June 2013 pt 2 - Current Planned Route

Well I have been working through some maps and web sites and have decided on the third planned route so far this year, so it will probably change yet again, though it would be great to be able to go with this one as it covers areas mostly that I have not seen before, rather than travelling over roads that I have already done in the past (admittedly not necessarily in The Count though). I have checked out a few forum groups and some other information on the web and it seems that all the routes I have decided on so far are actually fairly much all sealed roads, besides people tow caravans over the roads so I think a Morris Minor should be able to make it as well. This is the proposed route

(sorry the quality is not the greatest, will have to try another scanner and replace it later if it works better) Currently the total distance works out to be approximately 24,061 kilometres (14,950 miles) and it includes some back tracking points, but worth it for the experience and seeing lots of "otherwise never going to get there" places. Given that it is possible to try and figure out what it will cost in fuel and such working with a few random guestimated input data, thus: Supposing that The Count has a 22 litre tank and that it is running at 8 litres/100 kilometres and that fuel is averaged at 172cents/litre it would be working out at: Total Litres - 1925 No: of Tanks - 87.49 Cost - $3,272.00 AUD So given that I can play around and come up with various figures that range from a cost of $2,695 to $6,256 for that cost of fuel for the whole trip by varying the average fuel consumption and the cost of fuel at cents/litre. Certainly is an interesting exercise

June 2013

Well here we go, not much at all has been happening, though have spent some time reviewing the planned route and where I want to go and see. With a better idea of where I want to go this has led to a revision of the distances to be covered and even to a proposed projection of what the fuel for the trip may cost. Give the variable cost of fuel I have worked it out at various cents per litre amounts just to see what I should be budgeting for, surprisingly it isn’t actually too bad (well from this end of the trip anyway) so that is something. I have redrawn the line around Australia and through the north south middle that will be the proposed route and have come up with a new total distance to drive just the trip as planned of 21,725 kilometres, so that is only 13,500 (ish) miles. 

Have to say the kilometres total does sound more impressive, though as the speedo is in miles I guess its best to have both figures. The speedo will require a re-calibration though as it only reads about half the actual speed and as such the “mileometer” is well out unfortunately. This distance of course doesn’t include any “off route excursions” so it is just a general guide, though I have amended the route plan to include getting too and from Uluru and going to Longreach as well. Oh and down to Port Lincoln rather then just taking the direct route to Adelaide from the Nullarbor. I am sure though I have not added even half of the things and places will end up wanting to see and do, thus there is no doubt the distance and fuel cost will climb.

 I have also been looking at how to get The Count down to Melbourne and been pricing having it freighted, the costs for which vary and it is between $650 and about $1650 with various companies. Some figures will permit the car alone, not carrying anything inside it and some will allow items to be in the car. There is of course the option to get a vehicle permit and drive The Count down to Melbourne, which isn’t a mad as it sounds as I have to have the car running and brakes working etc before it could be freighted, so why not drive it anyway and it can be a shake down trip for the drive to follow. I have of course got top level breakdown cover with the motoring organisation and they assure me it will cover me for any vehicle I am driving so that is good if it works. 

I would prefer to drive it down to Melbourne myself as it is much more interesting a prospect that loading it onto a truck and waiting for it to arrive at the other end. Time will tell I guess, one needs to be able to get insurance cover for it first or it won’t be driven anywhere and with it not actually being registered yet that can be a hassle for a permit drive of such long distance (across three States, all with different police forces and vehicle registry authorities!). Anyway time will tell. 

 I was actually looking into registration in Victoria and what rego plates I may be able to get on the car. Since Victoria had started to issue plates commencing with a “Y” I was actually hoping that I may actually be able to get the “Victoria” version of the plate The Count used to have when it was registered in the ACT. Back in the day all of the States had a block of letters that registration plates in their territory could start with and the ACT had “Y”, so if you saw a plate that started with the letter “Y” you knew it was a vehicle registered in the ACT, which made things so easy. 

Now those rules have changed and all of the States seem to be going off in all directions relating to rego plates, which is not a bad thing, though it would have been good if my old ACT number was still available in Victoria. Doesn’t matter though, it isn’t as though it was a special number, it is just the first number it had from the time I owned it, just a bit of nostalgia. Victoria now has a whole range of different types of plates available, as well as the old standard size, so I will have a look through those and see what is available. Hmm maybe some euro style plates would be the go, at least they should fit into the plate mounting on the boot lid, unlike the standard type plate…