Driving from Australia to Germany – is that even possible?

OurToyota Landcruiser on the beach of Fraser Island, Australia

Cairns in Northeastern Australia and Frankfurt/Main are roughly 14,712km apart. Linear distance. The driving distance is most likely longer, depending on the chosen route. I estimated around 20,000km if I stick to the southern route. Well, in retrospect I had to drive on a northern route and it was exactly 25,547 km. Nevertheless, from Australia to Germany by car – yes, you can!

“How did you come up with that?” was one of the friendlier comments I got when I told the first people about my plan. Some others merely said “insane”.

The advice I got to hear was all about dangers from all angles, problems at borders and language barriers, terrible road conditions or no roads at all. Moreover the lack of gas stations and basic food sources, as well as the presence of plenty of dangerous animals – from insects to bears – were other concerns. Comments about the political situation and the safety in some of the countries I’ll pass on the way. Other thoughts were “is that even possible? In country XY it’s not allowed to enter in your own vehicle. You’ll have so much trouble with the regulations everywhere. Are you sure you want to do that?”. Meanwhile, others suggested “just carry enough cash and you’ll be able to buy your way in”. 😉 But hey, these challenges are exactly what this is all about. To overcome these, detailed planning is key. More about that later, though.

The Idea

Great job for the cops on Fraser

First, some more about the idea: You don’t exactly come up with a project like this to drive a car from Australia to Germany over a quick lunch break. Many little puzzle pieces of my life and the life of my dear friends and colleagues fell into place and I finally said: “Yea, I’ll do that!”. Firstly, there is my son, who bought a car during his work&travel stay in Australia. He told me that he would like to have this car in Germany as well. After our ~4,000 km off-road trip into the Cape York wilderness in 2017 and another 9,000 km road trip through the Australian outback of Queensland and the Northern Territory in 2016 already, I also thought that it would be a pity to sell the car in the end.

Secondly, there is my upcoming retirement. Some older colleagues told me how great of a hobby breeding roses or collecting stamps is. However, the thought of that sounds quite terrible to me after working in an office for 40 years. No doubt some people might find hobbies like that quite fulfilling. There is nothing wrong with that; it’s just not my cup of tea. 😀 Somebody told be “great, you’ll get to travel all you want then”. Of course I’ve seen quite a few airports and hotels in this world during my vacations and duty trips over the years. But not most the countries you fly over on the way to Asia. And the ones I have seen only superficially. So I want more. And then I remembered that back in the day when I was a student, in 1975, I drove my Syrian friend’s truck (a Magirus Kipper) from Gottingen, Germany to Damaskus, Syria. My license was good to drive a truck and his wasn’t. 😎 Here are a few pictures from back in the day:

Suddenly I felt adventurous again

Our Landcruiser after 4 weeks in Cape York

Next thing I knew, I was in the mood for another adventure again. Past and present experiences led to my idea for my future. Life is pulling me into the world after all my years in the office and my many trips. Boring retirement cruises are not my thing, that’s just something for old people. 😉 My adventures should take me beyond the recommendations of all the guide books out there. I want to get to know everything about the countries I drive through. The good and the bad. Before that, I’m planning to take a class or two about photography. This has been a passion of mine for a while. Consequently, you’ll benefit from that as well by getting to see even more beautiful pictures here. 🙂

By the way: For this tour (8-9 months) I’ll be by myself. My son is in university, and I was thinking about taking along somebody else. However, being together with a stranger 24/7 there will most likely be discussions about accommodation, the route or daily routine after a while. Though, that doesn’t mean I won’t take a companion along for a leg or two… You can read a little more about me on my About page.

East coast of Cape York

This blog is for all of you to tag along my journey. You’ll be able to find all the latest information here, have a look at my pictures and videos – or just get some inspiration…

Of course you can get in touch with me and tell me what you want to hear from me, what you want to read and what you are interested in. I’m looking forward to your messages, feedback and comments about the idea to drive from Australia to Germany by car. Check out my Facebook and Instagram as well.

Cheers, Rüdiger 😎