Backpacker’s trip in Australia: reflections, tips, useful links

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  • LEAVE A SPACE FOR ADVENTURE AND CASE. For those who like me to do this trip alone, my advice is to not organize everything, but leave it to chance as well. Obviously, this dsc_0883depends on how much time you have available, but I think the most beautiful thing about a trip is just unexpected things. If you are looking for a way to place a place and look for travel companions, go to the Gumtree site, which here in Australia (perhaps even more than in the UK) is considered a bible for these and other things (work, home, etc.). But another thing that will prove useful is the word of mouth or just talk about it. When I was organizing my move from Cairns to Darwin, I did not find anyone who did that path at that time, or at least no one answered me and so I was forced to take an internal flight because of the bus cost twice! When I arrived in Cairns among the many people I discovered, a boy was looking for a cheap way to reach Darwin! Experience a bit of luck in these cases is their part, being my first trip out of Europe to such a big country and having to meet the timing because I had set up the places to be absolute to see, I felt more Quiet in the first major travel reservations, but with the hint of then, apart from the Ghan (experience I especially liked) it would be much better to rely on the case, as I did for short trips and various trips (post “Queensland E Northern Territory “).

  • If you want to take the Ghan from Darwin, be careful and do not miss patience. There is no train station in Darwin, so for the rail company it is possible to set up a free shuttle for those who have a Gold ticket, paid for those who bought an “Economy” ticket. It looks strange in a country like Australia but you will not be able to give many directions about the stop where you will have to wait for the shuttle to reach the station. I took some time to find out why the hostel receptionist was not very precise and asking some people, even to some tour operators, did not seem so safe. But how is it possible? We’re talking about the famous Ghan, not any train! Finally, I realized where I had to wait because I could see a sign that was too obvious, attached to a pole! I also found that each of the passengers who arrived little by little had different timetables about leaving the shuttle to the station, which however arrived late, so I waited more than an hour from the hour I was notified…

  • RESPECT THE ABORIGEN’S LAND, RESPECT THE NATURE. If you are planning a trip to Australia, you can not go on your itinerary to visit the world’s most famous monolith, it is true, you will need more days and more money but will be worth not only for Uluru but to be able to touch with your hand The true Australian outback, the never end. Do not sleep at a hotel in Ayers Rock with a pool, both for ecological, ethical and cultural reasons. Nothing will be like a journey on the road in the red heart of this continent, picking firewood for the night’s fire, and passing the night under the starry sky in its sleeping bag. It’s worth taking a definite spartan trip but I will let you experience a more authentic experience. Visit the Aboriginal Museum at the entrance of the park and entrust yourself with an aboriginal guide, no one better than them will be able to tell you the essence of these places. Do not climb Uluru, remember that it’s forbidden, it’s a sacred place for Aborigines, and you have to respect their land and their environment. On this aspect I find it absurd after all that the Aboriginal people have suffered, that they do not punish tourists who violate the sacredness of this place, do not respect a ban and often cause a great environmental impact. It is inconceivable that, in order to avoid damages to tourism, this is permitted and is paradoxical in a law-abiding country such as Australia. It is true that the whole world is a country and once again economic interests and tourism are preceded by respect for a sacred land, a people that has already suffered so much and an environment to be protected.

  • CAR RENT. Be careful when renting a car! And trust your instinct. I happened to rent a car twice, once in Queensland, to Cairns and the second to Melbourne. The Cairns rental agency was professional and we did not have any kind of problem to drive for hours on Captain Cook Highway. Hire in Melbourne instead was a real scam. We decided to rely on an agency advertised in a hostel and therefore seemed trustworthy. At the time of payment we did not ask for any credit card as security, but only my license and so we paid in cash. Unlike the other agency that had a paper that reported the damage the car had already not to impute to us, this agency told us that the machine (with different dents) was insured and so there was no problem. Now I have to say that I do not have much car hire experience because these signals should have been enough not only to suspend me but rather to decide to leave. And so at 30 km from the Twelves Apostles, two rims of the car with attached wheels broke and we realized that the car was not registered with the insurance company. The wagon-car called by the agency instead of carrying a spare wheel pretended not to understand the problem and so he told us to wait there for the time it took to get back. Suspecting the worst, we decided to sleep in a motel and find a way to repair the car with the help of the owners of the motel, our saviors. You think the wagon came to look us up to the motel and wanted us to go to the repository and pay more than $ 2,000!

 

             USEFUL LINKS AND INFO:

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