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Elizabeth Street , Sydney , by Night

Herbert Gallop (1890–1958)
Elizabeth Street
, Sydney , by Night c. 1930
oil on canvas; 55.0 x 66.0 cm
nla.pic-an2288446

ON THE ROAD

Australians quickly learned to depend on the motor vehicle. This section looks at how we use our cars, the support of motorists’ assistance associations, the rise of the four-wheel drive vehicle, recreation, sport in the form of road trials, and truck transport of goods.

The size of our continent, and the scattered locations of population centres, have made the car and other motor vehicles essential tools, from the time of early rudimentary roads to today’s dual carriageways and national highway system.

Rising fuel prices and concern for the environment have forced most Australians in some ways to reconsider use of their cars. Many now use public transport, and many have changed to a more economical vehicle. But for most of us, some form of motor transport is still essential.

As members of the baby-boomer generation retire and begin to roam the continent in their four-wheel-drives, vans and caravans, a new societal group has emerged: the Grey Nomads. For those of us with more limited recreation time, car travel can still be a pleasure and an adventure in itself, or simply the means of getting to journey’s end.