The big lap. Clockwise or anti-clockwise.

Chief lb · Member

The big lap. Clockwise or anti-clockwise.

the vicar · Member

ah the big lap.have undertaken it both ways.a lot of people talk about the wind etc,it may come up windy, if it does bush camp until it blows over.biggest advice is dont rush it and smell the roses.ensure to see places like barn hill,port smith,eighty mile beach etc along the way and once again take your time.enjoy.regards.the vicar

Cupie · Guru

I suppose it's all about

- How long you have to do the lap, &

- What is the best time to be in different parts of Aus.

eg. Not in Vic during winter, not in Darwin in the wet.

So the first step is developing a best weather map.

- what sort of people are you. Do you need a schedule or are prepared to play it as you go.

The minimum time that we would allow is 6mths. not spending any time within the 'local area' that can be done later or may already have been done in trial runs or previous holidays. Many will suggest that 12 mths or more is the minimum.

For us, starting in S E Qld & with 6mths allocated, we decided to start anti clockwise in March, cutting thru central Qld & leaving QA around Sept./Oct.

The important thing is to take your time eg. no 'overnighters' ... & restrict daily driving to no more than say 350 km. The shorter the better. Perhaps to step out your daily movement on a map might give you an idea of how long you will need, allowing a week here & there to rest relax & enjoy. You will probably do about 24,000km, so at 350km every second day that means around 4 mths driving .. + time to stop at interesting spots. This makes the 6 mths minimum look like being a bit short but it does give some idea of what's entailed.

(ps.. for me 350km takes about 5 hrs ... I travel at 90km/hr but estimate at 80km/hr to allow for various stops along the way ... I leave camp late 9am?, arrive early 2pm? & am never exhausted by the trip, stopping regularly to rest & enjoy the trip .. Its quite usual for me to pull up in the middle of nowhere & wander off into the bush or whatever to sit down with a cuppa for a bit & experience the place .. often the best part of the day)

Of course many with no time restrictions will advise you to just go out the front gate, flip a coin to decide L or R & then follow your nose with no fixed destination just the desire to enjoy the trip. Not for me though. I need a plan.

-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 22nd of October 2016 10:51:02 AM

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Depends where your starting from and season . I went south coast then west at the end of Feb from Sydney .. If it was June to Oct ? I would have gone North . Queensland way . So I get nice weather . Then hopefully as it gets humid ?? I'm heading back south on west coast ..

macka17 · Guru

Both ways get you there.

We always tossed a coin at the junction at end of our road.
One East. One West.
Windy. stay over a day or whatever.

Most try to pick the weather seasons.
WHy.
Both seasons have their own advantages.

Just go and enjoy.
you're a looong time dead.

I'm going in for internal spinal cord fusion implant shortly.
Broken neck (C1.2.3.4.5.)
Wiring down your spine to a power pack/controller,
buried in your rump.
Change battery every 10 yrs (and me 75)
Guarantee I won't have too many of them done hey chuckle.

BUT It'll keep me going for a bit longer.
and much better than the drug levels I'm on nowadays.
They actually stop me breathing they relax me so much.
Not gud.

I got married in Sep't at 75.
My dad remarried at 75. Died two yrs later.

Hope I don't follow suit hey... wish me luck.

LLD · Senior Member

Keep getting told the path of least resistance across the Nullabor is from West to East as winds typically come from the West. The long drag from East to West is harder than West to East. Cyclists typically go around Aus anti-clockwise.

Possum3 · Guru

The prevailing winds can increase fuel consumption by as much as 50% so it is best to travel according to the seasonal wind patterns when crossing the Hay Plain and the Nullarbor - Additionally; the "Wet" season up North makes travel next to impossible. The coastal areas from Omeo in Victoria through to Albany in WA can de-sex monkeys in winter months.
So I suggest you plan your trip with seasons in mind - and if possible have time up your sleeve to dally in areas that take your fancy or to sit out bad weather events or altered road conditions.
The most important thing is to enjoy whatever, wherever and however. Ensure you have some board games, cards and firelighters, and talk to the locals.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

We had strong head wind on Nullabor. Stopped overnight . Next morning it was behind us ., No hurry ..

Hylife · Guru

The Nullabor is not this big flat expanse of nothing that everyone thinks it is.
The Nullabor itself is only 185km across. The rest of the West-East road is quite interesting.
It is an undulating, hilly, flat, grassy, bushy, forested, in-out, up-down road.
The Stuart Hwy from Adelaide to the Alice is far more devoid of features than the Nullabor.

Yes, predominantly the wind across the bottom blows from West to East, but, north-south on the west coast the wind predominantly blows from the South/South West direction.

So, going anti-clockwise gives you headwinds all the way down the coast from Broome to Leeuwin, and the winds are far more powerful down the west coast with nothing but ocean to slow them down, than across the bottom.

Quite frankly, take which ever way you want. On a full or half lap it wont make any difference to your overall fuel consumption. The general direction is only a small part of the total distance you will cover.

Having just completed a 3 month basic half lap (anticlockwise from Vic) I can tell you that although the hwy is 11,000km we did 22,500km, once you add in all your side trips, and that was nowhere near seeing half of everything.

Roving-Dutchy · Guru

One sight I'm glad I didn't miss was the wildflower season in WA with the peak in September around Perth but it starts in the North around August and proceeds down the state as the weather warms up till approx October in the South of the state.
Cheers
David

Cupie · Guru

macka17 wrote:
Both ways get you there.

We always tossed a coin at the junction at end of our road.
One East. One West.
Windy. stay over a day or whatever.

Most try to pick the weather seasons.
WHy.
Both seasons have their own advantages.

Just go and enjoy.
you're a looong time dead.

I'm going in for internal spinal cord fusion implant shortly.
Broken neck (C1.2.3.4.5.)
Wiring down your spine to a power pack/controller,
buried in your rump.
Change battery every 10 yrs (and me 75)
Guarantee I won't have too many of them done hey chuckle.

BUT It'll keep me going for a bit longer.
and much better than the drug levels I'm on nowadays.
They actually stop me breathing they relax me so much.
Not gud.

I got married in Sep't at 75.
My dad remarried at 75. Died two yrs later.

Hope I don't follow suit hey... wish me luck.

That sounds like a complicated procedure ... Good luck from me & I'm sure that I speak for other GNs as well .... I look forward to your 'outside the square' posts ... perhaps a few more are coming our way as you lie around recuperating. You'll need the aircon in coming months to see you thru that phase.

Chief lb · Member

Thank you to all responders. By the general sounds of things, flipping a coin seems to be the best tactic. Thankfully, time is of no real concern to us and we've done the east cost a bit, but never ventured between Perth and Broome. So, decision nearly made, clockwise probably.
Thanks again for all your comments and if you've got any further tips or pointers, I'd be happy to hear them.
Cheers for now and happy travels.
Chief lb.

Hewy54 · Senior Member

Anticlockwise as it is 19m shorter.

Hylife · Guru

You'll love WA. There is nowhere else in Australia like WA. Every couple of hundred km the landscape just keeps changing.

So much beautiful coastline but much of it is inaccessible.
Many state and national parks whilst beautiful have either no camping or poorly maintained areas with expensive fees.
Take heart that most of the good places have far superior free camping just outside the parks so load up WikiCamps on your phone and download all the maps before you go.
Free camping in a natural setting is so much better anyway.

Take the time to stay a while in places. There is so much to see and do you can very easily spend too much time on the road.

Get a good bright orange Saracen trailer lock and get used to unhitching the van at a free camp and heading off into more remote parts for the day without the van on the back.

Oh, and if you are from the east, just be prepared to step back in time half a century when you go to WA.
Attitudes everywhere are somewhat 1980s when it comes to customer service (not good) and they can't see it because that is what they are all used to.

In most towns shops are 9 to 5 and only 9 to 12 on Saturday morning and closed Sunday. This includes supermarkets everywhere and most petrol stations in smaller towns. Blue collar & trades services often close by 3pm.
Highway road houses for fuel are the exception.

And everything is soooooo expensive, especially groceries, meat, fuel and camping fees. Stupid amounts of mining wages have driven prices sky high so budget for much more than what you would pay over east.

Outside of Albany, Perth, Geraldton, Headland and Broome where the ships bring in pre-refined fuel from overseas, expect to pay $1.60 to $1.80 per litre for fuel, more for unleaded.
They charge what they do because they can and for no other reason.
The roadhouses know you have to fill up before the next town so they have a captive market and sell it at what they think they can get away with.

In van parks expect to pay $45 to $60 a night for a tiny cramped powered sand site with old ablutions blocks and no unpowered sites is not uncommon.
You'll want to see and visit many of the small towns that are dying and so you must. Shame they often wonder why no-one stops and spends whilst they persist in their 'No Camping' within 25km of town, so you'll soon learn not to feel guilty when you cruise on through see the sights and stop elsewhere where you are wanted and made welcome. Putting up a blue and white 'RV Friendly Town' sign does not make you one.

Staple groceries are expensive, such as mince is $25/kg, Blade stewing steak is $39 a kilo. Milk $4 a bottle. Bread is horrible frozen rubbish.
Fruit and vege is generally poor quality except the apples and WA navels.
(don't get me started about the border tax, with lame excuses about plant diseases and insect bugs and then you buy it all back again, with the labels clearly showing it has come from all over the country)

WA might be stuck in their own little section of the universe but it is a sector well worth the visit with some spectacularly amazing places to see.

Hey Jim · Guru

Hi Chief lb,

1. Depends on when you are planning to go. eg. months of the year. How long you are going for?

2. What you are interested in looking at. WA has Wild flowers in August / September.

3. The wind plays a big factor on fuel consumption. Our weather patterns go from West To East through winter months.

Not been rude HiLife,

But Most of us would carry a mix of frozen foods to skip your expensive prices, plus some caned foods and a few 1lt longlife milk in both full cream & lite @$1.76 in most IGA stores.

From (Sydney to Emouth WA return. July- Sept 2016) + side trips, we averaged price of fuel =$1.2493 we travelled 14609km For a total cost on fuel of $2851.40 I used both Woolies & Coles shopper dockets. I do have long range capability and use it to the max.Eg Ceduna- Norsman and skip the ripoffs, As one individual owns three of the most expensive fuel stops in a row. How many Truckies stop at his fuel bowsers alone.

Quoting some of these costs will turn fellow Gn's off going. For those with lesser fuel capacity,y Avg $1.45 to $1.50 for Diesel. The Nullabore Road house Was $1.61 for diesel.

At 35cents a Lt less on 2263.93Lts = A saving of $792.37 for our trip . At a aveage cost of $1.50 its still $226.40 in your pocket.

Using a V8 TTD with a combined weight of 5880kg. we averaged 19.26lt per 100km. We were way over loaded and could have brought our running cost way down

Dhutime · Senior Member

We have just completed our three quarter round trip west to east, then from Port Augusta to Tennant Creek,across to Brisbane,Cairns,and back to W A via the Savannah Way 20 thousand kilometres with only 200 Klm head wind . So my advice would be anti clockwise.

-- Edited by Dhutime on Sunday 23rd of October 2016 12:24:38 AM

landy · Guru

Good luck Macka,and wishing you all the best with the surgery.
Landy

PeterD · Guru

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
Depends where your starting from and season . I went south coast then west at the end of Feb from Sydney .. If it was June to Oct ? I would have gone North . Queensland way . So I get nice weather . Then hopefully as it gets humid ?? I'm heading back south on west coast ..

This is far better info than the rest of the posts. The thing that will determine your route is the weather. You don't want to be in the tropics in the summer because of the monsoon conditions and heat. You also don't want to be in the southern states in winter unless you like snow skying.

As far as head winds are concerned have a look at the Wind Roses for Selected Locations in Australia.

.

macka17 · Guru

Ta People.

Lot's worse than me, I'm not dead yet.

Had this since June '90. so sorta used to it.
Levels of pain, raise and fall all the time.
But Patches. plus differing levels of Targin control the extremes.
Combined with differing levels of Single Malt to suit. (Shhhhh)

Mine's a bit more serious with implantation than most (Back and legs)
As it's in my spinal core. C1 where nerves go though into the skull, brain.
He's the first I've ever found who would touch me.

Hey I could be ded. so still whistling so far.

This subject concerns a lot of us old farts.
So read on.....

"Anybody with permanent pain."

Go on net to "www.q'pain.com.au"and read.
It's the latest. and he is world leader in Pain management.

It covers most pains, and levels of.
PLUS. If on pension. ALL surgery is free.
Just pay for first visit.

I've had the initial nerve "freezing", sheath burning.

Works well. but only temporary.
redone every 6 to 18 mths. depending.

This is a permanent fix, at differing pain levels.
to "most" people.
not all are suitable, but they tell you.

you have a trial run for a week first.
With power pack on belt. not built in.

I've spoken to a couple with it installed.
and apart from a few no-no's. heavy lifting/stretching.
It's fairly straight forward.
and very much worth it.
Reduces intake of drugs too.

Reducing pain levels vary in different people.

But believe me.
ANY reduction in these pains is well worth it.
I used to stand there, banging my head on the wall
to distract brain from it..
Actually... Physically..Banging.

maybe that's the reason I'm like I am hey.....

Seriously.
You have chronic pain??.
Check up on it..

Oh.
The big lap.
I've done it by sea. on motorbike. Campervan and once by caravan.

Nowadays.
East Coast and top End.
Normally from Yeppoon Upwards.

Too much of nothing. between not much of anything when you get there.
Over the West.
Sorry Just our opinions.

I've seen a lot of Aust. and a fair bit Overseas.

What we have in abundance here.
is lots a red dust, Black soil, and some nice Tropics up North.
the rest is virtually all the same

The whole planet is virtually all the same on it's surface.
Just differing levels of moisture. A few bumps.and wet bits
Mountains and Oceans.
and variations on what humans have put on it over last 5000 yrs or so.

No matter where you go.
it's basically what humans have done that makes it interesting.
once you get over the bumps and wet bits.

Have fun.

hino motorhome · Veteran Member

Good luck macka

Chief lb · Member

Thanks again for all the advise and pointers everyone.
We intend leaving Melbourne the first week of march '17 and not getting back till mid December '17.
That gives us enough go time to do a quick lap but the best direction to travel is still a tough one.
Cheers
Chief lb

blaze · Guru

The day you head off, jump in the car and toss a coin. Heads go clockwise, tails go the other. all sorted
cheers
blaze

Cupie · Guru

Hi ..

Here's a site that is worth reading & may lead you to other interesting articles

http://www.expeditionaustralia.com.au/2011/11/which-way-to-travel-around-australia/

Cupie · Guru

Chief lb wrote:
Thanks again for all the advise and pointers everyone.
We intend leaving Melbourne the first week of march '17 and not getting back till mid December '17.
That gives us enough go time to do a quick lap but the best direction to travel is still a tough one.
Cheers
Chief lb

That's the decision that we made way back in 2000. Left 26 Mar & got home on 29 Nov. Perfect weather.

The direction decision was much easier for us in that we started from Brisbane & we wanted to do the hot north at the start before the wet. So Anticlockwise was the go.

By the way, those who are interested in wind directions aught to read up on the timing & direction of The Roaring Forties on the WA coast & watch the changing wind directions as highs & lows move towards & across the Nullarbor.

Enjoy your adventure.

antigoon · Veteran Member

For me there are two main considerations as to route - weather and events. I suggest printing off a map and marking in the dates of any particular events you might like to attend if in the area e.g. Bathurst 1000, Tamworth Music Festival, WA wildflowers, whale migration, Birdsville races and so on. Undoubtedly you will not be able to see all but a potential route will emerge. Typically these events occur during the anticipated periods of good weather but there are no guarantees for any given week. My tip is to be flexible so you can choose alternative destinations if one of your originals does not work out. Enjoy the adventure.