What time of year

[416nem]

I live in Brisabne Australia. What time of year are you planning to do the trip and how is the route planning going.

[norman]

Hi 416nem,

Preliminary date looks like staring from Melbourne in early August to finish around six weeks later, probably earlier if the weather and circumstances are good to us. That means we leave Melbourne at the tail end of the Winter , start of Spring. We should avoid the Northern rainy season by finishing well before it. 'Temperatures should be bearable as well.

We are still taking advice on timings from the Oz met office and expedition planners so this information is not fixed yet.

[duncan_barbour]

Hi Norman,

Since we last spoke I have been doing some more research into the best time of year for the trip. It is of course going to be a compromise between what is best for flying and what is best for travelling/operating on the ground but as mentioned at the meeting we have to be able to get around at ground level to be able to support the lads in the air which is why I felt after the rains was not the best choice timewise.

This is info you probably have already but at least it will back it up I guess.

Melbourne during winter can be wet and chilly I believe, can be a bit miserable and is famous for having four seasons in 1 day at any time of year so its probably less predictable than the rest of the route...sounds just like Scotland.. However its not long from leaving Melbourne from a driving perspective before you get to the dry country so its probably best to look at what works best for that area and especially in the north to suit the expedition.

September October is the humid time up north which is the build up to the rains in November so I would say we would want to be hitting that area as in completing the expedition at the end of August, very beginning of September latest if it suits for flying conditions. That would give us a resonably cool weather in the central desert area.

So for arguments sake if we said finish at the end of the first week of September as our latest date allowing 6 weeks for the expedition would give a departure date of 28 June which potentially still gives us 3 or even 4 weeks of June to play with which may still work weather permitting if its not being too Scottish like!!! I think the further the start date can be moved back the less likely we are to encounter wet weather in the north as well as hot/humid temps for flying. The last thing that the expedition would need would be to cut the finish date fine with regard to as late as possible and then find that the rains have arrived earlier than predicted. I have experienced that before on an expedition and it created all sorts of problems!!

Obviously the OZ Met office will have lots of info on this and we also need to get some thoughts from the locals especially in the north. Whilst we need to get around on the ground the guys still need to fly too so its not just about driving conditions....personally I like a bit of rain to give me some challenging driving conditions and rivers to cross but I know thats not good news for flying.

At least we are thinking along the same lines...

Cheers Duncan

[416nem]

Duncan,

You have the right idea for time. If you hit the monsoon/wet season in the nirth of Australia it will stop your trip. I can and does rain in Victoria at any time but it just might be a problem for a day or two. Melbourne is not as pretty as Scottland.

Chris

[duncan_barbour]

Thanks Chris for reaffirming the thoughts on that. Actually looking at my previous post I have got mixed up with months by saying departure of 28 June when I meant 28 July. That possibly gives us even more leeway to work with if the weather is OK in the Melbourne area at that time of year. Glad to hear Scotland is prettier than Melbourne.....a lot colder at the moment though..

Cheers Duncan