5 ms·

My aunt and uncle took their honeymoon in 1967 by driving from Adelaide to London, where they lived for a few years and then drove home. While a crazy trip, qu

by gumby 2y ago

My aunt and uncle took their honeymoon in 1967 by driving from Adelaide to London, where they lived for a few years and then drove home. While a crazy trip, quite a few people did this, including my mother's best friend for her honeymoon. When we visited, we flew. I don't remember how long it took, but by the late 70s, with 747s, the flight had shortened down to 36 hours.

madcaptenor 2y ago
They drove from Adelaide? Any idea how they got across the wet bits?
- zamadatix 2y ago
  You take ferries/ships as needed on such trips, usually with the intent to use them for as little of the trip as reasonable.
  - radpanda 2y ago
    Were there international car ferries to/from Australia? I’m not aware of any currently.
    - gumby 2y ago
      Yes, passenger ships and ferries were more common than today. When my mum went to Australia for school in the 1950s she went by ship.
      - paimoe 2y ago
        This sounds like a "back in my day I had to take a ship to school" bit
        ghaff 2y ago
        Ships were obviously much more common given there’s basically one trans-Atlantic ocean liner these days.
        tim333 2y ago
        Yeah a lot of it was killed by cheap flights.
        ghaff 2y ago
        And even before flights got generally cheaper, it's hard for most people to justify taking almost a week longer, between a very limited number of destinations, on a pretty limited schedule.
      - jajko 2y ago
        Even in 60s when big himalayan expeditions were done, people travelled by big boats starting usually in India, for a month or two. Then got half of their equipment lost (so this part didn't change that much).
    - zamadatix 2y ago
      As an addition to the other responses about the historical side you can currently still ship your car in/out of Australia today you'll just have to do it as cargo instead of a single passenger ferry which also carries your car too. I know a guy that did that with his car to Europe for ~8 months, just make sure you plan well in advanced or you'll be waiting 2-3 months on that leg :).
    - NikkiA 2y ago
      There used to be far more (sometimes ocean-going) RORO ferries than there are now, Herald of Free Enterprise and Estonia really reduced the market to areas where the ferries are pretty much essential.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
tasuki 2y ago
I'd love to see photos! Ideally including the bus :)

by gumby 2y ago

madcaptenor 2y ago

They drove from Adelaide? Any idea how they got across the wet bits?

zamadatix 2y ago
You take ferries/ships as needed on such trips, usually with the intent to use them for as little of the trip as reasonable.
- radpanda 2y ago
  Were there international car ferries to/from Australia? I’m not aware of any currently.
  - gumby 2y ago
    Yes, passenger ships and ferries were more common than today. When my mum went to Australia for school in the 1950s she went by ship.
    - paimoe 2y ago
      This sounds like a "back in my day I had to take a ship to school" bit
      - ghaff 2y ago
        Ships were obviously much more common given there’s basically one trans-Atlantic ocean liner these days.
        tim333 2y ago
        Yeah a lot of it was killed by cheap flights.
        ghaff 2y ago
        And even before flights got generally cheaper, it's hard for most people to justify taking almost a week longer, between a very limited number of destinations, on a pretty limited schedule.
    - jajko 2y ago
      Even in 60s when big himalayan expeditions were done, people travelled by big boats starting usually in India, for a month or two. Then got half of their equipment lost (so this part didn't change that much).
  - zamadatix 2y ago
    As an addition to the other responses about the historical side you can currently still ship your car in/out of Australia today you'll just have to do it as cargo instead of a single passenger ferry which also carries your car too. I know a guy that did that with his car to Europe for ~8 months, just make sure you plan well in advanced or you'll be waiting 2-3 months on that leg :).
  - NikkiA 2y ago
    There used to be far more (sometimes ocean-going) RORO ferries than there are now, Herald of Free Enterprise and Estonia really reduced the market to areas where the ferries are pretty much essential.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

tasuki 2y ago

I'd love to see photos! Ideally including the bus :)