National Highway 1, Australia

National Highway 1 in Australia Is a 14,500 kilometer long ring road which circumnavigates the whole of the Australian continent, calling at all states and passing through all of the state capitals. The highway is the longest inter-connecting roadway in the world, incorporating nineteen mainly inland, paved and unpaved, national and state highways.   

From Sydney the road travels southwards to Melbourne in Victoria and then on to Adelaide in South Australia via the 1,941 kilometer long, Princes Highway.  

From South Australia the road travels west to Perth in Western Australia via the Port Wakefield Road, the 1,668 kilometer long, Eyre Highway, the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway, the South Coast Highway and the South Western Highway.  

Highway 1 then heads eastwards to Darwin in the Northern Territory via the the Brand Highway, the North West Coastal Highway, the Great Northern Highway, the Victoria Highway, the Savannah Highway and the Stuart Highway.

From Darwin Highway 1 follows the Stuart Highway to Daly Waters and then the Carpentaria Highway to Borroloola.  

The road then follows the Gulf Development Road and the Kennedy Highway through to Cairns in Queensland and then southwards via the 1,652 kilometer long Bruce Highway to Brisbane, also in Queensland, and then back to Sydney in New South Wales by way of the 960 kilometer long, Pacific Highway.

Highway 1 also incorporates the island state of Tasmania. 

The road here begins along the Brooker Highway at Hobart and travels through to the town of Launceston via the Midland Highway. 

At Launceston the road becomes known as the Bass Highway where it makes it's way through to Burnie.   
Highway 1 officially ends at Burnie but the Bass Highway continues on to Marrawah on the west coast of the island where it is known locally as Highway A2.  

          Some Of The More Interesting Routes Which Make Up National Highway 1  

 

The 1,898 kilometer long Princes Highway links Australia’s largest city Sydney with Port Augusta in South Australia. The highway hugs the coast of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia and passes through the southern suburbs of  Sydney, the western edge of the Royal National Park and then inland to skirt the scenic Latrobe Valley and eastern suburbs of Melbourne in Victoria. After crossing the border with South Australia the highway travels through Mount Gambia and the Coorong National Park before skirting the south eastern suburbs of Adelaide through the picturesque Adelaide Hills and across the vast expanse of the Murray River before carrying on to Port Augusta where the highway then links with the Eyre Highway and the Stuart Highway.

At Thirroul, a northern suburb of the coastal city of Wollongong in New South Wales, the highway splits to form the picturesque 18.7 kilometer long Lawrence Hargrave Drive.

The drive is located along the dramatic Illawarra Escarpment and incorporates the 300 meter high Bald Hill Lookout, the scenic Sublime Point located along  the Bulli Pass and the 665 meter long Sea Cliff Bridge.

The bridge, which was completed in 2005, hugs the coastline at a height of 41 meters high and links the coastal villages of Coalcliff and Clifton located along the Tasman Sea coast. 
     

Sea Cliff Bridge, New South Wales
Image courtesy of  www.flickr.com/56184119@N02

The 3,501 kilometer long, Savannah Highway, links Cairns in Queensland, via the Northern Territory, with Broome in Western Australia, passing through the towns of Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Kununurra, Timber Creek, Katherine, Boroloola and Normanton along the way.  
Interesting attractions along the route include fifteen national parks, three deserts and five UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  
  

The 2,834 kilometer Stuart Highway is located between the city of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory and the coastal town of Port Augusta in South Australia. 
The highway is Australia’s principal north / south route through it’s desert interior and passes through the towns of Pine Creek, Katherine, Daly Waters, Newcastle Waters, Renner Springs, Tennant Creek, Barrow Creek, Alice Springs, Erlunda, Kulgera, Coober Pedy, Woomera and Port Augusta on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. 
Interesting attractions along the route include Katherine Gorge, the vast Simpson Desert, the MacDonnell Ranges, the Devil's Marbles and Lake Hart.  
At the town of Erldunda the Stuart Highway links with the 244 kilometer long, Lassater Highway, the principal route for the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, where it passes through the towns of Curtin Springs and Yaluru.   

   

Uluru / Ayer's Rock

              For directions to the  Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, visit blog page -  
                                       How to get to Uluru / Ayers Rock by road.   




The Eyre Highway is a long and lonely highway measuring 1,668 kilometers in length located between the tiny settlement of Norseman in Western Australia and the the seaside town of Ceduna in South Australia. 
The road is significant for passing through the town of Kimba, which is geographically located at the half way point between Australia's east and west coasts and for containing Australia's longest stretch of straight road, the Ninety Mile Strait, located between the tiny roadhouse settlements of Caiguna Roadhouse and Balladonia Roadhouse in Western Australia. 
The highway also passes through the vast and isolated, Nullarbor Plain, a vast area of treeless, desert scrub located along the Great Australian Bight coast of southern Australia. 
The highway also passes through two other roadhouse settlements located at Madura and Mundrabilla, the small town of Cocklebiddy, renowned for it's vast underground cave systems and the small town of Eucla, located on the South Australia /  Western Australia border.  

   
The B100 Road, better known as the Great Ocean Road, is a 243 kilometer long coastal highway located  between the towns of Torquay and Atlansford in the state of Victoria. 
The road passes through the small towns of Angelsea, Lorne, Apollo Bay, Lavers Hill, Port Campbell and Peterborough. 
Despite it's name the road is actually better known for it's many gentle curves through miles of lush, green farmland and dense forestry, although when the coastline does come into view, one is rewarded with rugged high cliffs, wide sandy beaches and stunning open sea views. 
  

A Typical Road Found Along The York Peninsula

The Bruce Highway is a 1,652 kilometer long scenic highway located along most of the Pacific Ocean coastline of the state of Queensland. 
The highway, which is entirely sealed, links the major cities of Cairns in the north of the state and Brisbane in the south, passing through the major settlements of Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Maryborough and Nambour along the way.   
From the northern Queensland city of Cairns there are two interesting highways which take visitors into the large and remote Cape York Peninsula.  
The 75 kilometer long Captain Cook Highway, which links Cairns with the town of Mossman, runs along a beautiful coastline passing through the isolated and hauntingly beautiful Palm Cove and the town of Port Douglas, renowned for being the gateway to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, before arriving at Mossman which is home to a number of listed buildings, the picturesque Mossman River, the dramatic Mossman Gorge and the Daintree National Park. 
The northern edge of the tropical rain forest of the Daintree National Park can be accessed  at Cape Tribulation by way of the 30 kilometer long Bloomfield Track which runs through to the aboriginal settlement of Wujal Wujal. The track can only be accessed by way of the Daintree Ferry, a small cable ferry which spans the River Bloomfield out across to  
the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage area and the stunning Bloomfield Falls. This dirt track is only accessible by four wheel drive during Queensland's dry season.  


The 331 kilometer long Kennedy Highway will take you through the lush green countryside of the York Peninsula's interior passing through the small townships of Kuranda, Mount Carbine, Mount Molloy and Mareeba. 
At Mareeba one can pick up the Mulligan Highway, a 270 kilometer long coastal highway which travels through to Cooktown along the beautiful Coral Sea coastline. The coastal town of Cooktown, which lies at the mouth of the Endeavour River, is home to several listed buildings, the James Cook Museum and lies at the northern terminus of the world's longest hiking trail, the 5,330 kilometer Bicentennial National Trail.  
The Mulligan Highway also passes through the town of Lakeland, which links with the 558 kilometer long, Peninsular Developement Road, an unpaved road which travels through the isolated interior of the peninsular before terminating at the town of Weipa, famous for it's vast bauxite mines and large industrial port, located on Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria. 
One hundred kilometers north of the township of Coen the Peninsular Developement Road links with the 334 kilometer long Bamaga / Telegraph Road, a rough and ready dirt road which travels all the way to the settlement of Bamaga, Australia's northern most settlement, located on the Torres Strait. 
Do bear in mind that many of the above roads are completely inaccessible between the months of November through to April due to flooding.    

Most of Australia's highways warn of fuel restrictions

      

                                             Some Tips For Driving In Australia 


It is advisable to avoid Australia's northern coast between November through to March due to the rainy season rendering many of the area's unpaved roads impassable. These unpaved roads are also prone to corrugation during the dry season, so make sure that your vehicle is robust. 

Please watch out for live animals, particularly sheep and kangaroos, which are known to run out into the path of vehicles along the carriageway of isolated roads, particularly at night. 
Another hazard found on Australia's long and isolated highways are road trains, massive eighty six wheel trucks which can measure up to 174 feet (53 meters) in length and weigh in excess of two hundred tonnes.  
Please take care when overtaking these giants of the road as they can take up to two minutes to overtake and there is no way that they can stop quickly in an emergency situation should you meet one coming in the opposite direction.

On long journeys please ensure that you carry spare tyres in case of punctures or other tyre problems and carry several spare fuel cans, water containers and cool boxes and don't forget to fill them up at every opportunity.  

Don't forget the strict quarantine rules that exist in Australia, these rules not only exist at international borders but at state borders too. Quarantine bins are provided near borders in order to dispose of any at risk items. The bins are well sign posted and will display a full list of at risk items. 

Mobile phone and internet coverage is sparse and contained mainly to larger towns and cities, although there are no such problems with satellite phones or GPS satellite navigation systems, although it would still be wise to carry a road map in your vehicle.  

For a list of EV (electric vehicle) charge stations located around Australia, please visit this website - www.chargepoint.com.au. 
   
In Australia all vehicles drive on the left hand side of the road and the national speed limits are set in kilometers an hour and dependent upon which state or territory you happen to be in.  
In general the speed limits are set at -  
Between 25 km/h and 40km/h in school zones. 
50 km/h in built up areas. 
Between 100 km/h and 130km/h on single carriageways, dual carriageways, rural roads and major highways.    
 

               To Check out the geography of Australia visit - Facts about Australia 

  
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