Summary of
trip.
Sorento 2007 2.5 auto 5sp 4 cyl Diesel 4WD; 1300kg Gazal Poptop Van
See a complete list of FUEL PRICES and
PERFORMANCE RESULTS here)
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|
Distance
and time:
5055 kms
in 23 days. |
Fuel
used:
595 litres of diesel
fuel prices:
from $1.63.9 to $1.86.9 (Diesel)
Worst seen: $2.05 at Hill End.
$ 1.86.9 at Junee and Coonabarabran
Best prices: $1.69.7 at McGraph's Hill at Windsor NSW.
NOTE: Questionable performance degradation running on 2% bio-diesel mixtures. |
Performance
was only fair, because:
* did a lot of stop/start photography whilst motor running
* return trip was done at 110km/h with a caravan (wind drag inefficient over 90km/h)
* some towing was into the histroic areas like Hill End, where we actually
towed the van up through 4WD tracks like Mervyn's Lookout!
* Sightseeing involved a lot of 1st gear dribbling along
* Blue Mountains area involved a lot of 2nd/3rd gear decent engine breaking
* but we did manage to tow the van around Mt Panorama track in 8mins 19secs!
Av 11.79 lt/100kms (60% towing)
best (50% towing flat at under 100km/h): 10.5lt/100 on cruise
Worst: (towing at 110km/h) 12.95.lt/100
(towing into 4WD areas 14.15 lt/100)
This compares to the best we've ever achieved, the weekend after the
trip as it turns out:
on Cruise control along the Hamilton Highwy (1/9/08: 773kms on 69L.)
being 8.9L/100kms |
| COMMUNICATIONS Tested: , Optus GSM, Telstra GSM, Telstra 3G, Telstra NEXT-G
CONCLUSION: Next-G in rural areas around Mudgee/Bathurst area,
still not as good as CDMA coverage used to be. |
Worst loss:
Optus GSM |
Best
connection
NextG (except missing between vital rural locations, noted) |
| Most significant
COMMUNICATIONS observation: |
Examples
of lost communications:
Southern Tablelands:Olympic Highway, Henry Lawson Highway,
Kangaroo Valley area: Mossman to Nowra. |
| Trip Highlights |
Most
memorable events:
Snow in the Lithgow shopping centre; Dubbo Zoo housing wild rabbits;
Rainbows over the heads at Sydney; Visiting Australia's oldest church in Ebenezer;
Confirming locating the two oldest standing pubs in mainland Australia, in the Rocks, and
at Windsor for www.gdayPubs.com.au; Hiking to
Spirey Lookout to see the Bread Knife in the Warrumbungles, after inpecting the
Anglo-Australian Telescope; attending AgQuip in Gunnedah;
Trip hazard Issues experienced:
Snow and black ice around Oberon, Lithgow and Hartley; stones in wheel brakes coming off
the Olympic Hwy into Hume Freeway bi-pass out of Albury; Gettubg the caravan up the 4WD
track to Mervyn's lookout at Hill End. |
| 2008 |
THE TRIP
BEGINS...... Time to pull out
of beauuuutiful downtown The Basin, and head on up through Yea to the outskirts of Benalla
to reach the Hume Highway, for a quick sprint over the NSW |
 |
 |
|
2nd
Aug
(Sat) |
Melbourne to Holbrook. |
 |
 |
|
3rd
Aug
(Sun) |
Holbrook to Kangaroo
Valley
(Fitzroy Falls, Kangaroo Valley) |
 |
 |
 |
4th
Aug
(Mon) |
Kangaroo Valley to Shell
Harbour
(Kiama, Bulli Pass) |
 |
 |
 |
5th
Aug
(Tue) |
Shell Harbour to Sans
Souci
(Grand Pacific Drive, Cliffton/Coalcliff) |
 |
 |
 |
6th
Aug
(Wed) |
Manly, Sydney, The
Rocks, The Heads |
 |
 |
 |
7th
Aug
(Thu) |
Sans Souci to Pitt
Town Bottoms
(Windsor, Richmond historical area) |
 |
 |
 |
8th
Aug
(Fri) |
Wiseman's Ferry, St
Albans, Windsor |
|
|
|
9th
Aug
(Sat) |
Pitt Town Bottoms to
Little Hartley
(back way via Mt Wilson area) |
 |
 |
 |
10th
Aug
(Sun) |
Lithgow and Mount
Victoria |
 |
 
|
 |
11th
Aug
(Mon) |
Katoomba, Leura,
Medlow Bath |
 |
 |
 |
12th
Aug
(Tue) |
Tarana, Oberon,
Jenolan Caves |
 |
 |
 |
13th
Aug
(Wed) |
Lithgow ZigZag
Railway, then to Leura and Mt Victoria. |
 
|
 |
 |
14th
Aug
(Thur) |
Windsor area,
Annagrove (Deisel chip) |
 |
 |
 |
15th
Aug
(Fri) |
Little Hartley to
Mudgee
(Bathurst, Sofala) |
|
 
|
 |
16th
Aug
(Sat) |
Mudgee Brewery, and
local wineries |
 |
 |
 |
17th
Aug
(Sun) |
Mudgee to Gulgong
backtrack to Hill End and Hargraves (hilly areas, towing the van along 4wd tracks) |
 |
 |
 |
18th
Aug
(Mon) |
Gulgong to Coonabarabran
(via Dunedoo) |
 |
 |
 |
19th
Aug
(Tue) |
Sliding Spring
Observatory, Warrumbungles |
|
 |
 |
20th
Aug
(Wed) |
AgQuip agricultural
show at Gunedah |
 |
 |
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21st
Aug
(Thu) |
Coonabarabran to Dubbo
(Dubbo Zoo.) |
 |
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|
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22nd
Aug
(Fri) |
Dubbo to Forbes
(Wellington, Stuart Town, Molong, Parkes) |
 |
 |
 |
23rd
Aug
(Sat) |
Forbes to The
Basin
(Grenfell, Young, Wombat, Cootamundra, Wallendbeen, Junee, Wallacetown, The
Rock, Henty, Albury, KalKallo) |
|
 |
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24th
Aug
(Sun) |
cleanup day! |
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