Driveing To Darwin From Melb

[R TUNE]

Hi guys and girls.

I'll be moveing to Darwin due to work in nov and it is 95% likly to be by my self.

at the moment i have a looked at two diffrent routes

1: from Melb via mt Isa to Darwin APX 5000km

2: from Melb via S.A straight up the guts of AUS (alice springs) APX 3600km.

what im after (as im currently buying a car most likly a r32 gts-t) which would be the better route.

what precurtions i should take. (i plan on extra fuel jerry cans and GPS allready)

what the roads are like.

and weather wise what i should look out for.

any advice would help as a mate is also driveing up but a few days latter.

brentt

[R31Nismoid]

Just get defence to transport your car there.

They should be if your relocating for longer than 12 months (IIRC) ?

I know a friend from years ago (defence) who went from Cerberus to Townsville and nearly died as he was simply too tired and destroyed his car.

[R TUNE]

i wish i could but i gota drive due to i have to take cear of a few things at my old location first DHA (defence housing australia) has said i drive.

plus i would like to see the outback

[R31Nismoid]

How much allowance are they giving you to drive there?

I'd just freight the car personally... unless you do plan to take it easy and limit you km's per day.

DHA are a pack of fools half the time... get on the phone and play silly and see how you go

[R TUNE]

How much allowance are they giving you to drive there?

I'd just freight the car personally... unless you do plan to take it easy and limit you km's per day.

DHA are a pack of fools half the time... get on the phone and play silly and see how you go

um for allowance a far bit i rather keep that to my self but defently enough.

i do have 9 days to do it in so its about 555km a day for the 5000km trip.

'i dont make policy, im only the instrement of the poicly'

[R31Nismoid]

ye i know what allowance is, dont worry, its always fairly reasonable (best mate and brother in law have been in defence for 8-10+years)

555km/day isnt too bad so just make sure you pace yourself mate

[babyskyline]

I would say go route one. Might be longer but at least if something goes wrong your not stuck out in the middle of nowhere as bad as say driving up from SA.

9 days to drive 5000km's shouldnt be any problem at all. I drove from albury up to townsville and only took 3 days so you should be able to get there in no time at all. Just rcently had a mate drive from albury up to darwin and only took him roughly 5 days. Didnt push himself too hard or anything stupid like that.

Like R31Nismoid said, make sure you pace yourself.

[Sami]

just dont stop for abo's pretending to be dead on the road otherwise wen u stop they rob u

[blind_elk]

Shortest distance is best. Roads are all sealed. Just watch out for road trains.

[GTR-N1]

Hiya,

I've done the loop from Sydney > Tamworth > New England Hwy > Brisbane > Bruce Hwy > Townsville > Charters T > Isa > Tennant Ck. to avoid the boredom & 'wasteland' of the Newell and up thru the guts of Qld.

To complete the loop, I came back via Boulders at ??? & meteorite crater > Alice > Kings Canyon > Uluru > Olgas > Kununurra > Flinders/ Wilpena > Ballarat

If you like photography and have an extra 2 days up your sleeve, I'd definitely go via Route #2 thru Flinders > Uluru > Olgas > Alice > Stanley Chasm > Simpsons Gap.

200+ photos that way alone.

You know that NT has a 100Km speed limit now don't you? It's so long since I've been there that I don't know if it's patrolled that much or not... Roads north of Pt Augusta were fine. You can do a mini-loop via Uluru > Kings Canyon before resuming Styrt Hwy but I don't know the condition of that road atm. Big dust clouds in the distance on a windless day are likely to be Road Trains.

Cheers,

Tez

[blind_elk]

You know that NT has a 100Km speed limit now don't you?

130 - well, it was last April.

[Sklyn]

Yeah open road limit is now 130kph...So slow and boring it sends you to sleep....I'd suggest go via Adelaide. (just personal opinion)

I have done the drive from Alice over to Brissy down to Sydney. Also done Alice, Adel, Melb, Tas & back.

SA police the roads more than NT, so once your in NT you should be right, just slow down either side of a township. Roads through QLD are policed the most.

The drive through QLD might be a bit more to look at but after 3000ks its all the same anyway.

Roads up from SA are definately better than the ones out to Isa, Wider, flater, straighter, smoother and 20km/h faster.(i think)

Watch out for Roo's, Cow's, Horses, Camels, etc. it's surprising what shows up unexpected...Even Eagles flying around will attack your car if it thinks you want its roadkill..

Weather is great at the moment, be careful on wet roads in the NT, they are made for dry hot weather and get VERY slippery when wet.

Sunrise and sunset is the most dangerous. Sun glare can be very bad and this is when the animals come out to eat and drink at the roadside, so use extra caution.

Good move with the extra fuel, you will need it. Be sure to check your maps NOW and plan fuel stops. Not all servo's in rural areas stock 98 ron fuel, so either phone ahead and find out or be prepared to use 95ron, maybe take some octane booster with you. or if you have enough jerry's.!

with dedication you should be able to do 1000k's per day with out too much trouble.

BUT MAKE SURE TO TAKE REST BREAKS REGULARLY!

If you want to stop by Ayers Rock on the way from Adelaide its about an extra 520k's on your trip.

Hope this help a bit, if you want anymore info PM me.

DRIVE SAFE!

[GTR-N1]

130 - well, it was last April.

Thanks for the Speed Limit correction.

Tez

[Sonuku]

I drove Canberra to Broome in June.

Fun drive, then not so fun, then wtf this sucks, then o shit im there.

You're looking at about 350km ish between petrol rly. so yeah, take a jerry can.

just go katherine -> threeways -> tennant creek -> alice -> coober peedy -> down to port augusta then fang a left.

personally i'd go towards mildura then down.

but then again i came from canberra, and did hay planes (fkn awesome bit of road)

have fun!

enjoy the sights of toilet paper everywhere, and feral cats eating dead roos.

dont drive after terminator light either.

fkn dangerous.

look out for shit on the road thats fallen off campers too.

fkn nearly got cleaned up by a chair.

you can average about 1100~1200km a day at the speed limit, i did 110max in NT, cause im petrol cry

(edit, uh, read wrong, reverse the order, fail)

Edited October 1, 2008 by Sonuku

[R TUNE]

whats the below?

dont drive after terminator light either.

fkn dangerous.

thanks guys for all your inpu it's helping.

ive being useing the bp and shell trip planers and makeing shore i state i req 98ron fuel.

by the way a r32 gts-t with 160rwkw what do you think it's fuel consumption would be like at 130km/h v 110km/h (running at 13psi)

im starting to lean to the guts route if what you guys say about the road condition is ok (at least seald the whole way) as this means i can take it realy easy and have a semi brake (ill be working over xmas)

brentt

[(B1) MR_fanny]

just dont stop for abo's pretending to be dead on the road otherwise wen u stop they rob u

lol does that really happen? watch out for wildlife too.

[GTR-N1]

lol does that really happen? watch out for wildlife too.

^^^ +1

Yes like that stray wife wandering along the Sturt after her husband told the tourist coach guide that his other half was there for the

head-count. Evidently, he couldn't put up with her nagging any longer.

[NYTSKY]

whats the below?

dont drive after terminator light either.

fkn dangerous.

thanks guys for all your input it's helping.

Ive been using the bp and shell trip planners and making sure i state i req 98ron fuel.

By the way a r32 gts-t with 160rwkw what do you think it's fuel consumption would be like at 130km/h v 110km/h (running at 13psi)

im starting to lean to the guts route if what you guys say about the road condition is ok (at least sealed the whole way) as this means i can take it really easy and have a semi break (ill be working over xmas)

brentt

Your car wont be at 13psi all the time,so i would guess a consumption of 10l/100km.

[Sami]

lol does that really happen? watch out for wildlife too.

yes its serious

a mates mate was going for a drive there and ran over an abo so he went to the police station and they told him that he wanted to rob ya

so the guy was like wat do i do?

Cop: Dw we will clean him up

[R TUNE]

I had a point rasied by one of the members from www.r31skylineclub.com who said why dont you take the train.

so i looked in to and found out i can take the Ghan (it's from Adelade to Darwin) for ap 2k with my car.

im looking the red level of accomerdation which is $1440 and inc a cabin with 3 seats during the day and two beds at night, fashing facitys at the end of the cariage and a dinner service.

so thats now my plan drive to Adelade and then train to darwin as the train is a 2 day trip.