Next year (April 2016) we couple of 74 year old intrepid geriatrics want to saddle up again but this time for a 4 -5 month journey to escape the Tasmanian Winter to travel from Melbourne to Perth and all points north.
Has anyone come up with a suitable road trip planner that allows you to input the starting point, destination and many waypoints in between? Those that I've discovered have a limited number of waypoints limiting choices. As we are an older couple we'd also (where possible) like to limit our daily distance to an "average" of around 350 - 400 klms.
Anyone know of a road trip planner that permits you to input the required daily distance into it and have it map the journey including stops?
We love the planning stage but lack the knowledge of suitable stopping places across the Nullabor that would make the journey more pleasant as we no longer look forward to the 600+klms between places.
Thanks in anticipation
Keith
-- Edited by keithintassie on Sunday 12th of April 2015 10:18:53 AM
blaze said
12:54 PM Apr 12, 2015
Hi Keith
Fellow Tassie boy here too Keith. The winters sure are cool compared to WA. Spent the last 4 years I WA but been back in Tassie since jan but heading back to WA on Thursday. There are plenty of camp spots across the nulla. Roadhouses are about 250km apart but there is also plenty of free or cheap camps also
cheers
blaze
Bruce and Bev said
09:34 PM Apr 12, 2015
Hey Keith. Didn't know there was such a thing as a Trip Planner......so Im keen to see what other say with regards this.
My planner is wikicamps - which shows most free/low cost and CPs in the country, a paper map(s) and a good GPS (in my case a Hema 7 GPS).
As a Perth Person (lol), you will need more than 4-5 months to go much further north than Coral Bay in WA (about halfway north) and stick with the daily mileage (a sensible one that we normally go with so we see the sights out the left and right side windows rather than just the road in front of you)
PeterD said
09:22 AM Apr 13, 2015
Bruce and Bev wrote:
Didn't know there was such a thing as a Trip Planner......so Im keen to see what other say with regards this.
Are you a member of the RAC WA? Have a look at this. Each of the other state organisations supply a similar planner.
I find the best one is the older classic form of Google maps. It is good to manipulate, it's easy to ad, subtract and reorder way points. You can also drag the blue route line to alternate roads. I have had a look at the newer form og Google maps and it does not seem as flexible as the classic form.
As for trip recorders, can you use a spreadsheet? You can produce your own - free. If you don't have Micro$oft Office you can get a similar produce from LibreOffice. I use LibreOffice Calc for my spreadsheets. You can download the whole suite from here - free. Download the Main Installer and the LibreOffice Built in help in English. Install the main programme first and then the help second.
in transit said
02:10 PM Apr 13, 2015
Bing Maps lets you drag route from one road/route to another. It is also quick and simple for distances and duration, although I usually add a bit onto the duration.
Pejay said
02:47 PM Apr 13, 2015
Hi Keith,
Goodness you are doing well, giving us a good 10 years and we 'limit' ourselves to around 300-350 kms per day but quite often (as now) we only travel every second day and have a full day to explore the places we visit.
I have to agree with you, the planning stage is (more than?) half the fun, and Pete & I sit down with either a coffee, or wine - depending on the time of day - with our maps, calculator and Camps 8 book to work out our trips, then I sit and fill in all the blanks (caravan parks, other info etc) on a trip planner sheet I created on the computer, I then print it off, and away we go with me filling in milages etc along the way. It is amazing at the end of a trip to realise just how any kms you have covered during your time away.
It certainly would be a great excerise to do a trip planner to cover your proposed trip, look forward to hearing how you go with it.
PeterD said
03:10 PM Apr 13, 2015
in transit wrote:
Bing Maps lets you drag route from one road/route to another. It is also quick and simple for distances and duration, although I usually add a bit onto the duration.
Yes I believe that Bing Maps is hotly pursuing Google, I must revisit it to see if it is better than the latest Google Maps. Google certainly went backwards in its operation for my needs, Bing may now be better.
keithintassie said
09:26 PM Apr 13, 2015
Thanks for your comments Robbie and Therese they are greatly appreciated.
keithintassie said
09:28 PM Apr 13, 2015
Thanks for your comments Bev and Bruce they certainly are appreciated.
As we have Microsoft Office I'll stick with Excel for the spreadsheets thanks.
keithintassie said
09:30 PM Apr 13, 2015
Hi there J and Peter,
Thanks for your input it is greatly appreciated and hopefully we can catch up for a wine and snag at some stage on the wallaby track.
keithintassie said
09:31 PM Apr 13, 2015
Thanks for your input PeterD and I'll certainly check out the Bing maps.
Hi folks,
Next year (April 2016) we couple of 74 year old intrepid geriatrics want to saddle up again but this time for a 4 -5 month journey to escape the Tasmanian Winter to travel from Melbourne to Perth and all points north.
Has anyone come up with a suitable road trip planner that allows you to input the starting point, destination and many waypoints in between? Those that I've discovered have a limited number of waypoints limiting choices. As we are an older couple we'd also (where possible) like to limit our daily distance to an "average" of around 350 - 400 klms.
Anyone know of a road trip planner that permits you to input the required daily distance into it and have it map the journey including stops?
We love the planning stage but lack the knowledge of suitable stopping places across the Nullabor that would make the journey more pleasant as we no longer look forward to the 600+klms between places.
Thanks in anticipation
Keith
-- Edited by keithintassie on Sunday 12th of April 2015 10:18:53 AM
Fellow Tassie boy here too Keith. The winters sure are cool compared to WA. Spent the last 4 years I WA but been back in Tassie since jan but heading back to WA on Thursday. There are plenty of camp spots across the nulla. Roadhouses are about 250km apart but there is also plenty of free or cheap camps also
cheers
blaze
My planner is wikicamps - which shows most free/low cost and CPs in the country, a paper map(s) and a good GPS (in my case a Hema 7 GPS).
As a Perth Person (lol), you will need more than 4-5 months to go much further north than Coral Bay in WA (about halfway north) and stick with the daily mileage (a sensible one that we normally go with so we see the sights out the left and right side windows rather than just the road in front of you)
Are you a member of the RAC WA? Have a look at this. Each of the other state organisations supply a similar planner.
I find the best one is the older classic form of Google maps. It is good to manipulate, it's easy to ad, subtract and reorder way points. You can also drag the blue route line to alternate roads. I have had a look at the newer form og Google maps and it does not seem as flexible as the classic form.
As for trip recorders, can you use a spreadsheet? You can produce your own - free. If you don't have Micro$oft Office you can get a similar produce from LibreOffice. I use LibreOffice Calc for my spreadsheets. You can download the whole suite from here - free. Download the Main Installer and the LibreOffice Built in help in English. Install the main programme first and then the help second.
Goodness you are doing well, giving us a good 10 years and we 'limit' ourselves to around 300-350 kms per day but quite often (as now) we only travel every second day and have a full day to explore the places we visit.
I have to agree with you, the planning stage is (more than?) half the fun, and Pete & I sit down with either a coffee, or wine - depending on the time of day - with our maps, calculator and Camps 8 book to work out our trips, then I sit and fill in all the blanks (caravan parks, other info etc) on a trip planner sheet I created on the computer, I then print it off, and away we go with me filling in milages etc along the way. It is amazing at the end of a trip to realise just how any kms you have covered during your time away.
It certainly would be a great excerise to do a trip planner to cover your proposed trip, look forward to hearing how you go with it.
Yes I believe that Bing Maps is hotly pursuing Google, I must revisit it to see if it is better than the latest Google Maps. Google certainly went backwards in its operation for my needs, Bing may now be better.
Thanks for your comments Robbie and Therese they are greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your comments Bev and Bruce they certainly are appreciated.
As we have Microsoft Office I'll stick with Excel for the spreadsheets thanks.
Hi there J and Peter,
Thanks for your input it is greatly appreciated and hopefully we can catch up for a wine and snag at some stage on the wallaby track.
Thanks for your input PeterD and I'll certainly check out the Bing maps.