Australia 2023
From the end of April until mid september of 2023 we were back in Australia after our first tour in New Zealand. For 4 months we were travelling through Australia in a 4WD (Ford Escape) with a rooftoptent.
Read here about our 11.000 km tour along the eastcoast and back to Melbourne.
Australia
After our first tour in New Zealand we travelled back to Australia. We had to leave New Zealand since our visas were only valid for three months, but the plan is to return end of 2023. So, end of April of 2023 we returned to Australia. We did two housesits, one in Inverloch and one in Melbourne, because it was fun and it gave us time to prepare for our Australia tours. When we arrived in Australia we were granted a three months visa but we applied for a 12 months visa as soon as we were in the country. Within one week our visas were granted until April of 2024. That made our planning life much easier. We could now plan two tours in Australia and start looking for a vehicle for these tours.
Our initial thoughts were buying a campervan similar to what we have in New Zealand. But things always go different, pretty soon we were attracted to the option of a 4-wheeldrive with a rooftoptent. Travelling this way may be a good option when in Australia. But we also wanted to travel with bikes, that is something we did back in Europe and what we really missed. So after we did our research we ended up purchasing a Ford Escape 4WD with rooftoptent. And we adjusted it so we could put a bike rack on it and bring bikes on our tour.
4WD with Rooftoptent
The combination of the 4 wheel drive, roof tent, bicycle rack, bicycles and layout of the car so that we can store our belongings is ideal.
We may have some cold nights in the south in winter, but you can make sleeping in the roof tent as comfortable as you want.
The electric Cube bikes give us a lot of flexibility and fun! And they take you through mountanous areas as well. With the perfect bikerack from Yakima we take these bikes whereever we want.
And with the 4 wheel drive we can also drive on gravel roads and dirt roads in many places in Australia so that we can reach certain places we want to viit as well.
Let's go!
As soon as we had successfully completed the housesits and made all the preparations, it was time to leave Melbourne. The plan is to do a round trip in about 4 months, first going north along the east coast. We want to see if we can get all the way to the northernmost point of the Australian mainland. Then make the "crossing” to Darwin and from there in a straight line through central Australia to Adelaide. Then return to Melbourne where we can look after Odie & Lola again at the end of September. Our fist stop on this long long trip was Phillip Island, just two hours south of Melbourne, a small island mostly known for it’s nature, wildlife and the moto GP circuit, yes really.