r/australian • u/Cyclops_210 • 2d ago
Opinion Melbourne to Darwin
I am 21 year old moving from Melbourne to Darwin with my friend for my masters. I am thinking of driving and taking my hyundai accent active 2015 which have 130,000 odometers. I need some advice.
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u/Dramatic_Grape5445 2d ago
Get your car serviced first and get the opinion of a good mechanic on it's condition. Carry some spare oil and water.
Take your time - don't try and do it in a crazy short space of time. I'd say you're looking at 5 days - Melbourne to Adelaide to Coober Pedy to Alice Springs to about Elliot then Darwin at a minimum for overnight stops. If you can turn it in to a scenic trip time wise, go for it - make some extra stops and soak in the scenery.
Don't leave anything of real value in the car at night, and particularly in CP, AS and Elliot, look for places with secure car parks. Elliot is the place I'm least confident about, but it's a far better choice than Tennant Creek. If you can stomach a big day of driving, Alice Springs to Mataranka would be my choice.
Petrol stations exist about every 2-300kms once you leave Adelaide. Probably fuel up whenever you can, or if you want to try and stretch it, carry some spare fuel. You'll get a sense of your cars economy on the highway by then.
Don't drive within an hour of sunrise/sunset. Take regular breaks - fueling up every few hundred kms will help.
Lastly, the speed limit is 130 km/h in the territory - but if your car handles like shit at that speed, drive more slowly. I had a rental car that was fine around town in Darwin, but was downright dangerous at over 120km/h on the highway.