| [ Total Views: 873 | Total Replies: 14 | Thread Id: 100471 ] |
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 amazeer
A.k.a.: Surly Duff
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 12:17 AM |
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Has anyone done the big lap?
I'm having yet another one of my late night fantasies. One of those which doesnt involve turning off the safe search filter.
I'm due for long service on Wednesday. I'm thinking slap that oval together and do the highway 1 loop. According to Google Maps it is 14088kms and
156 hours, not including the Tassie bit. I wouldnt need accommodation because I would bunk down with some hot euro backpackers though I would take a
tent just in case. Or maybe just remove the passenger seat and make up a bed. Would there be room?
I know it is usually the domain of aircooled kombis but I reckon it would be a heaps cooler thing to do in a 36hp beetle. I'd be done in a month. How
hard could it be to average 470km in a day.
How many people have done the big lap?
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annosL
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 02:00 AM |
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Would be a great experience! and there is dub people all around Oz so plenty of assistance if needed
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sander288
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 07:34 AM |
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http://www.panamericana-im-alten-vw.de/index.php
would be fun!! The blokes in the above slept in their split window bug but had some funky recliners on the seats
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donn
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 09:25 AM |
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Well I don't claim to have done the big one but in 2011 I did 3 months round trip to WA from Newie, had a ball, stayed in backpackers a few nights
but 95% of the time threw down my 2 man tent (no way I was getting in that thing with another bloke, another woman maybe  ) and slept till the sun came up, all in the wench with a small trailer
hitched on behind. I reckon you are on the wrong track trying to do it in a month, I could have taken twice as long and still not seen it properly and
that's no where near the big lap, though to be fair for some of the time I covered no more than 40 k each day as I was with a bloke who was walking
across Oz
Plenty of people told me I was crazy doing it in the wench but she didn't miss a beat and the people I met just because i was in an "unusual" car
was terrific, I'd pull into a camping area (get the "Camps Australia" book, I've got edition 6 but there may be a latter one by now) and people
who were in their vans and campers sitting in their own little spaace would gravitate to me and bring a red drink or a beer (I didn't even take an
esky so all my tucker was of the type that needed no refridgeration and therefore I didn't have beer with me, though a chateau de cardboard was a
companion for a good part of the trip  ) and we'd yarn for hours,
free camping was no problem and there are some great places to camp, though some will catch you out, planed to stay one night and ended up staying 3
or 4 they were such great places.
Good luck, I'm in the initial stages of planing a simillar trip to Tazzie, though I don't do too much planing I just get the wench checked
profesionaly and hit the road.
Don
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!
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Craig Torrens
A.k.a.: Craig Torrens
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 09:57 AM |
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Averaging 470km per day is hard......your average speed will probably be around 60-70kph so thats 7-8hrs/day of driving for a month.
Can you afford to take more time ?
There is sooooo much to see on a trip like this, so take the time and make the trip memorable 
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Willie
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 09:59 AM |
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I was the mechanic for a fund raiser run around aus (and reserve runner) back in '86. We had new nissans (sponsors) so I wasn't too busy. We did it
in 90 days (incl tassie) . Even at that speed and timeframe, it was too quick and there was a lot we didn't see. My suggestion would be to take your
time and plan it thoroughly so you get to see the many, many things worth seeing around this great country.
1975 L-Bug
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grazza7755
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 11:20 AM |
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Around Auusie
A mate and I drove around in 1977 in my 1974 18oo kombi.
6 weeks away and had plenty of down time all over the place.
Mostly dirt road for us Perth to Darwin and not many bridges over the dry rivers even on Hwy 1.
Probably all tar and bridges now.
You just have to watch out for dust in the air cleaners when you go down the many dirt side roads.
The red dust is a killer for the engine so it is worth upgrading your aircleaner and check it daily when off the tar.
Travel well below your maximum possible speed.
Have fun!
It is one on life's experiences that only a few get around to doing.
Who on here has it on their 'Gunna do' list?
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68BUS
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 01:44 PM |
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It has been on my Gunna Do List for a long time. I gonna and did Europe for a few years instead so it is still on my gonna do list.
1966 Aussie 11 Window
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whathaveidone
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 06:11 PM |
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Do it and film it!!!! Would be a good watch and you may even get some cash back
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grinderman
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 08:18 PM |
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Depends what time of the year, but if it was in the next 3 months I'd take the air-conned polo and do it in 14 days...............go on challenge
yourself  If your serious about a proper road trip you should
have 470km done before lunch, start at 6 in the morning and your arvo's can be nice and relaxed. MMMM I'm not sure which would be better though
cruise control set on 110kph and climate control set on 20.........or..........sitting on 80kph with a cabin temperature of 30+, listening for odd
noises, smelling for oil/petrol/exhaust fumes, watching for bits of the car falling off etc.etc. But NO-ONE will wave to you or bring you a drink or
two at the campsite if you are in the polo. Yep, the decision is easy really, take the oval because you dont want to go thirsty do you?
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amazeer
A.k.a.: Surly Duff
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 10:31 PM |
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What is the wench donn? Is that the buggy?
Lol, I'm scared of driving the Polo around the corner in case I get a stone chip, I'm not doing The Big Lap in it. I want to do it in the oval. I
figure I'll paint a map and update the journey as I go and then that panel can live on the garage wall as a lifelong souvenir. Why does a W decklid
have to be so expensive, will probably have to substitute in a 60's one temporarily.
I've done two half laps to NT. First trip was in the kombi back in the days of unlimited speed in the quest of the answer to the ultimate question
"what'll she do" on my way to Valla. Unfortunately the kombi only made it to Mt Isa and I did the final 36 hours on a McCafferties bus.
My honeymoon was 10,000km in 14 days. That included Ayers Rock, Olgas, Kings Canyon, McDonald Ranges, Mataranka, Kakadu etc. That was when I was
younger in a new fangled holden nova though. Once you get off the east coast it isnt too hard to rack up kms though probably not as easy with only
36hp to play with. I think I have pretty much seen all there is between Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide so those parts wouldnt include sightseeing,
they would just be continuous long boring drives.
Have to say I am a bit worried about fuel consumption in the west. Almost ran out of fuel in the kombi heading north out of Glendambo with a stiff
headwind. Looks even more sparse in WA.
 
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donn
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 10:51 PM |
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Yep, the buggy, had s ball, if I could work out how to post pics here I'd put a few up for you
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!
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Andy
Son of Jim - Creator of Good
Andy's Adventures
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| posted on January 14th, 2013 at 11:39 PM |
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Not quite the trip your looking at doing, but have done in the kombi
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=21916&page=1
5 mths was way too short for us, could have easily done a few years!
We included Tas, was ~27k km all up.
Spoke to many people who were doing their own version of round Oz, from motor bikes in the shortest possibel time, to people on push bikes and hitch
hiking!!
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Phil74Camper
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Head in the Clouds
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| posted on January 15th, 2013 at 07:00 AM |
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In February 1954 Eddie Perkins and George Reynolds drove one of the first VWs in Australia - a 30-bhp 1131cc model - from Perth to Melbourne (3300 km)
in 39 hours. That's an average of 85 km/h the whole way. Dirt highways then!
The '55 Redex, and the later '56, '57 and '58 Mobilgas Round Australia Trials, took two weeks to complete (two drivers in each car). The actual
routes varied but the longest ('58 Mobilgas) was 16,500 km. Volkswagens won each of these four, all of them Australian-assembled 36-bhp 1200cc
models.
In 1962, to promote the new VW 1200 Standard, rally drivers Ray Christie and Joe Dunlop drove one to set a new around-Australia record of 13,000 km
(most of it unsealed) in just 168 hours (7 days), almost non-stop. That's an average of 77 km/h the whole way.
In 1964 Ray Christie and Joe Dunlop set out to break their 1962 around-Australia record. This time they used a new VW Type 3 1500 sedan. They departed
Melbourne’s Southern Cross Hotel at 12:01am on 23 August, and arrived back at 10:18pm on 28 August. 12,950.8 km in 5 days, 22 hours 17 minutes;
average 91.0 km/h. This is still the CAMS ‘unofficial official’ around-Australia record today, as road racing of this sort is now illegal...
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ian.mezz
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| posted on January 15th, 2013 at 09:22 AM |
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sounds like a good idea and if you have the money and the time and nothing left at home that needs looking after.
maybe do it in the cooler months.
thesamba has fiberglass deck lids about $150
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