The Road to Nowhere, Somewhere or Anywhere.
A road trip in and around Australia is an excellent way to go about meeting new people, making new friends and tasting some of the best food (and beer) the country has to offer. Australia has many wonderful sights to see and experience. Wildlife is abundant in many places, and it is quite a rush to experience a croc, koala, wombat or wallaby – not to mention all the seabirds – first hand. Did you know that Australia has its own camel? Where do you reckon are some of the best places to take a road trip in Australia? You may have lived in Australia for quite some time and know where the special drives are. How about hearing about your favourite tour – and adding a few tips for those who might like to retrace your steps. Some of the best road trips need an overnight stay or a couple of nights away, so these are ideal for a short holiday. Longer trips are the special ones that require you to fill up the car with all the luggage in preparation for taking a week or two off work.
I reckon Canberra is a nice area to take some time out. From Sydney, you can travel southwest on the Hume Highway to Goulburn – the largest city on the Southern Tablelands. Also known as the ‘City of Roses’, Goulburn has a number of interesting attractions, which include a number of special cafes. From Goulburn, you can take the Federal Highway (Route 23), which passes Lake George before bringing you to the heart of Canberra, the national capital. There’s heaps to do, with over thirty national institutions, parks, bushland, some great restaurants and a thriving arts scene. Canberra offers fantastic activities and sights to see and experience for all the family. This would make a nice run in a Peugeot 407 or maybe a Mercedes Benz CLS-Class, where you can sit back in some premium comfort and allow the engine to purr along while you take in the sights and experience the people.
If you like to rough it a bit, then maybe a Northern Territory Outback adventure trip in a Mercedes GL-Class or Nissan Safari 3.0 TDi would tickle your fancy. The 2700 km trip from Augusta to Darwin is a sensational journey through the heartbeat of Australia. Be sure to go as part of a team, as it’s always wise to put safety first.
And don’t forget what would have to be one of the classic Aussie road trips: the Nullabor. This isn’t the prettiest drive or the most challenging from a motoring perspective, but it is still a classic, even though it’s a dead straight road with few features. That’s the whole point – getting through the trip is an achievement in itself. Some people give themselves an added challenge: trying to do the Nullabor on as few gallons of petrol as possible by using “hypermiling” techniques. Not a bad thing to try in a smaller economy vehicle.
So, handing over to you lot then. Suggest a fair dinkum Aussie journey, tell us what the good bits are, propose what safety awareness might need to be taken note of and recommend the vehicle for the trip you have in mind.
Level 2, 9 Help Street
David says:
4WD trip in Tassie is hard to beat. So much to see and unlike much of Australia, the distances aren’t quite so punishing
September 17th, 2010 at 1:52 pm