maximeschneiter2629

Hi everyone who may read this,

My wife and I are coming to Australia soon, from France, and the planning is proving tough. I hope someone can have some helpful insight!

We are coming from early June to early August. No choice on the dates, so we focused on a road trip in Western Australia. We would enjoy exploring the red center as well, but the objective is the Perth/Darwin coast, especially to see whales in the Exmouth area. We intend to sleep in the car, we have experience as backpackers.

My main question is: would renting a van from Darwin to go down to Perth be a good idea, or do we miss out too much on the things to do and see in the outback etc? 4WD rental prices are simply out of the question: our price range for the rental is 10-12K AUD. The low-cost option for a 4WD with rooftop tent from 'wicked' is 17K AUD for only 40 days.

Here is more content and thoughts on my end:

Our other option is arriving in Perth to buy a car (I figure there will be more choice than in Darwin). It’s a lot more hassle and uncertainty than renting of course, but I see loads of used 4WD or AWD vehicles on backpacker groups and gumtree, for basically the same price as a rental van. Which means at worse, we’re about even (financially speaking only of course), and can hope to make some money back even selling at a huge discount.

I made a list of pros and cons. Basically, the rental option is the reasonable choice, and the car-buying is high-risk high-reward. I am ready to be a little adventurous, we have some money, some flexibility, enjoy adventure. But we are also reasonable people, so it depends on the ‘reward’ level of a roadtrip in a van on this route

Pros for renting a van:

• Easy planning. We know when we arrive and when we leave
• This ease of planning will save us money on housing and plane tickets
• Should we have a mechanical issue, it wouldn’t increase costs too much as opposed to fixing our own car

Cons for renting a van:

• MY MAIN CONCERN: we may miss out on too much. Is it worth coming so far to travel the Darwin-Perth route without a 4WD?
• We know that money is gone for good, can’t make it back.
• It will be a shorter trip to save on rental cost.

Pros for buying a 4WD:

• It’s a 4WD. Even an AWD will take us to more places than a van.
• We can extend our trip a little, do more things etc. Make traveling to the other end of the world worth it.
• We MAY make some money back by selling it, even if at a discount.

Cons for buying a car:

• A lot of hassle (finding cars, paperwork etc). I’m not too worried about that part, administrative stuff I can live with.
• Uncertainty, which will cost us money: we will have to book housing for a few days at least, and depending on the time it takes we may have to extend at a premium
• Same uncertainty for the plane tickets out. We have a little flexibility at the end of our trip, but we will certainly pay a premium by booking tickets only a few weeks/days before.
• We may have to do some work on the car to put a bed in the back etc. Doesn’t worry me too much, we have contacts in Perth who can probably lend tools etc.

For more context, we have working holiday visas, were supposed to come in 2020 but covid happened, then an accident at home further pushed it back. In the end, we find ourselves restricted to these dates with little flexibility. It’s either that, or never coming since this is our last trip of this kind. So WE ARE DOING IT! The question is how

Thanks to anyone who reads and tries to help.

marg

I'd suggest hiring a small motor home. This will give you a bed to sleep in and somewhere to prepare meals. Book tours with a tour company if you want to go somewhere more remote - the guides will know the roads, know what to see and it will avoid any damage to your hire vehicle. We've done this ourselves, driving most of the way in a family car and doing tours in places like the Bungle Bungles, Karajini etc.

Be aware that massive flooding in the top of WA has severely impacted the major highway from Darwin to Broome, and I don't know how easy it will be to travel this route as the floods destroyed a major bridge. You'll need to check out this situation with the roads authorities before making final decisions. The other alternative is to fly into Broome and then drive from there to Perth.

Hope you do come to visit us in Australia and have a wonderful holiday.

Bokhara2

Hi & welcome to the Australian forum.

First thing is to get your Visas approved: Apply now if you are coming this year. Here's a link.Trip Advisor Links



VISA FINDER: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visa...sa/visa-finder



Australia – size map: https://www.virtualoceania.net/austr...ustralia.shtml
Next: Australia is bigger than you think. A lot bigger, even if you've been here many times, or even if you're a local.

As per the great advice you've been given, some of those roads are uncertain at this stage.

By the way, the Trip Advisor Australia Forum is much more active than this one, so for more input and accurate, up to date information from people who live in the West & Top End, start a thread on the topic over there. Some of us post on both.

KayF

I'm sure you know it's a long way to drive but think about how long you want to be in the car each day, if maybe you'd rather do a shorter trip. It's a drive that many Australians would feel daunted by. The roads will be nothing like in Europe. If you see a road train coming, try to pull off the road and stop. Have you checked the one way drop off fee for hiring? There are also some companies who want relocations done, moving hire cars or campervans from one point to another. Cost of hire is minimal but you have a very short time to go from A to B. This may fit in with your plans.

When you say renting a van, I guess you mean a campervan? Lots of people do that long drive without a 4WD. There will be roads and areas you cannot access, also a hire company will have rules about not driving on unmade roads etc. Free camping (stopping by the side of the road) is not always allowed. Cost of campsites at caravan parks can add up (we hired a campervan a few years ago and a powered site was between $35 and $50 per night). I think the idea of buying a vehicle could end up being time-consuming. Also, would you need an Australian address for the registration? If it was me, I wouldn't want to spend holiday time searching for a vehicle, transferring money, getting a roadworthy for the registration, buying a mattress, doing work on the car etc.

Check your visas are still current. Wear sunscreen and a hat every day, you can get burnt in a very short time. Stay safe on the roads and have a great time

maximeschneiter2629

Hi everyone, thank you all very much for your kind answers and advice.

I'll address specific points further down, but first an overall point:
- Yes the Fitzroy Crossing bridge has collapsed, and the current temporary causeway is reserved to 4WD, and right now it's closed because of high water levels. But 'Work will soon start on a second temporary crossing suitable for higher traffic volumes and larger vehicles that are expected over the upcoming dry season. [It] will have sealed approaches, catering for freight vehicles, caravans, campers and pedestrians.'
Official source but I'm not allowed to post links yet because of mininum number of posts criteria.
Would you say this timeline is trustworthy enough considering weather condition in the dry season?

If we ultimately decide on renting a campervan, and the crossing situation is too uncertain, we will consider cutting the top end of the trip to Broome, it's a possibility indeed.

Now on to the specifics !


Sadly, I think we are not working with the same budgets. It seems like tours in the Bungle Bungles etc are mostly outside of our price range considering the money we will already have to spend on the vehicle.
By renting a van, I mean a campervan, cheaper than motorhomes, to sleep in etc. It's something we have a lot of experience with (spent 6 months backpacking around New Zealand in a campervan, and have made our own here at home). We even spent 2 weeks between Brisbane and Cairns in a campervan in 2018. (I guess the roads are better there!)

Thank you for your concern, it's a legitimate issue to bring up, but we are completely used to long road trips even off the grid, and if we have to spend a few days only driving over 1 or 2 months, so that we can have more time to spend in the "places to see", it's no issue for us. The only serious novelty would be how big WA is, and how remote some places can be. Probably the state of the roads in some places, but of course we would only venture on unsealed road with a 4WD, and carefully.

Rental drop off fees and "outback fees" are taken into account. Wicked Campers has a detailed map of where you are allowed to go, and unsealed roads are a no-no. Which is the only reason why we are entertaining the idea of going through the hassle of buying a car.
I couldn't upload screenshots, but here are some examples:
- Camper van rental, 40 days, from Darwin to Perth one way: 10.5K AUD
- Camper van rental, 30 days, from Broome to Perth one way: 9K AUD
- Camper van rental, 40 days, from Perth and back in Perth: 7.3K AUD
- 4WD rental, 40 days, from Darwin to Perth: 17K AUD, out of our price range

That's nice to hear! But is it still as 'sightseeing worthy'?

Yes we know all about that, thanks! I think New Zealand is even more restrictive, we found far more free camping spots in Australia than NZ. Even though things may be different in WA than NSW/QLD, it's something we have taken into account, yes. And if you saw prices in France (or even worse, the UK which was my last road trip), you would understand why I consider it a minor concern haha (I would say average prices with power in high season are around 60 AUD. And it can very easily be more).

Of course I don't want to haha! Which is why it's a dilemma: we could do and see so much more, but is it worth the hassle? We did do exactly all that in New Zealand in about 3 days, and I read that registration is easy in WA. Ideally we would buy a roatrip-ready car from a backpacker, but even with an empty car the work, mattress etc isn't my concern: A few day's hard work and it's done. The issue is the uncertainty around all that.
Meaning that IF you can comfortably tell me "even with a campervan, you will be able to enjoy the area', I am leaning towards that.

Thanks, we already have our visa, and have already posted on tripadvisor!


Thanks again everyone! Looking forward to your thoughts.

northie

The road from Perth to Darwin is paved -my son and daughter in law who lived in Darwin and Broome for over 13 years didn't always have an all wheel drive. They love camping and travelled in the past years with 2 young children. all round the area.
Ive done lots of the trip but not in 4wd-not for me though.
My son used to ride a bike for 5 days every year on the Gibb River road -mostly unpaved.

Go for it -sounds like you are ready for the adventure.Its an ideal time to go as well.

maximeschneiter2629

Hello everyone,

Thought I would update in case anyone was emotionally invested in my planning situation.

So, after days of pulling my hair out, I stumbled upon the Camplify platform, where I was able to hire a fully equipped 4WD for considerably cheaper than rental companies (less than 10K AUD for almost 2 months). Website and reviews seem legit, and as experienced and careful drivers and campers, I foresee no problem. We will of course be taking into account possible flat tyres etc in planning.

So it looks like we'll be able to have the trip of our dreams!

Thanks everyone for your advice.

NatalieBfromPerth

There was a large flood and the bridge at Fitzroy Crossing was destroyed. It will take a year to rebuild. There was talk of getting a barge there to take vehicles. Its worth checking this out. Otherwise you will drive Darwin to Fitzroy Crossing and will then need to turn around. There is so much to see up there and you can do most of it with a regular car. For the Bungle Bungles you can go on a day tour from the main road for the day. The road into there is quite rough. Kununurra, Whyndham, Bungles, Halls Creek, Fitzroy, Derby then to broome, then down to Karijini National Park, then Exmouth and Coral Bay. Take note of when the school holidays are and book your campsites ahead of time. Its peak season up there.