1971 Southern Cross International Rally

This year the event adopted the format it would follow for the remaining nine years, namely a Sydney start and all subsequent breaks and the finish in Port Macquarie. The event started in Sydney from Wentworth Park in Sydney’s inner west at 12 noon, Wednesday. The event finished in Port Macquarie at 3 pm the following Sunday after a single daylight special stage on the Sunday morning. The remainder of the event was all at night.

The distances and number of sections were as follows. While the event used miles, the following are in kilometres for consistency and comparison with later years. Sections were not explicitly identified as competitive but it was generally obvious from the average speed and whether the section passed through towns or included service time.

Itinerary and route plot

Day One

After the midday start in Sydney the crews basically transported to Tamworth with just one “show” section at Liddell. The competition began in earnest around 9 pm to the south east of Tamworth with a run through the Hanging Rock Forest. A lengthy loop to the south of Nundle comprised three interesting competitive sections over a mixture of shire roads and farm tracks with quite a lot of gates to be opened and closed. After another service east of Nundle there was a straightforward navigation section north-east towards Walcha. The night’s most serious competitive section was over 50 km through the Doyles River Forest either side of the Oxley Highway. The final competitive section ran down the rather twisty Oxley Highway for over 50 km (while this would have been in the early hours of the morning, service crews would also have used this road) and then along the north side of the Hastings River almost to Beechwood. While the schedule is not certain, the first crews would likely have reached Port Macquarie about 4 am.

Route Instructions

Day Two

The second night comprised a loop to the north of Port Macquarie to Coff Harbour. After a stage in the Way Way Forest, the competition used traditional Southern Cross areas and now WRC areas including Newee Creek (Valla), Newry, Bucca, Wedding Bells and Orara Forests. After the second refuel in Coffs Harbour, an interesting stage took crews westward through the Tuckers Knob Forest and down through the Gordonville Ford, competitively (in later years it was almost always used on a transport stage). Then came the night’s longest stage around the famous Horseshoe Road and a quick run across to Bowraville. Then came an interesting run southwards on mostly shire roads before the final stage through the Ingalba/Collombatti Forest.

Route Instructions

Day Three

The third night was substantially shorter than the other three nights and was concentrated in the areas immediately west from Port Macquarie without going north of Kempsey. The night began with a run through the Bago Forest including the famous Rollover Road, a stage most of which was to be repeated in daylight on the final morning. The next section used some little used roads in the northern part of the Bago Forest before crossing the Oxley Highway competitively! Then came the event’s longest competitive section at 125 km. This stage used roads through the Bellangry and Kippara Forests together with a rugged little used link from the Pappinbarra River across to Hastings Forest Highway. After a refuel in Kempsey were two stages to the south through Kalateenee and Ballengarra Forests. A final stage used very fast shire roads just to the north of Wauchope. With a total running time under 7 hours the first crews were probably back in Port Macquarie around 1 am.

Route Instructions

Day Four

The final night was the longest of the event in terms of competitive distance and was concentrated on the areas to the south-west of Port Macquarie. It started with a stage along the north side of the Hastings River to Ellenborough, essentially the reverse of the last stage from the first night. The route then headed generally southwards to a refuel and mealbreak at Taree/Wingham, taking in competitive sections in the Lorne, Lansdowne, Middle Brother and Yarratt Forests. The long run back north headed into the Dingo Tops and across through Elands and Comboyne to finish with a long stage through Broken Bago Forest before returning to Port. After breakfast crews tacked the final special section – the challenging Rollover Road along Bago Bluff. A meandering transport stage then took crews to the finish at Marbuk Park.

Route Instructions Part 1 and Part 2