11 Oct 2012

Well I have put together a list of places and distance that goes along with the map, this is obviously not just places that I am stopping over night, rather a way to get an idea of the route best suited to the plan for the trip and additionally for an idea of the minimum distance to be covered.

This minimum distance will enable me to work out a ball park figure for the total cost in fuel as well, which enables me to come up with a loose budget for the trip, which hopefully won't be horribly expensive. As it stands right now just to travel directly as per the list to where I want to go without any running around within towns or off the main route to sight see it is going to be 20,250.9 kilometres (12,583.3 miles), so should be great. Obviously this is just guidance though as who knows what route changes may become interesting once under way.

Proposed route is:

Melbourne - Seymour  112km
Seymour - Shepparton   78km
Shepparton - Finley        105.7km
Finley - Narrandera        142km
Narrandera - West Wyalong 130km
West Wyalong - Dubbo  223km
Dubbo - Moree               365km
Moree - Goondiwindi     127km
Goondiwindi - Caloundra 437km
Caloundra - Gympie        96.3km
Gympie - Goomeri          77km
Goomeri - Biloela           346km
Biloela - Mackay             335km
Mackay - Townsville      792km
Townsville - Cooktown  684.5km
Cooktown - Mt Isa          1333km
Mt Isa - Alice Springs     1166km
Alice Springs - Uluru       459km
Uluru - Daly Waters         1355km
Daly Waters - Darwin       608km
Darwin - Kununurra         1535km
Kununurra - Broome        1281km
Broome - Carnarvon         1753km
Carnarvon - Geraldton      787km
Geraldton - Perth               431km
Perth - Albany                   650.9km
Albany - Eucla                  1400km
Eucla - Port Augusta         1036km
Port Augusta - Coober Pedy  538km
Coober Pedy - Adelaide     847km
Adelaide - Mt Gambier      454km
Mt Gambier - Melbourne   529.6km

10 October 2012

Ok well I know it has been a while now, but I have been working towards planning a route that will work best for me, as the car is not with me in Melbourne at the moment it is not possible to be working on it, so route planning will have to do for now.

Leaving Melbourne I will travel up the Hume Highway until I get to Shepparton and then head up to cross the Victoria / New South Wales border heading to Tocumwal. Given that I have travelled the coast line of New South Wales several times and the central route along the New England Highway I have decided that I will follow the inland route on to Finley and further to Narrandera, There seen from a map the road zig zags to West Wyalong and then on to Forbes, Parkes and Dubbo. Then it is north to Coonabarabran, Narrabri and Moree and heading for the New South Wales / Queensland border crossing at Goondiwindi.

From Goondiwindi its west north west to Towoomba and west to Brisbane before heading north to Caloundra and vist Ed and then vist my parents in Gympie before heading to Goomeri and north along the Burnett Highway (midland Queensland as I have done the coast through this section as well) to Rockhampton then up the coast to Mackay where I will turn back inland to Clermont. From Clermont take the Gregory Highway (Gregory Development Road) to Charters Towers and then back east the coast at Townsville. Leaving Townsville north to Cairns and along the coast again until Port Douglas where I will have to turn inland (west and north) again only to come back to the coast at Cooktown. From Cooktown I will travel south to Ravenshoe and then decide whether to take the Kennedy Development Road to Hughenden or travel back down to Charters Towers and then go west to Hughenden from there. From there west to Mt Isa and then onward across the Queensland / Northern Territory border. This section most probably will change though and I will probably take the Bruce Highway all the way from Rockhampton through Mackay and on to Townsville and Cairns. Then the return from Cooktown would be South to Mareeba, Atherton and Ravenshoe and down the Kennedy Highway until the trun to Charters Towers rather than through to Hughenden. Plenty of time to figure that out though.

Once over the Northern Territory border it is west to Threeways (basically the East road ends at a "T" intersection with the north-south road) where it is then south to Alice Springs and on to Uluru further south and west again. Leaving Uluru it is very tempting to head back to Erlunda and the go south the hundred kilometres just to cross the Northern Territory / South Australia border as it would be the only one I miss crossing otherwise, again yet to be decided, but forthe sake of two hundred kilometres over the length of the trip is it worth missing this. Then it is back north through Alice Springs and Threeways again and onwards to Daly Waters and Katherine before heading up to Darwin. Leaving Darwin it will be back to Katherine so I can then head for the Northern Territory / Western Australian border and Kununurra. Onwards to Wyndham and Derby, then to Broome, Port Headland, Karratha and on to Exmouth. From Exmouth its off to Carnarvon and south to Geraldton and Perth. Forward on to Bunbury and Bussleton, Margaret Rover and then via Walpole and Denmar to Albany and Esperance. North briefly again to Norseman and then it is heading East for days time towards Eucla and the Western Australia / South Australia Border, across the Nullabor Plains to Ceduna and on to Port Augusta.

At Port Augusta the plan is to head north again to Woomera and Coober Pedy before turning south again back to Port Augusta and on to Port Pirie then to Port Wakefield and onwards to Adelaide. From Adelaide it is south east to Tailem Bend and onwards to cross the South Australia / Victoria border via Kingston S.E and Mount Gambier to Portland. Portland then leads on to Port Fairy and Warrnambool and then to the Great Ocean Road heading for Apollo Bay and Lorne. At this point it is not far from Lorne to Torquay and Geelong and a quick run up to Melbourne and home.

Of course this is all subject to chage, though I think at this stage it is fairly much how it will play out, so it should be good. Now I will come up with a list of distances between towns and see just what is actually ahead. Once done it should look something like this: