We are driving from Townsville to Melb in May/ June this year. Just wondering what we can expect in terms of roads and traffic etc.. Driving in a Ranger and not towing anything. Are the roads ok ? any rough stretches? All sealed roads? Road Trains? etc.? any comments or experiences would be most helpful. Looking at going out to Charters Towers and then down the A7 to the A55 to Roma, B55 towards Dubbo and then the A39 through Shepparton.
Thanks Brickies -- were you towing a van? I was thinking maybe 4 or 5 days to get down there, [remember no caravan] do you think that is comfortable? and then taking our time on the return journey.
Yes we were towing a Caravan , But it all depends on how many KLM you want to do in a day , We did from Charters Towers to Emerald in one day getting in about 2 30 pm so I would have been able to do from Townsville to Emerald in one day if I wanted . So you need to work out how many you want to do in any one day everyone is different , We set out and stop when we get to where we want to be .
yeah the road is good all the way have done this last year with no van it will be easy plus as brickies said it depends on how far you want to travel in a day as if you long days you could do it in three days
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BETTER TO HAVE SEEN SOMETHING ONCE, THAN HEAR ABOUT IT A THOUSAND TIMES
Hi Merv,
I had not seen this posting until now. We have done two trips now towing our van in four months from Townville to Chiltern (NE Victoria) - one going down to Warrnambool. Not towing certainly makes things easier for you.
The first trip in early December (was HOT) - Townsville to Capella (just north of Emerald), Capella to St George, St George to Gilgandra, Gilgandra to Narandara, Narandara to Chiltern (a relative stop), Chiltern to Cobram (see friends), Cobram to Warrnambool.
The last one in March - again Townsville to Capella, Capella to St George, St George to Dubbo, Dubbo to Canberra (relative stop), Canberra to Chiltern (which is on the Hume Highway).
We found some days there were not so many trucks heading north & likewise for the trucks heading south - you just have to work with them. The roads are all good but there was some water off to the sides.
Fuel is not an issue, rough roads? In NQ everyone moans about how rough the Bruce Highway is in places north of the SE corner. If you have to come back via Toowoomba, try the Gore Highway(??) - that has been rough for years! And it's narrow with few passing lanes/rest stops. And down south, they actually put up signs "Rough surface ahead"!
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
