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Possible route change


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All,

It is likely that we will have to make a change to the route to avoid the north eastern most tip of Aus :-( thus not a tip to tip...

so...

the next meeting will talk about the other possible routes, across /over / around, but from a tip to a tip :-) in Aus..

SW :D

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi guys,

I'm all excited about a new route, and have been looking into some options that I thought I'd post here for people to think about before the next meeting...

Option 1 - West to East

This is going to be more of an endurance route. Without a doubt it's the longest route, and I would imagine we would start in Brisbane, pass directly over Ayers Rock which is almost dead in the middle of the country, and then fly on to the most western tip of Oz. The journey should get big kudos for taking on such a long route, but I do believe that it'll be a matter of getting up each morning, flying, sleeping, and then a repeat the next day. I don't think there's going to be much variety along the route - beyond physical endurance.

Option 2 - Burke and Wills

Here are a couple of links for you to look at:

http://www.burkeandwills.net.au/Expedit ... racing.htm

http://www.davidreilly.com/australian_e ... robert.htm

Their story is well known in Australia as being both heroic and tragic and there's a lot of emotion attached to it. Their route extends from Melbourne in the south, up to the "lowest" area of the big U shaped bay in the north at Flinders River.

Perhaps a good idea for the trip would be to start from the port of Darwin, and then cut across to Flinders River where we "pick up the trail" of Burke and Wills. This will add the excitement of following an historic route, and it will add some gps navigation skills to follow their tracks. We would then fly down to Melbourne and the trip could be finished by a flight along the Great Ocean Road and a "sign off" viewing the 12 Apostles - some of Oz's more famous sights!

So I'm sure you can tell which option I like more. :D

Tracey

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I like the idea of a route with historic significance. It hooks in to a story that can make the film more interesting, allowing the film maker to intercut between the challenges, successes and disasters of original heroic journey and of the new journey.

Just my two penneth.

Stuart

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Here is a more recent map of the route, whilst you cannot draw any conclusions from this entry, the route is attracting some interest for all the reasons given above.

This page of the website offers Google Earth .kmz files that if downloaded and executed will bring up GE and the file content on the GE globe.

Burke_and_Wills_Track.png

Interesting terrain...

20081120-gn5nrxustqgg3jnn53emk7bn11.jpg

Not that I am biased or anything.... :roll:

20081120-p285eqt981nkmcwfccpfe9rnmu.jpg

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Prevailing winds

Seasonal variations in wind patterns are controlled by shifts in the position of the high-pressure belt (which forms part of the global sub-tropical ridge), from the southern portions of the continent in summer to the latitudes of central Australia in winter. During the warmer half of the year (October – March), the ridge is located in the south of the area; most of the prevailing winds are from the southeast quadrant. During autumn the mean position of the ridge moves north and remains over the centre of the continent for the cooler months (April to September), and winds tend to be lighter. Gale force winds (in excess of 61kph) are uncommon, being most frequent from October to December when they are observed on average one day per month.

Rainfall

Maximum temperatures average 36-39°C in summer and 18-24°C in winter. Temperatures are cooler in the Flinders Ranges and the Central Australian Ranges. July is generally the coolest month. In winter the temperature can drop well below freezing with frosts occurring up to 50% of mornings during July and August. Temperatures in the sand hills are often hotter than the plains, rising to the high 50°C range. The gibber stones heat to 80°C.

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250px-CrocodileDundeeHogan.jpg

Yea, last time it was easy, this time the lads want a challenge. Heat, flies, snakes, no flush dunnies and lots of things that run around in the bush - or crawl. The new route probably bins the crocs.... well most of them anyway - the really big ones that is.

Oh yes, and a few more track miles....... an extra thousand or so. :lol:

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Hi all

Are you telling me your going to fly through the middle of the red centre in the summer!!! have any of you been there!!!! I have and its f*cking hot... aus765.jpg

you all must be f**king crazy !! :?

COUNT ME IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Well Im taking a big fan to keep me cool :D:D

Pete b

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I have to add my voice to those who want to do this in winter! For those who haven't been out to Australia, the heat is unbearable in the summer - I'm not being dramatic, and I'm not scared of the thermals, and I'm not being a girl about this. Remember - I was born and raised in Africa... and I found the Aussie heat too intense.

As someone who's been there in summer and experienced it (I'm not sure who else has been there), I can honestly say it is not going to be at all pleasant. Even winter is shorts and t-shirt weather! We'd be giving ourselves a better chance of completing the trip if we did it in the cooler months - surely we'll have enough to contend with without battling with the heat!?

Sorry to sound like a kiljoy... I just really want to stress that this is actually a major issue. Maybe we can add this to the agenda next time?

Tracey

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Read in a gentle voice - it sounds a little harsh and is not meant to be.

One of the problems with writing too much here is that people grab hold of snippets and take them as gospel.

This is a route based thread, nothing has yet been decided wrt timing. We will take in the climatic data and discuss the start date when we can peruse ALL the factors that influence timing. We don't want to fry or freeze but there will inevitably be compromises dictated by that conglomerate of factors.

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You may like to know that I have a friend called Ben... He is also on the Sky Car Expedition http://www.skycarexpedition.com he is supplying the 8 wheeled drops body version of the exact same truck for the event.

He is VERY interested in Aus 2010 and is learning how to fly a paramotor.

The link above shows a pic of the actual truck were taking. ( I am fairly sure that is has done the Paris Dakar a few times ( as has Ben )

Jest not my friend. ANYTHING is possible!

SW :D

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