visiting for 1st time. I really want to go to Perth, my husband wants Sydney. Is it possible to drive between them? Will be in Australia for 4 - 5 weeks (whole of December 2003) All hints / tips appreciated.

It is certainly possible to drive from Sydney to Perth, via Adelaide, but the trip will be 4,800km (3,000mi) each way; slightly further than from New York City to Los Angeles. Personally, I don't think such a drive is worth it, given that you only have 4-5 weeks for your whole visit. You should definitely look into flying, then hiring a car. Once you get west of Adelaide, the driving is pretty boring.

ALF is 100% correct. But the trip can be awesome in one way - miles and miles of the same.I did the Indian Pacific from Perth to Adelaide, a good way to catch up on reading.

I have done it but one way and I would hate to have thought about turning around and doing it again because its probably the most boring stretch of road you can find once you are past Adelaide - if you have to go then fly. To drive it, it would take 5 days if you spent any time at all looking at anything. I note too that it will be summer when you are here - think Death Valley!! It will be brown and hot & Perth 'could' be too - they had quite a hot one this year. The best time for Perth is in the spring when the wild flowers are out ( amazing sight) and the grass is still nice and green

We drove from victoria to Perth it took us three days non stop and it was december. I wouldnt recommend it.We had a new model ford and we still had to keep turning the aircon off to prevent the car from over heating. I now live in Perth and would recommend visiting. Yes we do get hot days average temp would be around 33c. We have some great beaches I'd recommend Scarborough though it is quite popular. Fremantle has great weekend markets and its only 30 min drive from perth city. It has a wonderful atmosphere. You can sit in the coffee strip(main street)and watch the culture and street displays. Take a swan river lunchon cruise. Rottnest Island is beautiful, you take a boat across and can either cycle or take a bus around the island and there are heaps of beautiful beaches to take a dip in (book accommodation early as it is popular during the holidays)<BR>If your looking to go futher afield North of perth about an 8 hour drive is monkey mia where the dolphins come in and get fed (try to arrive there before 6 as everything shuts really early in the small town before the monkey mia beach and we went without tea) broome and cable beach are also great.<BR>South about 5 hour drive is margaret river which is wine country and has heaps of winery tours also has nice beachs. Albany and esperence are beautiful spots to. If you head east of perth you can go to kalgoolie and see some goldmining history and take a tour of a working goldmine.<BR>North gets quite a bit hotter and south is cooler than perth so keep that in mind as well.<BR>There are heaps of great places and I would be here for hours describing them all.<BR>IMHO sydney can be a bit of a &quot;rat race&quot; but does has some nice sights.<BR>I am sure where ever you decided to go you will have a great time. <BR>Happy travelling.<BR>

Thanks all, appreciate your help.

Kadisia:<BR>I enjoyed reading your reply, and plan to follow much of your advice. Have you any recommendations for a cheap hotel (think &quot;old pub&quot; rather than &quot;Holiday Inn&quot in Fremantle? Thanks for your help.

Alan check out Wotif or you could wait till you are in Freemantle and take a look around first. There are other places that are nice to stay with a bit of flavour i.e. Subiaco or Cottislow (sp??) Beach area. Personally I like being near Kings Park because you can walk into town and/or the park itself.

Just back from our first trip to Perth.<BR>I can't tell you how much we enjoyed it.<BR>We live very close to lovely beaches in Southern Victoria but have to say the beaches which stretch for miles in W.A. are magnificent.<BR>We decided to spend a 1/2. at Rottnest Island (some say don't waste your time.)<BR>It was fabulous. I would recommend when you get there book a two hour bus tour. It takes you right around the Island with a great coach tour leader, there is another option of hiring bikes....do the tour first... the other option is a $7. aust. bus which picks up drops off all day around the Island...great if you stay on the Island for a couple of days which we should have !<BR>For diving &amp; swimming you couldn't do better.<BR><BR>Sydney / Perth... we meet a couple who had just got off The Indian Pacific Train. 3 Days with a couple of hours stop at Broken Hill, Kalgoolie &amp; can't remember where else. (option for tour of these places) They said it was fantastic but they had a berth not a sit up chair all the way.<BR>Maybe have a look at this option as well.<BR><BR>Don't try and drive it.<BR><BR>Alan a cheap pub in Fremantle. We stayed at Harbour Quest Apartments on Challenge Harbour $160.aust.(not cheap) Had to stay here for water views saw Dolphins every day.<BR>Had breakfast one morning The Esplanade Hotel. Lovely but would have to be lucky to get a glimps of the water.<BR>Saw quite a few Backpacker places which may suit you.<BR><BR>We also stayed at Scarborough Rendavous Observation City, Lovely.Great pool area &amp; wonderful views across the road from magnificant beach.<BR><BR>Went to Busselton for 4 nights (extended our stay.) did Margaret River (overrated / I guess because we don't drink that much wine.)<BR>Augusta, Cape Leewan &amp; Cape Naturlast (new area Bunker Bay a place to see.) area in a day from Busselton.<BR><BR>Perth. One night at Novitel Langley Park, our room wasn't up to it so checked out &amp; went to Burswood Resort ( been refurbished.) very happy here. 5 minute drive to central Perth.<BR><BR>Found driving everywhere very easy just like being in a large country town.<BR><BR>Loved the ferry ride from Fremantle to Perth or visa verse.<BR><BR>The Free Cat buses are fantastic.<BR>Although we only saw a very small part of W.A. in 12 days (we needed r.&amp; r.) I would be back in a flash.... English Tourists everywhere.. getting great tans. <BR>I would say to really see W.A. you would need 8 to 10 weeks.<BR><BR>Have to say the weather was from 42 deg to 25. Good luck

Thanks to the above posters for their help... and, yes, Liz, thanks to some earlier advice from you, I am keeping close tabs on wotif.com and its two sister-sites.

If you have that much time you can see a lot of Australia if you fly. Check out a &quot;boomerang pass&quot; that you can only buy outside Oz for cheap flight options. Why don't you visit Qld and go to the Great Barrier Reef, although it can be very humid and perhaps rainy in Dec in the tropics like Cairns. Heron Island off Gladstone has a great resort and you can snorkle off the beach and do reef walks off the beach at low tide. You can come to the beautiful Sunshine Coast (laid back and relaxed) or Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise a bit glitzy) near Brisbane for beautiful scenery and swimming and inland mountain views that are only an hour's drive from the beaches.<BR>What about Melbourne with the wineries of Yarra Valley only and hour and a half away. Yuo can drive the Great Ocean Road from Melb to Adelaide and stay in fantastic B&amp;B's along the way - just go to the information centres in little towns along the way. Then fly to Perth. Spend about 5 to 7 days in Sydney and go up to the Blue Mountains for a couple of days - do some walks in the national parks, although it could be pretty hot in December. Drive from Sydney to Canberra, then drive the Alpine Way through our snowy mountains ( no snow at that time of year) to Melbourne. You certainly have time to visit Uluru ( Ayer's Rock) as well and maybe fly around the Olga's. Just remember that December is our summer, and the beaches are beautiful!<BR>Have a great trip!