Lauren, a Travellers Autobarn customer, just shared her great blog with us.
Roadtrip planning
Half term happens, you guessed it, halfway through term; this means you’ll have known your potential travel buddies for a month or so by the time you’re deciding who to travel with – scary stuff! The way to get round this is pretty obvious – arrange to travel with happy, chilled out people whose company you enjoy; get everyone involved in booking, planning, playing and arranging so that one person doesn’t end up feeling like they’ve done all the work and no one can complain that they’re not getting to go where they want. My group came about from all the people who wanted to roadtrip, but didn’t fancy driving too far and didn’t care too much about where they ended up. For us this meant not having much of a plan apart from a few key things we wanted to see and a very certain notion that we were not going to spend a whole week in the car. Other people drove a lot and even drove by night (which is dangerous due to kangaroo collision possibilities), but they went about 4 times as far as we did and saw almost the entire coast North of Perth. Both sets of people had tonnes of fun so just think about what suits you and what you want out of your trip. For me, having time to relax, laugh with my friends and chill out on beaches was as important as seeing the sites. In hindsight, it might have been sensible to have a more precise plan as we had to make a lot of spot decisions that often involved turning full circle in the middle of the, luckily quiet, roads!
Laura and Filippo from Italy have been so nice to provide us with a second part of their journey here in Australia. The first step was to buy a car, a Mitsubishi Pajero from our Travellers Auto Barn showroom in Kings Cross, Sydney (see blog story part 1). Now, they are having the time of their life travelling around the continent. Read on what they want to share with you:
“The weeks passed by so quickly … !
This has really been a very exciting time and non-stop adventure. First of all we resigned working in the restaurant, the desire to travel and leave the city has been too strong since we bought the car. Hence, on Saturday we had our last shift and on Friday we received the final pay check!
The whole week was dedicated to shopping and camping. We basically walked from shop to shop looking for everything that could be useful for our road-trip and the list goes on…. reserve tank for the car, luggage rack, gas cylinder, portable stove, tent, sleeping bags … the journey is about to kick in!
… just a short blog we found here of our sales customers Laura and Philip from Italy who bought a Mitsubishi Pajero from Travellers Auto Barn in Sydney this week.
“We thought a lot about this trip: a long journey that we hope will somehow change our lives, our perspectives, and we are sure we will fill our hearts with unforgettable moments and emotions. This is our journey!
The challenge: 1 continent, 6 states, 7,686,850 km ² to be discovered in 365 days with a Working Holiday Visa. Will we? The adventure starts in Sydney …
whilst we wouldn’t recommend to anyone that they should do this, it just goes to show how tough and durable the Ford Falcon is! A true example of Aussie grit and determination, Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson would be proud – if it doesn’t work first time, try again with MORE POWER!
With it’s robust (read: basic) suspension, there’s no reason why you can’t take your Ford Falcon down a dusty track (excludes rental customers please!), and explore parts of Australia that are off limits to more modern and sophisticated cars – you wouldn’t attempt that in your parents VW Golf now, would you?!
If you really do want to go off roading, then Travellers AutoBarn stocks a range of quality 4WD vehicles, and we even offer a professional 4Wd training course, to allow you to safely get the most out of your vehicle!
If you want to experience Australia’s wild nature there is only one real way to do it! A 4WD is the only vehicle that gives you the freedom to explore the country on and off-road; from the tropical York peninsula to the outback, from sandy beaches to rocky hills, your 4WD can bring you almost anywhere you want to go. But before you start your trip, you should be sure to know how to steer your vehicle even through rough terrain. A 4WD training is the right way to find out how to enjoy your trip and stay on the safe side. Adam and Dave from our Sydney branch were lucky enough to do one of their own in the Blue Mountains!
