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Driving Sydney to Perth - Family vacation


JEM44

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Hi there, I am starting to organise our plans for our move next year, including shipping our two dogs to quarantine in Sydney. I don't really want to then put them on another flight after ten days stuck in a kennel, and thought it might be nice to all (2 adults and 2 teenagers) from Perth to Sydney to meet the dogs, hire a camper van and take a few weeks to drive back.mthis could be our last trip before both hubby and I start work.

 

Ive found a company called drive Oz who will give you a 24 day itinerary and book accommodation all for the princely sum of $4000.

 

So so in an attempt to plan (and save money) I was wondering if anyone had done this previously and could offer advice.

 

Time will be about May 2016 so the weather should not be toooo hot!!

 

thanks

 

Laura

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Hi there, I am starting to organise our plans for our move next year, including shipping our two dogs to quarantine in Sydney. I don't really want to then put them on another flight after ten days stuck in a kennel, and thought it might be nice to all (2 adults and 2 teenagers) from Perth to Sydney to meet the dogs, hire a camper van and take a few weeks to drive back.mthis could be our last trip before both hubby and I start work.

 

Ive found a company called drive Oz who will give you a 24 day itinerary and book accommodation all for the princely sum of $4000.

 

So so in an attempt to plan (and save money) I was wondering if anyone had done this previously and could offer advice.

 

Time will be about May 2016 so the weather should not be toooo hot!!

 

thanks

 

Laura

 

It sounds like a great trip, but I wouldn't do it to avoid flights for the dogs, they wil get over it. Do it because you want to do it.

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It's a long trip for two dogs already stressed out from a flight.

 

Make sure they are micro chipped before you set out on your journey in case they run off during the weeks of travel.

 

All cats and dogs have to be microchipped as part of their paperwork before they can fly out of their original country

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Thanks for all the comments, I do also want to do the trip because I love to travel. My concern initially is that I didn't want the dogs flying again, but they are used to long road trips so should be ok. My kids and hubby are also used to me wanting to drive everywhere, longest we have done before now is UK north west through Europe for two weeks and USA west coast to East coast!

 

The $4k was for the company booking the accommodation and itinerary (assuming you drove in a car and stayed at hotels) but I want to do it in a camper van so it would just be RV parks and we will do our own itinerary, unless someone already has an itinerary they have used from previously doing this trip that they could share?

 

Ive been googling all weekend and am rather looking forward to it!

 

Thanks Laura x

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Hi there, I am starting to organise our plans for our move next year, including shipping our two dogs to quarantine in Sydney. I don't really want to then put them on another flight after ten days stuck in a kennel, and thought it might be nice to all (2 adults and 2 teenagers) from Perth to Sydney to meet the dogs, hire a camper van and take a few weeks to drive back.mthis could be our last trip before both hubby and I start work.

 

 

 

I think you're mad, personally! Firstly, the Nullarbor section is possibly the most boring drive on earth. It's called the Nullarbor because there's nothing there - just miles and miles and miles of desert. People do the trip just to be able to say they've done it, because it's an endurance test - not because there's a lot to see.

 

There are nice places to see along the way BUT you need to detour to get to them, which will add considerably to the time you need. I've known people do it in two weeks but they said it wasn't nearly enough time and very tiring - and you've got to get there AND back, which means driving over 8,000 km even if you don't do any detours!

 

Do you have jobs to go to when you get back to Perth? Bear in mind that right now, people are taking several weeks if not months to find a job in Perth, so you need to allow a budget to live on while you're job-hunting. Are you sure you can afford a month to six weeks' holiday as well?

 

If you're aiming to make Australia your lifetime home, then you'll have plenty of opportunities for holidays in the next 30 or 40 years. It may be a while before you can manage such a long road trip again but you'll certainly be able to do it in shorter hops. And I agree with other posters that even if they're used to long road trips, this will be a very long road trip in trying conditions, and I worry that could stress the dogs more than another flight.

 

If you must drive, is there any way the dogs could go to Melbourne instead of Sydney? That would knock 500km each way off your drive.

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We drove the other way - from Perth to Sydney with a two year old and towing a caravan. Loved every minute of the trip. We just pulled in at roadhouses and caravan parks along the way and slept in the caravan - some places on the Nullabor had showering facilities - salty water :laugh: but some had desalination type things - that was 28 years ago so probably better now.

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  • 6 months later...

I think depending on what your dogs are like in a car, you should take them with you. Seems they have experienced some trauma in their travels? Depending on your car, why don't you rather buy a Travall Cargo Barrier for your dogs? It will keep them at the rear of the car while you or hubby can concentrate on driving to your destination without too much hassle? http://www.travall.com.au/dog-guard.

And, it sounds like it would a FAR cheaper option than $4000!! That's just crazy.

 

Good luck!!

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@Leah1921, have driven across the Nullabor 6 times, 3 when it was 1000 miles of dirt and 3 when it was bitumised. First time, it took 5 days and half-a-ton of dust...Last time, it took 3 days.

 

One major item; the sunsets are not the best for driving as you head west. Similarly, sunrises are not good when driving east.

 

Do it, young lady and don't be put off by the negative comments...

 

Cheers, Bobj.

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Each to their own, but personally I'd bung the dogs a couple of valium and stick them on a four hour flight. If you have 24 days free to drive around Australia there are a lot better things to see than driving in a straight line through the outback. Miles better ways to spend that time in my opinion. At the end of the day they're only dogs.

 

Serious question - have you been here before and actually experienced the distances? Lots of British people assume it's like the UK. When you see signposts for towns 2000+km away it can be a bit mind blowing.

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