Driving Outback Highways at Night
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Stallie
I can't believe you actually managed to entice a woman into that old Tojo!
Guptar
I've driven the Stuart Hwy, both ways, more times than I can remember. The only section I'll drive at night is Katherine to Darwin and vice versa. For the rest, too many cattle & roos, the occasional camel or donkey, and as ITCZ said, at this time of year, washouts and water over the road. The one time I didn't follow this rule was when I couldn't sleep one night in Alice, and thought if I'm going to toss & turn in bed I might as well drive.
At only 80kph I couldn't avoid the roo that hopped onto the road and despite hard braking he kept on pounding - straight into the side of my Patrol. In something like 600,000km this was my first encounter with a roo and set the insurance co back about $4000.00 and took many, many, many trips to the crash repair people (and I use that term loosely) to get right.
Drive by day and enjoy the fascinating scenery, giving you a better chance of avoiding the livestock, and surviving the drive.
ps, as an aside to you and others that mightn't have driven these sort of long distances on outback roads, a couple of years ago a friend of a friend hitched a ride down south from Katherine. She was a medical doctor. The two occupants of the car were having a great old natter when the car moved off the road onto the gravel shoulder.
Instinctively the driver pulled right on the steering wheel to regain the road, rolled the Tojo, and the doctor died.
These sort of accidents, as well as swerving to avoid livestock/birds are too common and the results can be tragic.
Drive safely.
I can't believe you actually managed to entice a woman into that old Tojo!
Guptar
I've driven the Stuart Hwy, both ways, more times than I can remember. The only section I'll drive at night is Katherine to Darwin and vice versa. For the rest, too many cattle & roos, the occasional camel or donkey, and as ITCZ said, at this time of year, washouts and water over the road. The one time I didn't follow this rule was when I couldn't sleep one night in Alice, and thought if I'm going to toss & turn in bed I might as well drive.
At only 80kph I couldn't avoid the roo that hopped onto the road and despite hard braking he kept on pounding - straight into the side of my Patrol. In something like 600,000km this was my first encounter with a roo and set the insurance co back about $4000.00 and took many, many, many trips to the crash repair people (and I use that term loosely) to get right.
Drive by day and enjoy the fascinating scenery, giving you a better chance of avoiding the livestock, and surviving the drive.
ps, as an aside to you and others that mightn't have driven these sort of long distances on outback roads, a couple of years ago a friend of a friend hitched a ride down south from Katherine. She was a medical doctor. The two occupants of the car were having a great old natter when the car moved off the road onto the gravel shoulder.
Instinctively the driver pulled right on the steering wheel to regain the road, rolled the Tojo, and the doctor died.
These sort of accidents, as well as swerving to avoid livestock/birds are too common and the results can be tragic.
Drive safely.
Single vehicle roll over is the single biggest killer in the territory. 4WD with high CG can be over on roof with two quick movements on the wheel. Common from avoiding wildlife/livestock or, as you report, trying to get back up on the black stuff. Have trundled up and down that road a bit ex-BN, for my money the worst bit for livestock is between the Curry and the Isa. Damn cows are exactly the same colour as the rock in the bull lights. Old trick, if you must drive at night, drive when there is a full moon. The Roos can see you as well as see outside your headlight beam so will tend not to jump into it or stay there.
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I grew up in the bush and have driven in this area plenty of times at night. Think about it, the locals don't cower in their homes at night too terrified to drive anywhere lest they be smote by the Western Red.
But first there are a few thing that you must have;
-You must be driving a ute. My preference is a falcon, but a WB Holden is also good.
-You must have a dirty great bullbar. No not a Roo/Nudge/brush bar, they're for those city W__kers . It has to be huge, something of beauty that you can be truly proud of. A general rule of thumb is, if the bullbar looks like it out weighs the car then it's almost big enough.
-You must have a roll bar. To house the next bit of gear.
-The SPOTTIES. At least four, and notdriving lights (again think city W__kers). They must be round spotties of at least 9" diameter and they must all be mounted on the roll bar.
-You must have a swag. Green canvas with double density foam. Don't tow a bloody van.
-stickers. Optional but always classy. Preferably Bundy Rum-for the drinking of.
Some optional items include;
-Beer, Drunken mates and rifles. If this country is ever invaded by an alien force that resembled road signs... well lets just say that we'd kick arse. ay!!
Well there it is, the secret to surviving night driving "out west". Follow these simple steps and you will own the road and blind many a marsupial as well as having some serious credibility at every roadhouse.
But first there are a few thing that you must have;
-You must be driving a ute. My preference is a falcon, but a WB Holden is also good.
-You must have a dirty great bullbar. No not a Roo/Nudge/brush bar, they're for those city W__kers . It has to be huge, something of beauty that you can be truly proud of. A general rule of thumb is, if the bullbar looks like it out weighs the car then it's almost big enough.
-You must have a roll bar. To house the next bit of gear.
-The SPOTTIES. At least four, and notdriving lights (again think city W__kers). They must be round spotties of at least 9" diameter and they must all be mounted on the roll bar.
-You must have a swag. Green canvas with double density foam. Don't tow a bloody van.
-stickers. Optional but always classy. Preferably Bundy Rum-for the drinking of.
Some optional items include;
-Beer, Drunken mates and rifles. If this country is ever invaded by an alien force that resembled road signs... well lets just say that we'd kick arse. ay!!
Well there it is, the secret to surviving night driving "out west". Follow these simple steps and you will own the road and blind many a marsupial as well as having some serious credibility at every roadhouse.
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just a little ride report from a madman i know.....
G'day folks, this is only my second post here but I thought "what the hell, chuck in a ride report" so here goes:
Back around Easter 2002 I took a month long service leave & decided to drive to Darwin, doing some sight-seeing alomg the way. I had a little 1984 Ford Laser 1.5L 5speed hatchback. Let's just say the vehicle prep wasn't going according to plan so instead I loaded up the Hayabusa and left Campbelltown about 2am, in the rain. Great start!
After a warning to keep a better eye on my speedo somewhere past Dubbo, all was looking well. Fuelled up at Cobar & got out of there quick- scary looking town, that one! A little too quick, it would seem as the highway patrol I went past did a quick U-turn & hit the Christmas lights. Well I was on a Hayabusa already doing 160km/h with 22L on board so he didn't see much of me!
Broken Hill arrived in 9hrs after my departure from Campbelltown, not a bad run. Had to stay a while as my rear tyre was showing a little canvass & the shop didn't have a tyre to suit. Ordered a harder compound tyre from Adelaide, a BT010 I think?? Took the time to check out Menindee lake & spent a few days at Singleton. Chris & Jo, the publicans there are great. Chris has a V8 powered bike for the salt flats & a Mad Max Interceptor lookalike Falcon.
Got the new tyre fitted on the Tuesday morning, and left Broken Hill at 11am. Rode via Peterborough & Port Augusta to head North up the Stuart Hwy. For some strange reason, I thought the town of Marla was between Woomera & Coober Pedy. WRONG!! Not wanting to have to push the fully loaded Hayabusa too far, I slowed down, and after a while and doing some quick calculations in my head based on the mileage markers to Coober Pedy & my fuel consumption thus far, I slowed down some more. At 70km/h in 5th gear I was getting about 4.2L/100km. I rolled into Coober Pedy at some ungodly hour (yes, I rode the Stuart Hwy at night!) and poured 21.6L of premium ULP into the 22L tank. Whew!
Grabbed a bit to eat & hit the road (yes, I continued at night up the Stuart Hwy) Those little $6.95 'roo whistles are brilliant! Stopped at the side of the road somewhere for a power-nap, and awoke to the smell of chicken cooking. A couple of newlyweds in a motorhome had pulled in for a break, so we swapped tales, they fed me, and I continued North into the darkness.
I rode into Alice Springs 20hrs after leaving Broken Hill.
More to follow...
Back around Easter 2002 I took a month long service leave & decided to drive to Darwin, doing some sight-seeing alomg the way. I had a little 1984 Ford Laser 1.5L 5speed hatchback. Let's just say the vehicle prep wasn't going according to plan so instead I loaded up the Hayabusa and left Campbelltown about 2am, in the rain. Great start!
After a warning to keep a better eye on my speedo somewhere past Dubbo, all was looking well. Fuelled up at Cobar & got out of there quick- scary looking town, that one! A little too quick, it would seem as the highway patrol I went past did a quick U-turn & hit the Christmas lights. Well I was on a Hayabusa already doing 160km/h with 22L on board so he didn't see much of me!
Broken Hill arrived in 9hrs after my departure from Campbelltown, not a bad run. Had to stay a while as my rear tyre was showing a little canvass & the shop didn't have a tyre to suit. Ordered a harder compound tyre from Adelaide, a BT010 I think?? Took the time to check out Menindee lake & spent a few days at Singleton. Chris & Jo, the publicans there are great. Chris has a V8 powered bike for the salt flats & a Mad Max Interceptor lookalike Falcon.
Got the new tyre fitted on the Tuesday morning, and left Broken Hill at 11am. Rode via Peterborough & Port Augusta to head North up the Stuart Hwy. For some strange reason, I thought the town of Marla was between Woomera & Coober Pedy. WRONG!! Not wanting to have to push the fully loaded Hayabusa too far, I slowed down, and after a while and doing some quick calculations in my head based on the mileage markers to Coober Pedy & my fuel consumption thus far, I slowed down some more. At 70km/h in 5th gear I was getting about 4.2L/100km. I rolled into Coober Pedy at some ungodly hour (yes, I rode the Stuart Hwy at night!) and poured 21.6L of premium ULP into the 22L tank. Whew!
Grabbed a bit to eat & hit the road (yes, I continued at night up the Stuart Hwy) Those little $6.95 'roo whistles are brilliant! Stopped at the side of the road somewhere for a power-nap, and awoke to the smell of chicken cooking. A couple of newlyweds in a motorhome had pulled in for a break, so we swapped tales, they fed me, and I continued North into the darkness.
I rode into Alice Springs 20hrs after leaving Broken Hill.
More to follow...
If youre insane drive at night on the Stuart.
Just drove the Katherine/Darwin leg last night for the fourth time in 8 months.
Only wildlife sighted on any of the trips was cane toads and a couple of owls.
Never had any problems at night on several 12 hour trips Darwin/Alice Springs either.
Then again, I had a roo bounce me (and miss) in broad daylight just south of Pine Creek last month. And there was a buffalo standing on the highway near Acacia Gap, in the middle of the day about three months ago.
So I guess the best advice is "Drive softly and carry a big bull bar".
Slowest trip I ever remember was Auguthella to Charleville, 89 kms just on dusk a couple of years ago. Took almost three hours and accounted for one roo that ran into the rear quarter of the Landcruiser Prado.
Years ago I hit a boar on a track on Cape York. Had a bloody great welded steel bull bar on the then Tojo. The boar bent and broke a piece of 2 inch water pipe part of the bull bar. Needless to add, the boar was in far worse shape.
Night is not the only time for wildlife. I've often seen roos, goats, cattle etc on the road in the middle of the day. Echidna breeding time is also not good for your tyres!!
If you are not accustomed to outback driving and don't need to drive at night - why take the risk???
Years ago I hit a boar on a track on Cape York. Had a bloody great welded steel bull bar on the then Tojo. The boar bent and broke a piece of 2 inch water pipe part of the bull bar. Needless to add, the boar was in far worse shape.
Night is not the only time for wildlife. I've often seen roos, goats, cattle etc on the road in the middle of the day. Echidna breeding time is also not good for your tyres!!
If you are not accustomed to outback driving and don't need to drive at night - why take the risk???
Ultralights - don't know the author of the story, but a good chance he could be of the same mould as the same bloke I picked up at a remote roadhouse on the nullarbor at o'dark o'clock on a moonless night.
He'd been riding his motorbike and collected a roo on the side at 120+kmh. He stayed on the bike, but it shattered his ankle, twisting it 180deg. On adrenaline, he kept riding the remaining 50kms to the roadhouse and hopped in to a rather startled attendant who then called us.
One tough (but silly) b@st@rd.
As maxgrad says, don't make work for people to come and get you landing at 0240 on a moonless night in the middle of something so black it makes a proctologist shudder.
He'd been riding his motorbike and collected a roo on the side at 120+kmh. He stayed on the bike, but it shattered his ankle, twisting it 180deg. On adrenaline, he kept riding the remaining 50kms to the roadhouse and hopped in to a rather startled attendant who then called us.
One tough (but silly) b@st@rd.
As maxgrad says, don't make work for people to come and get you landing at 0240 on a moonless night in the middle of something so black it makes a proctologist shudder.
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funnitly enough, i have driven the Sturt 2 times, the nullabor 2 times, and almost the entire state of NSW and QLD, and have only ever hit 2 kangaroos that have done some serious damage, 1 on the Heathcoat road on the way to YSBK from Cronulla, and the other on the F6 to wollongong... though i almost collected an Emu crossing the road on the way to white Cliffs.
Great story about the backpacker Stallie, brings back some wonderful memories from up north!!!
TL
TL
Silly Old Git
Cooda you old thrill-seeker.
You got dat big poor wheel dribe eh brudda?
Another thing to consider while on the Stuart at night or DAY is the fact that officially in the NT every man woman and child drinks fourteen glasses of wine per day.
Should you care to stop and explore some of the towns on route this is what you may come across..
"At The Tennant Creek Hotel, I spoke to some blow-ins around the bar during my break and asked them what they thought of the show so far. It seems the main attraction to watching my act on some nights, is not the comedy but more the fascination in just sitting back, sipping a beer and wondering why I'm not getting my head punched in. I.e the drama. This was certainly the case tonight. Highlights of the show included a guy who came up and did the 'mad dog'. This is where you snort some salt up your nose, skull a tequila shot and then squeeze lemon in your eye. He did this twice. Two guys then came up and skulled a bourbon through their noses."
Thanks to Jimbo
You got dat big poor wheel dribe eh brudda?
Another thing to consider while on the Stuart at night or DAY is the fact that officially in the NT every man woman and child drinks fourteen glasses of wine per day.
Should you care to stop and explore some of the towns on route this is what you may come across..
"At The Tennant Creek Hotel, I spoke to some blow-ins around the bar during my break and asked them what they thought of the show so far. It seems the main attraction to watching my act on some nights, is not the comedy but more the fascination in just sitting back, sipping a beer and wondering why I'm not getting my head punched in. I.e the drama. This was certainly the case tonight. Highlights of the show included a guy who came up and did the 'mad dog'. This is where you snort some salt up your nose, skull a tequila shot and then squeeze lemon in your eye. He did this twice. Two guys then came up and skulled a bourbon through their noses."
Thanks to Jimbo
You got dat big poor wheel dribe eh brudda?
Gotta medium AWD and no bull bar (can't afford the fuel costs lugging one around..)
Been some good advice here for Gupta but. Hope they enjoy their trip
Silly Old Git
Well Cooda you may have cast your optics on one of these in Darwhine
Im led to believe the gentleman that owns it regularly posts some DRW -ASP-DRW times that would make ya blink.
Im led to believe the gentleman that owns it regularly posts some DRW -ASP-DRW times that would make ya blink.
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Driving at night
Are you convinced yet to not drive at night?
Besides which:There is much to see on the way as everyone has said.
No, do not stop at Elliot.
But DO stop at Daly Waters.
And consider this: Buy or rent TALKING BOOKS.
You can get them at your library.
The road is long dreary and monotonous. You need to keep your brain working and so do the Guplets.
A book tells a story and it will keep you thinking. I live in the Territory. The biggest cause of fatal accidents is people going to sleep and running off the road.
Humour is good. Better are murder mysteries, Agatha Christie is great.
"The Name of the Rose" is a mediaeval murder mystery, and is good for
3200 km.
Besides which:There is much to see on the way as everyone has said.
No, do not stop at Elliot.
But DO stop at Daly Waters.
And consider this: Buy or rent TALKING BOOKS.
You can get them at your library.
The road is long dreary and monotonous. You need to keep your brain working and so do the Guplets.
A book tells a story and it will keep you thinking. I live in the Territory. The biggest cause of fatal accidents is people going to sleep and running off the road.
Humour is good. Better are murder mysteries, Agatha Christie is great.
"The Name of the Rose" is a mediaeval murder mystery, and is good for
3200 km.
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Experience
Guptar, may i reccomend that you do not attempt to drive country roads at night. I have been there done that and i can tell you i was a lucky silly boy. Unfortunately there is not a lot of education on driving in the country let alone driving at night in the country. So for many its learn by experience and the learning curve can be very very steep my friend.
You will find work and make it in the long run if you move to where the work is but you have a much better chance if you do so by day in a safe manner. Cars, wildlife, night and fatigue. It's a deadly mix mate.
Best of luck.
You will find work and make it in the long run if you move to where the work is but you have a much better chance if you do so by day in a safe manner. Cars, wildlife, night and fatigue. It's a deadly mix mate.
Best of luck.
Silly Old Git
An' another thing....
When you stop on the side of the road fer a leak.....just watch where you and the little Guptets put yer feets...
Contrary to popular belief its not a desert out there its blooding teeming with wildlife.
When you stop on the side of the road fer a leak.....just watch where you and the little Guptets put yer feets...
Contrary to popular belief its not a desert out there its blooding teeming with wildlife.
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First trip to Oz to visit no 1 son who lives in outback NSW .
Discussion as to who's vehicle we would use to visit the pub luckily we took his ute [with bull bar] rather than my hire car [without].
In the 45 K drive home we hit 6 Roos ,no damage to ute, just a little blood to wash off .The local car body shop told me that 80% of their work is animal damage.
Discussion as to who's vehicle we would use to visit the pub luckily we took his ute [with bull bar] rather than my hire car [without].
In the 45 K drive home we hit 6 Roos ,no damage to ute, just a little blood to wash off .The local car body shop told me that 80% of their work is animal damage.
