Mountains + forest [Part 2: Trial of our new car on dirt roads at Mount Mee]

[Intro: Queensland's Mountains/Forests]

Mount Mee (Tourist Drive 29)
(17/07/2011)

Someone told us to go North-West to Mount Mee and drive on dirt roads in the rainforest. And a very kind waitress told us to go until waterfalls at "Rocky Hole" in D'Aguilar National Park (link).

Une connaissance nous a conseillé d'aller vers le Nord-Ouest de chez nous vers Mount Mee et emprunter des chemins de terre dans la forêt tropicale. Une très gentille serveuse nous a indiqué les chuttes à "Rocky Hole" dans le Parc National D'Aguilar (lien).

What an experience! Our car behaves perfectly climbing hills in mud and rocks. Quelle expérience! Notre voiture se comporte à merveille pour grimper les collines de boue et de pierres.

We heard birds making strange loud metallic noises. Des oiseaux font des cris metalliques comme dans les films de jungle. listen/ écoutez (sec:13)

We followed all Tourist drive signs N°29 and stopped at all senic views. Beau-ti-ful!
On a suivi tous les signes "Tourist drive N°29" et on s'est arrêté à tous les points de vues. Magnifique! 
We finished our day having a wine degustation at a wineyards Ocean view Estates. What a perfect day!
Nous avons terminé notre journée par une dégustation de vin à Ocean view Estates. Quelle journée parfaite!

[Next Mountain trip: Soon]

We have our new car!!!

[Post précédent: A la recherche d'une voiture-FR] or [Previous post: Finding a car -ENG] or [Previous: where to live part 2 ]

Everything is working smoothly for us here "down under" because we already have our new car! Yeah!!!

Australians are soooo nice! You have to dare asking for a favour because they will work around the rules for you. In our case:

- We asked the bank for a loan before Stijn's first day of work. They should have refused it but "No worries"!

- We sealed the deal and ordered the car without any paper signed or any money deposit... We just sent a SMS... Nice!!! They admitted that it was an exception as we knew the big boss. :-)

I guess that we are lucky.

Here is our beauty !

We have chosen the Hyundai IX35 Highlander with a few options for you, future visitors, such as front and back panoramic view roofs, cup holders, comfy seats... Let's hit the road! :-)

Look at his smile!!!

Driving on the left hand side

We feel quite comfortable now after driving for 3 weeks on the left hand side. We were very focused the first week and we did a few minor mistakes such as using our left hand to activate the light indicators and activated the wipes instead. We went on the right side of the street (...on a small residential street... ouf...)

Automatic cars are easy to drive, it almost takes the fun away from "driving" but it is pretty cool when you are adapting to a new country and that everything is new.

A few tips:
1) Forget that you have a left side body... let it sleep! So don't use your left foot to change gear and don't use your left hand when you want to turn.

2) Go to the other side to step into your car... I went several times on the other seat... Without steering wheel... When I was alone!

3) Don't try to catch flies whilst trying to reach your belt to buckel up... It's on the other side as well...

4) Force yourself to look at the central mirror. It is on the other side what is quite disturbing.

5) Follow the lines on the road... It will tell you where to turn. They are very explicit. Roundabouts are very clear. I have to say that it is better marked than in Belgium.

Now you can drive!!! So come on and try it by yourself!

[Next: Australia Part1 ]

Quelle voiture choisir?

[Post précédent: A la recherche d'une voiture -ENG]

Ce n'est pas évident d'acheter sa première voiture... On a eu énormément de chance, Stijn et moi, d'avoir utilisé par le passé les voitures de nos parents et puis d'avoir des voitures de société. Nous voici enfin confrontés à la réalité: Comment dépenser cet argent de la meilleur manière? Il faut aussi savoir qu'on ne s'y connait pas en voiture, nous passons donc des heures sur Internet et dans les concessions.

Il y a le concept de "Drive away" en Australie. C'est une voiture de stock déjà immatriculée, avec les assurances de base, la taxe de circulation et prête à prendre la route dès que les papiers sont signés.

• Bénéfices: rapidité et moins de formalités. Nous louons une voiture encore pour quelques semaines.
• Points négatifs: C'est +/- 1.700$ plus cher

L'Australie est LE pays de la 4x4! Où la conduite sur piste est un sport national. Les destinations de vacances offrent les meilleurs "tracks" où les gens peuvent tester leurs aptitudes et celles de leur voiture. Il faut aussi savoir qu'avec une petite citadine, nous avons des difficultés pour descendre et monter sur les places de parking... Alors hors asphalte...

Comme c'est notre première voiture, nous ne voulons pas (Encore) allez vers le Top du top en payant les yeux de la tête pour le plus gros 4x4 avec full options. Nous pensons plus à la taille moyenne mais bien équipée pour un prix acceptable.

Notre coeur balance entre ces modèles: Tous 4 roues motrices (même s'il y a des différences entre les systèmes que je ne vais pas expliquer dans ce post)

• Hyundai IX35 - Highlander (Full option) Diesel:
• Points positifs: Notre proprio est le manager régional et nous fait  14% de réduction et nous rajoute des options (hehe) de quoi couvrir les taxes et de garder un bon prix à la revente.  On a le choix de la couleur. Options: cuir, toit panormaique et ouvrant, caméra arrière, audio et bluetooth, rails, larges roues... C'est la voiture la plus silencieuse et avec les meilleurs sièges. Sa grand e Soeur Santa Fe est plus grande mais c'est un vieux modèle, on va attendre le nouveau. :-)
• Mitsubishi Outlander - Active (Il n'y a pas tellement d'options)
• Il y a plus d'espace que dans la Hyundai mais le finish est un peu moins bon.
• Suzuki Grand Vitara: Bon 4x4
• C'est un meilleur 4x4 que les deux précédents mais il n'y a pas vraiment d'options. On  l'impression d'être dans un camion car 4x4 n'est pas égal au lux ;-). Le vendeur est pret à casser les prix pour allez chercher son chiffre.
•  
• Toyota Rav4 - basique : Très bon 4x4, meilleur que Suzuki? Pas de Diesel. Réduction moyenne mais les finitions sont bof.
• Nissan X-Trail - basique: Bon 4x4 (pas encore testée)
• Subaru Forrester (Super 4x4 mais pas belle et sans options)
Voilà, vous savez tout ou presque.
[Suivant: A la recherche d'une maison] ou [Suivant: On a la voiture]

EOFYS

[Previous post: Our 1st days with a friend]

It's the end of the fiscal year in Australia and that means EOFYS (End of fiscal year sales) until June 30. Yeay!! "Deal deals deal", additional 25% off on all discounted items, "Buy To Save" (we'll we haven't seen this slogan around here in Oz but this American oldie still fits the bill)

It's the moment to get some deals arround. Well, if we may believe the locals, it's either now or we wait until next December. We kinda need everything at the moment as we sold most of our stuff but the most important item would be a car right now. Since I'm pretty green behind my ears when it comes to cars I'm not keen to buy a second hand car. So it's sales time and we need a new car .... it couldn't be a better match.

We knew we'd have to buy a car shortly after our arrival as we only have the rental for a month. So prior to our departure we did our nightly research. Hours and hours on useful website like caradvice.com.au or less useful, but very entertaining, sites like topgear.com have made us warm for a 4x4. Very broad term, I know, but since we are in the country of 4x4 it would be a shame to let the opportunity go to waste. Another element which reinforced our "need" for a 4x4 are the Australian roads. If you thought it is bad in Belgium than guess again. Sharp curves and bumps are part of a good Aussie road. Throw in 4wd beach access and we suddenly couldn't go without a 4x4 anymore ;-)

To drill down the 4x4 segment, you've got your

• utes : Australian slang for a utility vehicle like a pick up but lower to the ground
• crossovers: Anything from a VW Tiguan, Mitsubishi outlander, Hyundai IX 35 (new version of the tuscon)
• SUV: Nissan Pathfinder, Range Rover freelander 2

Choices are plenty full but the top range cars like the Pathfinder or Range Rover are sadly out of our budget. So initially we focussed our attention on the smaller SUV/Crossover segment. Here the choice boils down to 2. Either you go to the proper FWD (Four wheel drive) or you keep yourself to the recreational AWD (all wheel drive). To keep the car mumbo jumbo to a minimum FWD is the proper off roader capable of anything you throw at them. AWD will allow you to take dirt road with some decent potholes but it will take some better driving skills to get the vehicle over some of more difficult obstacles. Sometimes it's not even wise to take your cars off road in the AWD segment as they just have the looks. I would like to think I can master the outback in a FWD but I guess you all know, since I have never even owned a FWD, that wouldn't be a good thing without some proper practice. And it's not like we'll be off roading every weekend. We have to attend the beach as well , one in a while. The choice thus boils further down, due to budget restrictions, to a proper small FWD with no options or a AWD where we can have some gizmo's like ipod connectivity, sunroof etc...

Both yesterday and today Nina and I have plunged ourselves in the car industry to limit our choices even further. We went over to Toyota, Subaru, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Holden (Australian brand) and ford and many others. After the first day hearing all about how wonderful all these cars are from the sales people (some nice, some just not listening) we boiled it down to following choices for a test drive.

• Toyota Rav4: Great car but a bit older in styling, very common on the Aussie roads and very capable off road
• Mitsubishi Outlander: American styled , very large cargo space but only comes in petrol (as the rav4 btw)
• Hyundai IX35: The successor or the Tuscon. Very european look (it's the white car above), very nice finish inside. A small note here. Our landlord is the Area manager of Hyundai and promised us a great deal.
• Suzuki Grand Vitara: Probably the most capable off roader of the 4 but this means a higher base budget so less gizmo's

The test drives went great (first day for both of us driving), sadly they didn't let us go off road (Nina: by the way Stijn, you tried to go off road :-p), but all cars have a great feel to them. Currently top picks are the Rav4 and IX35 both very smooth and punchy little fighters. Now we are still waiting on the offers and over the weekend we'll see who wants to further negotiate to get the best drive away price (includes 1 year tax, compulsory third party insurrance).

We'll keep you posted!

Ps: Let us know what you think. Not only about the cars but about the blog as well. We start to have a little bit more time to write so you can expect more posts soon. Let us know if you'd like us to write about something special.

Cheers!

[Next post about finding a car -FR]