Anthony from Sydney put this up as an event in this thread for 2011 and I like it so much I want to start a thread organising the trip to the races for 2012. I've never been before, I might never ever go again, but there's nothing like an adventure!
The Birdsville web site has now listed the dates - 31 August 2012 to 1 September 2012. This is a FRIDAY and SATURDAY. In order to get there with a reasonably sane journey, we'll need to leave on the MONDAY before (Sydney/Newcastle). Anyone south of there will need to leave even earlier unless they're willing to do more hours on the road and catch us on the way there.
This post has many links, mostly to Google Maps or Street View, so that you can not only see what I'm talking about, but you can move about and get an idea of the area of interest.
The Google map for our (modified) journey from the East Maitland meeting place is on this link (was originally this link). We'll probably come back the same way, since I don't fancy hauling our van along the Birdsville Track that heads south of of the town and I couldn't take my caravan across the Coopers Ck ferry anyway.. This link now includes markers for our overnight stops and fuel stops.
It's 2,013km according to Google Maps - that's two very solid days of driving (we've done 1600km in a day before, but that's madness). I think we'll do it in stages and take it a little easier, so we'd leave Maitland on Monday at 9am. This allows for a relaxed drive, with plenty of time to set up campers at the end of the day and time to refuel plus take the opportunity to get lots of photos.
Monday 27th Aug - Day 1 - we leave at 9am and drive fairly solidly for about 415km (let's say that's 5 hours), refuelling at the truck stop at Bellata (point 'B') at about 2pm for about half an hour and eventually stop 247km further on (about 3.5 hours or 6pm) at the Nindigully Pub which is point 'C' on the map. Photos on Panoramia show that there's plenty of room, there's no fee for camping there but you can pay to have a shower in the pub. It might also be convenient to have dinner in the pub which will be good since we'll be arriving around dusk and will just have time to set up the campers before dark.
Tuesday 28th Aug - Day 2 - can take it easy, it's all sealed roads. We refuel 45km down the road at St George (point 'D') and after another 410km we stop at Wards River Rest Area (point 'E') which is about 20km west of Charleville after we've been to "the event" (more info to come later) in Charleville. That's where we can meet the Qld guys. I'm not sure how to get into the rest area, it doesn't seem to be signposted in Google Street View and nearmap.com doesn't cover it so I'd appreciate any first-hand information on this one.
Wednesday 29th Aug - Day 3 - is a short-ish hop of 425km so that we can camp just before Windorah, which is the last sealed road before Birdsville. There's a servo in Windorah that we'll want to fill up at on our way through, although the fuel at Quilpie might be better - I just have to find the servo. We have a choice at Windorah, of refuelling and continuing on the dirt road to give us more time, or taking it easy and relaxing and tackling the dirt during the day. If we want to take it easy, we can stop at the Coopers Creek Rest Area (point 'F'). We might also want to go to the yabby races in Windorah on the Wednesday night (it's supposed to be a lot of fun raising money for the RFDS). I suggest that we get our campers parked early, if we're doing this, and car-pool into Windorah so that we don't lose our camp spot. NOTE: if someone knows of a camp spot on the WEST side of Windorah we might find that better - if we get a really early start we should beat the rush along the dirt road and not have to breathe in everyone else's dust.
Thursday 30th Aug - Day 4 - The last stage is 398km, of which the last 340-odd km is dirt - looks like the road beyond Windorah (10km west of Coopers Creek) is unsealed. If we need to refuel at Windorah, we might need to sit around a while because the servo at Windorah doesn't look like it'll open in a hurry. Those last 340km might take quite some time if the road's heavily corrugated or if it's raining, so having about 800km worth of fuel on board is suggested. Recovery gear is also important, and if you don't have a winch, make sure you have chassis-mounted recovery points on both chassis rails and on the front and rear of the vehicle, and bring an equalisation strap. If this section of road gets wet I've heard that it gets very slippery (would appreciate confirmation on the road surface - is it clay or gravel?).
The stay AT Birdsville could be at the Birdsville Caravan Park, rates are on their web site but valid in Jan 2010, so they may rise by the time we get there. Still, for $25 for 2 adults on a powered site, it isn't bad. They have 52 powered sites for caravans, so I'd guess that booking early will be essential. I think we should probably try to book before the end of January to make sure. It is unlikely that we'll be able to camp together as a group if we leave it to the last minute - it'll be a case of squeezing in wherever we can fit. Let's organise ourselves!
People coming up from Sydney would have to leave home at around 6:30am. Since we're passing through Muswellbrook, Gunnedah, Narrabri, Moree, St George, Mitchell and Charleville, we could meet others along the way.
So, with the route and fuel+overnight stops planned ... who's coming?
I should add: this is NOT an official Navara Muster event. It's a bunch of mates heading in the same direction!
Vehicle Recommendations:
* All-Terrain Tyres. If it rains on the Birdsville Developmental Rd it'll become very slick and road tyres will just slide everywhere.
* UHF Radio for convoy use, so handhelds will be fine
* Either a long range fuel tank OR several jerry cans
* Either a winch and a hitch receiver on the rear OR recovery points on BOTH chassis rails front and rear PLUS an equalisation strap
The Birdsville web site has now listed the dates - 31 August 2012 to 1 September 2012. This is a FRIDAY and SATURDAY. In order to get there with a reasonably sane journey, we'll need to leave on the MONDAY before (Sydney/Newcastle). Anyone south of there will need to leave even earlier unless they're willing to do more hours on the road and catch us on the way there.
This post has many links, mostly to Google Maps or Street View, so that you can not only see what I'm talking about, but you can move about and get an idea of the area of interest.
The Google map for our (modified) journey from the East Maitland meeting place is on this link (was originally this link). We'll probably come back the same way, since I don't fancy hauling our van along the Birdsville Track that heads south of of the town and I couldn't take my caravan across the Coopers Ck ferry anyway.. This link now includes markers for our overnight stops and fuel stops.
It's 2,013km according to Google Maps - that's two very solid days of driving (we've done 1600km in a day before, but that's madness). I think we'll do it in stages and take it a little easier, so we'd leave Maitland on Monday at 9am. This allows for a relaxed drive, with plenty of time to set up campers at the end of the day and time to refuel plus take the opportunity to get lots of photos.
Monday 27th Aug - Day 1 - we leave at 9am and drive fairly solidly for about 415km (let's say that's 5 hours), refuelling at the truck stop at Bellata (point 'B') at about 2pm for about half an hour and eventually stop 247km further on (about 3.5 hours or 6pm) at the Nindigully Pub which is point 'C' on the map. Photos on Panoramia show that there's plenty of room, there's no fee for camping there but you can pay to have a shower in the pub. It might also be convenient to have dinner in the pub which will be good since we'll be arriving around dusk and will just have time to set up the campers before dark.
Tuesday 28th Aug - Day 2 - can take it easy, it's all sealed roads. We refuel 45km down the road at St George (point 'D') and after another 410km we stop at Wards River Rest Area (point 'E') which is about 20km west of Charleville after we've been to "the event" (more info to come later) in Charleville. That's where we can meet the Qld guys. I'm not sure how to get into the rest area, it doesn't seem to be signposted in Google Street View and nearmap.com doesn't cover it so I'd appreciate any first-hand information on this one.
Wednesday 29th Aug - Day 3 - is a short-ish hop of 425km so that we can camp just before Windorah, which is the last sealed road before Birdsville. There's a servo in Windorah that we'll want to fill up at on our way through, although the fuel at Quilpie might be better - I just have to find the servo. We have a choice at Windorah, of refuelling and continuing on the dirt road to give us more time, or taking it easy and relaxing and tackling the dirt during the day. If we want to take it easy, we can stop at the Coopers Creek Rest Area (point 'F'). We might also want to go to the yabby races in Windorah on the Wednesday night (it's supposed to be a lot of fun raising money for the RFDS). I suggest that we get our campers parked early, if we're doing this, and car-pool into Windorah so that we don't lose our camp spot. NOTE: if someone knows of a camp spot on the WEST side of Windorah we might find that better - if we get a really early start we should beat the rush along the dirt road and not have to breathe in everyone else's dust.
Thursday 30th Aug - Day 4 - The last stage is 398km, of which the last 340-odd km is dirt - looks like the road beyond Windorah (10km west of Coopers Creek) is unsealed. If we need to refuel at Windorah, we might need to sit around a while because the servo at Windorah doesn't look like it'll open in a hurry. Those last 340km might take quite some time if the road's heavily corrugated or if it's raining, so having about 800km worth of fuel on board is suggested. Recovery gear is also important, and if you don't have a winch, make sure you have chassis-mounted recovery points on both chassis rails and on the front and rear of the vehicle, and bring an equalisation strap. If this section of road gets wet I've heard that it gets very slippery (would appreciate confirmation on the road surface - is it clay or gravel?).
The stay AT Birdsville could be at the Birdsville Caravan Park, rates are on their web site but valid in Jan 2010, so they may rise by the time we get there. Still, for $25 for 2 adults on a powered site, it isn't bad. They have 52 powered sites for caravans, so I'd guess that booking early will be essential. I think we should probably try to book before the end of January to make sure. It is unlikely that we'll be able to camp together as a group if we leave it to the last minute - it'll be a case of squeezing in wherever we can fit. Let's organise ourselves!
People coming up from Sydney would have to leave home at around 6:30am. Since we're passing through Muswellbrook, Gunnedah, Narrabri, Moree, St George, Mitchell and Charleville, we could meet others along the way.
So, with the route and fuel+overnight stops planned ... who's coming?
I should add: this is NOT an official Navara Muster event. It's a bunch of mates heading in the same direction!
Vehicle Recommendations:
* All-Terrain Tyres. If it rains on the Birdsville Developmental Rd it'll become very slick and road tyres will just slide everywhere.
* UHF Radio for convoy use, so handhelds will be fine
* Either a long range fuel tank OR several jerry cans
* Either a winch and a hitch receiver on the rear OR recovery points on BOTH chassis rails front and rear PLUS an equalisation strap
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