I was away from home for eleven days, four of which were in Corowa/Rutherglen at the Australian Bike Friday Club Muster, and seven driving to and from Corowa. I have covered the Muster in preceding posts and in this epilogue cover my thoughts on how to survive a long solo drive.
I planned my route using the RACQ trip planner on their web site. I entered the start point Tewantin and the finish Corowa and I got a route straight down the Coast to Sydney before cutting inland to Albury and on to Corowa. The distance was 1657Km which is just right for an easy four day drive but it followed the busiest and most dangerous route in Australia so I asked for another route further inland. I ended up with a route through Toowoomba and then via the Newell Highway. This was only 1630Km but had several long stretches with little or no services but as it would be a new route for me this was the one I chose.
I downloaded maps for a four day drive with the longest being the first day to Goondiwindi at just under 500Km which I scheduled a 6 t0 7 hour drive including stops. My biggest worry was tiredness as most accidents on long distance drives are caused by the driver nodding off at the wheel.
Each day I filled a large Thermos with boiling water and ensured that I stopped every 100Km, about an hours drive, for a coffee break. In order to stay focussed while driving I either tuned in my radio to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) local radio network or listened to audio books playing on my MP3 player via an FM transmitter through my car radio.
I actually listened to three long books on my journey all produced by a group I belong to called LibriVox where volunteer readers transfer public domain books in to MP3 files. I was a proof listener for several years. I chose three books. The first was by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame but I listened to "The Exploits Of Brigadier Gerrad" a rollicking tale of a French officer during the Napoleonic Wars. This lasted about three days driving and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I got half way through Thomas Hughes "Tom Brown's School Days" before arriving at Corowa and listened to more chapters in my tent before going to sleep. I finished it on the way home before getting stuck into "The First Men in the Moon" by H.G.Wells. I actually listened most of the way home to this classic but had to read the last couple of chapters at home.
Apart from one period on the way home I never felt sleepy at the wheel. this was within 50Km of home where I pulled off the Bruce Highway into a rest stop and had a cup of coffee and a walk before diving the last 30 minutes home. Note that I drove home in three days to avoid the Easter Thursday traffic jams between Brisbane and Noosa.
When ever possible I started each day at about 6.00am and stopped for breakfast about 9.00am. I used truck stops wherever possible but also stopped at MacDonald's for surprisingly good coffee and egg and bacon muffins on a couple of occasions. I had a light lunch at about 12.00 noon and arrived at my overnight stop about 2.00pm. This meant that I could have a shower and rest before going out for my evening meal. I always had a glass of wine or a beer before going to bed about 9.00pm
I think that the relatively short driving spells and regular rest stops resulted in me keeping fresh and alert. Next year the muster is in South Australia which is a 2,350Km drive so I'll take five days each way. Helen may drive back with me.
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