Now I can really say that the plan has been finalized! I'm leaving on Sunday, 24th October 2010. The date had to be pushed back a few times in the past mostly due to work constraints but I just had to make it happen somehow. Otherwise, it'll be too hot in summer. After october the temperature in NT can reach as high as 43ºC! Besides, if I didn't make it by this year, I'm afraid I'd never make it...
So, here goes, after months of constantly interrupted planning and late nights doing research, the itineray has been locked. I'm doing the trip in 13 days including 2 days of rest, once in Mt. Isa and once in the Red Centre itself. The travelling days are alternates between "short" and "long" days with average distance on a travelling day of 610 km. I've managed to map out all the refuelling and overnight stops thanks to Google Maps, RACQ guide book and various websites. Anyone planning on long roadtrips can get my advice on great online resources on this subject.
Here's the day-to-day itinerary (refer to the map further below):
Day 1 : Brisbane - Mitchell (555 km)
Day 2 : Micthell - Winton (794 km)
Day 3 : Winton - Mt. Isa (462 km)
Day 4 : Mt. Isa (rest day and exploring)
Day 5 : Mt. Isa - Alice Springs (1,175 km - longest day!)
Day 6 : Alice Springs - Uluru (445 km)
Day 7 : The Red Centre (rest day)
Day 8 : Uluru - Coober Peddy (733 km)
Day 9 : Coober Peddy - Port Augusta (539 km)
Day 10 : Port Augusta - Broken Hill (415 km)
Day 11 : Broken Hill - Nyngan [I don't even know how to pronounce this!] (588 km)
Day 12 : Nyngan - Armidale (552 km)
Day 13 : Armidale - Home!!! (456 km)
TOTAL = 6,714 km
View Larger Map
I have also completed my packing list. It grew from the 1 page I started with to 3 pages! Thanks to tips and guides from books and magazines and travel logs on the internet - I'm pretty sure I'm well equipped to conquer the Outback - I just don't know how to carry them all! Anyway, that'll be the story for another day in my next blog posting. I still have a few more things to buy too, like tent etc. I also got myself a few cool gadgets to assist me like sattelite phone, camera clamp, flat repair kit, octane booster, animal sonic guard etc. Ooohhhh... I'm so excited!!!
Any comments or suggestions for improvement on my plan above are most welcomed.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The ride with the gang to Montville
It had been more than 5 weeks since my last ride! I was actually tempted to still go out for a ride during Ramadhan but then again, long ride with no coffee breaks is quite a scary thought. Weather.com.au has been predicting rain this whole weekend up until yesterday evening's 48-hour forecast but finally late last night was showing clear weather for the whole day, at least for Saturday. I would never missed the opportunity to ride. And oh, by the way, we have our own little riding club now - with Tony being the President, and a new member, Graham with his Kawasaki 1400GTR. Eadie is still on his Raya leave.
We gathered early this morning at Tony's in Bridgeman Downs (a beautiful house with a nice swimming pool in a cul-de-sac of a posh neighbourhood - now, how did I miss this area when I was house hunting last time!). We were hoping for an early start as the sky was still a bit dark at some places. It was not that early after all after I got held up because my SatNav couldn't find Tony's address and for Graham, all he had was a one-page printout of Google Maps! We also have a guest member, Rachel, Graham's daughter.
I was supposed to be the route planner for the "club" but today Mr. President had to be the planner - he even made coffee for me! Tony picked the route north-bound which is obviously more familiar to him.
View Larger Map
We first head up North into A1 then turned West towards Woodford via the d'Aguilar Highway. One thing about riding with Tony; minimum 2 coffee stops - which I actually enjoyed very much. First stop at a Cafe in Woodford town, along the d'Aguilar Highway (I can't remember the name but it's obviously famous with bikers as we bumped into at least 20 others). Let the meeting notes of the club record that Graham was issued a yellow card by Tony for attempting to bring up the topic of work during the coffee conversation! You should know better, Graham...
At the stop, just before we got back on our bikes a friendly biker came along just to compliment me on my bike and how much he admire it and how he wish he has one - much to Graham's envy of course... Here's me grinning and Graham smirking...
We continued North towards Maleny via the Kilcoy-Beerwah Rd. What a scenic route! I would recommend this to anyone, even those who drives in a car! Check out this scenery when we did a quick stop on top of the mountain. It would have been better if I could get my DSLR out but with limited time, the BlackBerry quick snap would have to suffice.
After that, downhill towards Maleny and after another short climb we arrive at Montville. Tourist advice: if you want to take a stroll along a small town in the Hinterlands, don't miss Montville. There are so many curiosity shops along both sides of the road you're bound to find something extraodinarily interesting. I went there with my family once and we spent the whole afternoon just browsing from one shop to another and ended up buying quite a bit of stuffs you would otherwise never buy in the city!
We stopped for another round of coffee at a very nice little cafe called Montville Cafe with a very authentic English interior complete with a working wood fireplace and other memorabilia. It must have made Tony and Graham feel at home... The smell of burning wood and freshly roasted coffee on a cool spring morning and in good company of friends... priceless!
Finally time to head home but oh, just got an sms from home "On your way back, please stop to buy some chicken...". Hehe... real life awaits the cool bikie gang...
What a wonderful start to a wonderful weekend. The weather was fine and the ride was wonderful. Waved goodbye to the guys as we all head on our different ways on A1 heading home... me to go buy chicken, then freshen up and then go to a Hari Raya open house at Chong's...
We gathered early this morning at Tony's in Bridgeman Downs (a beautiful house with a nice swimming pool in a cul-de-sac of a posh neighbourhood - now, how did I miss this area when I was house hunting last time!). We were hoping for an early start as the sky was still a bit dark at some places. It was not that early after all after I got held up because my SatNav couldn't find Tony's address and for Graham, all he had was a one-page printout of Google Maps! We also have a guest member, Rachel, Graham's daughter.
I was supposed to be the route planner for the "club" but today Mr. President had to be the planner - he even made coffee for me! Tony picked the route north-bound which is obviously more familiar to him.
View Larger Map
We first head up North into A1 then turned West towards Woodford via the d'Aguilar Highway. One thing about riding with Tony; minimum 2 coffee stops - which I actually enjoyed very much. First stop at a Cafe in Woodford town, along the d'Aguilar Highway (I can't remember the name but it's obviously famous with bikers as we bumped into at least 20 others). Let the meeting notes of the club record that Graham was issued a yellow card by Tony for attempting to bring up the topic of work during the coffee conversation! You should know better, Graham...
We continued North towards Maleny via the Kilcoy-Beerwah Rd. What a scenic route! I would recommend this to anyone, even those who drives in a car! Check out this scenery when we did a quick stop on top of the mountain. It would have been better if I could get my DSLR out but with limited time, the BlackBerry quick snap would have to suffice.
After that, downhill towards Maleny and after another short climb we arrive at Montville. Tourist advice: if you want to take a stroll along a small town in the Hinterlands, don't miss Montville. There are so many curiosity shops along both sides of the road you're bound to find something extraodinarily interesting. I went there with my family once and we spent the whole afternoon just browsing from one shop to another and ended up buying quite a bit of stuffs you would otherwise never buy in the city!
We stopped for another round of coffee at a very nice little cafe called Montville Cafe with a very authentic English interior complete with a working wood fireplace and other memorabilia. It must have made Tony and Graham feel at home... The smell of burning wood and freshly roasted coffee on a cool spring morning and in good company of friends... priceless!
What a wonderful start to a wonderful weekend. The weather was fine and the ride was wonderful. Waved goodbye to the guys as we all head on our different ways on A1 heading home... me to go buy chicken, then freshen up and then go to a Hari Raya open house at Chong's...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)