TRAVEL

HERE, PARKING (CAMPING) SPOTS, ROAD CONDITIONS, FUEL SUPPLIES, SIGHT SEEING ETC. WILL BE COVERED
STATE BY STATE. (MORE WILL BE ADDED AS TRAVEL PERMITS).

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE INTRODUCTORY NOTES.

NOTE: ALL INFORMATION IS © Ron Graham 1997.

SOME NOTES THAT EXPLAIN HOW AND WHY I DESCRIBE/CLASSIFY MY TRAVEL INFORMATION.
PARKING.
As well as using the word "parking" to describe parking as one does when shopping, sight seeing
etc, I prefer to use it also to describe everything from meal breaks to short term camping.
I think there is some ambiguity in the way our bureaucracies classify/describe camping.
To me, camping is erecting a tent, building a fire, hanging out washing etc.
In respect to a motorhome, I like to think that if we do not put chairs outside, errect the awning
and so on, we should (wishful thinking perhaps) be able to claim we are not camping, simply parking.
In other words, where parking overnight may be questionable, we should stay quietly inside our motorhome.
By all means, do the touristy things .. sightseeing, shopping and so on, but preferably during daylight hours.
Where it is certainly legal to stay overnight, or longer, we can camp .. chairs out, light a fire
awning up, washing on the line .. the works!

Leading on from this, I have classified "parking" spots from the point of view of a self contained
motorhome. My classifications, which follow, are used when I describe the various parking spots
from my travels.

Class 1+
Are extra special Class 1 sites .. large, better than average surrounings, probably combined with
extended lengths of stay.

Class 1
A place where one may stay a few nights .. legal .. reasonable surroundings.
eg idyllic spots we can locate. Can include caravan parks.

Class 2.
As above, but stay limited to a short fixed period .. often 24 or 48 hours.
eg rest areas. Recently, I have been adding some "+" or "-" signs to indicate if these
Class 2 spots are better or worse than what I consider "average".

Class 3.
As per class 2, but legally questionable.
eg shopping centre parking areas, railway station parking, industrial areas, boat ramps,
gravel pits, seldom used airports etc. Usage of many of these could well be time sensitive ..
such as railway and industrial parking not being used for their normal purposes over weekends,
whereas boat ramps are normally under utilised during the week.

Class 4.
As per 3rd class, but strongly suggested that the stay be limited to the hours of darkness.
The spot may be identified/checked out during the day .. and returned to after dark.
One could have the evening meal dining out, or at a class 5 area.
Leave at daybreak or shortly after and have breakfast along the road .. or at a class 5 area.
eg as per class 3 suggestions, but more questionable.

Class 5.
Day parking only.
eg where "no camping" signs exist!

So, the classes 1 to 5 are used to give an indication of the legality regarding using the parking (camp) spot.
The + or - is used to help indicate if the quality of the spot is better or worse than than the expected norm.

Naturally, discretion and common sense should be paramont when choosing/using any parking
place .. particually so, with Class 3 & 4 areas.

FURTHER NOTES.
An "*" indicated that we have "parked" at least one night in that location.

When the latitude and longitude are given, it indicates that we have visited that site.
Latitude and Longitude are given in the modern format of degrees, minutes and decimal parts of a minute.

The Hema Road Atlas seems popular with travellers, so Hema map references are also given ..
from the fourth edition, 2001. These maps, or other road maps, will be necessary to assist one
when reading or using these travel notes.

Roads and camping spots are described in order from SOUTH to NORTH and EAST to WEST.
My logic for this is, as the bulk of the Aussie population is centred in the south east corner,
most travel would start from that corner. Thus, south to north, east to west!

Descriptions are given in sections, normally between two prominent cities. They are chosen
to try and embrace a particular highway (or part of it in the case of very long ones).

Some early travel notes describe just the location & facilities of parking spots.
Locating suitable parking spots is probably one of our major concerns.
Newer travel notes gives a more complete description of roads, distances, intersting places etc.

Cumulative distances are given starting at 0 km from the starting point.
The distances given in brackets are the cumulative distances starting from the other end.
Distances given on a seperate line between entries in square brackets, eg [8.6 km], is the distance
between those two consecutive entries. NOTE: Checked our speedo in 2005 .. noted it reads about 3% high.
Thus, 3% should be deducted from distances quoted in these notes in order to get truer distances.

Short "side trips" are described with distance starting from where one turns off the highway or main road.
At the conclusion of the "side trip", we jump back to the turn off spot. This is indicated by a prominent
(for example) ROCKHAMPTON TO MACKAY .. continued.
The "side trips" have a horizontal line both before and after them in order to seperate them
from the main text. In some cases, it may be necessary to "nest" one side trip within another ..
these will be enclosed within shorter horizontal lines.

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