opisska
rabid twitcher
I am planning a trip to the Northern Territories, mainly the tropical part around Darwin and I have stumbled upon some issues regarding car rentals in this area and an input of someone with local knowledge would be really appreciated.
The most troubling issue is that most rental companies prohibit driving at night in Northern Territories. I have read experience of people who were not even warned about that rule and then got forced to sign a paper that they won't drive at night upon getting the car. Not being able to drive at night would completely defeat the purpose of renting a car as we want to spotlight for wildlife.
Moreover, I have also found stories of people who rented and then were tracked remotely via GPS and upon return, the company just took their deposits because they were speeding or just "driving badly" which seems really off-putting practice to me. If this happens, the night driving ban would be even a bigger issue, because I would actually have to adhere to it.
Relatedly, companies tend to prohibit driving off tarmac, even in good gravel roads and, what is the most absurd sometimes even for 4wd rentals. Again, this is technically the case in many places and I have always successfully ignored that, but if they track you?
Normally, I rent a 2wd and use my judgement where to drive and I never had a problem with that. If that's not possible in NT, I am willing to splash for a 4wd, but I would by quite upset to find that I still can't go anywhere... I found that some companies just ask you where you want to drive and greenlight each track individually, which I would also hate to do as I don't like to plan beforehand where I am going.
When I found out I am going to Australia for a work trip, I became excited about tacking on a personal holiday, but when I bumped into these issues, I became pretty demotivated. Can someone recommend a reliable outlet in Darwin that won't strip me naked using silly excuses and will give me at least some freedom or movement or should I scrap Australia as a whole? It's honestly not that difficult to do Borneo isntead ....
The most troubling issue is that most rental companies prohibit driving at night in Northern Territories. I have read experience of people who were not even warned about that rule and then got forced to sign a paper that they won't drive at night upon getting the car. Not being able to drive at night would completely defeat the purpose of renting a car as we want to spotlight for wildlife.
Moreover, I have also found stories of people who rented and then were tracked remotely via GPS and upon return, the company just took their deposits because they were speeding or just "driving badly" which seems really off-putting practice to me. If this happens, the night driving ban would be even a bigger issue, because I would actually have to adhere to it.
Relatedly, companies tend to prohibit driving off tarmac, even in good gravel roads and, what is the most absurd sometimes even for 4wd rentals. Again, this is technically the case in many places and I have always successfully ignored that, but if they track you?
Normally, I rent a 2wd and use my judgement where to drive and I never had a problem with that. If that's not possible in NT, I am willing to splash for a 4wd, but I would by quite upset to find that I still can't go anywhere... I found that some companies just ask you where you want to drive and greenlight each track individually, which I would also hate to do as I don't like to plan beforehand where I am going.
When I found out I am going to Australia for a work trip, I became excited about tacking on a personal holiday, but when I bumped into these issues, I became pretty demotivated. Can someone recommend a reliable outlet in Darwin that won't strip me naked using silly excuses and will give me at least some freedom or movement or should I scrap Australia as a whole? It's honestly not that difficult to do Borneo isntead ....