lynniewinnie

Hello all again. I'm getting excited as it's almost time to board the plane for Oz and NZ.! One last detail---I still have 2 car rentals to secure. I have a very reasonable quote for a 3 day rental in Melbourne but I noticed that the daily mileage limit is 500 km. The point of having the car is to see the surrounding areas of Melb. Does 500 km sound reasonable? Not sure what sights we will head to, but do want to drive part of the GOR. I see that Appollo Bay is 200 km from Melb. Will we want to go farther than that if we have time (Adelaide is not in our itinerary)? Curious about your thoughts. Also, we will have already driven from Melbourne to Canberra to Sydney earlier in the trip.

The 2nd rental is Alice Springs to Uluru and we do need a 4WD. So far Europcar offers the best rate. Any other suggestions?

Peter_S_Aus

Alice to Ularu is on sealed roads, unless you are going to Kings Canyon, which is a good unsealed road. I'd suggest that you ask the rental company in Alice if you really need a 4WD vehicle.

Peter_S_Aus

Sorry, I just noted that the DAILY limmit is 500 km. I don't think that you would exceed that limit, and 500 km is about seven hours driving approx.

JoanneH

HI: I am just back from three weeks see Sticker Shock or perhaps not. We drove the GOR both ways from Mt. Gamiber to Adelaide and Mt. G to Melbourne. It’s not what you think. It’s much more inland and there were really only a couple places that you saw the ocean one at South Beach and another further up the coast for the rest it was almost all inland.
On our return again departing from Mt. Gambier-Melbourne you spend a lot of time inland until you hit The section of the 12 (now 9) apostles. You’re on the sea for a short time then back inland. Which is not totally bad as you go through some rainforest like area, and there is a great tower you can go up, but until you get to Apollo Bay your time driving right on the coat is minimal. Apollo Bay into Melbourne you get more of what I as a Californian would consider a typical coast drive. We did not do the Melbourne – Sydney route.

lynniewinnie

Thanks Peter and Joanne (and welcome home)....BTW I braved it and just read your sticker shock post to get prepared to be shocked! And yes we Americans are in a sorry mess with our health care and medical costs and envy countries like Australia with better systems.

As far as Alice Springs to Uluru, we are staying in Kings Canyon and most of the posts I've read recommend 4wd but I will ask the rental co. Any suggestions other than Europcar?

Sounds like the 500 km limit should work out fine in Melbourne. Thanks for the info about GOR---we should enjoy the Melb to Appollo Bay portion then.

lynniewinnie

Now I am having trouble booking reasonably price 4WD in Alice Springs. Peter, you suggested that the road to Kings Canyon does not require 4WD.... Kings Canyon, which is a good unsealed road....
Maybe I will just book a 2WD car. Any thoughts?

marg

There are two ways to get to Kings Canyon. One is on bitumen - drive south from Alice Springs to the Lassiter Highway (which goes to Uluru). The bitumen road to Kings Canyon turns off the Lassiter Highway and is then bitumen to Kings Canyon. We have driven this route three times and I promise you it is bitumen. This route is longer but you will travel faster, plus there are roadhouses along the way if you need toilet breaks, coffee etc.
The other way to Kings Canyon is along the Mereenie Loop which is dirt and can very corrugated.
So why bother to pay more for a 4WD vehicle if you can do it easily with a conventional vehicle. You can access all the sights on bitumen without risking your vehicle and yourself on a bad road.

Bokhara2

Lynniewinnie, you don't need a 4wd to go to Kings Canyon, Uluru or anywhere else you're likely to be going between Alice Springs & Uluru.

This 4WD thing is a lot of rot IMHO. Except for very low slung sports cars or the lowered hoon-mobiles doof doofing around the suburbs,the average sedan would be more than capable of traversing most of the rougher unsealed roads in Australia. This does not apply to fording flooded river beds or clambering up the side of sandhills .... but most people are not going to be doing that.

I think some of the rental companies must ban non-4WD vehicles going off sealed roads as a money raiser, because there is no realistic justification for it. If you have a lot of gear, a bunch of people etc., and need the extra room, then it's fine. But it's absolutely not necessary from a vehicle to road viewpoint.

shandy

It was quite some years ago now, but when we went to Uluru and Kings Canyon our hire car was just conventional 2WD and we had no problem at all. We were not told that a 4WD was required by the hire companies. I would imagine, if anything, the roads are better now than they were then.

katrinab

The roads are all pretty good between Alice Springs, King's Canyon, and Uluru. Definitely would be fine to stick with 2WD, unless you think you want to venture further. I'd say the biggest danger is just watching out for cows and kangaroos in the road!

Info and pics from our trip at http://patrinadoestheglobe.blogspot.com/