MERRY Christmas to all and your families. My better half and I are looking to trave the long straight road (Nullarbor) from Perth to central Victoria mid Jan 2016 and am wondering if anyone has any current info or tips on fuel and free night stops etc. Maybe even a van park or two? Need to get there a little quicker than I would like probably 4-5 days BUT will be smelling the roses on the way back in Feb
Heaps of free camps along that route - do you have a Camps Australia Wide Book - or Wikicamps on your smartphone or tablet? Valuable resources either or both of them. We came over late September in a bit of a hurry, and stopped at some great places, we came up from Norsman to Kalgoorlie - so you could reverse that trip Free camp at Kal - near the council offices, MUST be self contained. At Head of Bight, you can camp inn the area near the gate - there is a building there, no facilities. Some of the roadhouses have camping, some at reasonable prices - but the beauty of a roadhouse, you can get a meal, or breakfast - no cleaning up.
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
Dont forget mid Jan will be extremely hot out there so go well prepared with lots of water and be prepared to travel early in the day and late afternoon and camp up during the hottest point of the day. we hit the road just as daylight is breaking and stop for brekky when the sun is up and in our eyes. do another couple of hours and find a camp for the day. we often do another couple of hours late afternoon before camping up for the night. look after your vehicle..it will be under a lot of strain just towing without adding extreme heat and the aircon going flat out!!we have seen a lot of cars come to grief out there thru over heating. It is surprising how far you can get in a day by taking it easy. showers are available at all the road houses. ( and you can have quite a long shower...much longer than you can in your caravan!! From Norseman to Ceduna there is a roadhouse every 200kms or so. Most roadhouses will NOT sell you water for your van tanks.Free camps are good if you want company but there are lots of other places where you can pull off the road to camp up too. it is a great trip across the highway so take it easy and enjoy the experience. Where are you heading to
We did that trip around 8 weeks ago, as said heaps of places to stop on the nullabor, but the heat will be the decider at that time of year as mentioned by Sufil.
The free camp in Kal is good but only 48hrs and very dusty and hot, so we stayed in the CP there, due to this, once into SA we followed the Murray (Port Augusta - Crystal Brook - Berri - Mildura ) as we hit a hot spell there too and needed the AC to survive.
Lot of heat in SA and Northern Vic recently too, so be prepared to pay CP fees if you need the comfort of AC.
Good tip again above, get up really early and moving by daylight then pull over early to rest out the severe midday heat, then a bit more travel as it cools down, but try and plan where you are going to stop over, some of the Road Houses leave a lot to be desired and charge like wounded bulls, for a whole lot of not a lot.
We found diesel cheaper at Mundrabilla and Penong, but prices vary considerably.
Fuelmap App is good for up to date fuel costs.
We'll be doing it in reverse again in March probably as we head back to WA.
Great tips. As a mech my vehicle is quite prepared and I probably have more spares than I need, although one never knows. Plan is as suggested, go early and late while going easy or even park mid dayish.
Off to see my family in the Shepparton/Kyabram area, and then hopefully a family convoy of 3 vans along the mighty Murray, or similar Maybe even Mulwala, Cobram etc.. Probably a bad time of year but unfortunately the only time we have available.
We will be heading across within the next week, so if we find anything really good will let you know Cliffy!!!m Though I think the whole trip is excellent!
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
If you've got a flexible start date, start checking the forecast for a run of slightly cooler days! We had a strong headwind which meant fuel consumption sky-rocketed - in retrospect it would have been cheaper to hole up somewhere for a day or two until it blew over! Even a caravan park fee would have been more economical than burning all that fuel. As said above, sometimes the comforts of the caravan park can be worth it, especially if you've had a day battling heat, dust and wind. Good luck!
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Red Nomad OZ Find me at www.redzaustralia.com OR www.facebook.com/RedzAustralia
I came across to Vic (bairnsdale) last week. A good spot I camped at along the way was on the cliffs between the border and nullarbor roadhouse,the track in had no signs at the highway,I just followed it in for about 1 klm. I will be heading back across leaving Bairnsdale 6th Jan. Enjoy the trip, Cheers, Sparra
On hot days I prefer to start late and spend the hot period of the day in the air conditioned tug. Don't start looking for a camp until after 4 PM when things have cooled down a bit. Bugger this stopping in the heat and suffering the high temperatures.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
