Comparing distances between here and there

[Walter John]

Hello long distance travellers. I was curious as to the comparisons of distances one travels by car within USA compared to Australia, so I thought I'd share some findings as the two countries are very similar in area of land. This is interesting when related to how far the PRA/ratpack teams might journey in their palm investigations and research. These are examples only ladies and gents.

Similar distances here

Brisbane to Townsville/Miami to New Orleans

And here

Townsville to Darwin/ Los Angeles to Houston

[ariscott]

Yeah... did those Townsville to Darwin in the car now... twice...

Regards, Ari

[BS Man about Palms]

Yikes! I've now done the "Brisbane to Darwin" length trip Twice now. Not on a plane!

[Kathryn]

Similar distances here

Brisbane to Townsville/Miami to New Orleans

Many years ago I drove the trip from New Orleans to Key West (several hours past Miami), with a detour to Jacksonville. According to Google, that's a 1050 mile trip that takes 17.5 hours. I left New Orleans around 6:00 am, picked Eddie up in Jacksonville where he was in college, and we headed down to Key West. I think we checked into our favorite place to stay on Flemming Street around 2:00 am. We had a great time, but I'll never do that again.

Now I fly out of New Orleans around 6:00 am and I'm in Key West by noon. Occasionally I fly into Miami and rent a convertible to drive through the Keys. It's time for another trip down there!

[DoomsDave]

So, what's it matter, I mean , really?

[joe_OC]

What would be interesting is to compare the differences in growing zones in the distance covered, in the examples that Wal used, between the two countries...

[Walter John]

Here's a few more.

[bubba]

Wal, Very interesting Post. Australia is a gigantic Continent but without the context you have provided, it is hard to understand. Most of my long distance driving was done in college years and drove Florida/California twice. It is amazing how big Texas is when you do that I-10 drive(especially West Texas).

Are the drives you have outlined possible(except Hobart) with highways? The roads I have watched you and the Ratpackers on look quite good. What would a Brisbane to Perth route entail? Two places of great personal interest together with Townsville.

My longest personal drive was coming back from the West coast. Salinas, Kansas to South Florida without stopping. An old roomate and I traded off and we never stopped but for gas and I cannot remember how long it took.

[DoomsDave]

What's interesting is a bigger comparison: Oz lies entirely within a palm-growing zone, while much of the U.S. is too frigid much of the year. That, combined with Oz's much smaller population, and relative abundance of native palm habitats make long-distance PRAs that much more inevitable.

That said, that's still a long trip between Townsville and Brisbane . . . You guys are definitely as nutty as we are!

[Exotic Life]

Wow, from Sydney to perth almost 4000 kilometers. If I drive 4000 kilometer from my living place to the south, then i'm somewhere in Africa!

[joe_OC]

Our epic PRA's would be: California to Florida, California to Hawaii, Florida to Hawaii. As Dave has pointed out, not too many places in between that would be able to grow palms.

[John in Andalucia]

I did this trip pulling a 20 year-old caravan 6 years ago, and I'm still here!

It took me 5 days. Plenty of stops, and numerous tolls. Plus, I'd never towed a caravan, and was driving a recently purchased '84 BMW 320i, so I took it nice and easy.

[Exotic Life]

John,

Looks a nice trip. I hope there comes a day I do the same thing, or going to another place because I like more places in the world. If i'm going to do that then for me without a caravan. In the summer of 2008 i've been driving from the somewhere in the early morning and arrived in the late afternoon in Grenoble for watching the Tour le France and holiday. That's going a lot faster then with a caravan

Robbin

[John in Andalucia]

John,

Looks a nice trip. I hope there comes a day I do the same thing, or going to another place because I like more places in the world. If i'm going to do that then for me without a caravan. In the summer of 2008 i've been driving from the somewhere in the early morning and arrived in the late afternoon in Grenoble for watching the Tour le France and holiday. That's going a lot faster then with a caravan

Robbin

It's fun when you uproot, knowing you won't be going back, as every step of the journey takes on its own significance. For me, the first was arriving early at the ferry terminal and being allowed to roll straight onto the earlier crossing which was just about to leave.

[Walter John]

I was mainly pointing out the similarity of distances. The "by car" bit was all I could get from Google maps. Ratpack flew to Townsville then hired vehicles. We did drive from Gold Coast/Brisbane to Rockhampton though, that's about 800 klms.

[John in Andalucia]

I was mainly pointing out the similarity of distances. The "by car" bit was all I could get from Google maps. Ratpack flew to Townsville then hired vehicles. We did drive from Gold Coast/Brisbane to Rockhampton though, that's about 800 klms.

Wal, the distances here are not comparable with Australia and the US. I thought that would be interesting to point out. You would travel probably only half the distance in Europe by road as you would in Australia or crossing the States, although parts of southern Spain do have a few wide open spaces.

[ariscott]

Wal, Very interesting Post. Australia is a gigantic Continent but without the context you have provided, it is hard to understand. Most of my long distance driving was done in college years and drove Florida/California twice. It is amazing how big Texas is when you do that I-10 drive(especially West Texas).

Are the drives you have outlined possible(except Hobart) with highways? The roads I have watched you and the Ratpackers on look quite good. What would a Brisbane to Perth route entail? Two places of great personal interest together with Townsville.

My longest personal drive was coming back from the West coast. Salinas, Kansas to South Florida without stopping. An old roomate and I traded off and we never stopped but for gas and I cannot remember how long it took.

The drives are definitely possible... even Hobart, as you can take your car in a ferry and go across. I have done Darwin to Townsville and Darwin to Cairns. The road is excellent, except a few hundred km's after the QLD borders. For a rich state, QLD doesn't really look after their northern parts very well.. which is a bummer as most of the money are made in the central and northern part with all the mining and the agriculture...

We are thinking about going across to Broome sometime next year... it is 1857kms. Although the challenge is different for that drive... The road is good, but Victoria river usually flooded in the wet season, hence the road is closed. Grey nomads go around Australia all the time...

Regards, Ari

[philinsydney]

This 3D visualisation of the Bulahdelah bypass is kind of like a computer game without the controls. And it's free!

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/player.c...und_carriageway

[DoomsDave]

John:

Dang, that was an epic journey!

What was that tunnel under the Channel like? Bet Billy the C would have loved it!

[John in Andalucia]

John:

Dang, that was an epic journey!

What was that tunnel under the Channel like? Bet Billy the C would have loved it!

No Chunnel for me Dave, I opted for the ferry crossing. Cheaper too!

[LeannF]

Thanks for this most interesting information... A real treat of enlightenment for those of us that are geographically challenged. Like ME. Hehehe

[Al in Kona]

Thanks Wal, it gave me a better understanding of distances between points in Australia. After looking at a map it appears there are some long distances between towns especially in parts of the Northern Territory state but probably nothing like driving from Darwin to Perth, is my guess.

[Kim]

Interesting maps, thanks Wal! Australila is BIG. Ari's mention of 'grey nomads' reminds me of a discussion Steve and I had -- we were talking about what kinds of things we'd do if we ever retired. We had visions of spending several months touring Australia by motorcycle. Turns out that's not such an unusual idea -- there are web sites catering to this exact concept, offering itineraries and rentals. If I remember right, 6 weeks was the "short" itinerary, and covers about half the continent -- around the edges only. Wow.