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Australia Itinerary (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter ed.chef
- Start date
Correct, but once you are at the park entry, that is where the gravel starts. When we were there, we had lots of miles on gravel as well. Accidents are unlikely in those areas, but should they happen, you may be in deep shit if you have not read the fine print.
Niels
cassowary
Well-known member
Interesting stuff regarding the car hire posts. I tend to give rental cars the 'top gear treatment' when I'm on birding/wildlife trips and Australia was no exception. BTW I get the rental car companies to mark every possible ding etc... on the damage sheet. This has helped me numerous times in the past, often covering additional dings that were added etc... Also one of my CCs covers me for primary CDW and maybe LDW (I forget) for almost all circumstances inc gravel roads (except for certain vehicles) which saves me getting the rental companies insurance (only a handful of CCs are comprehensive though).
jurek
Well-known member
About car hire - at least some companies allow gravel road access to campsites in national parks - check details. I did some in a mini car, in terms of driving it was no problem.
About scratching the car - I simply carefully photograph a hired car from all sides in presence of the agent on pick up and return.
About road maps and Pizzey and Knight bird guide - they seemed impossible to very expensive to get in Europe, but in Brisbane I went to a bigger bookshop and they had lots, and I saw them later also in the airport bookshop. So I suggest renting some birdguide in your place for preparation, but buy the real stuff in AU.
Familiarize yourself with the rather peculiar system of pre-payment of toll motorways and NP camping places - these are checked, don't be tempted just to drive and claim ignorance.
And check bird sightings on eremea.com - AUS observation database, although some sites are too broad (all national park as one site).
What else? Local people seem incredibly aware of who is around. I thrice driven a car to complete nowhere, only to have a farmer/park ranger/local appear out of nowhere and friendly ask what I am doing. I haven't passed any house or anything they could see my car. Telepathy?
Once it was rather embarassing, because I went spotlighting and especially picked area where I thought I disturb nobody and nobody disturbs me. Then some farmer apparently got out of bed to help me in case my car broke down. Can somebody explain me how Australians manage to keep an eye on the bush in Coolmunda area? I still didn't figure it out.
About scratching the car - I simply carefully photograph a hired car from all sides in presence of the agent on pick up and return.
About road maps and Pizzey and Knight bird guide - they seemed impossible to very expensive to get in Europe, but in Brisbane I went to a bigger bookshop and they had lots, and I saw them later also in the airport bookshop. So I suggest renting some birdguide in your place for preparation, but buy the real stuff in AU.
Familiarize yourself with the rather peculiar system of pre-payment of toll motorways and NP camping places - these are checked, don't be tempted just to drive and claim ignorance.
And check bird sightings on eremea.com - AUS observation database, although some sites are too broad (all national park as one site).
What else? Local people seem incredibly aware of who is around. I thrice driven a car to complete nowhere, only to have a farmer/park ranger/local appear out of nowhere and friendly ask what I am doing. I haven't passed any house or anything they could see my car. Telepathy?
Once it was rather embarassing, because I went spotlighting and especially picked area where I thought I disturb nobody and nobody disturbs me. Then some farmer apparently got out of bed to help me in case my car broke down. Can somebody explain me how Australians manage to keep an eye on the bush in Coolmunda area? I still didn't figure it out.
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This has now joined forces with ebird, so doing ebird will get you the same data. http://ebird.org/content/australia/
Niels
chowchilla
Well-known member
The problems of rental serve to illustrate why buying a vehicle is a good option IMHO.
On the way back from Georgetown with another birder several years back, we'd left it late and roos were everywhere on the sides of the road. Despite driving slowly, the driver still hit an Agile Wallaby. The modest dent in the bumper cost him about A$5,000 up front until the repair was done. He got most of it back but it was still an expensive trip!
It goes without saying that driving in the outback and remote areas at dusk or nighttime is something you should not do. The chances of hitting something are very high.
On the way back from Georgetown with another birder several years back, we'd left it late and roos were everywhere on the sides of the road. Despite driving slowly, the driver still hit an Agile Wallaby. The modest dent in the bumper cost him about A$5,000 up front until the repair was done. He got most of it back but it was still an expensive trip!
It goes without saying that driving in the outback and remote areas at dusk or nighttime is something you should not do. The chances of hitting something are very high.
Edward
Umimmak
Pizzey & Knight is a lot cheaper and more readily available in Europe now than it used to be I believe and it's easily the best Australian field guide in my opinion. I managed to pick up the latest edition in Brisbane this summer for $25, an absolute bargain. In fact it was about the only cheap thing I bought in Australia (besides petrol). As Chowchilla mentioned, Australia is very expensive and has become increasingly pricey on every visit I've made there since 1998. It'll be bread and water only for me on my next trip I think.
Maroon Jay
Airborne
How much is petrol in Australia?
The following website has up-to-date prices from around the country:
http://www.aip.com.au/pricing/retail/ulp/index.htm
Petrol is relatively cheap compared to the UK/Europe, though I think is probably somewhat more than the US. It tends to be quite a bit more expensive in the outback though.
Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
More than twice the price of petrol in the towns in some cases. It's a good idea to plan where to fill up.
Maroon Jay
Airborne
good info, thanks
Tony Knight
Well-known member
We have to abandon our plans to visit the top end in January as its monsoon time and itineraries can be shot to pieces so are looking for an alternative area to spend 6 days or so. You mention "Perth-Albany is great" - can you recommend some excellent sites in that area for birds/wildlife generally ? Would it justify a circular 6-7 day tour between those cities ?
Anywhere else better in January ? (we are already spending a week down near Melbourne).
thanks
Tony
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Peter C.
...just zis guy, you know?
Tony -
Is Kangaroo Is. on you itinerary already? We spent some time (two days plus a bit) there in December - fabulous place! Almost the only place we saw Koalas, and they were easy to find - we just drove across the island, and turn right at the hand-painted sign that said "Koalas!"
We found them around a billabong called (informally, I'm sure) "Duck Lagoon", but god knows if I would ever be able to find it again. It turned out to be one of the most serendipitous finds of the whole trip - besides the mammals, we also got 10 life birds at "Duck Lagoon" in a single morning (out of a total of 23 on Kangaroo Is. overall).
Is Kangaroo Is. on you itinerary already? We spent some time (two days plus a bit) there in December - fabulous place! Almost the only place we saw Koalas, and they were easy to find - we just drove across the island, and turn right at the hand-painted sign that said "Koalas!"
We found them around a billabong called (informally, I'm sure) "Duck Lagoon", but god knows if I would ever be able to find it again. It turned out to be one of the most serendipitous finds of the whole trip - besides the mammals, we also got 10 life birds at "Duck Lagoon" in a single morning (out of a total of 23 on Kangaroo Is. overall).
Tony Knight
Well-known member
Peter, it's not but sounds like it perhaps should be !
Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
these 4 posts have lots on a SW corner road trip (more stuff on previous and subsequent posts on same thread.)
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=1607226&postcount=723
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=1613077&postcount=730
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=1616062&postcount=735
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=1622118&postcount=741
Peter C.
...just zis guy, you know?
It's a bit of a hassle taking a ferry, but birds there (even by the extremely high Australian standards) were plentiful and very confiding .... watch out for the Emus, they'll try to steal your lunch! I don't know about the seasonality of Cape Barren Goose, which was one of the big draws for me, but they were plentiful at the beginning of December - and Little Penguin should be doable, without having go pay to see a "parade".
Duck Lagoon really did have quite a selection of ducks - Australian Shelduck, Chestnut Teal, Musk Duck, and Australian Shoveller, plus Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Hoary-headed Grebe, and the Hobby. Good passerines too, including Superb Fairy-wren and Red Wattlebird.
And the Remarkable Rocks really are!
Duck Lagoon really did have quite a selection of ducks - Australian Shelduck, Chestnut Teal, Musk Duck, and Australian Shoveller, plus Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Hoary-headed Grebe, and the Hobby. Good passerines too, including Superb Fairy-wren and Red Wattlebird.
And the Remarkable Rocks really are!
Tony Knight
Well-known member
Thanks Larry. My wife is a non birder but loves scenery and wildlife generally so we were wondering if the area ticks those boxes too or whether it would be a bit too similar to the Melbourne area given on the same lattitude (or is it longitude?!!).
Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
fairly similar, but the extremely tall and very impressive eucalypts are a must. And for us seeing Numbat and close inshore Southern Wright WWhales were special non-birding highlights. I think the coast's prettier too perhaps, but that's subjective.