Driving in Perth, Australia is easy and relaxing compared to driving in Northern Europe if you are a Malaysian or from countries which uses the right-hand drive system (driver on the right side of the car). But why do we need to trouble ourselves driving in Perth? If you intend to explore the beautiful scenic areas of Western Australia, it is difficult to avoid driving. I am not saying that it is impossible to get to where you want via public transport but you will probably spend half a day travelling there (perhaps only half the time by driving). Also, it will be perfect if you have the optimum number in your travelling party (eg. 3 – 4 persons in a small car, 5 – 6 persons in an MPV, etc.). This way, you can reduce the driving cost by sharing while having a flexible, fun and relaxing journey. Here, I will share out some information and tips which I think you should know if you are planning to drive in Perth, Australia.
1. Driving License
Make sure your driving license is still valid. It might sound funny but there are actually people who forgot to renew their driving license from time to time.
For my case, I brought along my International Driving Permit (also known as Permit Memandu Antarabangsa in Malaysia) which I applied from the Road Transport Department (also known as Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan or in short, JPJ, in Malaysia) before I went to Northern Europe last year. It only costs RM150 and is valid for one year. All you need to do is take a queue number, fill up the form, pay the fees and it’s done. This International Driving Permit allows you to drive in most of the countries around the world.
With the new design of Malaysia driving license, some people are saying that Malaysians doesn’t need to apply for the International Driving Permit if you are travelling to an English speaking country. The reason is because the information in the new license is in both Malay and English. But I still think it is safer if you have the International Driving Permit with you. Having said that, the car rental company that I used in Perth, No Birds, actually accepts Malaysia’s Driving License during registration. I am not sure about the other car rental companies though.
2. Car Rental
There are many car rental companies in Perth inclusive of the globally known ones such as Avis, Hertz, Budget, Europcar, etc. Since these are global car rental companies, their price will surely be much higher than the local companies.
Prior to our trip, our friends who either lived in or have previously visited Perth gave good reviews about the car rental company called No Birds especially on their rental services and condition of the rental cars.
No Birds might sound funny but it is in fact cheaper than the global car rental companies. No Birds only uses Toyota cars and all of them are white in color with its company name printed at the side of the car. We rented a Corolla Hatch twice during our vacation and on both occasions, the car is well-maintained and clean just like a new car. The interior of the car is spacious and comfortable while the car boot/trunk can fit up to 2 medium-sized luggage plus a small backpack.
All car rental companies have a certain amount of damage excess. For example, if the car rental company has a damage excess of AUD2000, you need to pay the maximum of this amount in the event that you accidentally damaged the rental car. Fortunately, No Birds have this Top Cover option at only AUD14 per day (capped at AUD98) which reduces the damage excess to AUD0. You can treat this as a form of car insurance and just drive worry-free since you won’t be charged for any accidental damage to the car.
Even though No birds doesn’t has any office or counter at Perth airport, it didn't gave us any hassle since they provide shuttle service from the airport to its Bayswater office at only AUD5 per person. This is probably the reason why their rates is cheaper since having an office or counter in the airport is quite costly. Bayswater office is just a short distance away from the airport and the registration process is very fast that you won't spend a lot of time getting your rental car. You can choose to return the rental car either at its office or at the airport. Bear in mind that there will be some extra charges if you choose to return the car at the airport. We were glad that we chose an apartment near to one of its offices as we easily returned the car anytime we wanted even at night when the office is close. We just parked the car in the parking area, locked the car and left the keys in the “key-drop box”.
3. Road Signage & Speed Limit
On average, the speed limit in Perth is about 60km/h in the city and about 100km/h to 110km/h outside the city. The road signs are big, clear and easy to be seen (good distance away from junctions) unlike the road signs in Malaysia which are usually blocked by trees or placed very near the junctions.
It might be dangerous driving at night in the rural areas due to its large population of nocturnal animals. A colleague of mine told me that you can easily spot kangaroos hopping around at night in the Margaret River region. Additionally, an Australian who I met at a fuel station (he was initially curious of the No Bird logo on the rental car and asked me about it) told me that his car has ran into many animals such as wombats, kangaroos, emus and many others while travelling northbound from Swan Valley at night.
4. Fuel
Another thing to take note when using a rental car is the type of fuel the car runs on. Whether it is unleaded, leaded or diesel, it is important to know the fuel type before leaving the car rental office. Pumping the wrong type of fuel into the car can damage its engine and the car rental company will probably bill you the repair cost of the car.
Throughout our vacation, we noticed that the fuel price fluctuates every day and the fuel stations in the city have higher prices compared to those in the rural areas. The cheapest fuel price that we came across is by the fuel station, Puma. However, this fuel station isn’t easy to find compared to Shell or Caltex. I guess that is the reason why Puma has lower fuel price.
Tips: There is one Puma fuel station in Fremantle nearby Fremantle Markets.
You can also get fuel discounts if you purchase more than a certain amount from the supermarkets such as Woolworth, Coles or IGA. From our experience, whenever we purchased more than AUD30 of groceries, the fuel discount was printed at the bottom of the receipt (eg. 4 cents per liter off the pump price from selected fuel stations).
5. Parking
The parking in Perth is quite confusing. Some streets can be parked for free while some are chargeable based on the number of hours you parked there. And there are also some streets whereby you can only park for a certain maximum number of hours. Different zones seem to have different parking rates as well.
Besides street parking, there are also parking lots across the city which in my opinion is much easier to understand. Just look around for a big parking board and follow the instruction on the ticket machine (pay for the number of hours that you plan to park). In addition, some of the parking lots come with the first hour free of charge.
For Margaret River, the street parking is free of charge. But, the parking in Perth city isn't cheap especially if you are parking for many hours. The best option would be to look for cheap parking rates or free parking zones.
6. Navigation
As usual, we always rely on offline navigation apps because we didn't want to spend any money subscribing roaming data. From our past overseas driving experience, we didn't have any issue using offline Google Maps and Maps.me to bring us wherever we wanted to go.
Unfortunately, we faced some issues on both apps while getting the rental car. Hence, we decided to get the GPS offered by No birds which cost AUD5 per day. The GPS is easy to use and navigated us to where we wanted. Once our phones were connected to the internet, our offline navigation apps started to work as usual. Thereafter, we used our phone to bring us to wherever we plan to visit in Perth.
Generally, it was so much easier for me, a Malaysian, to drive in Australia (right-hand drive) compared to in Northern Europe (left-hand drive). The only thing to bear in mind is to obey the speed limit in order not to get any speeding summons/tickets. We were also very happy with our choice of No Birds since they are cheaper than others. Their cars (all Toyota brand) are well-maintained and fuel-efficient which are just what we were looking for. We will definitely recommend anyone who visits Australia to rent a car from No Birds.
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