Convoy poll: Where will you start off?

zerochosen

If you are considering making the trip by road (and want to join a PAX convoy) let people know where you will be starting from. If we get enough from different locations we may end up with a few convoys, or can change the route to collect people on the way... nearest convenient city only

zerochosen

Sydney

I know it's way early to be thinking about this, but are their any Aussies (or adventurous tourists) interested in driving/riding to wherever PAX AUS is going to be? Guessing that it will be in Melbourne or Brisbane, that's about 2-3 days drive from Sydney if you take it easy. Since this is pretty much going to be Nerdstock, what do people think about making the journey part of the event?

zerzhul

Cross-Country SUPERTRIP! Australian style

Moe Fwacky has been trying to convince Cuzza to do a CCST for PAX Aus, so hopefully there's some interest. I won't be there, but I would love to see stuff like that happen.

Moe Fwacky

If you take it easy, I will lose all respect. Blaze through, three drivers, three shifts, one car, one hour stop every 5 (provided you even have gas stations that close together).

Beker

If this is organized, there might be tourist types that would be interested in flying in to ride along and see the countryside.

zerochosen

Sydney

I'll be on a motorbike, so the blazing option may cause my eyes to fall out of my head and my kidneys to fall out of my bum. That being said I've done the Sydney to Brisbane run before with one sleep and that was tolerable :-).

Most of our population is on the East coast, so there are no problems with gas (petrol) stations along the way, the most you would have to wait is 2 hours before the next one.

smerk

Sydney

I'll come, unless there's a bunch of people who want to take the train, or it ends up being in Sydney. There's also a few tourists whose timetables may influence whether I can drive or not.

zerochosen

Sydney

Beker wrote: »

If this is organized, there might be tourist types that would be interested in flying in to ride along and see the countryside.

If it is a Brisbane con, I know the way north pretty well and could knock up a pretty good itinerary, south to Melbourne I know less well, but I'm sure it could be figured out pretty easy by us locals. If it's a Sydney event it's probably redundant to convoy, as most people will be flying in to there. I'm happy to help organise this either way - reading about PAX it seems that the unofficial extra stuff going on really adds to the experience, and was looking for something to do to add value.

Renting a car would be a good option for the tourists, especially if you are looking to fly over with friends. You can get a car for less than $50 a day (but make sure you get unlimited kilometres), and ditch it at a local depot once you get to your destination if you wanted to make it a one way trip. For bikers it is generally a lot more expensive and harder to find motorbike rental in Ausralia. Carpooling with a local may also be an option... depending on how much interest there is.

Moe Fwacky

Oh, here I was envisioning people driving from the west coast of AUS to the east, across the entire country from, say, Perth.

zerochosen

Sydney

Yikes, we might need 2 convoys.

I pity the poor town where we would meet... Nerdswarm!

Lorahalo

There are a lot of Perthians in SE++, so it's always a possibility. The middle of Australia is a rather uninteresting place for the most part though.

zerochosen

Sydney

I shall call you... the West Coast Convoy Avengers.

Amigu

I'm keen to bum along in someones car!

(will pay petrol money obv)

Tef

Hmmm, now this is not a bad idea.

I'm in Perth and I've done the trip east and back twice. It's not like you new a guide for the drive anyway

I'm hesitant to commit to anything just yet though because the Aussie SE++ crowd have a meetup planned and we're trying to work out if we're going to change our plans since the announcement of AusPAX

Hearthjaw

Sydney

Happy to join in on a motorbike.

zerochosen

Sydney

Hearthjaw wrote: »

Happy to join in on a motorbike.

Are you another Perth dweller Hearthjaw?

Camaran

Sydney is like 12 hours from Melbourne lol

Hearthjaw

Sydney

Nah Zero, I'm a Sydneysider.

CuZZa

Perth

Camaran wrote: »

Sydney is like 12 hours from Melbourne lol

By scooter? I've driven most of the way up the Western Australian coast in 11 hours. Sydney is not that far from Melbourne.

Camaran

CuZZa wrote: »

Camaran wrote: »

Sydney is like 12 hours from Melbourne lol

By scooter? I've driven most of the way up the Western Australian coast in 11 hours. Sydney is not that far from Melbourne.

It's really about 9 hours non-stop.

Hearthjaw

Sydney

Depends on the scooter, it'd be agony on anything smaller then a 125cc. But people have circumnavigated the continent on ct110s so go figure.

zerochosen

Sydney

I've done an equivalent distance on a 150cc scooter... would not recommend unless you are really light.

zerochosen

Sydney

Now we know the location, where do people think is a good meeting point around Sydney? I'd be going from Wollongong, so would probably join up at the Picton road turnoff.

Still talking hypothetical here until we get at least a few carloads interested, but lets do the mental exercise...

Hearthjaw

Sydney

Picton works for me, are people up for smashing this out in one day or do people want to spread it out? Also a theoretical mental exercise...

zerochosen

Sydney

If we're doing it in one day, there better be a pub that hands out massages at the end of it This doesn't mean that I'm not up for it though...

Hibbleton

Id been keen to join the convey depending on how many people we can get together, I'm from sydney so I wouldn't mind. Has anyone found any accommodation yet? ive been looking at hostels and they are pretty cheap, we can all try going to the same place

tapek

zerochosen wrote:

zerochosen wrote: »

I know it's way early to be thinking about this, but are their any Aussies (or adventurous tourists) interested in driving/riding to wherever PAX AUS is going to be? Guessing that it will be in Melbourne or Brisbane, that's about 2-3 days drive from Sydney if you take it easy. Since this is pretty much going to be Nerdstock, what do people think about making the journey part of the event?

Just came here from the Facebook page after mentioning a convoy...i am totally in! I'm on the Gold Coast so it's about a 18-20 hour drive with no stops. Are people leaning more towards the leisurely 2 day drive with touristy stops and camping on the way down or what?

Hearthjaw

Sydney

Well, theres the question of route as well. There's the faster/shorter Yass/Albury/Wodonga route (877km) or the long way round, via Eden (1032km). I'm gonna request a week off work to get some flexability, once i get that confirmed I'll be happy to commit to a timing.

Hibbleton

whats the advantage of going the long way around? Id rather take it sort of slower with a couple of stops, so maybe a route with good pubs on the way?

tokyodove

Moe Fwacky wrote: »

Oh, here I was envisioning people driving from the west coast of AUS to the east, across the entire country from, say, Perth.

I drove from Perth to Adelaide once and it was....interesting.
Unfortunately Aus doesn't have an equivalent Route 66, we just have the Nullabor desert.

zerochosen

Sydney

The long way follows the coast, so it's prettier - but probably colder for us bikers in the middle of winter.

Hearthjaw

Sydney

Yeah it would be pretty cold in winter. If do it in one swift hit I'd say the Yass/Albury route would be better.

There's plenty of beautiful sweeping plains anyway and cow's anyway.
We'd have to start early, 0700 from Picton at the latest. That's a 9 hour trip without breaks, the main thing to avoid (other then traffic) is too much night riding in the country. I've come off my bike because of a dog, a roo would not be pleasant. If we go say a 30min break every two hours then that's 12 and a half hours or so. If there're no delays then it should be fine. What's the fuel economy on your bike zero?

zerochosen

Sydney

7am? you're killing me! But I agree with minimum night riding, especially when we're not 100% on knowing the roads. A full 17 litre tank will get me about 250kms I think? If we are stopping every couple of hours it shouldn't be a problem. I'd also suggest a substantial lunch break so stragglers can catch up and we can be a bit social... maybe we find a nice pub or something?

Hearthjaw

Sydney

Maybe I am being a bit gung ho, but it'll be an early start if we want to do it in one day, the alternative is to split it over two days. While not as hardcore, chilling around a campfire with a beer can't really be beaten. A big lunch break is a good idea, there're a few nice pubs in Albury, and countless nice small pubs on the way I'm sure.

DragonBear

Perth

Lorahalo wrote: »

There are a lot of Perthians in SE++, so it's always a possibility. The middle of Australia is a rather uninteresting place for the most part though.

I've always wanted to drive across but I think I'll leave my bike at home. Yes, I have a 17 L tank (I get 330 kms out of it) but I don't know that I am up for spending 3 days fanging my throttle on full. Hm, maybe fit a throttle lock?

Nah, better to join a West Coast Convoy if there is one going over.

zerochosen

Sydney

Next Question - does the convoy go on the day before PAX (The Thursday) or 2 days before? I'm looking at being an Enforcer so the Wednesday might be better, but I am pretty flexible with this.

zerzhul

The US convoy trips always timed themselves to arrive the night before PAX began, since the convoy meant so much extra time off work.

zerochosen

Sydney

Cool, we should do that then... I guess not everyoe has 2.5 months of holdiay time saved up like me

Xeion

Sydney

I'm for a convoy, just waiting on a couple friends. But I'll keep checking here

Ammamarie

Perth

A convoy from Perth would be interesting if enough people wanted to do it. I wonder what the difference in price would be between Petrol and flights.

DragonBear

Perth

I'm up for looking at prices of flights versus convoy from Perth. I have at least one other friend coming with me.