Road Trip Tips - Great Australian Road Trips

GETTING STARTED
READY TO GO
ON THE ROAD
DRIVING IN THE OUTBACK

TRIP PLANNING TIPS
Good planning will ease the wrinkles in your self-drive holiday, so here are some tips to help you along.

Assess your needs
Consider who you'll be travelling with and what time of year you'll travel. You can hire a car and forge you own path or buy a self-drive holiday package from your travel agent. Keep an eye on airline fares and watch for specials and deals. Compare different airlines and consider stopovers and flying times.

Entry requirements
Australia is easy to get to with about 40 international airlines servicing eight major gateway cities spread across the country. You can fly into one city and exit from another, and there are several flights a day for most domestic air routes.

Visitors need a passport – valid for at least six months after your scheduled return – as well as a valid visa, or for those with eligible passports, an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). Visit www.immi.gov.au for more information.

Quarantine regulations
Quarantine is taken seriously and you'll be asked to declare all food and plant materials, animal products, seeds and nuts, fruits and meats. On-the-spot fines as much as A$220 are charged for falsifying declaration forms, and prosecution and imprisonment can result from Customs breaches. Visitors may bring in 2.25 litres of alcohol, 250 cigarettes and dutiable goods to the value of A$900 (A$450 for people under 18). You need to declare cash sums exceeding A$10,000 or equivalent in foreign monies. Visit www.aqis.gov.au for more information.

Driving permit, maps and guides
An International Driving Permit (IDP) identifies licensed drivers from across the world in more than 150 countries, and carrying one can prevent any inconvenience when hiring a car in a country other than your own. Driver's licenses written in English – such as those issued in Singapore – are accepted without the need for an IDP. However if you're at all unsure, check with your embassy. You can apply for an IDP with motoring associations. There is an abundance of good maps, road atlases and guidebooks that cover Australia, many of which may be available in your home country. Or check out websites like www.mapquest.com and www.travelmate.com.au.

Weather conditions
Australia's sunny yet cool climate makes it an all-year-round destination, but it gets very hot in summer (December to February) in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, and you can expect some rain from January to March. The ski season is from June to October in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Check out local weather conditions at http://weather.yahoo.com so you can pack appropriate clothing.

Travelling with kids
If you're driving with children in the back seat they'll need plenty of distractions to keep them entertained. Bring some favourite toys, games and CDs. Talking books are great for kids on long drives. Travel journals are another great way to get kids engaged and can provide fond memories for many years afterwards. Carsickness in kids is pretty common and some suffer worse than others – pharmacies sell children's preparations for motion sickness, and pack some barf bags.

CAR-HIRE TIPS
One of the most important things for a successful road trip is your hire car. Here are some useful tips.

Vehicle type and accessories
Think about what kind of vehicle would best suit your needs. It might be a simple sedan, or you might prefer a compact SUV or bigger people-mover. How many adults and children need to travel comfortably in the vehicle?

Don't forget all their luggage. Many people do these routes in camper vans, while others whiz through in open-top sports cars. Some still choose 4WD (required for routes that include unsealed roads). Some hirers offer GPS satellite navigation systems with in-car displays and voice prompts telling you where to turn and when. If you're travelling with young children, you'll need government-approved baby seats or boosters.

Pre-booking your vehicle
Once you know what you need, have your car-hire arrangements sorted well before you land in the country. If you book well ahead you'll have the full choice of the fleet, not just the cars the hirer has available on that day.

Simply collect the keys when you arrive and begin your touring. Be sure you know what you're paying for before signing a
rental agreement – unlimited/limited kilometres, taxes and charges, delivery and drop-off fees. You may pay extra to drop a car somewhere other than where you took delivery.

Insurance coverage
By law, all hire cars in Australia must be insured, and you can mitigate insurance excess costs by paying higher rental rates. Many hire cars will void their insurance for the period that you're not driving on a bitumen road – so if you take off into bushes and damage the car, you might be in hot water.

Make sure you understand the collision damage waiver and the excess you pay in the event of causing damage to the hire car. Also ensure you list all the potential drivers of the vehicle; otherwise your insurance coverage may be affected.

Vehicle familiarisation
When collecting your hire car, take a moment to familiarise yourself with the vehicle and check out how to operate the headlights, wipers, heater, door-locks, spare tyre and the like, and how to open the lid of the fuel tank, bonnet and trunk. Check if there is enough petrol, and review maps and other visitor information before driving off.

FOR THE DRIVER
For a safe, hassle-free trip, know the road regulations and keep
these reminders handy.

Speed limits
Speed limits vary from state to state, but be mindful of roadside signs that clearly indicate the maximum speed allowed. Some sections of freeway allow for speeds up to
110km per hour, but for the most part 100km per hour is the limit for open roads, and it's 40km to 60km per hour in built-up areas.

Headlights and signals
Always use your indicators before making a turn or entering the road from the roadside. Headlights must be used between sunset and sunrise, and you mustn't use your high beams in built-up areas. In fog, rain or poor visibility switch on your headlights. On Australian roads a motorist coming the other way may flash his/her high beams at you momentarily. This can mean trouble up ahead – a tree across the road or an accident. Slow down and proceed with caution.

Overtaking other vehicles
Double white lines down the centre of the road mean that overtaking other vehicles is illegal (and dangerous). Double lines that are broken on one side and unbroken on the other indicate which side of the road may overtake and which may not.

But use your good judgement – sometimes the line-work suggests it's alright to overtake and you might not agree. Play it safe – never overtake near a blind curve or crest of a hill, never near a pedestrian crossing or intersection, and never when there's double unbroken lines or an unbroken line on your side of the road.

Paying tolls
There are tollways in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, and car hirers will make arrangements with you for the payment of tolls – it's pretty painless. There are some impressive new state motorways built in partnership with the private sector. Prepaid accounts are charged as your vehicle passes under gantries at strategic locations. It's not expensive and you can buy day-passes or weeklies.

Penalty zones
Read up on local road laws where you can. Melbourne has priority zones for its tram fleet at certain peak times of the day, as well as a few notorious hook-turn intersections in the city centre. Watch for Clearways, where roadside parking is given over to traffic at peak times – park in a morning Clearway zone and your car will be towed away and impounded.

DO's
- Use seat belts – by law, everyone in the vehicle must use a seat belt or approved child restraint.
- Wear comfortable clothing, shoes that are suitable for driving and good sunglasses.
- Carry enough drinking water.
- Swop drivers regularly or stop every two hours for a break to stretch your legs and get some fresh air.

DON'TS
- Don't pick up hitchhikers, and don't stop if you're bumped from behind.
- Don't drink and drive – driving with a blood-alcohol level of over 0.05% is illegal in Australia and
you'll face heavy penalties.
- Don't use drugs – drugs are illegal and police regularly test drivers for substance use.

DRIVING IN THE OUTBACK
Driving in the Australian outback throws up some interesting quirks, so take heed!

Sealed and unsealed roads
Almost all of the major roads in the outback reaches of South Australia, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia are sealed bitumen roads. However, one Northern Territory route described in this website (Red Centre Way) has some sections of unsealed road that require the use of a 4WD vehicle.

Distances
Don't underestimate the time it takes to get from point A to point B – it can be considerable, particularly in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Check distances carefully when planning your itinerary and figure on an average speed of 80km per hour on a sealed bitumen road.

Wandering animals
Most of the outback areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory are vast cattle runs – the biggest is larger than Belgium and 50 times the size of Singapore. These properties are not fenced, so cattle, buffalo, horses and kangaroos can wander onto the road. Look out for the warning signs and avoid driving in the early morning, late afternoon and early evening, as the animals are most active during these times. Hitting livestock is the most common type of accident in the outback and can seriously damage your vehicle. Don't drive at night either – enjoy the stars instead.

Fuel and water
Although there's little likelihood of getting lost on these outback routes, it's crucial to carry enough drinking water. Five litres per person per day is the recommended amount for outback survival, so ensure you have at least 20 litres per person in your vehicle in case you get stuck or your vehicle breaks down. Be conservative about your fuel consumption and plan ahead for fuel stops. Petrol stations in outback regions may be several hundred kilometres apart.

Flooded roads
Wet-season rains bring flooding to many outback areas and some roads may not be passable. Do not drive through submerged sections of road unless you're sure it's safe to do so – many crossings are deeper than they appear.

Road trains
These are articulated trucks that haul three or more trailers with a payload of at least 100 tonnes. These giants rule the roads in the outback and you should take great care when overtaking them.