First timers
Submitted: Sunday, Jun 05, 2005 at 18:48
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Pete & Janelle
We have a Nissan X-Trail and are in the process of planning a trip through Western NSW, SA and QLD in late Sept/Oct
Our initial thoughts are to go from
Sydney to Dubbo, Dubbo to
White Cliffs,
White Cliffs to
Tibooburra,
Tibooburra to
Cameron Corner.
The question then is where to we head from
Cameron Corner, we are looking at going to Merty Merty and then down to
Lyndhurst but we don't know if a pair of "newbies" in a Nissan X-Trail would do this in a 6-8 hour window or are we kidding ourselves as to how far we can go in a day on these roads.
The overall "plan of attack" is to go to
Oodnadatta,
Alice Springs,
Daly Waters,
Burketown and then back through QLD to
Brisbane then back to
Sydney.
The highway legs are easy enough to calculate times and distances but obviously the more remote roads are not as easy to estimate travel times so we are looking for advice.
Thanks in Advance,
Janelle and Pete
Reply By: Lone Wolf - Sunday, Jun 05, 2005 at 19:12
Sunday, Jun 05, 2005 at 19:12
I've got a Honda HRV, and have some of this, and more.
Pick your weather... if you can.
The roads can play real havoc with the standard tyres. I have put Coopers AT on the Honda. I work on the premise of 60 kmh on the main gravel roads. This allows me to factor in comfort stops, photo stops, etc.
Corrugations & stones will be your main worry. It's a soft roader, and is not built for real rough stuff.
Have fun, and take your time.
Wolfie
AnswerID:
114459
Reply By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Sunday, Jun 05, 2005 at 19:28
Sunday, Jun 05, 2005 at 19:28
Janelle and Pete, it depends a lot on your own stamina and that you have tyres that are able to take some punishment as much as anything else, being prepared for repair requirement. If you are camping it may mean you want to pack up in good time and stop earlier in the day too. I think perhaps you should do a "shakedown cruise" to make sure you can establish your time window and your abilities on such roads. Depending on conditions and your stamina then. 450-550 kms a day shouldn't be out of the question though. I though roads out
Tibooburra -
Cameron Corner and the Strzelecki were pretty good though the stony at in
places.
AnswerID:
114460
Follow Up By: Pete & Janelle - Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 22:34
Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 22:34
Thanks for the
feedback. We did take the X-Trail out on the weekend to get her feet dirty, mind you it wasn't really a "test" as we could also have taken the Corolla Seca along the same road although at a slower pace and not as comfortably! We did the run from Araluen near
Braidwood down to Moruya. The road was a little slippery in parts due to some rain but overall it was a pretty good gravel road and we got to see how thew X-Trail handled steep windy roads - no dints and no scratches so we did OK!
A few years ago we took a Ford Mondeo around Australia doing the trip in 26 days so we are used to having a few long days of driving but with 2 drivers it is not so bad.
We are now watching the weather maps to see if we need to review our plans! We aren't going until mid-september so we still have time to get in some more practice runs.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Peter 2 - Sunday, Jun 05, 2005 at 21:09
Sunday, Jun 05, 2005 at 21:09
As has been said, you have a soft roader and tyres and underbody damage will be your biggest worry off the bitumen.
Change the tyres to AT type rather than the passenger tyres fitted standard.
X trails seem to have problems with mud, sticks and rocks upsetting the wheel/ABS sensors in forest areas so the gibbers could play havoc too. One that we've had with us has had problems several times with muddy forestry roads, the sensors seem to get knocked out of alignment easily and it usually results in lights on the dash and the vehicle refusing to drive all four wheels which can be a worry when it is slippery.
AnswerID:
114472
Reply By: Steve - Sunday, Jun 05, 2005 at 22:32
Sunday, Jun 05, 2005 at 22:32
Tibooburra to
Lyndhurst is a little under 600kms...and a solid days drive given that average on the dirt ...is approx 60 kph...including pit stops and the like ..Camerons Cornet is just a pit stop...and photo op...the rest of the planned trip is no real drama..
AnswerID:
114486
Follow Up By: Pete & Janelle - Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 22:25
Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 22:25
Hi Steve,
Thanks for this info.
Based on what you and others on this
forum have said we have done a little fine-tuning on the itinerary and we will probably do a few more changes yet.
We may now stay the night at
Cameron Corner, but then we wonder what the road from
William Creek across to
Coober Pedy would be like?
A friend of ours used to drive tour buses through the area but he has only driven the road from
Marree, across to
William Creek and up to
Marla which he said was a good day's drive but the road was in good condition.
Have you driven the road from
William Creek to
Coober Pedy?
FollowupID:
371241
Reply By: Steve - Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 22:31
Monday, Jun 13, 2005 at 22:31
There is nothing !!! at
Cameron Corner...a
shop and a pie and coldie ...and that's stretching it ...as for Willian Creek to Cooper...have not done it but reckon no big deal ...after all its a more used road than the others !!
AnswerID:
115618