Packing and driving an Australian road trip
Sun, distance, a spare tyre that actually exists, and the humility to stop at dusk. Driving Australia is not complicated. It is unforgiving of theatre.
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The east-coast backpacker who packs three pairs of jeans and no water is a cliché because the type is immortal. Australia will let you drive 800 kilometres on a sealed road in a small car. It will also let you do that without lunch, without a spare, and without telling anyone. The road does not care.
Pack for the climate you are entering, not the one in the airport. South-east summer: sun, water, a hat that stays on. Tropical wet: a dry bag, patience, and clothes that dry. Outback: more water than you think, paper maps, and the beginner outback notes. A first-aid kit is not aesthetic. A second pair of sunglasses is.
The car is part of the itinerary
Check the spare, the jack, and whether the hire agreement hates dirt roads. Photograph the existing dings. Keep the tank above half outside cities. Cattle grids, road trains, and floodways are not Instagram props. If you are on the Great Ocean Road you still need fuel discipline; if you are on the Stuart you need it as a moral value.
Night driving is how people meet kangaroos at closing velocity. Stop. The motel you did not book is cheaper than a windscreen. Use the holiday calendar so you are not still hunting a bed at 8pm on a Saturday.
Offline is a kindness
Download maps. Tell someone the route if you are leaving the bitumen. A PLB is not silly in the Centre. Headphones at 110 km/h are. The east-coast hop can be done on buses if the driving sounds like a second job — that is a valid reading of this guide.
Drive like the country is bigger than your playlist. It is.
Questions from the desk
- Do I need a 4WD?
- Not for sealed tourist routes. Yes for beaches, station tracks and many outback alternatives — and only if you can use it.
- What about driving at dusk?
- Don't, if you can avoid it. Wildlife and fatigue do their best work then.
Keep travelling this theme
When to visit Australia by region
There is no best month for the whole country. There is a dry season, a southern summer, and a set of shoulder weeks that make the rest possible.
Australian public holidays and peak travel times
School holidays, Easter and a long weekend can double a room rate and empty a ferry of seats. Plan around the calendar, not around optimism.
Read the australian public holidays and peak travel times guide
The Great Ocean Road at a human pace
The Twelve Apostles are a car park with a masterpiece attached. The road is better when you sleep twice and walk once on a beach that is not in the brochure photograph.