Last year, 2014, ended up being a big year travel wise for us with our road trip north for two months followed by a six week road trip to revisit places we'd previously seen in passing on the Southern Coast of New South Wales and Victoria and then a another two month trip to Sri Lanka and Kerala, India.
Now, a year since we left home on our 12,000 kilometre road trip through western Queensland, up into the Northern Territory and a short distance into the East Kimberley part of Western Australia memories keep resurfacing of the wonderful places we saw, people we met and things we learned about the First people of Australia and the geological history of this, the world's smallest continent, the very different pictures of the beauty of the land and more. As I've now published all the drafts that have languished in the edit box and, because blogs such as mine helped me in planning our own trip, I'll finish with a few thoughts on long distance road travel in a camper van. Assuming that you have researched your route, know where the facilities are along the way and where you might stop over night my Number One Tip is:
You can never recover TIME. DO IT NOW ! Of course in a planned way. If we had made this trip ten years ago as planned, we would have been walking through the National Parks, canoeing through Katherine Gorge, tent camping in wilderness areas off road and so on. Advancing years do mean that life's activities have to be adjusted. If you are already reaching the higher numbers don't worry. Make the adjustments and go anyway. You'll be glad you did!
Number Two: Be Prepared - for anything.
Carry at least twenty litres of extra fuel if you are staying on road, more if you are not. We had to use our spare fuel on two occasions. Once because we sailed past a service station without checking that our fuel was at 100% and once because a high wind for five hundred kilometres meant that the engine used more fuel than usual. Don't worry about how much it all costs. You can't go down the road for a discounted price. The highest price per litre diesel we paid was $2.10 at Jabiru and the lowest was $1.53 at both Gin Gin and Charters Towers.
Ensure that you have more than enough supplies of any medications you need to keep you alive to enjoy your trip and a first aid kit stored in a quickly accessible place.
Add some sticky tape to your tool box. Ours came in handy holding the windscreen together for three thousand kilometres. Know that although temperatures during the day are rather warm, the cooler nights will cause a cracked windscreen to expand and lengthen the crack.
Pack once. Then repack two more times and take out ten percent or more at each pack. If you leave behind something you later need you will be able to remedy that at a town along the way. That does not apply to water. Start with at least five litres plus your personal bottle.
Know where the free stops are.
[ http://www.caravancaravan.com.au/ is a great resource.] You might want to use them for a break if not for an overnight stop. Know that in season Grey Nomads will be there before lunchtime [ how do they get there so early?] and will be camped in the shady spots, beer in hand as you haul yourself off the tarmac, search for a spot that's not by the toilet, decide to have a quick lunch and try your luck getting to a roadhouse a further six hundred kms up the line before dark. Roadhouses are a good place to stop and have camping grounds too.
Don't fret about meeting road trains or listen to those who try to scare you about them before you leave home, especially if they've never done such a trip themselves. For the most part the roads are looong and flat - ish. You will see them coming towards you and usually you are travelling faster than they are if they are behind you. If you're slow, you will hear them. So, plenty of time to get as left as possible. Secondly, road train drivers are very experienced and courteous road users. They look out for you, or at least, as conversations with them at roadhouses showed, they did for us.
That brings me to road safety. Do know that, even if there are only a couple of buildings and the settlement can be missed if you blink, you do need to go down to the signed speed limit. Police may be checking and you will be breathalysed. Speed limits in a great part of the Northern Territory do not exist, roads are long, straight and empty. Don't be tempted to travel like a plane as help, should it be needed for either your vehicle or yourself, is a long way off. Possibly at least six hundred kms in places. Stop to stretch your legs every two hours but look for a place such as a truck stop where you can get off the road - it may take an hour or more to find one.
My last tip is: see your dentist the day before you leave home. If you do acquire a dental problem that bottle of good brandy you repacked three times will come in handy, along with the Ibuprofen in your first aid kit. With a big enough dose you will be at least comfortable, but not perhaps so happy, until you find that nice dentist at Humpty Doo who will remove the offending tooth.
So, having attended to all of the above, checked that your home is secure, Skype is loaded on your ipad, stopped your mail, all you need to do now is to add a few extra bottles of your favourite wine to enjoy under a clear starry sky in the middle of our wide open country, climb into your holiday home and head for the highway. An unforgettable time is ahead!
Happy travels!
Now, a year since we left home on our 12,000 kilometre road trip through western Queensland, up into the Northern Territory and a short distance into the East Kimberley part of Western Australia memories keep resurfacing of the wonderful places we saw, people we met and things we learned about the First people of Australia and the geological history of this, the world's smallest continent, the very different pictures of the beauty of the land and more. As I've now published all the drafts that have languished in the edit box and, because blogs such as mine helped me in planning our own trip, I'll finish with a few thoughts on long distance road travel in a camper van. Assuming that you have researched your route, know where the facilities are along the way and where you might stop over night my Number One Tip is:
You can never recover TIME. DO IT NOW ! Of course in a planned way. If we had made this trip ten years ago as planned, we would have been walking through the National Parks, canoeing through Katherine Gorge, tent camping in wilderness areas off road and so on. Advancing years do mean that life's activities have to be adjusted. If you are already reaching the higher numbers don't worry. Make the adjustments and go anyway. You'll be glad you did!
 |
| Carry Spare fuel |
Carry at least twenty litres of extra fuel if you are staying on road, more if you are not. We had to use our spare fuel on two occasions. Once because we sailed past a service station without checking that our fuel was at 100% and once because a high wind for five hundred kilometres meant that the engine used more fuel than usual. Don't worry about how much it all costs. You can't go down the road for a discounted price. The highest price per litre diesel we paid was $2.10 at Jabiru and the lowest was $1.53 at both Gin Gin and Charters Towers.
Ensure that you have more than enough supplies of any medications you need to keep you alive to enjoy your trip and a first aid kit stored in a quickly accessible place.
Add some sticky tape to your tool box. Ours came in handy holding the windscreen together for three thousand kilometres. Know that although temperatures during the day are rather warm, the cooler nights will cause a cracked windscreen to expand and lengthen the crack.
Pack once. Then repack two more times and take out ten percent or more at each pack. If you leave behind something you later need you will be able to remedy that at a town along the way. That does not apply to water. Start with at least five litres plus your personal bottle.
 |
| Road house, Dunnmarra |
[ http://www.caravancaravan.com.au/ is a great resource.] You might want to use them for a break if not for an overnight stop. Know that in season Grey Nomads will be there before lunchtime [ how do they get there so early?] and will be camped in the shady spots, beer in hand as you haul yourself off the tarmac, search for a spot that's not by the toilet, decide to have a quick lunch and try your luck getting to a roadhouse a further six hundred kms up the line before dark. Roadhouses are a good place to stop and have camping grounds too.
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| Road Train, Northern Territory |
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| Traffic police, Renner Springs |
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| Bitter Springs |
So, having attended to all of the above, checked that your home is secure, Skype is loaded on your ipad, stopped your mail, all you need to do now is to add a few extra bottles of your favourite wine to enjoy under a clear starry sky in the middle of our wide open country, climb into your holiday home and head for the highway. An unforgettable time is ahead!
Happy travels!
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