I received a lot of good information from various Expedition contributors before my wife and I left for Australia. This is a quick recap of some of the things we learned on our travels around and through Australia.
(We have done more than just Australia. First was Japan for four weeks without our 4Runner and after Australia with our 4Runner, three weeks in Indonesia without 4Runner on to Singapore and Malaysia with our 4Runner, 12 days in Cambodia without the 4Runner and currently in India waiting for 4Runner to arrive from Malaysia).
Number one on our list of things we learned: Australia is one of the most fabulous countries to travel and five months isn’t enough time to see it properly. And yes, we were told that before we left.
Toyota 4Runner
We drove 17,856 miles in our five months in Australia. I don't have a guess on how many of those miles were on dirt tracks but on my drive to Darwin from Adelaide at one point I drove for two days without the wheels touching pavement.
Roads: Australian roads are not U.S. roads. If the Australian road is paved it is better -- almost zero potholes. However, I am estimating we have driven over 1,800 miles on good dirt roads (doing up to 50 mph) to 4-wheel drive tracks taking us through shallow riverbeds, dry riverbeds, some rocks, etc.
How did the 4Runner handle Australia:
A) Broken right front brake line -- driver error
B) Broken battery support -- driver error (these two items happened at the same time)
(Bad News: Sheared off the brake fluid line to the right front tire and broke the welds you put in for the second battery platform. We were having a great ride to Kings Canyon on a fabulous dirt track when I entered a dip and realized too late it was a steeper dip in and out than normal -- hit the brakes and came out thinking everything was OK. A couple km later I knew I had a problem when the brake pedal went to the floor and barely slowed me down. 120 km later I parked our 4Runner and drank more than a single beer.
Good News: Kings Canyon resort allowed their mechanic to fix my brake problem -- three hours later and $150 AU in cash to the mechanic and Nancy and I were back on the road.)
C) One slow leak in a tire -- nail; never went flat but I got tired of having to put air every day or two into this tire and had it fixed.
D) Broke the battery support a 2cd time -- this one I am going to put the blame on the driver for enjoying the drives on the outback dirt tracks
E) Rack mounted table -- looked out my side mirror and saw a table bouncing down the track. Since I was the only person anywhere close (like probably 50 km/30 miles in either direction) to the table I though it might be ours. Sure enough it was. Snapped the locking latch on the dirt track I was driving. Good news: corner of the table needed to be pounded back into place and my size 11 shoe did it with one stomp and then the reason one carries tie wire is to tie things into place like a table. We haven't used the table much but it is a god sent when you need it. I recommend having one. Tom’s outback fix for a broken latch – tie wire.
F) Final outcome on Rotopax: I never bothered to check with the dealership in Broome after receiving the worse "we don't give a damn about your problem and we know it is a problem". I like the low profile containers and have strapped them down in place and added them to the locking cable I am using on top of the rack. Having the extra gas gave a sense of comfort on some of the long stretches of no gas stations or in the case on one Sunday a closed gas station. (Google Rotopax and see what other people say – I am being nice.)
During our five-day stop in Darwin I bought a pair of maxtracs. Haven’t had to use them yet but there is a sense of security knowing we have then on top of the rack should we require them. Lots of sand and soft dirt plus mud when it rains in Australia.
Had the broken brake line checked out by a brake dealership in Darwin -- they didn't realize it was a repair. Then had it checked out by the Toyota dealership in Darwin and they said it looked great.
The second repair on the battery support hasn't been truly tested but hope it holds up on the coming drive in India/Nepal/India over the next five months.
Tires were rotated three times and the oil changed twice and the 4Runner fluids, belts, etc. checked twice by a Toyota dealership and a franchise tune-up company in Adelaide, Australia. (Anticipating next oil change, etc. to be in Darjeeling, India in about a month.)
I have checked air pressure, let air out of tires, and put air into tires more in our five months driving in Australia than in my entire life and probably all my family and friend's lives also.
One thing I will state: "If an item to be installed for expedition driving comes from Australia (and it is my understanding the same can be said for South Africa) you know it has been tested by thousands of drivers over very difficult roads and harsh conditions.'' Not saying U.S. products aren't good but I don't believe our driving conditions are anything close to the outback tracks of Australia, which some people drive everyday 365 days per year.
Australian gasoline is expensive at least to Americans. We paid an average of US$5/gal plus during our five months of driving Australia. I won’t bother to tell you how much an oil change cost us at the Darwin Toyota dealership – it’s too embarrassing.
We had our 2-year-old 4Runner modified for our trip to Australia and around the world. I didn’t spend the money for a roo/bull bar or snorkel – bad mistake on my part. The wildlife on the roads – kangaroos, wallabies, cattle, donkeys, water buffalo, camels, horses, and more -- demands you have a roo bar and if you are going to drive outback roads the snorkel is another piece of gear you should install.
Having 4-wheel drive, off-road tires, heavy-duty shocks are all items you will need to drive some of the outback roads. Good news is in Australia all these items are readily available and are repairable if required.
We used a combination of Google maps on Nancy Apple phone and a Garmin GPS to find our way around. Twice the Garmin took us an hour out of our way to make a simple U-turn. Otherwise I will say we didn’t always know exactly where we were but didn’t feel lost.
Car insurance took about four hours on the phone to secure. First of all the Toyota 4Runner hasn’t been imported to Australia since 1998. How do we insure your car when it isn’t in our database? Next is you must have a mailing address. Fortunately for us we had a friend of a friend’s address and used it for insurance purposes. I will say there was a lot of passing me from one organization or company to another organization or company and then back to the original organization or company. Took 11 phone calls before we had our insurance.
The ARB 50 Quart Refrigerator: Nancy wasn't sure a refrigerator was worth the storage space we had to give up. Nancy will gladly do ads for our refrigerator! Australia's food is expensive and doesn't taste all that good. Actually, Australia as a whole is expensive -- think I read it is the 4th most expensive country to travel in. Anyway, Nancy makes breakfast and lunch 90% of the time and probably 75% of our dinners, which all taste much better than Australian food and cost about a quarter of eating out. And yes, it keeps my beer cold -- 23 different beers so far.
Suspension, Tires, Lift, and Sound Proofing -- all money very well invested in the 4Runner. The soundproofing is something I don't think we can put a value on but we know our ride is much quieter and therefore more comfortable than without it. You can't over spend on suspension, lift, and tires on Australian roads. Old Man Emu 3” Medium/Heavy Load Kit and 285/70/17 BF Goodrich KO2 All Terrain tires. Dynamet sound deadening material – expensive but will never own a road vehicle again without it.
Addition Interior UBS Outlets -- a god sent for today's electronics especially when you have two grand boys traveling with you. 3 Blue Sea Dual USB Charger Sockets w/2 ports each
Lighting -- you changed out the front seat over headlights to LED's. Wished you had done all our lights and maybe added another to the luggage area. When unloading the 4Runner in the dark these lights would be of much use.
Zero Dark 30” Terminator Fog lights – only used once or twice, but know they are there when we will need them.
Dual Battery System – 2 Odyssey 34R-PC1500 T Batteries; CrossLink Wire; Blue Sea marine fuse blocks, power outlets, circuit breaker, etc; IBS-DBS dual battery management system. To date not a single problem with this set up.
Stratchit Utility Tie Down Straps -- highly recommend. The straps are so simple to cinch down and then un-cinch.
Rack -- getting our use out of it. Front Runner Outfitters
Stainless Steel Folding Camp Table – Front Runner Outfitters
Awning – haven’t used
Raingler Cargo Barrier Net – nothing has slide to the front, so it must be working
Gobi 5th 4Runner Rear Ladder -- poor design. The last and probably the last two steps are too close to the rear swing up door to be of much use. Usually skip these steps and go straight to the bumper. If I ever have the time I might have a welder reconfigure the ladder so that it is another 3 or 4 inches away from the swing up door.
UWS Foot Locker Metal Storage Box on rack -- doing great and the lock for the box being the same as the ignition key is great.
FRO Wolf Pack Storage Boxes -- doing great. Their light weigh is helpful because the big box Nancy uses for kitchen equipment and canned foods. She doesn't have me take it out at every stop but when she does it nice to have something lighter to carry.
Security Storage -- haven't used. In Australia we haven't felt the need to lock up items when we leave the 4Runner for a hike, etc. However, there will be a day we will need to use these items. Chain and lock with cover over keyhole and pad lock keyed to ignition key – so easy to use.
Window Security – 3M SAC 35 and 5 REST Security Film; hope it never is tested but provides a sense of security in the main time. 3M Crystaline Front Windshield Film.
Viair 40048 Portable Air Compressor -- works like a champ. Learning the hard way -- see bad news above -- I now know to let air out to about 25 psi or less when driving dirt roads and 4-wheel tracks. Good news is Australian gas stations all have good air compressors and don't charge for their use. However, I have used the compressor twice do to a lack of gas stations and their on-site air compressors. The compressor is very easy to set up and take down -- hell even I can do it.
Weatherteck Floor Mats -- how can something so basic be so helpful in cleaning and sweeping out the 4Runner?
Blue Ridge Attic Storage (mesh compartment hangs from interior roof) – absolutely great: stores hats, tissue, jackets and other items you want to be easy to get to.
Blue Ridge Overland Gear (headrest) Bags – great for storing bird or travel book guides, paper work, etc.
There was some discussion about police ticketing by others a year ago on Lonely Planet. We were stopped twice. The first time for being 5k/hr over the speed limit – I wasn’t. I believe the two officers wanted to look at our left hand driving Toyota 4Runner. No ticket but an enjoyable conversation. The second time was for speeding about 10km/hr over the speed limit – I was guilty because I missed a speed limit sign but my GPS showed I was speeding so I slowed down. But by the time I slowed down an officer had a radar gun on the 4Runner. I explained what had happen, he noted he had passed us earlier and we were well under the speed limit at that time and he wouldn’t give us a ticket. The police officers we came in contact with were easy to talk with and very reasonable.
One more lesson: The 4Runner is a 0.2 to 0.3 meters too high for parking garages and all but the far two left lanes of Malaysian toll booths. High because of the two-inch lifts, the oversized tires, the rack and with the storage box bolted to the rack it just doesn’t fix into parking garages. Also, when they began to load the 4Runner into our container in Malaysia everyone said, “its too high”. And they were correct but knowing it had been shipped twice I suggest I let air out of the tires – down to about 18 pounds and then someone changed out the ramp to a longer ramp and the 4Runner fit with a ½ inch to spare!
If I may be of assistance to anyone planning a trip to or traveling in Australia, contact me.
I have a website set up for friends and family. If you want to read and view photographs about Australia you are welcome to visit. www.Iwontgo55.com There is no advertising on my website so I get nothing out of you visiting but I do hope you may gain some insight to Australia by taking a look.
Cost of Travel in Australia
Before leaving I put together a budget number of US$237/day for Australia and we spent less than US$230/day. Our costs not including our Toyota 4Runner – insurance, gasoline, repairs, oil changes, tire rotations, etc. – were US$191/day. Gas is expensive and outback roads aren’t always paved. And I hope I never have to pay as much for an oil change again in my life!
We used Expedia and Airbnb for our longer stays. Lots of our stays, especially our time in the outback, we had a choice of one and only one place to stay. Most of the outback stays were roadhouses; which provide trailer/shipping container type facilities/simple rooms with AC, clean bathroom and a double/queen bed. All of the places we stayed were very doable for us. We did camp out one night in order to be up at dawn and on a Bungle Bungle hiking trail within 30 minutes of waking up. The cost of our camping spot is included in the above numbers.
We also took advantage of Caravan Parks by renting cabins that had a kitchen, dining table, sofa seating area, bedroom and bathroom – absolutely great places to stay. Wish we had something like these facilities in the U.S. The Airbnb were about the same price or a little more than a hotel room but came with kitchens (a cost saving discussed below). Roughly our lodging cost us US$110/night. This $110/night cost was a little more than we had budgeted but we made up for the extra cost by eating where we stayed rather than going out to restaurants, etc.
We had almost no issues finding good places to stay except in Port Douglas. You need reservation and earlier the reservation the better. We were traveling with our two oldest grandsons and therefore needed two rooms and there just wasn’t anything in Port Douglas.
The above lodging numbers don’t include our stay at King’s Canyon Resort (they allowed their mechanic to repair our broken brake line and provide an upscale experience), Gagudju Cooinda Lodge in Kakadu National Park and our outrageous costing hotel room for one night at Sails in the Desert in order to see Uluru/Ayer’s Rock but are included in our daily cost numbers. What is outrageous in cost to us was: US$456 at Ayer’s Rock. King’s Canyon Resort was US$216/night but this puts you very close to King’s Canyon that may be the best day hike we have ever hiked. Cooinda Lodge was US$211/night but again the location was great for exploring Kakadu Nat’l Park. Cooinda Lodge offered a big discount when I returned for one night at the end of Nov. – rainy season pricing. As long as I am listing pricey lodging I will add Hall’s Creek Motel. The room cost US$225 and wasn’t nearly as nice as any of the Caravan Park cabins we stayed in but when you are in the middle of no-where you don’t get much choice.
The only negative I can remember during our travels in Australia is “food”. Australian food isn’t close to being the best in the world and we avoided it. That isn’t to say we didn’t have several great (and relatively expensive for us) meals but all in all we avoided restaurants and did grocery stores. We each made our own breakfast – Nancy/eggs and Tom/muesli w/yogurt. Each evening Nancy made ham sandwiches for the next day and added fruit, nuts, several potatoe chips, and raw vegetables. Each evening Nancy made dinner – lots of beef, pork chops are great, and the lamb I will miss. Fresh fish was difficult to buy and we still don’t have a good answer as to why most Australian fish was frozen. Nancy cooked and I did the grocery shopping and clean up. Including my two beers/night, three bottles of gin, and a dozen or more bottles of wine – all costing more in Australia than what we are use to paying in the U.S. – our food cost us about $30 - $35/day. When we ate other’s cooking it cost us about US$40 -- $50/dinner for two with a glass of wine for each of us.
Entrance fees are a minimum amount for most the parks in Australia. Bird guides are difficult to find but when you do find one their prices are reasonable. For all you birders – you got to bird Australia! Day boat trips out to the Great Barrier Reef are what they are and you would be crazy to miss the opportunity to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. We took a helicopter ride to see Bungle Bungle – worth every penny we spent and was our “splurge” in Australia.
We took a tour at Undara Volcanic National Park, stayed two nights in Cobbold Gorge (room US$109 & tour US$65/person), 4 nights at Adel’s Grove/Boodjamulla Nat’l Park (expensive for us – US$220/night but the on-site bird guide is great) – not easy to get there but a fantastic place to hike, canoe and bird. We stopped for the Mimbi Cave (US$80/person) tour on our drive from Hall’s Creek to Broome. We took several other cave, river, and etc. tours including a day birding tour outside of Sydney.
We took a tour of the Sydney Opera House and attended an Aborigine dance program that evening. A fun night out and not a budget buster.
One item I under estimated was the cost of ferries. We took 4 ferry (8 times on a ferry) including an over night trip to Tasmania and back to the mainland. This cost us US$1,662 round trip for the 4Runner and a deluxe room – only thing available when we made our reservations. I included this cost in our car budget (and didn’t include enough in the budget). I highly recommend making your ferry reservations to Tasmania and back as early as possible! We made our reservations about three weeks in advance and almost missed out on our planned trip to Tasmania. Only one day was open that fit our schedule and I grabbed it. We ended up spending two extra days in Tasmania because there was no reservation available any earlier.
Again, if I may be of assistance email me at allintom@hotmail.com
(We have done more than just Australia. First was Japan for four weeks without our 4Runner and after Australia with our 4Runner, three weeks in Indonesia without 4Runner on to Singapore and Malaysia with our 4Runner, 12 days in Cambodia without the 4Runner and currently in India waiting for 4Runner to arrive from Malaysia).
Number one on our list of things we learned: Australia is one of the most fabulous countries to travel and five months isn’t enough time to see it properly. And yes, we were told that before we left.
Toyota 4Runner
We drove 17,856 miles in our five months in Australia. I don't have a guess on how many of those miles were on dirt tracks but on my drive to Darwin from Adelaide at one point I drove for two days without the wheels touching pavement.
Roads: Australian roads are not U.S. roads. If the Australian road is paved it is better -- almost zero potholes. However, I am estimating we have driven over 1,800 miles on good dirt roads (doing up to 50 mph) to 4-wheel drive tracks taking us through shallow riverbeds, dry riverbeds, some rocks, etc.
How did the 4Runner handle Australia:
A) Broken right front brake line -- driver error
B) Broken battery support -- driver error (these two items happened at the same time)
(Bad News: Sheared off the brake fluid line to the right front tire and broke the welds you put in for the second battery platform. We were having a great ride to Kings Canyon on a fabulous dirt track when I entered a dip and realized too late it was a steeper dip in and out than normal -- hit the brakes and came out thinking everything was OK. A couple km later I knew I had a problem when the brake pedal went to the floor and barely slowed me down. 120 km later I parked our 4Runner and drank more than a single beer.
Good News: Kings Canyon resort allowed their mechanic to fix my brake problem -- three hours later and $150 AU in cash to the mechanic and Nancy and I were back on the road.)
C) One slow leak in a tire -- nail; never went flat but I got tired of having to put air every day or two into this tire and had it fixed.
D) Broke the battery support a 2cd time -- this one I am going to put the blame on the driver for enjoying the drives on the outback dirt tracks
E) Rack mounted table -- looked out my side mirror and saw a table bouncing down the track. Since I was the only person anywhere close (like probably 50 km/30 miles in either direction) to the table I though it might be ours. Sure enough it was. Snapped the locking latch on the dirt track I was driving. Good news: corner of the table needed to be pounded back into place and my size 11 shoe did it with one stomp and then the reason one carries tie wire is to tie things into place like a table. We haven't used the table much but it is a god sent when you need it. I recommend having one. Tom’s outback fix for a broken latch – tie wire.
F) Final outcome on Rotopax: I never bothered to check with the dealership in Broome after receiving the worse "we don't give a damn about your problem and we know it is a problem". I like the low profile containers and have strapped them down in place and added them to the locking cable I am using on top of the rack. Having the extra gas gave a sense of comfort on some of the long stretches of no gas stations or in the case on one Sunday a closed gas station. (Google Rotopax and see what other people say – I am being nice.)
During our five-day stop in Darwin I bought a pair of maxtracs. Haven’t had to use them yet but there is a sense of security knowing we have then on top of the rack should we require them. Lots of sand and soft dirt plus mud when it rains in Australia.
Had the broken brake line checked out by a brake dealership in Darwin -- they didn't realize it was a repair. Then had it checked out by the Toyota dealership in Darwin and they said it looked great.
The second repair on the battery support hasn't been truly tested but hope it holds up on the coming drive in India/Nepal/India over the next five months.
Tires were rotated three times and the oil changed twice and the 4Runner fluids, belts, etc. checked twice by a Toyota dealership and a franchise tune-up company in Adelaide, Australia. (Anticipating next oil change, etc. to be in Darjeeling, India in about a month.)
I have checked air pressure, let air out of tires, and put air into tires more in our five months driving in Australia than in my entire life and probably all my family and friend's lives also.
One thing I will state: "If an item to be installed for expedition driving comes from Australia (and it is my understanding the same can be said for South Africa) you know it has been tested by thousands of drivers over very difficult roads and harsh conditions.'' Not saying U.S. products aren't good but I don't believe our driving conditions are anything close to the outback tracks of Australia, which some people drive everyday 365 days per year.
Australian gasoline is expensive at least to Americans. We paid an average of US$5/gal plus during our five months of driving Australia. I won’t bother to tell you how much an oil change cost us at the Darwin Toyota dealership – it’s too embarrassing.
We had our 2-year-old 4Runner modified for our trip to Australia and around the world. I didn’t spend the money for a roo/bull bar or snorkel – bad mistake on my part. The wildlife on the roads – kangaroos, wallabies, cattle, donkeys, water buffalo, camels, horses, and more -- demands you have a roo bar and if you are going to drive outback roads the snorkel is another piece of gear you should install.
Having 4-wheel drive, off-road tires, heavy-duty shocks are all items you will need to drive some of the outback roads. Good news is in Australia all these items are readily available and are repairable if required.
We used a combination of Google maps on Nancy Apple phone and a Garmin GPS to find our way around. Twice the Garmin took us an hour out of our way to make a simple U-turn. Otherwise I will say we didn’t always know exactly where we were but didn’t feel lost.
Car insurance took about four hours on the phone to secure. First of all the Toyota 4Runner hasn’t been imported to Australia since 1998. How do we insure your car when it isn’t in our database? Next is you must have a mailing address. Fortunately for us we had a friend of a friend’s address and used it for insurance purposes. I will say there was a lot of passing me from one organization or company to another organization or company and then back to the original organization or company. Took 11 phone calls before we had our insurance.
The ARB 50 Quart Refrigerator: Nancy wasn't sure a refrigerator was worth the storage space we had to give up. Nancy will gladly do ads for our refrigerator! Australia's food is expensive and doesn't taste all that good. Actually, Australia as a whole is expensive -- think I read it is the 4th most expensive country to travel in. Anyway, Nancy makes breakfast and lunch 90% of the time and probably 75% of our dinners, which all taste much better than Australian food and cost about a quarter of eating out. And yes, it keeps my beer cold -- 23 different beers so far.
Suspension, Tires, Lift, and Sound Proofing -- all money very well invested in the 4Runner. The soundproofing is something I don't think we can put a value on but we know our ride is much quieter and therefore more comfortable than without it. You can't over spend on suspension, lift, and tires on Australian roads. Old Man Emu 3” Medium/Heavy Load Kit and 285/70/17 BF Goodrich KO2 All Terrain tires. Dynamet sound deadening material – expensive but will never own a road vehicle again without it.
Addition Interior UBS Outlets -- a god sent for today's electronics especially when you have two grand boys traveling with you. 3 Blue Sea Dual USB Charger Sockets w/2 ports each
Lighting -- you changed out the front seat over headlights to LED's. Wished you had done all our lights and maybe added another to the luggage area. When unloading the 4Runner in the dark these lights would be of much use.
Zero Dark 30” Terminator Fog lights – only used once or twice, but know they are there when we will need them.
Dual Battery System – 2 Odyssey 34R-PC1500 T Batteries; CrossLink Wire; Blue Sea marine fuse blocks, power outlets, circuit breaker, etc; IBS-DBS dual battery management system. To date not a single problem with this set up.
Stratchit Utility Tie Down Straps -- highly recommend. The straps are so simple to cinch down and then un-cinch.
Rack -- getting our use out of it. Front Runner Outfitters
Stainless Steel Folding Camp Table – Front Runner Outfitters
Awning – haven’t used
Raingler Cargo Barrier Net – nothing has slide to the front, so it must be working
Gobi 5th 4Runner Rear Ladder -- poor design. The last and probably the last two steps are too close to the rear swing up door to be of much use. Usually skip these steps and go straight to the bumper. If I ever have the time I might have a welder reconfigure the ladder so that it is another 3 or 4 inches away from the swing up door.
UWS Foot Locker Metal Storage Box on rack -- doing great and the lock for the box being the same as the ignition key is great.
FRO Wolf Pack Storage Boxes -- doing great. Their light weigh is helpful because the big box Nancy uses for kitchen equipment and canned foods. She doesn't have me take it out at every stop but when she does it nice to have something lighter to carry.
Security Storage -- haven't used. In Australia we haven't felt the need to lock up items when we leave the 4Runner for a hike, etc. However, there will be a day we will need to use these items. Chain and lock with cover over keyhole and pad lock keyed to ignition key – so easy to use.
Window Security – 3M SAC 35 and 5 REST Security Film; hope it never is tested but provides a sense of security in the main time. 3M Crystaline Front Windshield Film.
Viair 40048 Portable Air Compressor -- works like a champ. Learning the hard way -- see bad news above -- I now know to let air out to about 25 psi or less when driving dirt roads and 4-wheel tracks. Good news is Australian gas stations all have good air compressors and don't charge for their use. However, I have used the compressor twice do to a lack of gas stations and their on-site air compressors. The compressor is very easy to set up and take down -- hell even I can do it.
Weatherteck Floor Mats -- how can something so basic be so helpful in cleaning and sweeping out the 4Runner?
Blue Ridge Attic Storage (mesh compartment hangs from interior roof) – absolutely great: stores hats, tissue, jackets and other items you want to be easy to get to.
Blue Ridge Overland Gear (headrest) Bags – great for storing bird or travel book guides, paper work, etc.
There was some discussion about police ticketing by others a year ago on Lonely Planet. We were stopped twice. The first time for being 5k/hr over the speed limit – I wasn’t. I believe the two officers wanted to look at our left hand driving Toyota 4Runner. No ticket but an enjoyable conversation. The second time was for speeding about 10km/hr over the speed limit – I was guilty because I missed a speed limit sign but my GPS showed I was speeding so I slowed down. But by the time I slowed down an officer had a radar gun on the 4Runner. I explained what had happen, he noted he had passed us earlier and we were well under the speed limit at that time and he wouldn’t give us a ticket. The police officers we came in contact with were easy to talk with and very reasonable.
One more lesson: The 4Runner is a 0.2 to 0.3 meters too high for parking garages and all but the far two left lanes of Malaysian toll booths. High because of the two-inch lifts, the oversized tires, the rack and with the storage box bolted to the rack it just doesn’t fix into parking garages. Also, when they began to load the 4Runner into our container in Malaysia everyone said, “its too high”. And they were correct but knowing it had been shipped twice I suggest I let air out of the tires – down to about 18 pounds and then someone changed out the ramp to a longer ramp and the 4Runner fit with a ½ inch to spare!
If I may be of assistance to anyone planning a trip to or traveling in Australia, contact me.
I have a website set up for friends and family. If you want to read and view photographs about Australia you are welcome to visit. www.Iwontgo55.com There is no advertising on my website so I get nothing out of you visiting but I do hope you may gain some insight to Australia by taking a look.
Cost of Travel in Australia
Before leaving I put together a budget number of US$237/day for Australia and we spent less than US$230/day. Our costs not including our Toyota 4Runner – insurance, gasoline, repairs, oil changes, tire rotations, etc. – were US$191/day. Gas is expensive and outback roads aren’t always paved. And I hope I never have to pay as much for an oil change again in my life!
We used Expedia and Airbnb for our longer stays. Lots of our stays, especially our time in the outback, we had a choice of one and only one place to stay. Most of the outback stays were roadhouses; which provide trailer/shipping container type facilities/simple rooms with AC, clean bathroom and a double/queen bed. All of the places we stayed were very doable for us. We did camp out one night in order to be up at dawn and on a Bungle Bungle hiking trail within 30 minutes of waking up. The cost of our camping spot is included in the above numbers.
We also took advantage of Caravan Parks by renting cabins that had a kitchen, dining table, sofa seating area, bedroom and bathroom – absolutely great places to stay. Wish we had something like these facilities in the U.S. The Airbnb were about the same price or a little more than a hotel room but came with kitchens (a cost saving discussed below). Roughly our lodging cost us US$110/night. This $110/night cost was a little more than we had budgeted but we made up for the extra cost by eating where we stayed rather than going out to restaurants, etc.
We had almost no issues finding good places to stay except in Port Douglas. You need reservation and earlier the reservation the better. We were traveling with our two oldest grandsons and therefore needed two rooms and there just wasn’t anything in Port Douglas.
The above lodging numbers don’t include our stay at King’s Canyon Resort (they allowed their mechanic to repair our broken brake line and provide an upscale experience), Gagudju Cooinda Lodge in Kakadu National Park and our outrageous costing hotel room for one night at Sails in the Desert in order to see Uluru/Ayer’s Rock but are included in our daily cost numbers. What is outrageous in cost to us was: US$456 at Ayer’s Rock. King’s Canyon Resort was US$216/night but this puts you very close to King’s Canyon that may be the best day hike we have ever hiked. Cooinda Lodge was US$211/night but again the location was great for exploring Kakadu Nat’l Park. Cooinda Lodge offered a big discount when I returned for one night at the end of Nov. – rainy season pricing. As long as I am listing pricey lodging I will add Hall’s Creek Motel. The room cost US$225 and wasn’t nearly as nice as any of the Caravan Park cabins we stayed in but when you are in the middle of no-where you don’t get much choice.
The only negative I can remember during our travels in Australia is “food”. Australian food isn’t close to being the best in the world and we avoided it. That isn’t to say we didn’t have several great (and relatively expensive for us) meals but all in all we avoided restaurants and did grocery stores. We each made our own breakfast – Nancy/eggs and Tom/muesli w/yogurt. Each evening Nancy made ham sandwiches for the next day and added fruit, nuts, several potatoe chips, and raw vegetables. Each evening Nancy made dinner – lots of beef, pork chops are great, and the lamb I will miss. Fresh fish was difficult to buy and we still don’t have a good answer as to why most Australian fish was frozen. Nancy cooked and I did the grocery shopping and clean up. Including my two beers/night, three bottles of gin, and a dozen or more bottles of wine – all costing more in Australia than what we are use to paying in the U.S. – our food cost us about $30 - $35/day. When we ate other’s cooking it cost us about US$40 -- $50/dinner for two with a glass of wine for each of us.
Entrance fees are a minimum amount for most the parks in Australia. Bird guides are difficult to find but when you do find one their prices are reasonable. For all you birders – you got to bird Australia! Day boat trips out to the Great Barrier Reef are what they are and you would be crazy to miss the opportunity to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. We took a helicopter ride to see Bungle Bungle – worth every penny we spent and was our “splurge” in Australia.
We took a tour at Undara Volcanic National Park, stayed two nights in Cobbold Gorge (room US$109 & tour US$65/person), 4 nights at Adel’s Grove/Boodjamulla Nat’l Park (expensive for us – US$220/night but the on-site bird guide is great) – not easy to get there but a fantastic place to hike, canoe and bird. We stopped for the Mimbi Cave (US$80/person) tour on our drive from Hall’s Creek to Broome. We took several other cave, river, and etc. tours including a day birding tour outside of Sydney.
We took a tour of the Sydney Opera House and attended an Aborigine dance program that evening. A fun night out and not a budget buster.
One item I under estimated was the cost of ferries. We took 4 ferry (8 times on a ferry) including an over night trip to Tasmania and back to the mainland. This cost us US$1,662 round trip for the 4Runner and a deluxe room – only thing available when we made our reservations. I included this cost in our car budget (and didn’t include enough in the budget). I highly recommend making your ferry reservations to Tasmania and back as early as possible! We made our reservations about three weeks in advance and almost missed out on our planned trip to Tasmania. Only one day was open that fit our schedule and I grabbed it. We ended up spending two extra days in Tasmania because there was no reservation available any earlier.
Again, if I may be of assistance email me at allintom@hotmail.com
