Barnbougle Dunes question

[ed_getka]

BD's website lists two different sets of directions. They don't recommend the faster route for first time guests or driving at night. For those of you who have done the drive what would you recommend?
    I have looked up the map on the internet and the faster route looks pretty straightforward once out of Launceston. How far south of Lauceston is the airport?
  Thanks!

[Tyler Kearns]

Ed,

Launceston is only a few miles north of the airport. Once out of the city, the road to Barnbougle Dunes is very hilly and features lots of twists and turns, but the countryside is quite stunning ~ give yourself a few extra minutes drive time. I cannot recall which route I took, but I probably followed their advise. The directions on the website worked very well, and I did not have any trouble getting to the course.

For an added challenge, rent a stick shift, thank goodness the foot peddles are the same as in North America.

TK

[ed_getka]

Tyler,
   Unfortunately our itinerary calls for a kamikaze mission so we will be coming in at night. 1st tee time in the morning and play all day, then back to the airport.
    How long do you reckon the route you chose took?

[Tom_Doak]

Ed:

I would take the more northerly route along the river, if you are arriving at night.  There's not much traffic on either route, but what looks like the more direct route is pretty twisty, and the other is only maybe 10 minutes longer.

There are no convenience stores or anything along either route, so get whatever you want before you clear Launceston.

[ed_getka]

Tom,
   Thanks. Just what I needed to know.

[ed_getka]

Shivas,
    Is reckon north or south

[Tyler Kearns]

Ed,

I took the eastern route, which was very twisty & hilly, and I can imagine not been too fun in the night. If I remember correctly it took me about 5-10 minutes longer than the Barnbougle website suggested.

TK

[Sean Walsh]

Ed,

I would expect that the Eastern route is more prone to Roos at night than the main route.  I saw a lot of road kill on it as I drove along it.  Also some of those tight turns do creep up on you.

[ed_getka]

Sean,
   More good points. I suppose a kangaroo could do some significant damage to a rental car.

We will definitely take the Georgetown-Bridport route.

[Kalen Braley]

Dilemas, dilemas...  

[ed_getka]

Decisions like this are good problems to have.

[Mark_F]

I suppose a kangaroo could do some significant damage to a rental car.

They obey the road rules a lot better than some of the drivers you are likely to come across, believe me.  

[Danny Goss]

Take the A8 and turn right (east). The A3 route is definitely much hillier and many more turns but more picturesque.

[ed_getka]

Mark,
   Not that literally kamikaze. I guess I should have used guerilla warfare.

Danny,
   Will do, see you at dinner.

[Jonathan Cummings]

Be prepared for road kill the likes you've never imagined before!  JC

[ed_getka]

Jonathan,
  Are we talking on the order of speed bumps?

[Michael Robin]

Ed, Jonathan is right, the road kill is stunning and apparently most of it happens at night. There is very little light as you get closer to Bridport, which is where you find all the dead critters. Wombats, Devils and Wallabys, oh my. Drive slow and bring your night vision goggles.

[Mark_F]

Be prepared for road kill the likes you've never imagined before!  JC

This could really work out well, Ed.

Anything you run into on your Barnbougle journey you can bring back to Melbourne to cook at the GCA dinner and sample some real Aussie cuisine.

[Big Pete]

We run a shuttle bus service at Barnbougle from airport to course and back again . Depending on how many travelling and the number of days , it should work out more economical than hiring a car , with petrol , insurances etc on top .
I don't know  why anybody would even consider driving themselves  , especially at night... but you still get some speed humps!

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Ed, Jonathan is right, the road kill is stunning and apparently most of it happens at night. There is very little light as you get closer to Bridport, which is where you find all the dead critters. Wombats, Devils and Wallabys, oh my. Drive slow and bring your night vision goggles.

Ed,
Michael and JC are right, which means driving the more difficult road in dark does not make sense. However, if you are driving back in any sort of light, do go the eastern route as there is a beautiful lookout, see the picture below.

[Garland Bayley]

Shivas,
    Is reckon north or south

It's western great lakes.

I took that quiz. Most of my answers said I was western great lakes, then at the end it told me I was 42% dixie. So I guess you are almost half southern if you are from western great lakes.

[ed_getka]

Peter,
    We thought about the shuttle, but we have a time crunch on the way back. We are going to play until the last possible moment and then race to the airport to catch our 7:10pm flight. We didn't figure the shuttle service would be sitting around at our beck and call, so we rented a vehicle. Thanks for letting us know though.

Ben,
    Due to the above time cruch we won't be doing any sightseeing except from the golf course. Which fortunately seems to be pretty exceptional. Thanks for the photo, so I know what to expect the next time.

[Jason Topp]

Dilemas, dilemas...  

A funny experience from last year:

I assumed that the road marked A3 was an interstate and booked a room at Binalong Bay which is about 75-100 miles from the golf course.  It turns out A3 is one of the tightest most curvy roads I have driven on in my life.  Instead of the 1 -1/2 hour drive I was expecting, it was more like 2-1/2 hours.

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Ben,
    Due to the above time cruch we won't be doing any sightseeing except from the golf course. Which fortunately seems to be pretty exceptional. Thanks for the photo, so I know what to expect the next time.

Ed,
That is not sightseeing, that is the eastern road. I took that from the car on the drive up.

BCD