[beerman]

G'day all,

I have been off line lately, doing the big family holiday. As I have mentioned previously, the plan was to do Brisbane - Sydney via the Pacific Highway, Sydney - Melbourne via the Hume highway and finally Melbourne - Brisbane.

So we set off at 2am Monday morning, the CW well loaded with 3 suitcases, a port-a-cot, a pram, various bits and pieces and not forgetting 2 adults and 2 kids. Once I removed the privacy screen (it steals a heap of room) from the rear of the wagon, it all fit, the load well secured (the wagon barrier would have given even more room, but I'm not paying $700 for it. The I30 set into its task well, coping with everything thrown at it. The plan was for the kids to sleep until the first stop (of course they didn't  ) so the cheap DVD screens were on at our first stop (a miss 4 contrived wee stop that wasn't at a dodgy truck stop over the border).

Breakfast was at Coffs Harbour (a 6:30am contrived 'I'm Hungry', complete with tantrum again by miss 4).

After breakfast the early start tactic paid dividends as the kids settled into a roster of sleeping when it was not their turn to pick the DVD, making for good progress. We stopped for morning tea at some dodgy park, before more sleeping kids meant we could make for Manly without stopping for their lunch (which was well overdue). We arrived at around 3 - 3:30. covering some 890k's.

The Pacific Motorway is getting better, and apart from the multiple speed limit changes and 50k zones through towns is easy driving. The Government managed to take the place of my sleeping wife with thousands of reminders re speeding and speed cameras, which was nice of them. On the trip I saw heaps of I30's and surprisingly most seemed to be CW's, showing that we will soon dominate the I30 world 

Various family activities later; including a drive over the Harbour Bridge, and a tour of the Opera House (with yet another CW parked in the staff area).

At around 8:30pm I refuelled the beast for the first time (from memory I got around 990k from 58l from an auto cw remember) and set off for Melbourne. This time the night tactic worked a treat with Miss 4 asleep before we even left the CBD. We went through the tunnel and along the M5 (from memory). Escaped the city and eventually onto the Hume Highway and what a treat that was, constant 110k speed zone, duel lanes to pass the trucks, and only the most vague speed camera reminder, as compared with the Pac motorway making me feel like the car was on Australia's next top model. Swift progress was made, with the I30 set to 110k and apart from a late dinner stop, stops limited to driver reviving every two hours. By 7:30am I was on the Bay Side of Melbourne having covered over 900k's. Even avoiding the tolls, a bit of early peek hour traffic, and a couple of dodgy calls from the GPS didn't dent my progress too much. Oh and on this trip the I30 passed the 40k mark and about 1000 trucks, especially showing the goods up various hills, with no change down or even a hint of change in the rev range climbing the hills.

So there we go, over 1800k down, some 1800k to go!

[Surferdude]

Good story beerman.
Drive safely.

[Doggie 1]

Yeah, good story.
I understand the miss 4 bit 
Now I have miss grand daughter 4 & miss grand daughter 2 contrived stops 
Good to hear the cw went great.

[Dazzler]

Thanks for keeping us in the loop beerman (interesting read)

I like road trips and a Diesel CW is ideal for the job 

[rustynutz]

Looking forward to the next installment....

[accim]

Nice reading. I can already imagine it. I plan on taking a trip cross the Europe with the CW too one day in future. That's some quality family time you are having. You maybe have any pictures of the places you've been to or stopped at?

[eye30]

Seems the car enjoyed the trip also.

[beerman]

G'day all,

Home sweet home.....

We spent 4 nights in Brighton, including eating the best steak I have eaten in years at the Black Rock Yacht Club, my uncles 70'th Birthday and a bit of time looking around, the time came for the return journey. Well fortified with some nice coffee, and after loading more than we came down with (isn't that always the way?), we set off for Brissy at 10:30am. Having enjoyed my experience on the Hume, we came back the way we came down. we got 3 hours down the road before miss 4 called time for lunch, and another 2 hours before she called dinner, other than hunger, the drive progressed well.

I refuelled outside Sydney with 850 odd k on the clock, and settled into the night drive, which was again uneventful, bar a couple of toilet stops for miss 4. Apart from the occasional rogue truck (100k speed limited my a..), we arrived at home at 8am, with the only problem with the car being the millions of bugs on the front and an intermittent lack of water from the windscreen washers.

I unloaded the car and went to bed, miss 4 went to kindy (she's so hardcore......or slept the whole night  )

So the return journey lasted about 1800k, over three states and 21.5 hours of near constant driving, and plenty of sleep for mr 1, miss 4 and the minister of finance.

[Dazzler]

Thanks beerman   

Got any of that bug and tar remover? I have bought some but haven't tried it yet...

[beerman]

Yep, I reckon  between that and some good polish I should have most of it licked......

[asathorny]

excellent, thanks for sharing...  I would love to see those places <sigh> but most of my rellies live in Canada or Merika...  which means, it economical to go to those places..  So it's nice to read real experiences from ordinary guys rather than travel writers   

[Doggie 1]

Great story - great to read.
Many more such trips to come I'm sure 

[Lakes]

Great story, good you had a safe trip.

[beerman]

Just got the receipts out and did the fuel economy calculations:

Bris/Syd (Caltex Vortex) 5.89/100 (990.5/58.38l) diesel 149.9
Syd/Melb (Caltex Vortex) 5.63/100 (991.7/55.73) diesel 145.9
Melb/Moorebank (Mobil Diesel ) 5.8/100 (859.3/49.83) diesel 142.9
Moorebank/Bris (Caltex Diesel) 5.78/100 (970.4/56.08) diesel 143.9 (and Vortex too I love Brisbane......)

Average 5.77/100 (3811.9/220.2l) (I30 CW Automatic loaded to the hilt with 2 adults, 2 kids 3 suitcases,1 stroller,  1 porta cot and numerous other items.


 

[Phil №❶]

Great figures for an auto, we have 2 autos but haven't done any long trips yet. Our avg is about 6.7 town 6.2 freeway so I'm looking forward to achieving your targets on day. BTW what's the difference between Caltex vortex and Caltex diesel. 

[beerman]

From their web page:

Our Vortex Diesel is an Australian first. It cleans the vehicle's fuel system as you drive and has been formatted with the latest diesel technology in mind.

Vortex Diesel contains an anti-foaming agent that significantly reduces the risk of splashing. It also eliminates most of the odours that are associated with traditional diesel fuel.

We believe it's the most refined fuel for advanced turbo-diesel engines on the market.

Key benefits:

    Cleans the engine while driving
    Improves engine efficiency
    Reduces foaming to prevent splashback
    Suitable for all diesel-powered vehicles


Because my local Caltex has Vortex at the same price as so called normal diesel, I hadn't refuelled with 'Diesel' for ages. I felt that it took longer to brim the tank than it usually did when I used so called normal diesel.

I have found no difference in economy when using normal diesel, and I guess the 'Clean engine' will hopefully never be proved or disproved during my ownership of the vehicle.  But if I do have any problems, at least I can ask Caltex a couple of probing questions (given I buy it on their fuel card, continuous usage will be able to be proved).

[Pranav]

Awesome !

[beerman]

How did yours go economy wise on its trip Pranav?