Overland UK - Asia - OZ - South America

[Mart456 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mart456]

Hi All,

We have been travelling for the last 13months / 55000km through 28 countries, from the UK towards OZ, through the EU, Central Asia, Pakistan, India, SE Asia.

We are currently in Sulawesi, Indonesia making our way to Australia, where we will spend some time and plan the next leg of our trip, South to North America.

So far we have travelled right across Indonesia, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sulawesi, with Flores and Timor left before crossing to Timor Leste and shipping to Australia.

We have found Indonesia to be remarkable, such diversity, everything from teeming coral reefs, orang-utan filled jungles to smoking volcanoes, and a myriad of religions and cultures; probably our favourite place on our trip.

We are looking at arriving in Australia in the next few months, we have not planned our route yet and were wondering if anyone had any suggestions?

We would like to get off the main tourist routes where possible, what are the top off road destinations?

If your interested seeing our photo's and reading up on our travels, here is our web site:

Overland Adventure









If you have time for a beer as we travel through Australia, let us know!

Martin & Nicole

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

wow! sounds amazing, i'm extremely jealous. will have a look through your website now.

[hisham saeed Member Find all posts View Profile Close hisham saeed]

that's very inspiring ,

[Doofus Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Doofus]

Hi All,

We are looking at arriving in Australia in the next few months, we have not planned our route yet and were wondering if anyone had any suggestions?

We would like to get off the main tourist routes where possible, what are the top off road destinations?
Martin & Nicole

Where abouts in OZ are you arriving and how much time do you expect to spend here? It is a very big Country with many brilliant "off the tourist route" destinations but it will be very difficult for anyone to give suggestions without understanding what your broad travel plan is. I can point you to some great places in the Pilbara but they are a long way from anywhere.

safe travels

John

[MUMSRIG Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MUMSRIG]

Wholly Smoke... What a life.. Living the dream for sure!!

[Mart456 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mart456]

Hey John,

We are shipping to Darwin, and plan to make our way down to Sydney over 3 months driving down the east coast to begin with.

Money is running low and looking at the prices and the A$, we will have to find some work on route, which may add a month or two,

Martin

[Guest Close Guest]

2011 Pradopoint Get Together in South East Queensland in October would be one stop worth considering.

[yowie78 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie78]

Welcome to Australia! Yell out when you hit the West Coast (the nice side of Australia) if you want to have a beer or need a place to stay for a while, go diving, talk travel etc.

Get ready for some serious car washing when you get to Aus! I've talked to some other Brits who have done similar to you and have had to spend up to a week in Customs scrubbing their car once they hit Australia.

PM me for contact details

[Yota Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Yota]

I dream of doing a trip like this one day, If your around Newcastle & the hunter valley area Im sure we could organise a trip or two and show you around.

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

An absolutely awe inspiring journey. Good on you guys for living the dream.
Let us know when you are in South Australia, I’m sure we can organise something around your dates.

Mick

[Mart456 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mart456]

Hi All,

Thanks for all the comments, and offers of a bed for the night,

We have finally left Indonesia after 5 months, we're currently in Dili, Timor Leste preparing the vehicle for shipping to Darwin, in the next week, we plan to spend 6-9 months touring,

We would like to drive up to cape york, what is the latest time of year you can sensibly drive up there? Given our vehicle is overloaded we don't want to get too stuck!

While travelling about Australia, it would be great to join you on some of the club days weekends out, so please let us know if anything is going on, (will check the forum too) we will try and make it to 2011 Pradopoint Get Together,if time allows.

We have managed to get a couple of Sponsors GT Radial (Komodo MT Tyres) and MaxTrax, however we are still looking for some other bits and pieces especially a front bumper....

Some photos from Indonesia

(we did try to add a few photos to the post but could only add 4 for some reason)

Martin & Nicole

[stevensr34 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevensr34]

I'd head to Cape York as soon as you can this year, i.e. in the next couple of months. Anytime between early January and end of May is not do-able.

[Mart456 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mart456]

Driving legally in Australia

Hi All,

We have now had our car stripped down and cleaned for Australian customs, and will be landing in Darwin this evening,

We have had a couple of issues during the cleaning process, water got into the electrics, which caused issues with starting and turning off the vehicle, hopefully by the time it lands in Darwin it would have been fully dried out.

One the Pradopoint members has kindly offered us a deb for a couple of nights

Route wise were are still torn between driving east or west, once leaving Darwin, if any one has any suggestions / comments would be great.

We have to meet family in Sydney on the 10th of October which means which ever direction we go we have to find some where we can leave the car for a week and also be able to get flights to Sydney

Driving legally in Australia

We were wondering if anyone has information about driving legally in the country.

I understand the rules from state to state are different but gather we have to carry out the following:

• Register the vehicle in the state / pay road tax
• Have a vehicle roadworthy test
• Obtain Insurance

Also once these are completed do they cover you for all other states ?

Martin & Nicole

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

Hi All,

Driving legally in Australia

We were wondering if anyone has information about driving legally in the country.

I understand the rules from state to state are different but gather we have to carry out the following:

• Register the vehicle in the state / pay road tax
• Have a vehicle roadworthy test
• Obtain Insurance

Also once these are completed do they cover you for all other states ?

Martin & Nicole

I assume you've already applied for a carnet as you've had the car go through customs and its in transit?

If this is the case, then you're allowed to drive in Australia for 12 months I believe.

I assume you've had to pay for this and that should cover the registration (they use your uk rego), road tax, and ctp insurance.

your comprehensive insurance from back home should also cover you?

A passport for your car (Carnet de Passages en Douane)
Carnet (pronounced car-nay) is a simple customs document that saves time, effort and expense. It acts as a passport for your motor vehicle when you take it overseas.

Carnet (the word comes from the French meaning 'notebook') contains a set of vouchers. Customs officers simply take one voucher every time you pass in and out of each country. This allows the temporary importation of vehicles with a minimum of customs formalities for international drivers.

A Carnet is essential for the temporary importation of vehicles into African, Asian, Middle East and South American countries and New Zealand. A Carnet is not required for motor cars, campervans and motorcycles entering all countries in Europe or the continent of North America for touring purposes.

The Australian Automobile Association is a member of the AIT/FIA Carnet network. This network guarantees to customs authorities around the world payment of customs duties on motor vehicles temporarily imported for touring purposes.

If you'll be driving internationally and want to get a Carnet, you must be a financial member of a constituent motoring organisation of the AAA (for example, an RACQ member).

To organise your Carnet you need to fill out an application form and provide security in one of the following forms:

undertake an indemnity executed by an approved financial institution, such as a bank, building society, credit union or insurance company
a cash deposit in the form of a bank cheque representing the security required, or
payment of a premium for a special indemnity insurance policy, available through the AAA
The amount of security required depends on the countries to be visited and the current market value and type of vehicle being used. Security, expressed as a percentage of the current market value of the vehicle, could vary from 50% to 470%.

Your security deposit will be released when the Carnet has been discharged by the Australian customs authorities and has been returned to the AAA Constituent member from where it was obtained.

An administration fee of $400 is payable in addition to the amount of security required.

[Dorey Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Dorey]

I would suggest head to Queensland from Darwin along the savannah way and up the cape, flights would be much cheaper to get to Sydney from the east coast. Then after that you can chose which way you want to go back into the center to Alice then across to the west to broome then where ever you want there is alot to see so enjoy your time here. Hope that helps.
Dorey