- AUSTRALIA - What to see, where to go ?

Hi,


I have 1 to 2 monthes of paid holidays left to take (yes...) before the end of april; so I am planning a trip to australia this time !


I'd like to see as many things as possible, where are the best places to be for a gearhead ? when ?? Hotrodwise (carshows, garages, clubs ??) or not.
It seems there are lotsa garages and cars in NSW and Vic, what about queensland and SA ?

I'll probably arrive in Sydney, I'd like so see Perth and a bit of WA too.

I'm not to much into tropical wheather, mosquitos and stuff like that, so maybe darwin should be for another time...

I'm interested into other stuff too (Mountainbike Xcountry/street trials -I'll try to take the bike with me- , motocross... )


But it's a huge country, so any help would be appreciated, thanks
dont hesitate to pm me if needed...

 

In two months time you can pretty much see most of the country. I know I did, twice. Both times I rented a car (you could buy one then sell it right before you leave to save money) and put over 25,000 kilometers on them each.

Basicly flew into Sydney, hung out and saw the sights there, rented a car in Kings Cross and headed north stopping and hanging out in all the beach communities up the coast. Spent a bit more time in the Gold Coast region of Brisbane cuz I had some Corvette pals there. Seemed to be alot of car folks in this area.

Continued north to Carins and spend a couple of weeks there diving off the Great Barrier Reef. You must also see the rainforest in this area. The waterfalls and scenry are breathtaking even if your not into mosquitos.

I then headed back south to Townsville (ALOT of car folks there) then west to Tennent Creek (very remote). I headed north from there to Darrin then back south thru the middle of the country to Alice Springs. At the time a person could climb to the top of Ayers Rock (which I did) but I heard you can't any longer. Belongs to the Aboriginals and I heard they closed it to the public now. If your into hiking and such the whole area is wonderful.

From there I continued south to the southern coast then west following the coastline to Perth. Hung out there then headed back east thru alot of the smaller old gold mine towns to Adelaide and followed the southern coast east to the Snowy River area and went horsebacking riding. (Check out the movie A Man From Snowy River if you haven't seen it yet) Also hung out in the Blue Mountains for abit then back into Sydney.

The first time I went I spent more time doing the nature sight-seeing stuff and the second time I spent more doing the car/hot rod thing. The next time I go I'll probably try to do both. The Aussie guys will be able to guide you better for exact shows and events but ones I remember being the bigger ones are the Nats (ASRF) that are held Easter Weekend and Summer Nats that are held during the New Year Holiday?

Also, if you're not already fimiliar with this site then you really should check it out. A whole bunch of very cool guys.
http://www.ozrodders.com/board/index.php

 

Perth has a big car cruise/ show and shine in february called Big al's poker run. If you are coming to perth this would probably be the best time to come,and the nostalgia drags are usually within a week or so. Hope this info helps

 

Be sure to go to Castlemaine, about an hour from Melbourne, which you should also see. There are more certifiable car nuts there than any place on earth! Tex Smith apparently, lives there off and on. Rod Hadfield, the builder of the wild Merlin powered '55 Chev also lives there and has a museum dedicated to Aussie hot rods. The community is considering building an enclave for car nuts to build homes and be close to other nut cases. It is an outstanding car place.

Be sure to take in Balerat, an old gold mining community not far from Castlemaine. Then head out for Canbera, Oz's capitol city. Very different for anything else you will see downunder. Be sure to take in the Veteran's Memmorial. After that, drive over to Bathurst to check out their legendary race track. Oh, by the way, on the trip from Castlemaine to Canberra, don't forget to stop at the "Boy and His Tuckerbox" park along the way! Just some crazy Aussie stuff, but very telling of their view on life.

Then, well, who knows? Diving the Reef is not to be missed, if at all possible. Take the train from Cairns up the hill to...I can't remember the name of the town, a trip of a lifetime. Tour the peanut farms, as they are the world's largest producers of the things! I could go on and on as Australia is a fantastic place to visit. I love it there...

PS - Be certain that you take in the local pubs, as much the same as England, the pubs are the center of activity and such fun places to be. Ask for Touhey's or FourX when you elbow your way to he bar.

 

romain,i am sure the advice will start flooding in.just get over here because its such a beautiful country.between now and march there is plenty to do - car related.off the top of my head - kustom nationals at phillip island,victoria early january is huge.ballarat swap meet,australias biggest swap meet,victoria late february.plenty of rod shops in most states.castlemaine as mentioned.in south australia we have a huge cruising season and plenty of shows.there is pretty much plenty to do all over the place,you just have to plan it out as to where you will be and when.other than car stuff,heaps and heaps of amazing sights and places to see.start surfing the web for car shows etc in australia and all will be revealed.

 

Check out the DLRA website for info on the next salt flat race meet.

 

If you can, get your hands on the book "In a Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson. Lots of info on what to see and the history of most of the country. Pretty funny read too!

 

Hi Hotrodladycrusr
What a great intro, and perspective on our country.
Yeah I am sure our mate will find it as a great place, many things to do and see.
oz40 (Tom)

 

I hadn't been on there in a while, and filled with fond memories, clicked your link for a re-visit. Then I saw this:
http://www.ozrodders.com/message.html

Man... that's harsh.

~Jason

 

Take some time and get over to New Zealand. Australia is awesome, I loved it and will get back some day, but NZ is different and worth the trip.

 

Forgot about a book, one that was REALLY helpful to me. By Frommers, Australia on $45 Dollars a Day........probably an increase in the amount per day in the ***le now but you get the picture. Safe, cheap places to eat, sleep and visit. (I'm a huge hostel fan and stay at them all over the world)

 

Damn, a trip over here, now a long trip there......hope your putting some time working on the chevy!!!

 

Crikey mate..... that guy Tudman is a strange cat.... he's in an organisation designed to promote and benefit hot-rodding, and he's doing the exact opposite by destroying a forum....

 

I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression, the OzRodder site is up and running.

http://www.ozrodders.com/board/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=984cbf334ada84df0149238caf99c463

 

Thanks y'all !! lots of interesting reading ahead...

cant wait to leave and have a blast

 

You CAN still climb Ayers Rock......me and my wife did along with DOZENS of Japanese tourists (with their white gloves gripping tightly to the guide chain!). I'd show you photos of a mate running around up there naked last year....but it would probably scare you off!

Got some friends travelling around the country at the moment. They've been gone 6 months already and are only half way......damned if I know how you see most of it in 2 months! You'll be missing A LOT.

Make sure you don't cross Tasmania off your list.

 

Check the shannons nostalgia drags website for dates around the country.
http://www.nostalgiadrags.com.au/
Great event with a great car show out the back.

 

As fair as Lake Gairdner is cobcerned, the salt lake, (all 90 miles of rock hard, feet thick salt) is now in the hands of its traditional owners thanks to Native ***le Laws.

The DLRA is usrrently trying ot get them to come to the table to enable them to press on with arranging the March 09 Speedweek but are having difficulty in getting them to do so.

Fingers crossed that they can get an outcome for the 09 event as the 07 and 09 events were washed out due to heavy rains.

Rat

 

If you want to go diving, we went a few years ago for 10 days on the Undersea Explorer. Its a research boat that takes sport divers along to offset costs. Best dive trip of my life & the researchers on the boat were all cool to hang with. We got back & tore up Cairns !! Also Mossman Gourge is pretty cool. We left for the reef out of Port Douglas.

Have a blast !

 

yes, you can still walk up ayer's rock (uluru). but, if you go to a foreign country and want to look into a church/mosque/religiously-significant-place, and they request that you remove your shoes, or cover your skin, or take no photo's, or whatever, do you ignore that request? of course not, you respect it.

the land IS the aboriginals religion. uluru IS a church for them. they ask you not to stand on sacred ground... and yet, thousands of people (and studies show they are mostly australians, japanese, and americans) ignore their request and walk on the rock anyway...

would you piss on the ****ing bible? DON'T walk on the rock!

 

I agree wholeheartedly. It's an amazing experience to get up at dawn and walk around it.

 

Check the events page on the ASRF website. http://www.asrf.org.au/events/ . Theres also plenty of good places to ride but bring a helmet, it's illegal to ride a push bike without one!

 

I don't agree at all.....the land is the land - It belongs to everyone. Respect it, don't destroy it, go see and enjoy it.

The rock itslf is an amazing peice of the country....tourists and new infrastructure aside

It's a decent climb though - prepare yourself!

In addition to all the other reccomendations, Far North Queensland and the Kimberley region is as spectaular as it comes.

 

When are you arriving?
I can pick you up from the airport, and show ya around.
Also one of the ferry skippers is a HAMBER .......good photo pozzy!

t

 

Plenty of good advice going your way.
If you are into Drag Racing, contact John Winterburn at http://www.travelaire.com.au

John runs a top notch travel agency and is also a major player at Willowbank raceway (Dragstrip0 just west of Brisbane.
He is generally across all the major hot rodding events in Australia as well and could put a partial itinerary for you.

Chris

 

Go see the Twelve Apostles...It will make the whole trip worth wild.....I spent a month Tattooing all around the country...Stayed in Wollongong and sydney...and a month Tattooing in Christ Church, New Zealand.....

 

If you're in Melbourne the last week of January,The Victorian Hot Rod Show will be on. Definitely worth a look.

Cheers,PJ

 

forget the big cities if you want to experience australia, get a car, head up the coast from sydney, detour to the coastal towns like newcastle, coffs habour, from coffs to tweed heads there are some nice beaches not far of the main road i usually pull into to stop for a smoke, i always travel at night and hit this area at sunrise, tweed to the gold coast is nice but if you are here january you might want to head the other way down to phillip island for the kustom nationals,
http://users.bigpond.net.au/kustoms/kustomnats/index.html

its not as hot down that way, last time i went down there i drove for 15 hours to get there, lots of australian country to drive through and not to bad a trip, forget flying over it, get a****st it in the car, might be worthwhile buying a mtb here and carting it with you, some of the touristy towns like the entrance just 1/2 a hour from sydney are full of cycleways, i havent had much to do with mountain bikes but my son races bmx and we have plenty of tracks to ride if you have a strong bike that can take a few jumps, if you get a few contacts here now you might be able to save a few bucks on accomadation.
also if you know were to go you dont need $45 per day, eg if you were tenting you could get a night at Blacksmiths beach holiday park( http://www.totaltravel.com.au/link.asp?fid=538091 )by the beach with a resort style pool, ensuite and bbq's for $19 peak season, get some suasages and bread from coles at swansea at night reduced$3-$4, get some vegemite and bread and margarine $6 and a six pack of beer $12 and your set for $41.00

 

Romain,
Edselfish post #5 has it sorted.............New Years weekend is Kustom Nationals at Phillip Island (Victoria) then GOTTA go to Hanging Rock car show 2600 cars.......expect to see one of EVERYTHING in a knockout National Park setting.......early Feb I think. Historic motor racing at Phillip Island one week before the F1 Grand Prix in March..........bottom line = be in Melbourne Jan and Feb.
Jim (ex-Melb, now San Francisco)

 

sounds like a great trip.
as pointed out there is a bit on in Perth in mid Feb
14/2 Big Als Poker Run- usually 600-700 cars, show and shine, then 1 hour cruise and more fun at the end.
17/2 Twilight Cruise- this cruise starts at one end of Perth and comes straight down our main freeway. The interesting thing is along the wya more and more cars join the cruise at each freeway entry. Usaually around 200 cars and finishes with a casual shoiw in a beachside suburb of Perth
22/2- Nostalgia Drags- entry to pre '75 cars or similar year styled race cars( ie FED's etc). Normally 150+ racing and around the same on display in the pits.

if you are around for that week we could easily organise a get together or a couple of garage tours with some clubs

if you hang around longer
first weekend in march is Western National Drag meet, 2 day event.
9/3- Cranksters Picnic (our club) 1/2 hour cruise to nice little town in Perth hills where we host a show and shine with a local community fair, lots of stalls, food, hot rod traders (maybe this year) nice pub with a band playing, usually 100+ cars. We also try really hard to get a great entrants goody bag and heaps of raffle prizes.

Lots of tourist stuff to see in WA, but it is much bigger than most people expect. 10-12 hours drive to the best reef in the world (possibly better than the Great Barrier Reef), another 8 hours to Broome. Waters not so safe here with crocs and 8m tides. another few hours from there to go see the area where they filmed much of the movie 'Australia' with Hugh Jackman but stunning gorges and country side.

Stop at Monkey Mia (8 hours from Perth)and see Dolphins being hand fed and if you are lucky get to feed them too (took my kids last year...awesome stuff)

I'll let the guys in their own states convince you to visit...but Melbourne is awesome. I'd move there if the wife would go.......