Talk:Australia without a car

Banner

Banner 1 – Sydney light rail near Central Station

Banner 2 – Melbourne tram on Bourke St

Banner 3 – Sydney Metro near Kellyville (current)

Banner 4 – Adelaide tram near Victoria Square (current)

Banner 5 – Newcastle light rail near Queens Wharf

Banner 6 – Passenger train in New South Wales

Before creating this banner, I made two other banners for this article. More suggestions welcome, because I'm inherently biased as a Sydneysider (well, I tried to not make a banner of the yellow trains). --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 11:32, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

+2 --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 11:41, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

Of these, banner 3 is my favorite, but I wonder if we can make one with more attractive scenery in the background. I'll see if I can find anything.

By the way, thanks for starting this article. I think it's promising, especially if we can fill in more advice about national parks and other nature. —Granger (talk · contribs) 14:33, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

Banner 3 is also my favorite too – only because it was one of the only images I could find where most of the vehicle fit into a 7:1 dimention.

Not a problem. Unfortunately, the automobile is what either makes or breaks a nature trip (similar to the US or NZ), and there aren't a lot of online guides about this, so if we can seize this opportunity by filling in more advice about the topics you mentioned, it could make Wikivoyage the most ideal guide on this topic. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 20:38, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

I prefer banner 3, but there is also scope for a banner featuring a bus or long distance coach.

Whilst many National Parks are hard to reach without a car, the article could point out the few exceptions (those in Sydney?). Once you reach the park, the nature is often best seen on foot. Although Phillip Island isn't a national park it is a good place to see nature without a car. AlasdairW (talk) 21:26, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

I'm not sure how easy it is to find a photo of nature with any transit/coach infrastructure given how rare they are, though. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 11:11, 24 October 2023 (UTC)

I've added Banner 6, which was the best I could come up with. My votes are 6, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2. —Granger (talk · contribs) 02:15, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

My new favorite is banner 6. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 06:42, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

• Banner 6. An intercity train is better for an article about the whole country than is a banner about transit in a city. Ground Zero (talk) 02:57, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

Other nature destinations

Australia is a famous destination for nature, and national parks and preserves are often hard to get to without a car, so we can provide a lot of value by recommending parks that can be visited by public transportation. Following some of the links at the Australia article, it looks like Lord Howe Island, Kangaroo Island, Rottnest Island, Whitsunday Islands, Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, Daintree Rainforest, and the Great Barrier Reef might be good opportunities for car-free visitors to experience Australia's nature. If that's right, let's mention them in this article. Kakadu National Park looks beautiful, but that article doesn't mention any non-car options – are there any? What about Uluru – is it feasible to get to without a car? Are the tours inconvenient or expensive? —Granger (talk · contribs) 02:44, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

I agree that we should mention more of these. I was planning on adding this after I finished the section on Cities since it's easier than national parks (which is harder for me at least because I've almost always driven to national parks – the only exception was Wondabyne).

As a side note, Kangaroo Island is very difficult if you don't have your own car since a lot of rental car companies also don't allow you to take rental cars on the ferry. Getting around without a car is even worse. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 06:41, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

Oh, thanks for clarifying that – I should have read the Kangaroo Island article more carefully. —Granger (talk · contribs) 14:48, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

Not a problem – we all do that :-).

Incidentally, there are some other places like Mungo National Park which might seem like a park that you have to visit by car, but I know many people who can drive but chose not to drive given the nature of the gravel roads and didn't miss out on much by going on the tour from Mildura (accessible by train + plane). There are many other similar iterations elsewhere on the mainland, too. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 10:10, 26 October 2023 (UTC)

@Mx. Granger: Reviving an old discussion, but would you consider national park articles only accessible via a tour (other than car) to be worthy on this list? --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 10:20, 24 March 2024 (UTC)

I'll also put it here while I can, but Environment SA has a list of parks in the Adelaide-area accessible by public transit. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 10:32, 24 March 2024 (UTC)

This (disclaimer: personal blog/non-official site) may help for Victoria. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 10:39, 24 March 2024 (UTC)

I think parks that can be visited by tour might be worth mentioning, especially the most famous ones. If we do mention them, we should clearly distinguish fixed guided tours from transportation options that give you more flexibility and independence, as those are different experiences. —Granger (talk · contribs) 13:38, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

@Mx. Granger: Would you consider simply going out and getting an Outback experience as a nature experience? If we do, I think there's some merit in including the Savannahlander (though this isn't very cheap – iirc it's $1270 for an adult for 4 days, though I'll have to confirm this). --SHB2000 (t | c | m) 08:36, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

I think it's worth including, yes. Lots of visitors to Australia want to see the outback and might not have any idea how to do that without a car. —Granger (talk · contribs) 17:08, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Good point. And I do think it's better than the Broken Hill XPT is more of a regular passenger service without stopping at any nature-based destination. --SHB2000 (t | c | m) 22:07, 12 July 2024 (UTC)