Adelaide-Perth

[Guest lippy]

Anyone driven between the two?

 

We will be driving from Adelaide to Perth shortly with 2 dogs and a 5 year old and looking for suggestions for things to do and see on the way there and back and also in and around Perth itself. We are taking almost 4 days each way - so no major driving (no more than 750kms/day) - easy to say before we start!!! and wll have almost a week in Perth itself.

 

Look forward to hearing any suggestions.

 

Julie

[Hayshake]

I would not want to put you off, but a couple of years ago I thought we would do the same thing and asked my Aussie friends their advice. They said if you have 3+ days of your life to waste then do it, but it seems as if most of it is desert driving with not a lot to see.

On the other side, we were up in the Barossa last week and chatted to a lady and gent who have cycled all over the place, and they have cycled to Perth.

 

Best of Luck what ever you decide.

[Guest JoTanCalOwen]

hello there,

 

I cannot give you any advice on the journey, but I do know that when we flew from Perth to Adelaide, we had a time zone change, and we were not expecting that !! lol, anyway we visitied Hilary's the links are below, it is next to a beach and has its own beach as well as attractions, food places, and loverrrrrrly yachts ect, at the great excape there are a few things for your little one but not sure about the dog ......

 

Hillarys Boat Harbour, Perth, Western Australia

 

The Great Escape, Hillarys Perth WA — Perth's Ultimate Leisure Park

 

Good luck with it all

[Sears Family]

hi just wondered, do you have to drive?

Looking in this months Australia & NZ Magazine they cover a train ride from Perth to Adelaide, looks fantastic, much more relaxing and your little one would LOVE it! Much better than being couped up in a car!

Ahh just spotted the dogs...kennel??

[wizzywozza]

I worked on the Indian Pacific to and from Perth - believe me you would not want to take a 5 year old on it. It's a boring trip ............... desert, sand and rocks ........ and nothing to do on the train. If you do take the train with a child take a portable DVD player and LOTS of dvd's!

[Guest nishman]

You could always play the longest golf course in the world (in reverse if you're going adelaide to perth)

Nullarbor Golf .com - Play the Nullarbor Links Golf Course

Ok maybe not, but there would be whale watching off of the bight if you're going between May and October.

Not sure what else there is to do on the Nullabor I'm afraid...

[Anne B]

Haven't done the trip myself but my husband has - the first time when he was a kid, the family drove there and back with 3 children and no air conditioning!! He survived...just....

 

He later drove it when working as a coach driver. Obvious places to stop would be Port Augusta, Ceduna, the Bight where there are big cliffs and at the right time of year you can see whales, and Kalgoolie (not really child friendly as its a mining town with a reputation for brothels). The Nullabor is very flat and to most people extremely boring, not a great place to spend 6 days stuck in a car with a 5 year old and 2 dogs. (Driving to Devon with a 5 year old was bad enough!!). I've driven as far as Ceduna and the road across the Eyre Peninsular is extremely long and monotonous and hypnotic. My advice would be to leave the dogs behind, fly to Perth and hire a car whilst you are there - but that's probably not what you want to do.

 

Why not try a shorter journey first and see how you get on?

[lorluc]

Yeah....never done it but i do know a couple that did it by motorbike.....they were okay, it was just them.....

 

Personally, i dont think i would even attempt it with a small child....or dogs!

 

Lots of it, from what i hear, is just miles & miles of nothing...

 

Good luck...and if you do go for it...then be great to hear about it

[Guest Philip]

750km per day is more than 9 hours driving per day at 80kmph!!! That's a long drive I'd say!

[Guest lippy]

It's not so much that we are thinking of going more this is what we are doing...

 

We are competing in the 2010 Agility nationals with the dogs so leaving them behind wasn't an option but rather the reason for the trip. Little fellow is well used to travelling as we have traveled with him from day dot to dog shows all over the UK but this will be an ultimate test for his patience - we have bought dvds, books, ds games, pens etc so hopefully he should be fine - just want to award him with something worthwhile seeing/doing on the trip. We are travelling in convoy and as it's not a trip we plan to do again in a hurry are in a weird way looking forward to it - trip of a lifetime etc! Can't say I'm looking forward to the return journey though....

We are travelling late April so don't think the whales will be there at that point but believe the view of the cliffs along the Bight is something else and that there are some other things including some giant eagles to see along the way.

 

The round of golf has been suggested - will let you know what it's like...

[Guest Mikemouseton]

750km per day is more than 9 hours driving per day at 80kmph!!! That's a long drive I'd say!

 

Why 80kmh?

[Guest Philip]

Just as an average. And even tho the temptation is to drive at 120+, if you hit anything, even a rock in the road you're toast! A friend of mine hired a motorbike to drive around Australia and did the same, went as fast as he could, hit a bump, completely destroyed the motorbike and nearly tore his shoulder off. And this was in the middle of the desert!

[Diane]

We are competing in the 2010 Agility nationals with the dogs so leaving them behind wasn't an option but rather the reason for the trip. Little fellow is well used to travelling as we have traveled with him from day dot to dog shows all over the UK but this will be an ultimate test for his patience - we have bought dvds, books, ds games, pens etc so hopefully he should be fine - just want to award him with something worthwhile seeing/doing on the trip.

 

Gosh, I knew dogs that did agility are generally intelligent, but I'm impressed that yours can do DS Games and watch DVDs - I've been trying to get our Border Collie to watch The Dog Whisperer for weeks now but she is just not interested....! Perhaps I should get her a DS instead......

[minkyme29]

Gosh, I knew dogs that did agility are generally intelligent, but I'm impressed that yours can do DS Games and watch DVDs - I've been trying to get our Border Collie to watch The Dog Whisperer for weeks now but she is just not interested....! Perhaps I should get her a DS instead......

 

LMAO! That's good Diane!

 

Julie - Good luck with the trip, I know that if anyone's prepared for such a trip with a child and dogs then you are. You're very experienced in this so I'm sure you'll be fine. Let us know how you got on when you get home. Have you still got your cat?

 

[Guest lippy]

Have you still got your cat?

 

Yes, getting bigger by the day and won't leave the dogs alone! It really is a mad house when they all start playing.

 

Just back from Mount Gambier where Andrew informed us it would be hours before we would be home so could he get his pens and paper so he could draw.. He coloured, drew and ate all the fruit and arrived home one happy little chappy.

 

Hope it is a sign of the behaviour we can expect on the imminent trip to Perth......

[Guest lippy]

Just completed the drive over - Little fellow was brilliant would never have known he was stuck in the car for 12hrs, 6hrs, 10hrs and 12hr days. As far as scenery goes the landscape changes continually and was completly different from what we expected and very green. The wildlife was surprisingly scarce and there was very little roadkill. Until about 200kms out of Perth we were overtaken by about 3 vehicles!

 

An experience I would recommend (that's before we start the return journey!)