What considerations would need to be made to drive from the UK to Australia?

Question

If I wanted to drive from the UK to australia roughly how long would it take, how much would it cost? Do you think a car would take it without major repairs?

Would there be issues with gaining entry intocertain countries e.g. visas etc?

Any other issues you can think of?

Please give specific details and backup your answers where possible?

thanks

People...please think and post sensibly. The water parts of the journey will be with the car on a boat!!!

I want to know if this is a realistic ambition with regards to the legal implications of driving through so many different countries.

Also, do you know how much it will cost in petrol, how long it will take, and whether anyone has done it before and what state ther car was in?

thanks

Answer 1

Mitch from Tasmania makes a lot of good points. Now don't forget that there is a (civil) war going on in Iraq and westerners, particularly British, American and Australian people will not be very popular there at the moment. Stray tourists are as likely to catch a bullet as a bouquet. Elsewhere there are the troubles in southern Russia. Remember Beslan?

Even outside Iraq you might have a lot of trouble. You are going to have to dodge the Himalaya somehow and that could mean going right around it through China where the locals are not happy about foreigners driving on their roads and tend to bother them with police and army, even if special permissions have been obtained. Check out the net for the story of the Pekin to Paris "Raid" of 2005 where the suspected "spies" drove 100 year old cars!

Alternative routes lead through Pakistan and/or Afghanistan, neither of which prospects would fill me with joy. Apart from the difficulties with insurgents, religious zealots and bandits you will have to face the fact that roads in those areas are among the most dangerous in the world with death rates that make the worst roads in England or Australia look like playtime down at the kindergarten.

A fact that Mitch did not mention is that British cars are unlikely to comply with Australian Design Rules and may be hard to sell here on arrival. This has nothing to do with being right or left hand drive, we drive on the left in any case as in the UK. While they may be driven around by the owners for some time, they generally have to be re-exported or converted at the owner's expense to Australian rules. Some models could not be made to comply without local crash tests. Don't even consider such things as Bristols or TVRs which have not been sold in Australia since the 50s or 60s.

However here is a suggestion. Get a near-new western European car with left hand drive, preferably something with a bit of class. An Audi or Peugeot might do. Drive it across Russia and Siberia to Vladivostok and sell it there. Russians will buy any recent model car, but that does not mean they will give you top price. Russians are buying used cars in Japan, shipping them to Vladi. and driving them cross country to the west of the country for sale there.

If the newish car starts in good condition, good tyres, radiator hoses, fan belts etc a 20,000 mile run over good to mediocre roads is not going to wear it out if driven with reasonable care. Keep the oil and water up to it.

Maybe take a dodge into Mongolia where I read that people are very friendly. Make sure you have adequate packaged food and water supplies and things like toilet paper and soap as I have read that the food situation in some Siberian villages is tenuous. Be prepared to camp out as these places have not yet developed B&Bs, hotels or motels and never leave a town without a full fuel tank. The highway across Siberia is of variable quality and is not all that safe due to crazy and vodka fuelled drivers but it's a lot safer than some of the roads through the Middle East.

Once in Vladivostok hop over to Japan then fly to Brisbane. Buy an Australian car from a used lot and use it here.

Answer 2

Hi,

For starters you will need to drive from the Uk to the south of asia if you want to drive the whole way, although there is no real way to get here apart from flying.

Costs vary depending on the make, model, type, size of car you own but you can expect to pay anywhere from $600AUD to get it cleared by the Australian Customs Service, you will also need to fill out the appropriate forms to
A) have your car bought into Australia
B) have the car cleared by customs service when needed, this must be done before you are allowed to drive it.

After having the car cleared you will be able to drive it here with its UK rego plates for a period of 3 months, this also applies to your licence, after which you are not able to drive unless you gain the right driving licence, dependent on state and rego for your car.
And as for visa's, I dont think its any differnet then a normal visa for you and your car but I would contact the Australian Embassey or head to Australia House in London to find out more information.

I reccomend you take a look at the following websites as these can assist you further.

www.customs.gov.au
www.rta.com.au
www.vicroads.com.au
www.service.tas.gov.au
www.nrma.com.au

the above are sites for major australian insurance and car rego services.

I hope this helps you out and if you have any further questions please dont hessitate to contact me.

cheers and best of luck

Mitch
Launceston, Tas
Australia

Answer 3

Good question and it sounds like a great trip.

I heard some guys on the radio a few weeks ago talk about their driving trip from Aus to England but they went by motorbike and there were quite a few of them together (safety in numbers). Some kind of motorbike club.

It can be done but you're going to suffer a lot of crap when you get to countries like Pakistan, India etc. The local cops will hit you with all kinds of 'fines' to line their pockets.

From memory, the bike club I heard speaking about their trip had to arrange multiple permits before they even set off. Do a Web search for details of their trip and you'll get some tips.

Good luck with it...I envy you.

Answer 4

I saw a TV show years ago about a London taxi that drove to Australia. I believe they went via Africa and ended up in Perth - obviously they boated from South Africa (I would assume it was S.A but may have been somewhere else).
Good luck if you do - I'd think the worst part of the trip would be across the Nullarbor if you wanted to get to the east coast of Aus.

Answer 5

As far as I know, nobody has ever succeeded in driving from Europe to Singapore. You can get as far as the Bangladesh-Burma border. If you can find a way to get through Burma, the rest is easy. But you'd need an amphibious car to get from Singapore through Indonesia and PNG and across the Torres Strait to Queensland. I've got a friend who drove from Europe to India and another who biked from Amsterdam to Sydney, but he took the boat from Mumbai to Perth.

Answer 6

Anything is possible. That'll be a loooong journey if you ask me. By air it is around 18,000 kms. Over land - well, I don't really know.
Take an atlas and find major roads, take the distance approx. and you'll know it. And don't forget the water sections, if there is really a ship running to this place where you want to go.

Answer 7

I think the hardest hurdle for the drive is the fact that Australia is an island. Driving across the ocean may be difficult by car.

Answer 8

We drive on the left, which is the right side of the road!

Answer 9

Check shipping costs: It might be cheaper to sell it and buy a car once you're there as have it shipped.

Answer 10

You're gonna have to have water wings for your vehicle to drive to Australia from anywhere.'