On 15 Nov 2007 12:45:10 GMT, Frank Slootweg
wrote in
:

Alan S wrote:
On 14 Nov 2007 16:05:40 GMT, Frank Slootweg
wrote:

wrote:
We have just returned from our 3 week cruise-tour of Australia and New
Zealand. W

Great report and thanks!!

I live in the States and have never been to Aussie land
but want to someday

A warning: Only do it if you can afford to come back!

Our once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia was in 1995. Next year we
will go on our seventh-in-a-lifetime one! :-) It's a sickness and -
luckily - there's no cure. So don't say 'we' didn't warn you!

When are you going to drop in on the East coast again Frank,
so we can say g'day?

Probably not this time. We will probably do it again when we're
*really* old and grey (not that I can get much greyer) and the (real)
outback is getting too hard.

You seem to like wandering the outback too much:-)

AFAIC, there's no such thing as "too much". Next year is already a
'compromise' because that time we will be driving a 2WD campervan, so no
unsealed roads. We will concentrate on the *towns* in outback QLD and
NSW which we 'had' to skip on this year's 12,000 km trip.

If renting the camper van, the company might have a rule on not
driving on unsealed roads, but otherwise not all that hazardous
in inland N.S.W. if don't get too far off the highways. In the
tropical north during the wet season, a lot more hazardous.

I wouldn't think that the "rule", if there is one, could be
absolute, as if crews are working on a stretch of highway and
have a detour set up, it will usually be unsealed.

In Australia, the definition of "outback" can be pretty vague.
To many who live their whole lives in Sydney, anything west
of["Blue Mountains"] qualifies as the "outback".

Penrith is only 53 km [~ 33 miles] WNW of the GPO, the
central post office in the central business district of Sydney.

Or more properly, this distance is from Sydney GPO
to Penrith GPO. This can cause a bit of confusion to
US tourists, where map distances are usually from the
edge of one city to the edge of another.

Another 51 km [31.7 miles] west, and they would be
at the Katoomba GPO.

Another 44 km [~ 27 miles] NW and they would be
at Lithgow GPO.

59 km [~ 36.7 miles] further, at GPO Bathurst, and perhaps they
think that they have now been in the "outback" :-)

By Australian definitions, though, they would have to go a bit
further. "Back of Bourke" is one saying indicating the outback.
Bourke is 786 km [~ 488 miles] NW of Sydney by road.

There is no definite "boundary" for the "outback". As may have
mentioned on this group before, one humorous definition is
to take a ute [pickup], throw a small sea anchor in the back,
head inland. When locals start asking you what it is and what it
is used for, you are probably in the outback.

Perhaps a more useful tourist definition is when you drive at
dusk, night, and dawn and risk running into a kangaroo, you are
probably out of the Greater Sydney area. A definite hazard here,
and you will not find much car traffic on highways at night,
mostly large trucks.

Most drivers in NSW belong to the NRMA, National Roads and
Motorists Association.
http://www.nrma.com.au/


In Queensland, RACQ, Royal Automobile Club Queensland (I think)
http://www.racq.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/...e_ENA_HTML.htm

Membership is usually by the year, I don't know if either offers
temporary membership for travelers. Perhaps the car rental
agencies include a business membership card with their rental
vehicles.

However most towns have a garage who serves as the local office.
They are an excellent source of maps and travel guides, local
road info, etc.

These are free to members, for sale at low cost to non-members.
However, it shouldn't be hard to find someone who is a member and
will go in with you to get some for free.

The maps are very good, but read the map legends carefully.
Looking at a Robertsons map, principle highways are shown with
solid lines for a sealed surface, parallel lines for unsealed.

Main connecting roads are narrower, but marked the same.

Minor roads are a narrower solid line, like _______ but the
surface isn't specified. They might be paved, graveled or dirt.

Tracks are marked by --------- . Not isn't the surface
specified, but a track between point "A" and point "B"
really means, in practice, that someone once managed to
use they them to get between "A" and "B".

On foot, horseback, or 4 WD. It doesn't indicate that
it is still passable by vehicles. There might be washouts,
fallen trees, rocks, etc. As a guide, friends have told me
that several of them with 4WD drives, chainsaws, winches,
etc. took a day to travel about five miles on one of these
tracks. They said, that judging from sapling trees on the track
that it probably hadn't been covered by a vehicle in ten or 15
years.

Small blue circles on this map usually indicate smaller towns,
but may just be road junctions or mileage points. Larger blue
circles are towns, the size of the circle giving a rough
indication of the size of the town. If this overprinted with
an open black circle, like a degree sign, it is a mileage point
as well.

Small white "degree signs" even on main connecting roads may or
may not be towns. Some may have a combination service
station/shop, etc. Then again they may not. Some are former
towns, perhaps a few homes, not necessarily retail outlets
though. They might have a public pay phone.

They usually have service station(s) store or stores, pub,
etc.


N.S.W. law requires vehicles to be locked if you are more than a
few meters away from them. This was passed mainly to discourage
joy riders in more settled areas, but applies statewide.

Most towns of any size have free Internet services.

Even if traveling on the highways, a good idea to carry
water, food, perhaps spare petrol. Or at least get in the
habit of keeping the tank pretty full, as service stations
can be few and far between, and usually not open at night.

You probably know much of this, Frank, as you have been in
Australia before. Other readers might not know, though.

In more remote areas, sometimes on minor roads, small black solid
squares are private homesteads. Tanks and bores [wells] usually
marked by small blue circles.

Why? Well, if stranded somewhere, knowing the nearest source of
water is vital.

At least that is how Gregory's Road Map 27, 10th edition, is
marked. It has a scale of 1:1,456,500. It is not up to date,
though.as is copyright 1978.

Would strongly suggest that any tourist travel with as an
up to date map as possible, unless he has mobile Internet access.

Some libraries may still have an old Readers Digest Atlas of
Australia published in 1979. Still worth a look for any
interested in travel in Australia, as gives a lot of detail. In
more remote areas of Australia even individual windmill bores are
often marked.

Frank "We *love* the open spaces!" Slootweg

Well, Frank, plenty of open space here. In 1990,
Alaska had a population of 1 person per square mile.
In the continental U.S. Wyoming in 1990 had 4.7
per square mile.

Australia has about 6 per square mile, but this is misleading
as around 85% of the population is in the major capital cities.
Get about 75 km from the coast, and inland areas might
have an average population of 1 to 1.5 people per square
mile. The large inland desert areas used to be marked on
maps as "uninhabited".

So for any traveler who likes to get away from it all, this is
the place! :-)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16