The road to Perth

About how I left Sydney, made my way to Perth, the people that I met along the way and the adventures we went through. For the previous chapter see: Sydney

During my time at the bartender course in Sydney, I bought a van. It was a bit of an impulsive decision. It was cheap, I felt like I had to change something about the situation I was in because I didn’t feel very well at the bartender course, and I wanted to show myself and others that I could take risks. The car I bought was a Toyota HiAce, a car and a brand with a good reputation here in Australia. I had to convert it to a campervan if I wanted to travel with it, so that’s what I planned to do with my mate Kevin.

Stage 1

I met Kevin in Wake-Up Sydney just before the holidays. He is from Belgium too, so we immediately connected. When I did the bartender course Kevin went to Cairns to do some farm work. But he didn’t like the job just like I didn’t like the bartender course. So, when I bought the van, I told him about it, and we came up with the plan to convert the van and drive to Perth with it. We converted it together at a bunnings parking lot in about 2 days. After spending a bit of time at Bondi Beach we left Sydney. It was the 18th of February 2020.

Our first stop was Melbourne, there we met up with two friends of Kevin which he met in Cairns who were also going to drive to Perth. At the time the forest fires of 2019 were still causing havoc, so we had to take the shortest route from Sydney to Melbourne which gave us the opportunity to visit Canberra.

Canberra is an interesting place; it is very spacious but it’s not busy at all. To me it looks and feels like a modern, well maintained ghost city. The reason for this is back in the early 20th century when Canberra was founded the federal government couldn’t decide whether Melbourne or Sydney were to become the capital. Eventually it was decided that the city would be built about 100 miles from Sidney in New South Wales. Although it was a nice visit, we didn’t spend much time in Canberra.

2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = ?

Before we arrived in Melbourne, we got in touch with another traveller who was also looking for some travel buddies and she would bring a 6th traveller with her. But until Adelaide it would be the 4 of us. Me, Kevin, Anne and Lisanne. After doing a bit of city tripping in Melbourne, we left the city with 2 cars. With the 4 of us we went to the Grampians and via The Great Ocean Road we drove to Adelaide.

Check your coolant level.

When we were just 100 kms out of Melbourne we already had some issues. Before we left the city, I checked the coolant but because the cap was a bit dodgy it didn’t seal properly, and it blew off when we were driving so all of the coolant was spilled. Luckily the engine just stopped, and we only had to wait for the engine to cool down before I could fill up the radiator again and continue the journey. So, make sure you check your coolant and then that the cap seals properly.

In Adelaide we met up with our two new travel mates Kysha and Aymeric. They told us they have had contact with some more travellers, who, on their turn wanted to bring some people to the party as well. In the end we met up just outside of Adelaide with 11 people. Me and Kevin from Belgium; Anne, Lisanne and Igor from the Netherlands; Kysha from Switzerland; Aymeric from France; Naomi from the UK; Eric from Canada; and Nici and Kay from Germany. 11 travellers from 7 different countries, dispersed over 7 cars. That was our convoy.

Adelaide to Perth

With the fellowship of 11, we headed across the Nullarbor plain into the west, towards Perth and we had no idea what was laying ahead of us…

After Adelaide, our first stop was the Flinders Ranges a beautiful mountain range in the mid-east of South Australia. Then, at the beginning of March, we crossed the Nullarbor plain and would spend a few days without a phone connection. More or less 1000 km later we came back online and one of the first things we heard or read was the first death in Australia due to the coronavirus.

This was a very interesting period. We were driving across the country with 11 people while the first flights were being cancelled and the governments were considering a lockdown. Suddenly we felt a sense of urgency to get to Perth, but at this point, we were still quite happy to be on the road and without many worries.

Quickly we made our way to WA as this was the first state that was planning to go into lockdown. We still enjoyed our road trip very much and we saw most of the beautiful landscapes in South-Western Australia. A lot of tourists had already left the country, this made finding a parking spot in the most popular places a bit easier. As we were getting closer to Perth, we had to start thinking about what would come next. Hostels were stopping accepting new tenants. So where would we stay?

On the 18th of March, we entered Perth, exactly 1 month after I and Kevin had left Sydney. Kay and Nici had already left us and were on their own way. So, there were still 9 of us. We chose to rent an Airbnb as this was a very affordable option considering we were with 9. From my point of view, we were still having a great time. Renting an Airbnb, chilling and drinking together, and visiting nice places in the city. It was fun, and an adventure too, because we didn’t know how long it would last as the lockdowns were imminent.

The lockdown

The topics of the conversations in our group changed quickly and the level of worry started to rise. This makes sense because anytime we turned the TV on there was only one topic: COVID-19. Should we stay or should we go, home? After 2 days we had to go to another Airbnb because we had to say goodbye to Kysha and Aymeric as they had made up their mind and were going to leave Australia while they still could. Kysha was returning home while Aymeric took his chances and went to Asia. A few days later, Anne and Lisanne left our group as well, so we changed to a smaller Airbnb again.

The next of us that was leaving was my Belgian friend, Kevin. He also decided to return home. Me and Kevin first aspired to go work together in the mines of Western Australia. Unfortunately, this plan had to be cancelled altogether. Kevin decided to go home but I didn’t feel much for that idea. First of all, I already bought my van, so I couldn’t just leave like that. And second, Australia still felt like a safe haven compared to Europe. So, I stayed.

Right after Kevin left. My friend Shana came to stay with the remaining 4 of us in our last Airbnb. I met Shana in Leuven, Belgium a few months prior and coincidently she also already had the plan to go to Australia. So, since then we planned to meet up when we were both in Australia. Of course, we had no idea it would be in these circumstances. Shana was staying in a hostel in Fremantle up until now. But they already weren’t taking any new tenants anymore and now they were closing altogether. So, Shana had to find another place to stay.

We were nearing the end of March when we heard the news that Western Australia was going to close its internal borders in the night of 31st of March to the first of April. If we would stay in the Greater Perth Region, we would be locked in there until further notice. The Greater Perth Region is the smallest region of WA, yet the most populous. Considering COVID-19 is an infectious disease I thought it best to get out of this area, and Shana thought the same.

Together we looked through the Workaway platform for someone outside of the Greater Perth Area, inside of WA who could accommodate us in exchange for some helping hands. Luckily it didn’t take very long for us to find someone. On the 31 of March, we got in the van and left the Airbnb. We had to make sure we were out the region before 12 am… We were 10, maybe 20 minutes under way when the van stalled again. Just like it did when me and Kevin left Melbourne. So, I had an idea about what the problem was. And yes, the coolant had escaped again. After the engine was cooled down and I filled it up again we went to the mechanic.

After doing a few tests the mechanic told us the radiator had to be replaced. This would cost about 1200 Australian Dollars and couldn’t be done on the same day. For me staying in Perth was not an option. We had to get out of the region and drive 600 kms South to Denmark where we would do our Workaway job. The mechanic told us I would have this problem every 20 kms if I kept going. I took my chances, went to Supercheap Auto, bought a new cap for the radiator, some coolant and a few other things that I thought I could use, and we left Perth anyway. I kept on checking the coolant, but we made it out of Perth and into Denmark without any issues.

Some useful tips

Install a few fuel apps. When traveling long distances across a vast country like Australia looking up where you can find the cheapest fuel can save you a decent amount of money.
- FuelMap
  - Pros:
    - good for checking fuel prices Australia wide.
    - You can fill in a logbook to track your fuel expenses something I wish I did from the start. Then you can look back at what your fuel usage is and how the prices have fluctuated.
  - Cons: not the most convenient one to find the lowest prices nearby. You need to look on the map manually and you can’t filter one prices.
- NSW FuelCheck
  - Pros:
    - Easy to find the cheapest price in each area
    - You can plan a trip and mark each fuel station you need on the way.
  - Cons:
    - Only usable within New South Wales.
- My 7-eleven
  - Pros: you can price lock the fuel you want so you can get your fuel at a fixed price withing a week after locking the price.
  - Cons: just for 7-eleven.
Do some research about your car and possible mechanical repairs you might need. It can save you a lot of time and money if you know some basic car mechanics before you set out on a road trip.
Traveling alone can be tough, but so can travelling in a big group. Make sure you keep it fun and light. On trips like this nothing is really serious, and plans are quite flexible. But make sure you know what you want and what you’d like to do and communicate this openly with the group.

Thanks for making it to the end! If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to fill out the contact form at the bottom of the home page, or comment below. I hope to hear from you soon.