New South Wales by the Numbers

And, without fanfare, we put NSW in the rear-view mirror; there wasn’t even a sign to say you were leaving it. We kinda cruised through the state, but a lot of it felt like repeats from places in other states (simply because we visited those first). Here are some interesting statistics from our journey in Australia’s oldest and most-populous state.

• Time
  • Time zone:
    • UTC+9:00
    • DOES participates in DST.
  • Day entered: 4-Sep-2017
  • Day left: 9-Sep-2017
  • Day entered: 16-Oct-2017
  • Day left: 2-Nov-2017
  • Total # of days: 23
    • Nights slept in van: 23
    • Nights slept in tent: 0
    • Nights slept in hotel/etc.: 0
    • Nights paying for lodging: 0
• Distance
  • Driven: ~5,259 km (~3,287 miles)
  • Hiked: 46.7 km (29.2 miles)

  Date	Location	Description	Distance (km)	Distance (mi)
  9/6/2017	The Living Desert	Sculpture Symposium	0.4	0.25
  9/8/2017	Gundabooka NP	Yapa (Mulgowan) Art Site Walk	1.40	0.88
  10/18/2017	Mount Kaputar NP	Sawn Rocks Walking Track	1.5	0.94
  10/19/2017	Mount Yarrowyck Nature Reserve	Rock Art Site	3.00	1.88
  10/19/2017	Oxley Wild Rivers NP	Main + Checks + Chandler Viewpoints	0.25	0.16
  10/20/2017	Dorrigo NP	Skywalk	0.15	0.09
  10/20/2017	Dorrigo NP	Wonga Walk	6.60	4.13
  10/22/2017	Myall Lakes NP	Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse	1.32	0.83
  10/22/2017	Cattai Wetlands	Wetland Walk	1.00	0.63
  10/24/2017	Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve	Castle Rock Walking Trail	8.00	5.00
  10/24/2017	Blue Mountains NP	Sublime Point	0.18	0.11
  10/27/2017	Murramarrang NP	North Head Lookout Walk	0.50	0.31
  10/30/2017	Kosciuszko NP	Geehi Hut Walk	3.00	1.88
  10/31/2017	Kosciuszko NP	Summit Walk	18.00	11.25
  11/1/2017	Merimbula	Boardwalk	1.00	0.63
  11/2/2017	Ben Boyd NP	Green Cape Lightstation	0.4	0.25
  		Totals:	46.695	29.184

  • Fuel fill-ups: 7
• Money
  • Total spent: $1,089.55 USD ($1396.86 AUD) 
    • Consists of the costs of traveling full time in New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory
    • Does not include gear or van conversion costs
  • Average cost per day: $47.37 USD ($60.73 AUD)
  • Average cost of diesel: $1.275 AUD per liter ($3.620 USD per gallon)
• National Parks visited: 12
• Ben Boyd
• Blue Mountains
• Cattai Wetlands
• Dorrigo
• Gundabooka
• Kosciuszko
• Merimbula
• Mount Kaputar
• Mungo
• Murramarrang
• Myall Lakes
• Oxley Wild Rivers

Interesting observations about New South Wales:

1. Although the third smallest state, it is the first and most-populous state.
2. Some national parks are free, while others charge about $20 per day. Definitely worth picking up an annual pass. Kosciuszko is a popular and expensive park that charges per day, even with the annual pass.
3. While the ACT is not part of NSW, it is completely surrounded by it.
4. NSW’s capital, Sydney, is Australia’s most populous city, but that may change as early as sometime next year (2018).
5. NSW is also home to the tallest mountain on the continent: Kosciuszko (2,228m or 7310ft above sea level).