Ginny

Hi there,

We're due to come out next June to validate our visas (Me, Hubby and 2 small kids). we're flying into Sydney and staying with friends for a little while. We're wanting to hire a car so we can go visiting folks in Melbourne and also to do a tour of Brisbane and surrounding area (where we hope to settle).

Does anyone have any recommendations of car rental companies that they could give us. We'd be starting and finishing in Sydney and would need one for around 3 weeks.

Hope you can help.

Thanks

Ginny

renth

Why not think about taking in Ayres Rock whilst youre at it?


Seriously, that's quite a lot of driving for 3 weeks but I found Bayswater Car Rental to be very reasonable. This was in Perth but I think they are in Sydney too.

Renth

dotty

Avis Budget Europacar, all here, haggle on price and check for Discounts, I am sure all of these would have Websites. We found Europacar the cheapest.

That is a lot of driving with young kids, especially after such long flights. have you thought of flying to Brisbane then hiring a car when there? Flights Syd Bris could be got for about $200 return pp. It would save you a heck of a lot of misery in the car. Try Virgin Blue for internet specials. Syd to Melb would be even cheaper.

Its none of my business, but would Granny have the kids for 2 weeks, then you and hubby come out and get it all sorted out without the littlies?? GOOD LUCK

shaun/lor

[QUOTE][SIZE=1]Originally posted by Dbm:
Giiny wondered....
Sydney > Brisbane is 2 days comfortable drive (approx 1000kms) with 2 small
children. 1 looong day is possible via New England Highway, small children
may not agree though...
Brisbane is geographically large, especially when you include Ipswich,
Sunshine Coast & Gold Coast.

we would agree with this we did from lorne on the great ocean road about 80km from melbourne up to gold coast very comfortabley in 2 1/2 days starting about 7 am and finishing around tea time with a break for lunch. try to stop early then you can enjoy a nice dip in a pool somwhere seems to help the kids forget the journey they have endured.
is there no way you can do brissy or melbourne first as it is a bit of a waste traveling back over somwhere you have already been. and most of the larger hire companys allow you to pick up in one city and drop off in another. some airlines will also let you land in one city and depart from another at no extra cost. i did this a while ago flew into sydney, drove across to adalaide and then back round to melbourne, left the hire car there and flew out from melbourne made life a bit easier.
all the best shaun and lor

shaun/lor

oh yea i forgot to mention
try ascot car rentals, have places in larger towns etc, they let me have a larger car for same price as the little one. didnt charge me extra for drop off at airport, and i thought i might get stung for some quite nasty stone chips and a crack on the windscreen. but my deposit came back in tact.
shaun.
p.s i think most of the hire companys are pretty much alike.
i have used avis, hertz, budget, ascot, and thrifty, the chap at this site let me use his convertable for 2 days until a hire car was available. he then drove 50km to swap them over for me. was i a cool dude for 2 days or what.
see ya shaun

Dbm

Giiny wondered....
Sydney > Brisbane is 2 days comfortable drive (approx 1000kms) with 2 small
children. 1 looong day is possible via New England Highway, small children
may not agree though...
Brisbane is geographically large, especially when you include Ipswich,
Sunshine Coast & Gold Coast.

Suggest you try to narrow down where you want to investigate (lifestyle,
work commuting, housing, budget, etc) to save yourself some time and effort.

Cheers
Bill

"Ginny" wrote in message
news:449480.1035140604@britishexpats-
.com...
    > Hi there,
    > We're due to come out next June to validate our visas (Me, Hubby and 2
    > small kids). we're flying into Sydney and staying with friends for a
    > little while. We're wanting to hire a car so we can go visiting folks
    > in Melbourne and also to do a tour of Brisbane and surrounding area
    > (where we hope to settle).
    > Does anyone have any recommendations of car rental companies that they
    > could give us. We'd be starting and finishing in Sydney and would need
    > one for around 3 weeks.
    > Hope you can help.
    > Thanks
    > Ginny
    > --

Ginny

Thanks everyone for the replies. Any more suggestions please let me know. As for Granny taking the kids, she would in a minute but we all have to validate so no such luck for a second honeymoon there. Nice thought though. As for times we're not that strict. We're there for about 5 - 6 weeks in total and are staying with friends in Sydney so we're pretty flexible.

Thanks again.

Ginny

stay or go ?

www.rentabomb.com.au

dpr21

Yeah I agree with the previous post about Bayswater (Perth). Not sure whether they are in Sydney or not - they are dirt cheap compared to any of the others. The service is basic and they were/are the only unfriendly people I've come across in WA. But you only see them when you collect and drop off the car so it's no problem.

DPR

Jaj

They're planning to validate their visas, so the children need to come
as well.

Jeremy

    >On Sun, 20 Oct 2002 20:52:04 +0000, dotty wrote:
    > Its none of my business, but would Granny have the kids for 2 weeks,
    > then you and hubby come out and get it all sorted out without the
    > littlies?? GOOD LUCK
    >--

renth

I found them friendly enough, even though I took the piss out of their L.Ron Hubbard style naval uniforms.

ywoods

hahaha Shaun.. first for everything....

Yvonne

Brumby

There is a Bayswater in Sydney (near Kings Cross) and they are by far the best rate around. Local rental is a different price than interstate though so may want to shop around. I managed a rental for a week at $250AU and drove from Melb to Syd. Will have to check which co I used, memory drain!

aussie bloke

http://www.bayswatercarrental.com.au/

tinaj

We did a similar journey to what you are planning. We drove from Sydney to Coffs Harbour and stayed overnight there. Then we headed off and stayed at the Sunshine Coast for a week drove around Brisbane and suburbs investigating areas. As the sunshine and gold Coast are big holiday resorts you can get some excellent rates for week long lets. 2 bed apartments for $250 dollars +. This also gives you a nice base to drive from. It is only about 45 mins to central Brisbane and there are loads of new estates and communities popping up just south of Brisbane that you can look at, most of them are where you buy the land and build your own house on it.
We absolutely fel;l in love with Coomera Waters you can look it up at Coomerawaters.com.au, absolutely fantastic community to live in, but upper price range for the land.

Dont let the distances put you off, we travelled with 3 kids and also went further North to Bundaberg and back down to Sydney again in 2 1/2 weeks !!

A tip would be to hire a people carrier , that way the kids have loads of room, they can sleep easily and no arguments either !!

Enjoy yourselves

Tinaj