Grayling

My late Brother in Law cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats in 5 days...stopping at night.

At the time it was some kind of record for a couple of amateur cyclists....he was in his 40's at the time.

mulben

The two that stand out were Calgary to Thunder Bay following the harvest trail in the 80's only stopping for fuel + burgers in a Ford Mustang
And the other was Echuca to Goondiwindi in a HQ v8 ute .
Actually drove before speed restrictions were introduced in the 70s

rasen78

We did Sydney to Adelaide via Melbourne and The Great Ocean Road, over 3 days, then Adelaide back to Sydney across the Hay Plain with an overnight stop at Hay, then a 400km detour due to torrential rain and flooding which eventually brought us in over the Blue Mountains

In the UK, we drove every year from Nottingham to the West Coast of Ireland (using a ferry obviously ) Can't remember the mileage but with a 2 hour ferry trip, it was about 8 hours travelling IIRC.

The longest (duration) trip was from my parents in mid-Lincolnshire, up to Loch Ness, when I was 8 months pregnant. Lots of accidents on motorways including one which had something like a 50 mile detour off the A1M, then a 4 hour hold up on the M74. We had left Lincolnshire at about 8am and arrived at our chalet around 11pm. I was f00ked

BadgeIsBack

High elevation roads well worth it.

I have driven Melbourne - Mt Hotham and back 4 times this year and been driven once. Not the biggest distance true.

I have driven Perth-Adelaide via Darwin but I will be buggered if I can remember how long it took...

Doesn't it! A point I often make.

carolinephillips

Regularly drove from Bucks to Pembrokeshire to visit MIL. At first it took 6.5 hours, but then as they improved and extended the M4 and did bypasses between Carmarthen and Haverfordwest, the journey could be done in 4.5 hours.

ozzieeagle

Just watched a download of that Gourmet Farmer.... Did you know you can drive 500ks in one direction in Tasmania ! (Cygnet to Stanley and beyond) Surprised me because Tassie is meant to be miniscule in Australian terms.

paulry

Namibia to Harare, Zimbabwe via Johannesburg (2700km) virtually non stop except for a 5 or 6 hour sleep stop in Johannesburg. Did that in my early 20s. Would need at least 3 days to do that on my own now.

jothefw

Interesting thread.

When you live in the middle of nowhere, everywhere becomes an epic journey. We used to think nothing of 3hrs to Adelaide, day shopping and then 3hrs return. Long day but easy driving so you didn't really feel frazzled at the end of it. Work used to take us to Adelaide regularly too. The rest of our long journeys have been for pleasure, we drive a 200 series Landcruiser which does help as it's incredibly comfy!

We love camping and that's taken us from South Australia to Darwin, Broome and so forth. Qld to Innaminka to Birdsville to home etc. Generally our limit is about 1400kms for a day, have to allow time to setup camper trailer, and pack up too. Contrary to others opinions, I feel the landscape is constantly changing, sometimes it's subtle but still worthy of my time. Our boys have become well accustomed to the long hours but entertain themselves with games, drawing, videos, music, sleeping etc.

Recently my youngest son got chance to attend a State Touch Carnival in Mackay, I fancied the drive and I'd not done that route before so we did the whole lot in one day, 10 hrs and some amazing views, I was very pleased we'd made the effort.

When we lived in the UK, as kids we were near Milton Keynes and used to have an annual pilgrimage to Isles of Scilly and Dad always felt we had to leave at 4am to make it feel like a holiday but the constant traffic jams used to be the bain of my life, still are. I'll happily drive all day, but don't make me sit in a traffic jam! MK to Lake District always used to be the same, it's really high on my list of things I don't miss from UK!

When we relocated from SA to QLD, we only had one stop off, that's 1800kms. OH spent many years in a tractor, just driving all day, I think that's conditioned him for now! He never wants to share the drive (unless there's beer to be consumed!).

old.sparkles

Drove Benidorm to Slough with my brother a few years back stopping a few hours in Biarritz and getting the ferry at Le Havre to Portsmouth. Damned cold trying to find petrol in the Pyrenees.

On a more serious note, my brother no longer drives long journeys without a break (used to drive Swansea to Edinburgh via Newcastle for work) - he developed a DVT a few years back from sitting still too long so something to think about when considering breaks.

quoll

No idea! I still wouldn't bat an eyelid over a 10 HR trip. (Canberra to Ballarat probably a bit less than that nowadays) I've done it solo several times but usually on most long distances there are a couple of us to share the driving so that probably doesn't count. Solo - Canberra to Brisbane I suppose but I took 2 days each way. My most notable would probably have been Fort William to Bristol when 7 months pregnant in one and a bit days - back in the days before most motorways. That was following a camping trip, heavens knows what I was thinking!

lesleys

Kent to Ankara in 6 days. Ankara to Kent in 8 days - we took the pretty route home.

Tr1boy

In Oz, the longest in one stint was Noosa to Narrabeen in Sydney.

In the UK the longest was Inverness to South Somerset.

OzTennis

After 3 x best of 3 set matches and a quick shower I've driven quite a few times on Sunday from Eastbourne to the South of Scotland, got in in the wee hours, had a few hours sleep and then off to work next day. I'm not sure how many miles it is but it takes a b****y long time!

spouse of scouse

Have driven from Perth to Ayr in Qld twice., shared the driving with my ex. The first time we went the south way, through Ceduna and over the Nullarbor. We towed a caravan. The second time, we went north via Katherine in the NT, and towed a camping trailer for that one.

The three memories that stick in my mind from those trips are:

We'd parked the van on the Nullarbor to get a bit of sleep. Not a soul around, absolutely pitch black apart from the stars. Fast asleep in the caravan about 3am, when the caravan door banged open. My ex kept a .22 rifle above our bed - he grabbed it and went yelling out into the night. It was a faulty catch on the caravan door

My mother-in-law had relatives at Julia Creek, about 650km west of Townsville. They lived in a tin shack in the middle of the bush. We parked up there for a couple of days and the blokes went 'pigging'. They got a wild pig and slaughtered it for meat. I didn't see the hunt or the kill, but I did see the dead pig hanging up and its stomach being slit, with all its gizzards falling into the bucket below. I didn't have dinner that night, and I've never eaten pork since.

Coming home, we blew a tyre just out of Broome. We were absolutely skint (were in our late teens) and the only money we had left was a Sunshine powdered milk tin full of coins, that I'd thrown in at the last minute before leaving home. We had to pay most of the tyre cost with 5, 10 and 20c coins. I've never been to Broome since, too scared someone will recognize me

Rhubarb65

895 miles (1440 kms) in one day, round-trip from Strathblane (north of Glasgow) to Wembley stadium, north London to watch my beloved Crystal Palace vs. Sheffield United in a play-off football final. I left home at 05.00 am and got back around 01.00 am next morning.

As I got north of Carlisle on the homeward trip, I could feel my eyes closing and had to pull over for a powernap - it probably saved my life.