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… a dream or an torture?
Let’s get this out of the way straight away: many people dream of this continent and would love to stay there for good, whilst others see no reason to travel to Australia. It wasn’t much different for us either; for Tom, it had always been a dream, whereas Chantal, on the other hand, couldn’t see the appeal of the endless expanses. We’re also asked time and again where we liked it best; a question we can never answer straight away or with any certainty. In such a vast country, there are countless corners and regions that completely captivated us. That’s why we’ve always had to – and still have to – pass on giving a definitive answer.
Tom: A true paradise for outdoor enthusiasts, where you can do almost anything – at least with a 4×4. You’re allowed to drive on any tracks that aren’t marked as private. Even in the national parks, many tracks are open to vehicles. A dream for any off-roader. Certain tracks require a permit, but you can usually obtain one for a fee, provided you comply with the restrictions.
I was also absolutely thrilled by the vast expanses and the sense of seclusion. You can be out and about for days on end without coming across a single soul. I also loved the campsites, which were usually completely peaceful, and the starry sky, which often kept me awake at night. The campfires were always the highlight of the evening – unless there was a strict fire ban in place.
Personally, I had enormous respect for the crawling creatures. Australia is home to the world’s most venomous snakes, and with some of them, you only have a very short window of opportunity to administer the antivenom. On the tours we occasionally went on, this could have ended tragically in the event of a bite. Whilst a certain degree of caution can greatly reduce this risk, it can never be ruled out entirely.
Then there was the wet season in the north-west of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, which threw a spanner in the works – or rather, for me personally – for my idealised plans. This year’s wet season (2025/2026) was exceptionally long and heavy, even featuring a powerful typhoon. Afterwards, almost all the roads in the Kimberley were closed, flooded and teeming with crocodiles in the countless fords (water crossings). In the northern part of the Northern Territory, almost everything was closed either seasonally or due to high water levels.
Chantal: Well, it was a long time spent as a passenger, navigating the driver’s driving skills and correcting his wrong turns. No, it wasn’t a dream destination; it was simply to fulfil my dear husband’s long-cherished wish. In the vast landscapes, there was almost no wildlife to be seen; most of it lay dead on or beside the road.
Then the weather conditions were anything but pleasant. On arrival in Sydney, it was bitterly cold and wet, and even sleet was falling over the city. In the north, around Cape York, it was humid and hot; in the central region around Alice Springs, it was unbearable; and in the far north around Darwin, there was a sweltering heat of the highest order. On the west and north-west coasts of Australia, the thermometer frequently showed temperatures of over 40°C, naturally always accompanied by high humidity.
The insects, too, were always somehow and everywhere on the lookout for human food. The bush flies were more than just a nuisance throughout the day. In the evenings, they were replaced by mosquitoes. Among other things, there were also these biting flies, similar to the horsefly back home, but the bites hurt a fair bit more. Twice we had to flee from a swarm of wild bees early in the morning. And then there were the many eight-legged crawlers; they really were everywhere and even in the loo they were happily crawling about.
It’s a mystery why so many travellers rave about Australia!
The roof tent wasn’t ideal either, especially when you need to go to the toilet at night!
As someone with allergies, I faced additional problems, as the Aussies mix soya into everything, even the bread.
Wildlife: As far as wildlife was concerned, Australia was almost a disappointment for us; kangaroos, wombats, koalas, snakes and many more – not to mention the magnificent birdlife – you frequently come across individual animals, as well as small and large herds of kangaroos. However, the numerous fences are often deadly traps, particularly for kangaroos, and act as insurmountable barriers against approaching danger. The authorities use the poison 1080 to specifically target feral cats and dogs. In a way, this approach is certainly understandable, as many bird species in Australia are ground-nesting and countless others often live on the ground. But what happens to the native dingos? Are they also unwelcome? The sight along roads and tracks is equally shocking; nowhere else did we see so many dead animals along our routes. There were days and stretches where there was a dead animal lying by the roadside virtually every 50 metres. Even on side roads and gravel tracks, dead animal carcasses lay beside or on the track itself. We often wondered whether it was a national pastime in Australia to send wild animals to their deaths by car; we couldn’t explain the daily carnage we witnessed any other way. An Australian road trip isn’t really recommended for the faint-hearted! ☹
Car: Without your own vehicle, you’re almost a bit lost in Australia. You’ll search in vain for public transport, and many places are simply inaccessible without a car. These endless distances are almost impossible to cover by bike, and the weather conditions can turn a cycle ride into a living hell.
We bought a second-hand vehicle with 217,000 kilometres on the clock from BackpackerCars in Sydney – which now has branches in four locations. The Toyota Prado, the little brother of the big Land Cruiser, had all the essential off-road equipment you sometimes need when venturing off the beaten track; from a winch with a bull bar (a massive front bumper with extremely high protective bars) and a snorkel, right through to a low-range gearbox with a limited-slip differential and two fuel tanks with a combined capacity of 180 litres. The UHF radio was, of course, also fitted. Before setting off on our big trip, we had a sturdy rear bumper fitted so that the spare wheel no longer hung from the tailgate, allowing us to store water canisters and a gas cylinder on the outside. The roof rack was completely undersized for the heavy roof tent and the 270° awning, and the lower plastic base plates were giving way more and more under the heavy load. There was only so much we could do to tighten the six fixing bolts. By the end of our trip, there was a worrying rattling noise coming from our roof. Instead of the three roof struts, a proper roof rack, e.g. from Rhino-Rack, would have been a better – albeit slightly more expensive – choice.
Then there was the car’s electrical system; someone had once fitted a dual battery system to the car, connected numerous additional electrical loads and routed the cables in a completely haphazard manner. It was also not entirely clear how the auxiliary battery in the camper compartment was integrated, or whether any power was actually being fed from the engine’s alternator to the auxiliary battery at the rear. In any case, no power could be fed forwards from the auxiliary battery, which would certainly have been a great advantage given the poor-quality dual battery system in the engine compartment. When using the winch, the vehicle’s batteries were often at the end of their electrical capacity, and during the last winch operation, the whole car simply ‘died’!
No sooner had we set off on our big tour than we were slowed down by countless flat tyres. We had the tyres – which were over 10 years old – replaced with new ones, even though the remaining tread depth would still have been sufficient. We also replaced the oversized spare tyre, which didn’t match the four fitted tyres at all.
Every 10,000 km, a brief stop at a garage was required to change the engine oil and oil filter; Australians change their oil every 5,000 or 10,000 km. This is even specified in Toyota’s service booklet, and it is claimed that this is why Australian cars achieve such high mileage.
Even a Toyota can suffer damage. On two occasions, we had to have repairs carried out on the front drivetrain and the steering. To our frustration, the additional mechanical warranty we’d taken out did not cover the costs, so we had to bear the full expense ourselves.
Even with a moderate driving style, the 4-litre petrol engine was incredibly thirsty, and due to the global political situation, petrol prices really threw our travel budget into disarray. We covered over 60,000 km and used 10,167 litres of petrol, which works out at an average of around 16.9 litres per 100 km. Unbelievable!
Due to the extra kit, such as the roof tent and awning, the car probably wasn’t particularly aerodynamic, and the weight inside certainly didn’t help with fuel economy. We did a rough calculation of everything and came up with a total weight of around 3,000 kg – a bit too much for the Prado!
The big advantage of BackpackerCars for us was that they buy the car back, allowing us to set off on our return journey stress-free. According to their guidelines, you get 60 per cent of the car’s resale value back, minus the cost of repairs and the renewal of the annual registration. Any equipment you’ve bought and are returning is lost and isn’t taken into account. That’s why we organised a flea market at short notice and managed to sell quite a few things after all. Much to our dismay, no sooner had we handed over the car and signed the buy-back agreement than we received a call from BackpackerCars at the airport with some shocking news. According to this call, the car had suffered engine failure and white-blue smoke was billowing from the rear exhaust; based on their initial diagnosis, it was now only worth scrap value. A video they sent us illustrated the potential damage. We immediately asked each other whether something had been tampered with or whether everything was above board. That same day, we drove many kilometres to BackpackerCars in Sydney without any issues whatsoever! In any case, they promised to have the Toyota examined further at a specialist garage. A few days later, we received the diagnosis and the accompanying report. It came as a huge shock: the engine was reportedly faulty and would need to be replaced at a cost of around 9,000 AUD. According to the report, the oil pump, amongst other things, was no longer working properly, and this fault triggered a chain reaction, causing several components to sustain significant damage. How the whole process of replacing the engine will play out and how much we’ll ultimately be left with in Australian dollars is probably anyone’s guess. There’s virtually no chance of us intervening; Australia is a long way away – too far to do anything about it on the ground.
In the end, we reached an agreement with BackpackerCars and they bought the car from us for 2,000 AUD. They’ll use it as a source of spare parts, as replacing the engine would probably be too risky for them too; the Toyota is 23 years old and has over 27,500 km on the clock!
Camping equipment: This was included in the quote from BackpackerCars. The products were almost exclusively from Kings Adventure. The products are much cheaper in their own shops than we paid for them at BackpackerCars. Unfortunately, not all items are of a quality suitable for a long journey, and in terms of certain product details, they differ significantly from the more expensive rival products. However, not everything was of poor quality; alongside the compressor-powered cool box, the roof tent was also worth the money and won us over. The other products were of ‘weekend-standard’ quality and often had to be repaired or tinkered with whilst on the road. We also had to buy lots of extra bits and pieces later on to ensure everything met our needs.
Most of the kit was purchased and fitted by BackpackerCars before we arrived in Australia. At this point, I (Tom) would like to note that a lot of it was fitted poorly or was even unusable. They just bolted the requested items on somehow, without checking that they worked properly. Thanks to my own DIY skills, we had no problems with the awning on the first rainy day. And the cordless drill we’d bought, along with a set of screws, was often a lifesaver; lots of things came loose or simply fell off. Without proper reassembly, some items wouldn’t have been as usable as we’d have liked.
With hindsight, we’d do some things differently. Perhaps just buy a car and get everything else ourselves in Australia. For outdoor adventures, Down Under is a veritable paradise of shops; in Europe, one can only dream of such variety and prices. It’s important to mention, however, that sourcing and fitting the items ourselves would take a certain amount of time. If you have any questions on this matter, we’re happy to help any future travellers to Australia. We’re happy to share our experiences.
Chantal and Tom/June 2026
Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 120, 2023 model
Camping equipment (roof tent, awning, cool box)
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