One day I’m going to drive around Australia. And I don’t just mean here and there, I mean drive all around Australia. As in this:
It’s a trip of almost 20,000 km, or over 200 straight hours of driving at 60 mph. That’s 40 days of driving 5 hours a day, which means this would be lengthy and expensive. But what a trip it would be!
I’d do the reverse route from the map above, starting in Sydney and heading north through Newcastle, Brisbane and all the way up to Cairns. That’s a few days right there, with many stops and things to see on the way. The beaches and coastal roads, especially as you get more and more north, would be beautiful.
And then a several-day trip to Darwin through the outback. Hundreds and hundreds of dry empty miles with not even a radio station on the radio. That would be quite an adventure!
The Darwin to Perth leg may take a week. It’s some of the least inhabited parts of Australia, but there are just enough small towns to make a daily stop possible. Accommodation on this leg may include a tent, or sleeping in the car! I may stay in a comfy hotel in Perth for a day or two to reset 🙂
Half the trip would now be complete and I’d be on the opposite side of the country. But the southern coasts are still to come, and some say these are the most beautiful roads in all of Australia.
It may take a week to get to Adelaide from Perth, stopping everywhere that looks interesting. Between the desert and the southern ocean there would certainly be a lot to see!
And then the windy roads along the Victorian coast would take me to the extreme southeast, at which I’d have to make a decision: Tasmania or no Tasmania? After 5 weeks on the road, who’s to say what I’d decide at that point?
Eventually the landscape would become vaguely familiar, as I drove into NSW and found myself within a few hours of Sydney. Six weeks after starting, I’d reach my destination: exactly where I started.
I’d have seen the entire country, and made enough memories to last me forever.
I’ll do this one day. I have to. Who wants to come with me?
I wish I could!!
I would quit my job to do this. I’ve spoken about it to Lakshmi before; we’d just fly to Australia, buy a 4WD and start driving north from Sydney.
Six weeks would be a little rushed. I think this would be better done with no fixed time frame.
Tasmania would have to be included (there’s a car ferry that takes 10 hours!!) and also Ayers Rock.
I suspect a certain amount of up front planning would be required, especially in the more remote areas. The outback can be very unforgiving if you were to break down or otherwise have trouble.
After doing this though, driving every state in the US, including Alaska would be trivial ! 🙂