The Grand Pacific Drive: Sydney to Wollongong and Beyond…

Drive your free rental car south out of Sydney and through the Royal National Park to begin the cliff-hugging Grand Pacific Drive. Stop to swim, surf or picnic at Stanwell Tops, where you can also take in stunning coastal views from the cliff-tops. Drive over the dramatic Sea Cliff Bridge, which spans 455 metres over the ocean, and into the scenic city of Wollongong.

sea cliff bridge

The drive boasts many great eateries from a casual lunch of fish n’ chips on the harbour to fine dining or beer tasting overlooking the ocean. The NSW South Coast has a reputation for fresh seafood with many restaurants stocking the daily catch. The southern section of the drive features many great wineries and local produce.

Stop for a coffee in Shellharbour on Lake Illawarra or in Kiama where the famous Blowhole shoots water up to 60 metres. Continue through the lush rolling hills to Gerringong and Gerroa, which sits perched on cliffs overlooking Seven Mile Beach.

Drive alongside it to Shoalhaven Heads, a popular spot for swimming, surfing and beach fishing, or head inland for a pub lunch in the pretty historic town of Berry. Do a short, scenic drive to the antique shops, galleries and green pasturelands of Kangaroo Valley.

Or curve towards the coast and stop at Coolangatta Estate for award-winning wines. Finish your first day in Nowra, which offers pretty antique shops and cafes and find a rustic pub to sleep the night.

Hyams beach, Jervis Bay

(Text Tourism Australia)

 

5 top reasons why you may need a car repair before going on a fun road trip

Just like your body need extra care and regular medical check-up, the body of your car also needs frequent service treatment and maintenance sessions. Your car needs extra care and excellent car repair & service especially when you have planned to relish the pleasure of a Road trip with your friends. You don’t want to end up being a hitchhiker or pulling it over to the roadside service station in the middle of your fun trip. Why ruin it when you want to get the most out of your time under the sun? In order to make your journey fun, there are a few things you need to ponder to make your car ready for it. So if you want to avoid annoying pauses and expensive emergency repairs on the trip, you must show your car to an experienced mechanic who can perform car repair methods and improve its performance and efficiency.

Here are top 5 reasons why you may need a car service and repair before heading out on a fun Road trip.

  1. Tires exploded or started wobbling

Upon having faulted tires, your car may wobble from side to side on highway speed and your steering wheel may shift off the center. Tires are considered to be most critical safety measure when it comes to going out on a pleasure road trip and mostly become unwanted nemesis to boring trip. Long trip does need to stop and come to a halt to resort to roadside service because of bad tires. Though it is simple to fix small checkpoints of tires, it is advisable to see a car repair mechanic who knows all the tests to look into its technical parameters like air pressure, alignment, load rating, speed endurance, tread, etc.

  1. Brake gone wild

Losing control over your car break is the last thing you can expect while swimming along the highway. To avoid any horrible predicament due to brake failure, make sure your brakes are healthy before you head out. If you listen to excessive noises of grinding, creaking, squeaking frequently, it is the indication that your car needs replacement of brake pads and rotors. If you find brake fluid level fluctuating abnormally, you can call for a car repair moment. Have a skilled car service expert take a look before you indulge in the fun trip with your friends.

  1. Ineffective cooling system

Imagine you are driving your elegant car on a calm road with exciting loud noise of your friends, and there it is! Your car blows and comes to a halt all of a sudden, right there! You can see it emitting steams off its front. This is the failure of cooling system, which is the second most common cause of road trip debacle. Before you drive your car out for the trip, it is necessary to go for coolant exchange and flush cleaning. This is meant to replace the old fluid with fresh, clean and more effective fluid that restores the health of cooling system.

  1. Clogged Air filter

Dirty air filter is something that can irritate you on your journey by constantly showing ‘check engine’ light glowing on car’s meter frequently. Over a course of time, car’s air filter gets clogged or dirty. This phenomenon disturbs the healthy functioning of air flow. While driving various junks and molecules infiltrates in the engine part, potentially hurting its road performance. Ask the car repair station mechanic to replace the air filter if you are sure it has not been checked and changed in a while.

  1. Low fluid level and quality

Fluids regulate the lubrication level in the engine required to optimize its temperature and improved visibility and are critical to overall car health. Because of long time of use, oil catches corrosion effect, deteriorates and gathers sludge and gets severely old. All of these will contain the free performance of your car, which is something your car doesn’t want to suffer while on trip

If you think it is too long before you have visited a car repair shop for changing the oil, rush to it before the trip begins. You don’t want to restrict the mileage capacity of your car during the trip. Meet your regular car service provider since they have managed records of previous maintenance and resolve a potential issue pertaining to oil before it gets serious.

 

Article provided by Mary Mathis with a photo she bought from Shutterstock.

The Future of Car Travel

”Driving a vehicle is too dangerous for humans and will be outlawed when autonomous cars are proven to be safer”, claims Elon Musk, billionaire founder of electric car company Tesla. Despite the hype about driverless vehicles,  experts say that it would take 20 to 30 years before they could co-exist with existing vehicles in cities.

However it is predicted that technology will take over from drivers in simpler situations such as traffic jams and parking within the next five years. Yes, in 2020 your new car will know how to park itself!

The future of car travel is not just about security and convenience, it’s also about saving time. Going driverless will also give us the opportunity to do something else while on the road. Cars will become communal living rooms on wheels.

The Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion

The concept design for the F 015 Luxury in Motion by Mercedes-Benz features a large interior space, finished in walnut, glass, leather and aluminium, along with four individual lounge chairs.

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Selecting a manual mode would prompt a steering wheel to emerge from the dashboard, while the driver and passenger seats turn automatically to face the direction of travel. Sounds cool, uh? Patience, patience, it’s still a prototype.

French manufacturer Peugeot also has an exciting vision for the future.  Peugeot Moovie, an environmentally friendly city car that looks very different from the norm…  It’s made of  foam,  plastics, steel, polycarbonate and plexiglas amongst others… But it’s not operational yet, don’t get too excited!Peugeot-Moovie-Concept-Car-1280x960-desktopia.net

But do you know what the real next step is? No roads at all!  Yes you hear me, why drive when you can fly? A few companies are already working on the concept of flying cars and have came up with prototypes.  Terrafugia is hoping to have flying cars within the next ten years! Check out their video here.  We wouldn’t mind relocating this car!

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Things to Do in Adelaide

Adelaide is known as Australia’s most liveable city, and because of that, it is also an easy one for travelers to visit and get to know better. It doesn’t take much for a visitor to get around, especially since it is also known as the 20 minute city. In other words: It’s not an overwhelming place to travel like Sydney might be with its traffic and far-reaching suburbs and attractions.

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When you arrive after catching a budget flight, here are some of the things to do in Adelaide: Continue reading Things to Do in Adelaide

Crazy about rugby but gonna be on the road? No panic, we’ve got you sorted!

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To the rugby fans out there, we have some real good news: You can be on the road AND follow the Rugby World Cup 2015, so there’s no reason to stop relocating cars 🙂

Here’s our guide to watching the games while on the road,  and the best pubs for some rugby action in the main cities of New Zealand.

WATCH THEM ONLINE

You have a mobile phone plan with data, and don’t want to leave that comfy campa bed? Great, you can watch the games from anywhere directly on your smartphone screen! All you have to do is get the  Fan Pass app from Sky TV. It’s free to download for Apple and Android devices and lets you pay a daily ($15) or weekly ($20) rate to access the Sky Sport channels 1 to 4.

Just make sure there is enough signal where you are, or try to connect to a free wifi hot spot to save data.

It’s also possible to use ITV to watch the games, check out the details here. 

You can also download the official All Blacks app (Apple and Android, free) which has some exciting features including news, player information, statistics, and videos. We also recommend downloading the Official Rugby World Cup 2015 app (Apple and Android, free).

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IN AUCKLAND

Neighbourhood Bar, Kingsland
Good breakfasts, and so very close to Eden Park! Even though our players are on the other side of the globe, being in front of their favourite stadium will help you feel closer to them!

O’Hagans Irish Bar and the Fox,  Viaduct Harbour, Central  City
O’Hagans bar is like a little slice of Ireland on the waterfront in Auckland, and the Fox probably has the best atmosphere in Auckland of all the sports bars we’ve been to!  Look forward to those hearty breakfasts and perhaps a cheeky morning pint as well…If you’re going to be in Auckland central, definitely check out those two options.

It’s a spacious, light-filled venue with a big screen and delicious pub food and great coffees. We reckon it’s one of the best places to watch the games on the Shore.

IN WELLINGTON

HD projectors and big screens, so there won’t be any bad seat in this pub. Breakfast specials from only $10… If you’re going to be in Welly, One Fat Bird is an obvious good choice!
One of the busiest pubs in Wellington,  centrally located on Victoria Street, this one will be packed during the All Blacks games!
IN CHRISTCHURCH

Big screen, great beer, and daily drink and food specials.

The Fox & Ferret
Lively atmosphere and a dance floor, so be ready to shake that booty as early as 7 am!

IN QUEENSTOWN

Pog Mahones
The home of live sport in Queenstown, this pub is an institution. Don’t miss it if you visit the Southern Lakes!

IN DUNEDIN

The Terrace Sports Bar
They claim to have the largest TV screen in Dunedin,  it’s the premier sports bar in the city. Great fun guaranteed.

Our new date picker explained

Date picker

You may have noticed that the date picker of our calendar comes in two versions now, depending on the relocation, and you’re wondering why is this?  Here’s a simple explanation:

Typically when you rent a motorhome or campervan, the duration and price of the rental is based on the number of calendar days used, that is for example if you pick up on a Monday at 10 am and drop-off on a Thursday at 10 am, even though you’ve only been on the road for 72 hours, the operator will count 4 calendar days (Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday and Thursday, that’s 4!).

However typically when you rent a car, the duration of the rental is calculated on the number of 24 hours period, therefore in this example the rental will be considered 3 days only.

Our new date picker reflects those two different calculation methods, and the days are either fully coloured (calendar day) or half coloured (24 hour cycle) to show the difference.