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Old June 29th, 2009, 05:18 AM posted to rec.travel.australia+nz
Atom Egoyan
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Default planning a month is Oz

Hiram writes:

Rudy,


Thanks for the tips. I will enquire about car insurance this end, never
really thought about doing that. I will check with my VISA card
supplied and see what deals they have.


Not sure they sell fly swatters here either to be honest, this is a cold
country.


As far as driving goes, Perth-Brisbane is almost as long a trip as you could do in Australia, short of
going all the way round. You can go across the Nullarbor, via Adelaide, and then either via Melbourne
or Broken Hill. The other way is up the Western Australian coastline and then through the Pilbara and
Kimberley. You could only really go that way in the dry season [March-October], because most of the
roads up north are impassable due to rains caused by cyclones, and it also starts to get insanely hot.
It's the kind of thing you might do as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Either way you are talking about extreme remoteness. Driving across the Nullarbor on the Princes Highway
is OK, but go off-road to, say, Forrest or Giles weather stations and you are talking total self-sufficiency.
At certain times of the year, the Gibb River Road [northern WA] probably only sees one car a week.

The other issue is cost. It's 7-8000 km. Even at daily rates, you will be paying a great deal more
for the experience of driving than you would just to fly. If you are driving a rental vehicle, they
often have prohibitions on going 'off-road', by which they mean gravel. You might be best to restrict your
driving to the east coast, where the distance between attractions is not so extreme. That's not to say
the Super Pit at Kalgoorlie isn't worth your attention, but it's the best part of a day's drive from
Perth. Some guys might drive that long for the brothels, but flying is cheaper and safer.

Atom Egoyan
Melbourne, Australia