Act 3 – Part 3 - planning

We forgot about the bus!

We also realised that although two people driving a campervan from Brisbane to Darwin is more carbon efficient than flying the same route, the net carbon emissions are more or less the same as flying the whole way via Adelaide or Melbourne. Which just doesn’t sit well with the purpose of this trip: whatever the route – our carbon emissions must be < than flying. As there are such big differences between where we fly though, it makes sense to use the lowest level which is Hobart – Melbourne or Adelaide – Darwin and 1060kg for two people.

We also didn’t hear back from the hire car company about the possible Brisbane rental….

The bus from Adelaide to Darwin is just 80kg each!
It’s also a 48hour trip including a 5hour break in Alice Springs and a few short meal breaks. Essentially that’s 40 hours on a bus, no bed.... I don’t know about you, but I’ve never spent more than about 6 hours on a bus and that was enough. I really don’t think you are supposed to do it all in one go so maybe we'll have a stopover in Alice Springs.

We briefly entertained the idea of taking the bus to Alice and then a campervan to Darwin (we even booked a van!). It would make the whole trip much more bearable. But it would also add 320kg carbon to our trip. I’ve had to adjust my calculations slightly as we first talked about driving a car but campervans are heavier, less aerodynamic and therefore burn more fuel.

So, for the moment we have booked a bus from Adelaide to Alice Springs. Where between us we have discovered we know a larger than expected* number of fabulous people. Some of whom are also traveling to the conference by various means. For now we’ll leave off booking the last leg of the trip and making the final carbon calculations. We’re not worried that the bus will book out just yet.

To get to Adelaide we are taking different routes. Clare will be traveling to Canberra first and then to Adelaide. While I will fly Hobart to Adelaide. Unfortunately to get to the bus before it leaves I’ll be flying via Melbourne (the direct flight gets in 2hrs after the bus departs). This adds an extra 20kg to my carbon bill (total 180kg). Anyone know how that works, I thought the difference would be bigger? Maybe because the plane doesn't go as high as it's a short trip?

Things I have learnt so far

• There are a LOT of things to consider when calculating your carbon footprint. Even if you have narrowed it down to just transport.
• You really need at least three people in a car to make it carbon efficient vs flying
• I have limits - I am accepting an extra 70kg carbon to avoid the overnight bus from MEL to ADL and justifying it to myself by saying it's only 20kg than flying direct HBT - ADL.
  
• I’ve also noticed that at some point I started referring to the carbon cost and considering how much each plan change was going to add to my carbon bill. I enjoy this and I hope I can continue with this way of thinking after this project.

#birdnerdroadie
*the number is unexpected not the fact that they are fabulous 😉

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