show you that it can be done on a budget despite the stigma of how expensive Australia is. So hopefully we can inspire you to one day circumnavigate Australia!
As a result, we want to find the hidden gems and local places to visit in Australia to share with you.
We will be dividing our posts into standard categories as we go along:
- Weekly Travel Diary
- Things To See and Do In…
- Best Beaches In…
- Activities You Must Do In…
- Ultimate Guide To…
- Road Trip Itinerary (in each State)…
- Driving The “Great Ocean Road” What To Expect…
In each blog post we will include recommendations like places to stay, eat and any relevant activities.
By the end of our trip we hope that our blog with have an extensive library of information for travel across all of Australia. Whether you’re wanting an itinerary for a 3 week road trip down the east coast or an ultimate guide to Tasmania, it will all be in our travel blog.
Be Part Of Our Road Trip Around Australia
Make sure to be part of our journey bBy following along on social media and subscribing you our blog:
We will also be using the hashtag #LuxurybackpackingInOz on all our social media channels so you can follow us!
So that’s a wrap! Next time we will be writing about our road trip will be our first week on the road. We can’t wait to share all our experiences, ups and downs and highlights with you!
Stick around and join us!
Have you always wanted to road trip around Australia too? What’s stopped you? Or have you already done it?
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