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10 Good-to-know before going on a Roadtrip in Australia

Yay you’re so amped and excited for your roadtrip. You’ve packed (almost) everything and getting ready for your trip. But before you go, here are 10 things (+1 bonus tip!) that you should take note of on a roadtrip in Australia.

1. Bush Flies/Blow Flies

Ok, bush flies and blow flies……. They. Are.Annoying.As.Fuck. Especially during summer (December to February), campgrounds, outbacks & rest areas have tons of them. They will fly past your ears, ‘bzzz’-ing very loudly by your ears, land anywhere on you and irritate your soul out of your body. 

Tip: Get a fly swatter (we had this incense thing which is to keep insects away but apparently it doesn’t work and I refused to give in to a legit fly swatter so we did a makeshift with my snorkel flippers.) or Get a head net (we didn’t get this because we don’t want to look stupid, but we’ve seen a number of tourists wearing that so it should a norm)

2. Roadkills

Kangaroos, wallabies, birds, lizards, foxes, cows, rabbits. Not sure if there are more, but those are what we saw lying on the side of the road during our roadtrip. We were quite lucky to have avoided hitting any mammals on the road, but I’ve accidentally hit 2-3 birds, and countless of lizards that like to cross the road......... Why do lizards cross the road?

Tip: In any case you accidentally hit them on the road, stay calm and move your car to the side of the road. You could check and see if the animal is still alive. Carry the animal to the side of the road (like what everyone else does) where it’s safe from any other vehicles. If in any case the animal is still alive and you want to save it, bring it to a vet. From what I know, vets don’t charge you any money for injured wildlife.

Oh did I mention? Blow flies lay maggots in carcases and are attracted to smells similar to that of rotting meat. So maybe it’s because of all the roadkills, that’s why blow flies are everywhere in the outback.

3. Friendly drivers

I am so amazed at how friendly Australian drivers are. On freeway when cars are going at 2 different directions on the same road, 8 out of 10 usually wave or raise their hands up, either to say hi or just letting you know, ‘Yeah I see you there mate’. I don’t know about other countries, but this doesn’t apply very well in Singapore.

Tip: Just wave back! Or raise your palms up while still on the steering wheels. Sometimes it’s nice to acknowledge each other on the road.

4. Follow speed limit

I know this is basic, but there are just some ignorant people who choose to ignore instructions because they think it doesn’t matter. Australians are really strict with their speed limit, especially in cities and towns. Freeway or highway are usually 110km/h, except for Alice Spring where some areas are 130km/h.

Tip: Upon exiting freeway / highway, START SLOWING DOWN. Cities or towns speed limit ranges from 40-60km/h, which is a really huge difference when on their freeway (110km/h).

5. Do not drive at night

There are some nights when we couldn’t get to our campground before sun sets. We were desperate on the road and constantly praying that no kangaroos will jump out from the side of the road, which luckily none did. But we did witnessed kangaroos hopping across our road from afar. That’s how we have always managed to slow down and stop in time before hitting any of them.

Tip: Just don’t drive when the sun sets. Or if you’re really desperate like us on some nights, drive slow and turn on your high beam. Freeways at outbacks are not properly lit up by street lamps, therefore it can quite dark to see what’s far ahead.

6. Free & Paid Campgrounds

You’re so not ready for your roadtrip at all if you haven’t already downloaded apps for campgrounds in Australia. We rented our vehicle from Wickedcampers (not an advertisement), and they do have an app called, WickedCampers, which can show you where the free and paid campgrounds are, rest areas, and reviews from other campers regarding cleanliness, price, and more

Tip: There are some petrol stations and service centres around Australia that allow maximum parking of 24 hours. Read to find out how to save money on paid campgrounds and sleep overnight for free! (post coming soon!)

7. Forest fire

To be honest, our trip was quite peaceful and disaster-free until we reached Alice Spring during the last quarter of our trip. That’s where we first experienced rain and of course as the title of this point says, forest fire. It was crazily black and smoky up in the air even from afar. It was summer and of course we’re in the desert, which I’m guessing forest fire can be common as no one did anything to save it, let alone seeing any firefighters fighting the fire.

Tip: Slow down while driving because it can be hazy and difficult to see who’s infront or on another side of the road. Alot of birds will evacuate the dessert/forest and rest on the roads instead. Try not to hit them… although that’s where I first hit a bird. :( RIP.

8. Petrol stations

Petrols in Australia are significantly cheaper than in Singapore. Singapore is at least of 2.0x rate, but in Australia, in cities and popular towns, they are actually cheap, around 1.2-1.5x. However when in outback and ghost towns or secluded areas, and especially when in dessert, petrol rates can be up to 1.89x. That was the highest we’ve paid so far and it was somewhere in Alice Springs.

Tip: Top-up your petrol at any possible moment. In outbacks, and especially Alice Spring, top-up every single time you reached from town to town because the distance between towns in the outback is usually a 1-2 hours drive and some towns have NO PETROL at all, so you could be driving 3-4 hours without refuelling. Another tip is to get a jerrycan and top-up both your car and jerrycan whenever you spot really low rates for petrol. We didn’t get any during our trip but we only realised it towards the end that we could have saved a little more on petrol.

9. Clean your windscreens

Driving in the outbacks means alot of blowflies and other flying insects, which also means that when you’re driving at 110km/h, files will be killed by the speed of your vehicle and the dead flies will be on the front of your vehicle and even on your windscreen.

Tip: Clean your windscreen using the wiper and water provided at almost every petrol stations. They can really help to get rid of all the stains and blood from the insects that died. You should always have clear vision when driving on the road because constant driving can tire you out easily.

10. Parking in cities

Crazily crazily expensive in towns. First day in Australia straight after collecting our vehicle, we went for grocery shopping to get some necessities and food for the trip. Really ignorant us, we headed to Wilson Parking, an underground gantry carpark, because we didn’t know how to pay for their roadside parking. We thought, “Oh how expensive can parking be?” Well well well, we spent merely an hour - an hour half, and guess what? The parking was ridiculously $27AUD!! Maybe we parked in an expensive building or something, we don’t know. But one hour of parking in Melbourne is usually $8 onwards.

Tip: If you want to stay in town for a few days, our advice is to park your vehicle in free campgrounds / free parking lots (usually 50-100km far away from town) and take public transport into town instead. We took their trains to get around the town and (secretly) parked our vehicle at their free carpark by the train stations.

Extra tip #11 for those planning to drive long hours on the road:

Petrol stations usually sell these pills in a box called Nō-Dōz. Each tablet contains 100mg of caffeine and other substances to help you stay awake and alert on the road.

I have never felt sleepy while driving on the road, partly maybe because I’m still a relatively new and alert driver. But my boyfriend has sworn by this pill that it really works for him. 

Plan your travel now! If not now, then when?

[petitewanderlustr-blog]

25 days around Australia in a Campervan (Part I - Western Australia)

Trip Duration: 7th December to 31st December. Season: Summer. 

Expensive carparks, creepy garden with thousands of gnomes and a pink lake that ain’t pink. Continue reading so you won’t make the same mistakes like we did.

Day 1: Perth International Airport > WickedCampers > Woolworths @ Murray Street > Margaret River Chocolate Factory > Prevelly Caravan Park

We arrived at Perth International airport around 6am, but we can only collect our campervans from 9am onwards. It’s only a 20mins drive away, so we decided to rest a little and freshen ourselves up in the airport.

We booked an Uber down to collect our campervan.

We were on quite a budget trip here so campervans with toilet and shower are totally out of question. Reserved a vehicle from Wickedcampers 2 weeks before our trip. Read here for our review on renting a caravan from Wickedcampers (coming soon!).

Wicked Campers (Perth)

28 Charles St, Bentley WA 6102, Australia

http://www.wickedcampers.com.au/

Went straight to Woolworths and Target at Murray Street. We parked our vehicle at one of the Wilson carparks and for just 1.5 hours of parking, we had to pay AUD27 for the parking fee. That….. was a total ripoff. If only we knew what to look out for when roadtripping in Australia. 

Lucky for those reading this, I have collated 10 things to take note of when going on a roadtrip in Australia (based on personal experiences). I can’t seem to find guides online that mentioned these points, so I know this will definitely help you!

Headed to Margaret River Chocolate Factory but we were a little too late as they were already preparing to close. Nonetheless, still managed to walk around their factory and bought a Rocky Road for the road. They have an outdoor dining area which was really nice to hang out at.

Margaret River Chocolate Factory

415 Harmans Mill Rd & Tom Cullity Dr, Metricup WA 6280, Australia

Free entry, 9am - 5pm

^Caravan Park photo credit: Pamela NewPort

Looked for the nearest campground via app and found Prevelly Caravan Park. Everyone’s really friendly there. Those without accommodation in their vehicle will set up tents for the night. Those choosing comfort over budget will have a choice of getting a cabin. We got the unpowered site as our vehicle have no way of connecting to a power supply. 

Prevelly Caravan Park

99 Mitchell Dr, Prevelly Park WA 6285, Australia

Unpowered site: $10 per person, incl. shower

Just a tip: Towards the end of the trip, we realised it’s really pointless paying for an unpowered site as it usually costs $20-$25 per night and honestly, we’re just getting a ‘safe spot’ to sleep and showers and convenient toilets. However, these facilities can be found at just $4-$10 for the both of us somewhere else. Read here to find out how to save money on campgrounds if you’re on a budget trip! (coming soon!)

Day 2: Prevelly Caravan Park > Gnomesville > Kojonup Town > Ongerup Town > Munglinup Campground

Waking up straight when the sun rises to start our day early, we went to our first beach for this trip; a beach at the back of Prevelly Caravan Park. 

Apparently it’s a dog-friendly exercise park. It’s so nice to see owners bringing their dogs out to the beach early in the morning. (Sigh the dogs there have a better scenery to look at every morning compared to us Singaporeans) Spent some time at the beach, took some photos, and off we went, continuing our roadtrip.

Houseflies, mosquitoes, more houseflies, and more mosquitoes. Even if you hate insects as much as I do, Gnomesville is just too magical not to be missed. Note that there’s no reception to and fro Gnomesville, so remember to set your GPS route to go in and to exit the area even before getting near the area.

Gnomesville

LOT 4059 Wellington Mill Rd, Wellington Mill WA 6236, Australia

Free entry

Calling it a day, we stopped over at Munglinup Campground for the night. Sadly, we arrived really late (around 7-8pm). It was really really dark and the showers were already closed since 5pm. Had to use wet wipes as our ‘shower’, and cooked our dinner in the dark. Thankfully we have our head torches. (I can’t emphasize any further on how useful the head torches are on a roadtrip)

^Caravan park photo credit: ExploreAustralia

Munglinup Campground

South Coast Highway Munglinup WA 6450

Free entry, Hot Shower $2 (arrive before 5pm to use shower)

Day 3: Munglinup Campground > Pink Lake > Norseman Town > Caiguna Roadhouse

We went straight to pink lake as soon as the sky is bright enough for us to drive. Heard so much about the Pink Lake and seen so many pretty photos on Instagram. We were really excited and had so much expectations. But to our (& everyone else’s) disappointment, the pink lake ain’t pink no more. My advice is, do not go to the famous Pink Lake that Australia has been promoting. I have seen another Pink Lake near Melbourne that is REALLY PINK. 

Do you see how the pink lake isn’t pink anymore?

Apparently in November 2017, there is an article mentioning how tourists are disappointed and the chairman of Tourism Esperance is considering to change the name back to Lake Spencer instead of the Pink Lake.

Pink Lake

Pink Lake Drive, Esperance, Western Australia 6450, Australia

Free entry

Took a break at the Norseman Town because it was too hot. We woke up too early that the both of us were too exhausted to continue driving. Topped up our petrol at Norseman Town and we decided to walk around. 

Coincidentally, the small town was having a community event and everyone was out in the streets selling their artworks/hand-made accessories and etc. Also, there were kids happily cycling around the town. We were so lucky to have witnessed something that we’ve only seen through movies and tv shows.

^Sign photo credit: ABC 

Left Norseman Town to continue our trip before the sun sets and we came across this interesting sign on the way to Caiguna. It’s the ‘Australia’s Longest Straight Road’ at 146.6km, which also means driving straight without any bent for the next 1.5hours. You can find it this sign on the Eyre Highway, between Balladonia and Caiguna.

Australia’s Longest Straight Road

Eyre Highway, between Balladonia and Caiguna

Finally, we’ve reached Caiguna Roadhouse and we called it a day. Excited to cross the Western-Southern Australia border next day!

Caiguna Roadhouse

Eyre Hwy, Caiguna WA 6443, Australia

Unpowered site: $20 per vehicle, incl. shower.

Continue Reading: 

Part II - South Australia (coming soon!)

Part III - Victoria (coming soon!)

Part IV - New South Wales (coming soon!)

Part IIV - Queensland (coming soon!)

Part IIIV - Northern Territory (coming soon!)