Ulladulla to Hume Hwy - best way?

vince56 · Senior Member

Ulladulla to Hume Hwy - best way?

JohnR · Senior Member

Vince

We have just driven from Lake Tyers Beach to South Nowra over the last 3 days. Yesterday with 23' Jayco 3ton over the Mountains via Nerriga take right turn to Oallen/Windelama then to Goulburn.

Only one section that really required 2nd gear coming off the Mountains prior to Nerriga.

A lot of caravans coming down this way heading to the South Coast.

Alternatively there is the Monaro Highway at Cann River, The Brown Mountain outside of Bega and the Clyde at Batemans Bay. Coming the Clyde during the week would be o'k but weekends with the Canberra traffic it is a bi of a night mare.

Cheers

JohnR

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Not all that far further north is Nowra then across to Picton then the Hume. I towed a 20ft van at 2.7t OK, slow up but OK.

Me, I would just go Princes Hwy.

erad · Guru

From Ulladulla, you have 3 choices if you want to get out to the Hume Hwy.

1 Go North to Nowra (about 90 km from memory) and then go up through Kangaroo Valley, Fitzroy Falls etc to Bowral. A steepish climb to get to Kangaroo Valley, and then another climb out of the valley. Very pretty run.

2 Go North to near Nowra, and then turn up the Turpentine Road theough Nerriga. One short steep climb near Nerriga, but otherwise a fairly easy run. Sealed all the way now. Once you hit the Goulburn- Braidwood road, you have the choice of going into Goulburn or keep heading SW to go through Queenbeyan, and then pick up the Hume Highway at Yass.

3 Go South to Batemans Bay, and then up the Clyde Mountain. This would be the shortest, but it is a fairly steep climb up the Clyde Mtn. Once over the top, it is a simple run into Braidwood, then the choice as above to get to the Hume. This would be the shortest way, but the climb would be the steepest I would think.

johnno48 · Veteran Member

Last month we went from Yass to Sussex Inlet via the Turpentine Rd - Nerriga- Murrumbateman towing a 19'6 van with a 100 Series in a comfortable 3.5 hours.

DMaxer · Guru

It's not called Brown Mountain for nothing.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

DMaxer wrote:
It's not called Brown Mountain for nothing.

Oooops, wrong thread, sorry.

-- Edited by Dougwe on Wednesday 11th of October 2017 09:45:04 AM

DMaxer · Guru

Hi Erad, Little bit off topic, but how long ago did they seal the Turpentine Road. Is it fairly recent, say last twelve months?

johnno48 · Veteran Member

Only in last 12 months

DMaxer · Guru

Well there you go. Thanks Johnno, really love that part of Australia.

Desert Dweller · Guru

No matter which way you get to the Hume Hwy you'll have to cross the Great Dividing Range. Far simpler staying on the Princes Hwy.

erad · Guru

None of the routes I mentioned above are what I would call arduous treks. Sure - you cross the Great Dividing Range, and some of the climbs can be steep, but they are generally short and then you are over it all. I think that the Clyde Mtn is the steepest climb, and that is not a big deal anyway. If your tug is likely to struggle going up these hills, maybe you shouldn't be towing a van anyway.

Regarding staying on the Princes Hwy to get to Melbourne, there are a few climbs on that as well, but more importantly, it is a meandering old goat track, with divided road only for the last 150 km or so. From the safety point of view, I would prefer the Hume because once you hit that road, it is divided road all the way. However, it is BORING, even to the point of being dangerous at times. Thinking about scenic drives, the Princes Hwy has some fabulous places, especially if you go on slight detours in places eg Lakes Entrance, Mallacoota etc, but once past Bairnsdale, even this road gets boring. Maybe I have driven it too many times???

PeterD · Guru

erad wrote:
None of the routes I mentioned above are what I would call arduous treks. Sure - you cross the Great Dividing Range, and some of the climbs can be steep, but they are generally short and then you are over it all. I think that the Clyde Mtn is the steepest climb, and that is not a big deal anyway. If your tug is likely to struggle going up these hills, maybe you shouldn't be towing a van anyway.

I agree with most of that. The bit I don't go along with is crossing the the Great Dividing Range. None of the roads up from the coast cross the GDR. There is a length of ranges along the coast commencing with the Illawarra Range in the north. There are other ranges before you get to the GDR.

If you go up the Clyde you do not cross the GDR until after you pass through Braidwood (half way to Bungendore.) If you go up the other roads you do not cross the GDR until you get near Lake George. If you go through Goulburn you do not cross the GDR until after Breadalbane.

So much for the trivia, regarding the rest of the message I agree. With a good tug/van combination you should have no problems going up from the coast, even if you do go down to first gear. The modern high speed diesels are designed to run at high speeds. It does more good than harm to run them up to near the tachometer red line for 5 - 10 minutes occasionally. Just because a hill forces you down to the lower gears it does not mean the tug is struggling. It just means you are asking it to work close to its designed limits. There are no highway hills in Oz that your tug can not cope with unless it is overloaded. If you think otherwise then you need further driver training/experience.

Tips for surviving on those gradients. Some vehicle transmission are a little reluctant to drop back to 1st gear. The tug does appear to be labouring under those conditions. Use the gear selector to pull your box back to a lower gear and let your motor speed up to over 3,000 RPM. This will allow it to cope better. It will also mean less torque converter slip, less slip creates less heat in the converter and less heat for your radiator to dissipate. If you have a mechanical fan on the motor it also means more cooling air through the radiator. Watch your temperature gauge. If it appears to rise too much then slow down and select a lower gear. Do you know about using low gear to provide engine braking and save the foot brakes or would you like tips on that as well.

I suggest you should all learn to cope with those sorts of hills and become a truly competent driver. If you have not gained those skills then try a few of the better hills until you have become confident on them.

Desert Dweller · Guru

If you leave the East Coast to get on the Hume Hwy you cross the Great Dividing Range. Simple really.

Big Mal · Senior Member

Head up towards Nowra and take the Turpentine Rd, which leads to the Braidwood Rd from Nowra, good road all the way now and have driven it for over 40 yrs from when it was a track, recently with 22ft van, you can turn off at Bungendore and head over to Murrambatmen then go to Yass to join the Hume. Bugger all climbs to worry about, could always head to Queanbeyan then continue thru Cooma to Cann River very picturesque drive.....

PeterD · Guru

Big Mal wrote:
Head up towards Nowra and take the Turpentine Rd, which leads to the Braidwood Rd from Nowra, good road all the way now and have driven it for over 40 yrs from when it was a track,

Is the road from Nerriga to Braidwood sealed all the way now? I would not have towed a van over the gravel sections. The gravel surface was very course which made for rough traveling.

Big Mal · Senior Member

Yes, the Turpentine Rd is tarred now, last time I went along it they were starting some work but it was a good surface and not very far anyway, the rest of the Nerriga/Braidwood Rd (Trunk Route 92 is all tar and has been for a number of years.

shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au/My-Council/Media-Releases/ID/2186/Turpentine-Road-Upgrade-Finished

PeterD · Guru

Mal, it was stated above that Turpentine Road was totally sealed. I was not asking about sections in the Shoalhaven City Council. I was asking about the section of road between Nerriga and Braidwood which is in the QueanbeyanPalerang Regional Council.