Australia to Asia by boat
The most difficult leg of the journey from Australia to Europe to accomplish overland is to cross from Australia to Asia without taking a plane. During my preparation of the trip, I read so many different opinions on this that I didn’t know what to believe! Here is what I found out:
Is it possible to cross without taking a plane? The short answer is: Yes! You have two options:
- Find a spot on a Yacht as a crew member. The only way to do this is to go to Darwin in May or July when most Yachts make the journey North. A great website to find more information is: www.sailindonesia.net. You can also leave a message on the Darwin’s Sailing Club‘s message board.
- The other option is to book a cabin on a cargo ship. The only existing route is from Brisbane to Singapore. A couple of companies organise this like Globoship (email them they speak English), or Strand Voyages. The trip lasts approximately 10 days. It includes food and a private cabin with bathroom but is still quite expensive unfortunately.
These are the two only options that I found and were confirmed by several sources, but if you hear about other possibilities let me know! I wanted to write this blog post simply to prove that if you really want to do it without flying it is possible!


Hi,
A fried of mine pointed me to your site. I’m thrilled by your endeavor. All the very best!!!
~ Ashwin
Hi. This trip sounds fantastic. Looking forward to following you on your journey! What’s your overland route once you reach the mainland?
Beautiful picture by the way!
Try checking out the OZ Bus company which operates a London/Sydney bus service they might have more route information etc. Best of luck!
Now THAT’S a cool boat!