Latest posts
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Selling a Car Before You Leave Australia: What to Know
How to sell your car before flying out of Australia: roadworthy certificate rules by state, registration transfer, why you probably won’t get a rego refund, and how to get paid safely.
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Speed Camera Fines in Australia: What Visitors Actually Owe
A guest of mine assumed that because he was driving on an overseas licence, a speeding fine here wouldn’t really follow him home. It did, three weeks later, as an invoice mailed to his address overseas, plus a rental company admin fee he hadn’t budgeted for. The one thing that genuinely doesn’t apply to visitors…
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Toll Roads in Australia: How to Actually Pay Them
A visitor once asked me how much change to keep in the car for the tolls into Sydney. None, is the honest answer, Australia hasn’t had a toll booth that accepts cash since 2013. If you drive through one without the right setup, you don’t get stopped, you just quietly get charged more than you…
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Buying a Used Car in Australia? Do These 3 Checks First
A staff member of mine once bought a “great deal” on a hatchback from a private seller, only to find out three months later it still had finance owing on it from the previous owner. She lost the car and the money, because she skipped a check that costs about as much as a coffee.…
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P-Plates in Australia: What New and International Drivers Need to Know
Something a lot of experienced overseas drivers don’t expect: converting your licence in Australia doesn’t automatically mean a full, unrestricted licence. Depending on your age, your state, and your driving history, you can end up on P-plates just like a local teenager. Quick answer: P-plates (provisional licence) apply to newly licensed drivers in Australia, typically…
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Driving in Australia with an Overseas Licence: What Changed in 2026
A lot of newcomers assume converting a driver’s licence is just paperwork. In 2026 that assumption got a lot more expensive for some nationalities, a major exemption scheme was scrapped, meaning drivers from certain countries now need to sit both a written and practical test they wouldn’t have needed a year earlier. Quick answer: Temporary…
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Public Transport in Australia: Opal, Myki, and Go Card Explained
Every visitor I’ve ever hosted has made the same mistake at least once, tapping on with the wrong card, or worse, forgetting to tap off and getting charged the maximum fare. Each city runs its own system and they don’t talk to each other. Quick answer: Sydney uses Opal, Melbourne uses Myki, and Brisbane/Queensland uses…
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Best Road Trips from Sydney and Melbourne: A Local Guide
Every visitor who stays with us for more than a week eventually asks the same thing: what’s the road trip actually worth doing? Here’s what I tell them, based on what people actually come back raving about versus what looks good in a brochure. Quick answer: From Sydney, the Grand Pacific Drive and the Blue…
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Driving in Australia? Sort Your Car Insurance First
A friend of mine got pulled over three months after moving here and had no idea her overseas licence had basically expired for driving purposes. She was fine in the end, but it rattled her — and it is a genuinely confusing area because every state does it differently. Quick answer: Visitors can generally drive…