Driving to Australia

[Ben]

it was suggested in my build thread, that i could drive to Australia, rather than putting my truck in a container when i emigrate next year.

at first i dismissed this as a crazy idea. but after giving it some thought, and asking my mate if hes up for it, im now seriously considering it.

need to work out a route, and price everything up.

obviously theres some dangerous countries that id want to avoid such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Korea? Iran? China, as i wont have any spare seats.

any suggestions, ideas, points to consider, greatly appreciated.

 

[misterpaul]

Lots of info in this blog:

http://trektooz.com/

just a shame about their choice of vehicle

But compared to these guys who are leaving in 2013 it's positively sensible:

http://www.cocothecab.com/

Best thing though would be to have a search around here:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/

mainly motorbikers but lots of discussion around routes / visas / carnets / etc. Also a good place to meet up with others planning a similar route so you can maybe share guide costs / containers / etc.

Have fun planning.

 

[ignat]

Do it!

I know Fridayman is planning on driving to Oz in the future, so I bet he has done some research already and can give some advice?

 

[Ronanjordan]

Go for it.
Should be eventful trip.
Read in 4x4 mag before about a terrano2 making it to mongolia.

 

[wobbly]

Dude,

I've just looked at the map and I actually feel bad suggesting it now!

Its at least a 2 vehicle journey, one wouldnt be safe.

The Turkey / Iran / India / SE Asia route would seem best (eh!), but things in Iran are going downhill now.

Pete

 

[Chas]

If you do go for this trip Ben, I will be following you every inch of the way, full of envy , it's something I would love to have done myself, but at my age and no-one to accompany me it's too big an undertaking. I know it won't be happening for a while but here's wishing you an early Bon Voyage and don't forget to send us lots of reports and pics. (As if you would need reminding )

 

[Ben]

thanks guys.

only a quick reply, as im mega tired and have got to be up in 6 hours to go laning in north wales.

had some great news today. one of my best mates has said he wants to come with me in his hilux!

so would be 2 blue toyotas together for the trip!

his plan is to drive his to OZ with me then have a few months in OZ, sell his hi-lux and fly home. its a great idea, but i need to look into whether he can import a vehicle into and OZ and then sell it.

 

[misterpaul]

his plan is to drive his to OZ with me then have a few months in OZ, sell his hi-lux and fly home. its a great idea, but i need to look into whether he can import a vehicle into and OZ and then sell it.

the criteria for importing a vehicle to aus are here:

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/ ... y_2011.pdf

in short for someone with a uk passport going for a holiday it's not possible. as you're emmigrating to aus you should have a read through the brochure as you'll need to apply for import approval for your truck.

 

[Chris Coombs]

Couple did it a short time ago - www.jollyfollies.com

I know Ollie, he a friendly sort and I am sure would be happy to help witth advice etc

Chris

 

[Lorin]

I've been looking into/planning a drive to Oz for a while. Driving UK to Oz is more difficult and expensive than the other way due almost entirely to the costs involved in getting a vehicle into Oz.

This is worth a read http://www.4x4overlandtravel.com/t480-s ... icle-to-oz - whilst they shipped from the UK it gives a good idea of the costs involved at the other end, something that is repeated in other trip reports to be found on the Hubb etc.

If you do decide to go for it we may be interested in coming for part of the journey - possibly to the point where you ship to Oz depending on where that is. Would be difficult to plan for too far in advance as the situation in so many countries is changing so often. Currently the biggest hurdle is China - the costs are catastrophic as you cannot take a foreign vehicle in without a guide. If the rules change in Burma to let foreign vehicles in that would enable China to be avoided but it would involve driving through Pakistan

I'll update later with more links/info I found when looking into it.

 

[Ben]

thanks for all the replies guys.

havnt had chance to sit and go through all the links and read everything but i will soon.

i thought my mate may not be allowed to import his truck to OZ, as he will only be on a holiday visa. i wonder if any of the surrounding countries have similar polices. if he could import and sell it in NZ, that could work well.

just a thought, regarding avoiding China, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan?

what about driving down through Spain, and crossing into Northern Africa, then driving through Morocco, Algeria, Niger (so as to avoid Libya), Chad, Sudan, Egypt, then getting shipped to Saudi, driving through Saudi into Oman, then getting shipped to India. then from there straight down towards OZ?

Lorin, youd be very much welcome mate.

id much rather do it with more than one vehicle, and ideally another toyota.

my mate is very keen to come with his hi-lux, but at the moment, this is very much dependent on him being able to sell it some where, and fly back to the UK.

 

[tarlachmoorhouse]

OK as you are emigrating, can he sell you the hilux before you leave the UK (for nominal sum) and then you import and sell it ?

Regards

John

 

[Ben]

OK as you are emigrating, can he sell you the hilux before you leave the UK (for nominal sum) and then you import and sell it ?

Regards

John

from what ive read, im only able to import one vehicle when i emigrate.

also the vehicle has to of been mine for, a year i think it is, but it might be 2.

i will need to provide evidence that i have owned it for that long, by showing purchase receipt, logbook, insurance certificates, garage receipts, etc.

 

[Lorin]

From what I've read it appears that shipping is both a hassle and a major expense that is best avoided if possible. In terms of avoiding the countries you mention Ben, one route we looked at is through the Stans into India. From there you could either drive South and ship straight to Oz from Southern India (but be prepared for potentially serious delays and hugely corrupt customs officials), or if it is possible to enter Burma (Myanmar) via Bangladesh, could drive down through Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia and ship from there to Oz.

Whilst it has not been possible to take a foreign vehicle into Burma for a long time, the changes there might see things changing in the next year or two. Definitely worth keeping an eye on as that would be the most cost effective option.

From reading on the Hubb, people are still crossing though Iran, Iraq and even Afghanistan without any problems. I guess it depends on when you are thinking of going. I agree with playing it safe though and trying to avoid anywhere that is known will give rise to problems.

Approximately when would you be thinking of leaving Ben and how long would you want to take to reach your shipping point?

 

[Ben]

thanks Lorin.

it does seem like a real pain about not currently being able to enter Burma.

obtaining my visa for OZ is a long expensive process, so im hoping i will have my visa by September/October if everything goes to plan.

so any time after that. could possibly leave it till just after next Christmas, or go just before.

as soon as the new year starts im going to be saving as much as i can and working a lot of overtime. need as much money behind me as possible.

regarding how long to reach my final shipping point to OZ, im not sure really. maybe a month or 2.
need to do a lot more research first, and try and work out how long it will take to drive to places, and how long i may want to stay in each place.

 

[misterpaul]

Another possible route for you would be to drive east to Russia and ship from Vladivostok. These guys did that trip in reverse from aus via south korea:

http://www.seeyouwhenwegetthere.com/index.php

If it was me I'd be going for more than a month or 2. Next to shipping your biggest cost is fuel and whatever your chosen route ends up being the distance (and therefore the fuel bill) is the same whether you take 1 month or 6 months.

 

[fridayman]

Our plan was to drive from here to Oz, however we have started a family since the plan was hatched. Looking at the route we had in mind, we decided that the last thing that we need is a sick baby/toddler in Albania/Pakistan/several other countries... We also do not want to be deadline driven (visa entry and exit dates) with a young child onboard. This together with the restrictions in Burma, cost in China, shipping issues from India, vehicle cleaning/quarantine issues from certain countries... made us decide to stick the truck in a container and ship it to Brisbane (were my brother is), and then take a year to lap Australia and get to know the country that we are moving to. As we are emigrating, I still need to decide whether we put the truck in a 40ft container together with our household contents, or send the truck and contents over separately in smaller containers (will come down to timing as well as cost). Some friends of ours have just moved back to Oz and one thing that they advised was to pay extra to have your own sealed container. They did not, and when the container was opened in Hong Kong to split the contents (going to different places), a lot of their stuff got damaged/destroyed (some of it is not replaceable).

 

[Rob]

Or go one further and go to Magadan, however you have to remember it gets very cold in Siberia during the winter. (http://www.donkeyandthemule.com.au/The- ... Bones.html). I know Paul from that site shipped his bike back from there, possible via Vladivostok. Going this way means you take along the silk route via the stans and loop through Mongolia. I would definitely do this trip and Mongolia again as I missed the stans and far Eastern Russia. Would be one hell of an experience in the winter (do we have a cold smilie?)

 

[Lorin]

... made us decide to stick the truck in a container and ship it to Brisbane (were my brother is), and then take a year to lap Australia and get to know the country that we are moving to.

This had also become our plan until very recently - it is by far the simplist option. The only reason our plan has changed again is the costs associated with shipping for what would have been a 6 month trip for us - approx £1800 each way from Southampton to Perth + customs fees in Oz which can run into several thousand dollars. And of course the vehicle cleaning before shipping which isn't to be taken lightly!

Now we've decided that it is simply too much to ship to Oz for a trip, we are back considering what options we have for a trip that doesn't involve shipping and isn't through Africa.

....obtaining my visa for OZ is a long expensive process, so im hoping i will have my visa by September/October if everything goes to plan.

so any time after that. could possibly leave it till just after next Christmas, or go just before.

regarding how long to reach my final shipping point to OZ, im not sure really. maybe a month or 2.
need to do a lot more research first, and try and work out how long it will take to drive to places, and how long i may want to stay in each place.

Your timescale for leaving would suit us - we could definitely be ready by then. However, I am not sure that 1 month to get to a shipping point would be a comfortable possibility - though I may be wrong I guess it depends on where you decide to ship from in the end. When I looked into driving to Indonesia and shipping from there, I reckoned on 2-3 months being a realistic timescale - again depending on what was done along the way. Our original plan did involve going through China though as there were no other options.

I will see what I can find out about the vehicle restrictions in Burma and whether they are still in place and likely to remain that way.

Rob's idea is another option, but not one I'd personally be interested in. I prepped the truck for a warm/hot weather trip not a cold one and I don't enjoy the cold at all.

 

[Lorin]

Burma is definitely worth keeping an eye on. If it did open it would make getting into SE Asia considerably cheaper. Lots of discussion on the Hubb - E.g. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/t ... ible-59653

Also lots of discussion on there about crossing through China. One option we could explore is to try and link up with other people wanting to make the trip so we can share the costs - not every vehicle needs its own guide. However, the costs are still likely to be really high and it would need to be sorted at least 4-6 months in advance.

It is worth reading some of the trip reports of those that have done the trip. Two common themes are it taking/needing longer than anticipated and the pain in the backside that is getting through China