Dejavu: Rental Car Hire in WA - 100km a day

[brett-au]

Hi All

It appears I asked the same question back in 2010. I seem to recall twisting the arm of the person when I picked up my car at Karratha airport to increase from 100km to 150km per day.

I'm now heading to either Paraburdoo or Newman to go see Karijini. There seems to be loads of seats that can be redeemed. Anyone got any suggestions on how to increase the km allowance to 150 or 200km (before I get to the airport). For laughs I did a one way 7 day from exmouth and for some reason europcar quoted me $900 and 150km a day, so it is still possible.

Does anyone have any tips for Karijini and Newman or Paraburdoo/Tom Price. I will be camping and lugging 23kg of camping gear with me ;-) Camping at Exmouth may have to wait for next time.

Thanks

 

[mooingchicken]

I dont hire cars that much except for when on work trips where i don't even look at the papers half the time, but I thought the 100km per day limit only applied to the cheapest car u can hire? generally micra's for city run abouts, all other cars when I have looked have been unlimited km's...

 

[JohnM]

Hi All

It appears I asked the same question back in 2010. I seem to recall twisting the arm of the person when I picked up my car at Karratha airport to increase from 100km to 150km per day.

I'm now heading to either Paraburdoo or Newman to go see Karijini. There seems to be loads of seats that can be redeemed. Anyone got any suggestions on how to increase the km allowance to 150 or 200km (before I get to the airport). For laughs I did a one way 7 day from exmouth and for some reason europcar quoted me $900 and 150km a day, so it is still possible.

Does anyone have any tips for Karijini and Newman or Paraburdoo/Tom Price. I will be camping and lugging 23kg of camping gear with me ;-) Camping at Exmouth may have to wait for next time.

Thanks

Rental cars in 'isolated' locations (includes DRW, IME) are km-limited. I don't know of any way to escape that.

If you're camping, Tom Price is really quite a nice town, nestled in the hills with plenty of trees and a good caravan/camping park just out of town towards the main mine. I haven't been to Parburdoo, so can't comment on that.

Karajini is just sensational.

I flew into Newman, rented a car there and went through Karajini to Tom Price and back. Newman is pretty ordinary, so I'd say locate at Tom Price. I can't recall what's on offer camping-wise in Karajini as I wasn't camping. I'm sure there's plenty.

Enjoy!

 

[AdMEL]

Hi All

It appears I asked the same question back in 2010. I seem to recall twisting the arm of the person when I picked up my car at Karratha airport to increase from 100km to 150km per day.

I'm now heading to either Paraburdoo or Newman to go see Karijini. There seems to be loads of seats that can be redeemed. Anyone got any suggestions on how to increase the km allowance to 150 or 200km (before I get to the airport). For laughs I did a one way 7 day from exmouth and for some reason europcar quoted me $900 and 150km a day, so it is still possible.

Does anyone have any tips for Karijini and Newman or Paraburdoo/Tom Price. I will be camping and lugging 23kg of camping gear with me ;-) Camping at Exmouth may have to wait for next time.

Thanks

I visited Karijini in January ... Awesome! Would love to go back.

Watch out for the Karijini kiss! I got one!

Looked at fly/drive but it was extremely expensive - $1k return from MEL for flights and ran into the same problem you have with car hire. Not sure where you're located, but I didn't think if flight redemptions! Assume you're referring to QFF - travel mate doesn't have any!

Ended up driving from MEL across the Nullabor. Unfortunately the car (2006 Land Rover Discovery 3) broke down the day we left Karijini for Exmouth. It had to be towed to PER - found out just how expensive car hire can be! $1,200 after RACV covered about $600 for 3 days from Exmouth downtown to PER airport. We found out after that we could've cut the cost considerably if we'd collected the car from Exmouth airport!

I assume you know there are only two spots you can camp in the NP.

Tom Price has a decent Coles and Shell Coles Express and a decent hospital! It also has a decent camp ground. There is a small cafe at Karijini Eco Resort that does lunch and dinner, otherwise bring your own from Newman or Tom Price.

Newman also has a decent Coles and/or WW.

What else would you like to know?

Handrail gorge taken on my iPhone 4S:

 

[AdMEL]

Rental cars in 'isolated' locations (includes DRW, IME) are km-limited. I don't know of any way to escape that.

If you're camping, Tom Price is really quite a nice town, nestled in the hills with plenty of trees and a good caravan/camping park just out of town towards the main mine. I haven't been to Parburdoo, so can't comment on that.

Karajini is just sensational.

I flew into Newman, rented a car there and went through Karajini to Tom Price and back. Newman is pretty ordinary, so I'd say locate at Tom Price. I can't recall what's on offer camping-wise in Karajini as I wasn't camping. I'm sure there's plenty.

Enjoy!

Stayed at that Caravan park twice ... Very nice but location is a bit out of town.



Not plenty of camping in Karijini NP ... Only two places.

 

[AdMEL]

You can get unlimited km rentals from BME through Hertz from ntstandby.com.au starting from about $115 a day for a Toyota Yaris.

 

[JohnM]

You can get unlimited km rentals from BME through Hertz from ntstandby.com.au starting from about $115 a day for a Toyota Yaris.

Driving a Yaris in the Pilbara, unlim kms or not - no thanks :shock:.

 

[wooley]

Driving a Yaris in the Pilbara, unlim kms or not - no thanks :shock:.

That's why it's $115 a day! To pay for its replacement every 6 months.

I pay less than that for a full size 4wd in regional Qld.

 

[AdMEL]

Driving a Yaris in the Pilbara, unlim kms or not - no thanks :shock:.

I agree! It was just an example of price. They have a full range of cars.

 

[AdMEL]

That's why it's $115 a day! To pay for its replacement every 6 months.

I pay less than that for a full size 4wd in regional Qld.

Actually, that's the cheapest!

In my experience, sometimes the huge additional cost to get unlimited km isn't worth it.

 

[brett-au]

Okay, I'm curious to know about a karijini kiss.

Parabardoo looks all around better. I can get in at 3:30pm instead of 4:30pm and camp at Tom Price. It's less driving so I'm not going to completely smash the 100km per day.

 

[Daver6]

If the purpose of the trip is to visit Karinjini, then may as well camp there rather than at Tom Price. That being said, the facilities are pretty basic at Karinjini. Ie, if you aren't first into the showers, don't expect a warm one kind of thing.

 

[AdMEL]

Okay, I'm curious to know about a karijini kiss.

Parabardoo looks all around better. I can get in at 3:30pm instead of 4:30pm and camp at Tom Price. It's less driving so I'm not going to completely smash the 100km per day.

Karijini kiss is what happens when you have an altercation with the hard rocks in the gorges in Karijini NP. In my case, it involved hitting my head on a rock after being clumsy at the end of a full day in the gorges. Crushed my ear, which had to be sewn back together at Tom Price hospital! Hence why I know that the hospital there is decent!

 

[brett-au]

Okay, its all done and dusted (lots of red dust) and this thread can be closed. But before I go, let's review.

Ended up going PER-ZNE-PER. Newman airport is one of the worst in Australia (whilst the construction is going on). Zero signage, zero food/drinks/anything for sale, long distances to the carpark and a maze just to try and get in the front door. Whinge over. Newman town I liked, especially with the old clunkers they have left parked on their front lawns.

I camped at Dales and I would probably say to move campsites halfway through your stay is recommended. There is a long distance between the gorges especially the one in the NW (hammersley) which should not be missed. (If anyone goes there, could they please collect my orange watch which I thoughtfully took off before jumping in the water hole and neglected to reclaim afterwards). Didn't bother with the showers as I was never there when they were open. Huge amounts of water everywhere, everything was lush and green and the handrail was made all the more fun with the cascading water.

Be aware of the hire car's height clearance. The dirt roads are ultra smooth, but the pebbles ride up in a ridge which can be scooped up by a front spoiler quiet easily. As a result if you drive on the pebbles you won't have any issues. Absolutely no way to get the 100km limit increased. Absolutely smashed it (800km for 4 days?), but Budget was only 28c/km rather than Avis's 30c/km. You would think the tourism people would have a 4 day karijini package deal to encourage people to fly in to newman.

Didn't do the full blown abseiling tour, probably should have now that I know the "advanced" tour in winter is actually less fun than the normal April to November tour.

Lots and lots of empty seats on the plane. Our plane broke down and QF diverted a 737 from KTA for us. Which was nice of QF. You can get a classic award seat the day before, no troubles.

If you like rocks, or want to see an amazing red and green landscape or want a kids play ground for adults (jumping into pools, rock climbing, swimming, waterfalls, etc), I strongly recommend a visit. If you are hiking, don't go to the lookouts otherwise you will spoil the surprise. Oh and bring a long sleeve rash vest as the water is a little cold.

 

[brett-au]

There was one small thing I found interesting deep inside the rental agreement.

[B]Where You Can and Cannot Drive The Vehicle[/B] 										[SIZE=2]You and any Authorized Driver must not, unless authorized in writing by Budget, drive or take the Vehicle
  (a)  to Gove Peninsula or any island off the coast of Australia (including, but not limited to, Kangaroo Island, 
        Bruny Island, Fraser Island, Magnetic Island, Groote Eylandt [B]or[/B] the Tiwi Islands); 
  (b)  into or out of the Northern Territory, Western Australia or Tasmania; 
  (c)  in Queensland: 
           (1)  on Highway No.27: beyond Chillagoe in a Westerly direction; 
           (2)  on Highway No.1: beyond Normanton in a Southerly, direction and no further North than Karumba; 
           (3)  if the Vehicle is a passenger vehicle or truck, beyond Cooktown to the North or Lakeland to the 
                 West and no further North than Cape Tribulation on the Coast Road; or 
           (4)  on the Coast Road from Helenvale to Cape Tribulation, or from Laura to Lakeland, unless the 
                 Vehicle is a 4 wheel drive vehicle; 
   (d)  above the snow line in Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria (being Jindabyne in New South Wales
         and Bright in Victoria) from the beginning of June until the end of September; 
   (e)  on beaches or through streams, dams, rivers or flood waters;
   (f)   in Western Australia, to any parts North of Carnarvon or 
   (g)  in the Northern Territory, on the Jim Jim Falls Road to Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls.[/SIZE]

Section f says you can't drive north or Carnarvon. Doesn't this make the entire rental agreement void? cough anyone?

 

[JohnM]

There was one small thing I found interesting deep inside the rental agreement.

[B]Where You Can and Cannot Drive The Vehicle[/B]                                         [SIZE=2]You and any Authorized Driver must not, unless authorized in writing by Budget, drive or take the Vehicle
  (a)  to Gove Peninsula or any island off the coast of Australia (including, but not limited to, Kangaroo Island, 
        Bruny Island, Fraser Island, Magnetic Island, Groote Eylandt [B]or[/B] the Tiwi Islands); 
  (b)  into or out of the Northern Territory, Western Australia or Tasmania; 
  (c)  in Queensland: 
           (1)  on Highway No.27: beyond Chillagoe in a Westerly direction; 
           (2)  on Highway No.1: beyond Normanton in a Southerly, direction and no further North than Karumba; 
           (3)  if the Vehicle is a passenger vehicle or truck, beyond Cooktown to the North or Lakeland to the 
                 West and no further North than Cape Tribulation on the Coast Road; or 
           (4)  on the Coast Road from Helenvale to Cape Tribulation, or from Laura to Lakeland, unless the 
                 Vehicle is a 4 wheel drive vehicle; 
   (d)  above the snow line in Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria (being Jindabyne in New South Wales
         and Bright in Victoria) from the beginning of June until the end of September; 
   (e)  on beaches or through streams, dams, rivers or flood waters;
   (f)   in Western Australia, to any parts North of Carnarvon or 
   (g)  in the Northern Territory, on the Jim Jim Falls Road to Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls.[/SIZE]

Section f says you can't drive north or Carnarvon. Doesn't this make the entire rental agreement void? cough anyone?

It's not that you can't do it; it's that you must be authorised. Given that you rented the vehicle in Newman, which is N of Carnarvon, presumably the written authorisation required is implicit in the rental agreement.