Driving to perth from brisbane

[Guest Saints]

Has anybody made the journey Brisbane/Perth or Perth/Brisbane by car. We are thinking of doing it in September from Brisbane to Perth with three children (ages 13, 10 and 8). I was thinking of giving ourselves a week to drive over stopping overnight in various places. Am I mad to contemplate this. Just thought what an opportunity as have to get the car over to Perth anyway. Alternative is to fly and arrange to transport the car. Grateful for any views/advice.

[surhythms]

Hi Saints - I think it might take you about 50 hours to drive from Brisbane to Perth in total - thats about a 7 hour drive at least everyday. It cost us $920 to ship each of our cars from Canberra to Perth . I think it might cost you more money to drive taking into account to the accomodation for the 4 of you. However, it is a great opportunity to see the country - providing there is 2 of you to share the driving. We drove to Melbourne at the beginning of the year and it took 8 hours and we were both shattered from doing it. I think if you look at it as more of a roadtrip it would be very exciting!!

[ROB T]

I can feel a few toilet stops coming on.......... and.............Dad!!! are we there yet???!!!

[Scot01]

Perth to Melbourne in 8 hours - can't believe that! It's 3400 k's so even at 100 k's an hour it'd take you 34 hours. Flying time is 4 hours! 8 hours would get you to Esperance. Brisbane to Perth is 4400 K's. I wouldn't contemplate it with young kids - not just the 50 plus hours in the car which would drive them scatty but there's not much to see except bush and desert, accomodation will be scarce and expensive and road houses might only be every three or four hours in some parts - where you have to get petrol and they can charge what they want.

[surhythms]

Perth to Melbourne in 8 hours - can't believe that! It's 3400 k's so even at 100 k's an hour it'd take you 34 hours. Flying time is 4 hours! 8 hours would get you to Esperance. Brisbane to Perth is 4400 K's. I wouldn't contemplate it with young kids - not just the 50 plus hours in the car which would drive them scatty but there's not much to see except bush and desert, accomodation will be scarce and expensive and road houses might only be every three or four hours in some parts - where you have to get petrol and they can charge what they want.

 

8 hours drive from Canberra to Melbourne I meant - not from Perth - no way that could be done unless you were in a super duper fast auto machine

[Guest Saints]

Now thinking that perhaps its not a good idea. Kids are 13, 10 and 8. Just thought you don't get the opportunity to do a drive like that just the one way very often. It would cost quite a bit for five airfares plus the cost of transporting the car.

[ali]

We travelled to Exmouth, with an overnight stop in Kalbarri then on to Exmouth the next day .... I would have struggled with another full day of driving after those two days - you might want to give yourself a little longer to get her so you can have some rest stops

[Guest david22]

I think you can reach Brisbane to Perth around 50 hours by the car.

[sussex boy]

Yeh, roadtrip. At least the kids will realise just how big the country is after a trip like that.

[Jen_PFR]

We travelled to Exmouth, with an overnight stop in Kalbarri then on to Exmouth the next day .... I would have struggled with another full day of driving after those two days - you might want to give yourself a little longer to get her so you can have some rest stops

 

Ali you've reminded me of my childhood - we used to do Perth-Exmouth in one day - 14 hours of driving, of which my dad would do 13 hours, and mum would do one - we went up there about four times. Ah happy days! I remember we only stopped for fuel twice on the way, and Dad wouldn't let us drink anything, as we'd need the loo!

[flatpack]

I drove Exmouth to Perth in 12 hours on Xmas eve 2009, what a journey that was

[Bibbs]

 

I've done South UK to Germany, and that was a mission.

 

And that's with proper 4 lane roads, 160+ kmph, and a hotel at the other end.

[Lou8670]

When we flew to Sydney from the UK we woke up and looked out over a sea of red and that's all we saw for 4 - 5 hours....can't imagine driving it with 3 kids in tow!

[verystormy]

The thing to remember with trips like this is to be very prepared and do enough research. There is a guide on a thread in the out and about part about driving in the outback I wrote a while ago.

 

The outback can be amazing to drive in. In fact it is my favorite place to drive in. But, it does require planning. For example, a journey such as this needs to consider weather. Not just the heat, which can be severe in summer, but also the rains which often close lots of roads.

 

Personally, I would want to take young children on a journey like this. Heck, mine were bad enough going for an hour. But, for a couple of adults, it can be fun.

[JasminInYarpshire]

The train from Perth to Sydney (Indian-Pacific) has a motorail (car transport) service. You can sometimes get special offer deal for a family + car which might make it cheaper than flying and having the car transported. You should be able to do the Sydney to Brissie leg by road with a single overnight without too much hassle. It'd still be a memorable trip, and hopefully easier with the kids than having them stuck in the car for a week. (it's also quicker, as the train runs through the night, which just isn't safe to do by road)