The 1972 event continued the basic four day format with a Sydney start (Hyde Park) and then loops from Port Macquarie. By not visiting either Tamworth or Armadale, the overall competitive distance was much higher. The event was almost all at night except for two daylight stages on the first afternoon and two final daylight stages on the Sunday morning and early afternoon. The event embraced the concept of very long night special stages, particularly on the second night which had only 3 long stages.
The regulations provided a surprisingly detailed map of the route:
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 designated as either special stages or transports.
| Special Stages |
SS Distance | Transport | Total | Competitive | Longest Competitive |
|
| Day One | 11 | 402.40 km | 515.60 km | 918.00 km | 43.8% | 103.67 km |
| Day Two | 3 | 491.13 km | 193.73 km | 684.86 km | 71.7% | 235.14 km |
| Day Three | 9 | 418.11 km | 331.64 km | 749.75 km | 55.8% | 103.93 km |
| Day Four | 11 | 546.74 km | 307.54 km | 854.28 km | 64.0% | 128.48 km |
| Event | 34 | 1858.38 km | 1348.51 km | 3206.89 km | 58.0% | 235.14 km |
Further details are provided below for each day.
Day One
Click the map to go to a Google Maps trace of the route. |
After lengthy transports from Sydney through Newcastle, the competition began with two daylight stages. The first started with a tarmac blast along the Booral Road before looping through the Nerong Forest. The second was through the Myall Forest. Crews then transported to a short break at the Pacific Palms Recreation Club then through Forster. The first short night section headed up to Black Head followed by a run through Kiwarric Forest south of Taree. Competition then moved southwards taking in the Bachelor Forest and two stages in Wang Wauk before a run up shire roads to the Buckets Way east of Gloucester. The next stage, the night's longest, took crews initially along shire roads and then deep into the Dingo Tops. A quick run along Black Flat Lane preceded the refuel at Wingham. The final stage for the division headed straight north past Comboyne and up to the Oxley Highway at Ellenborough. |
Section details
Click on the section name to see the map.
| Section | Name | Special Stage | Transport | Time Allowed |
| 1 | Hawkesbury Transport (Jesmond Shopping Centre, Newcastle) |
176.71 km | 200 mins | |
| 2 | Booral Transport | 78.81 km | 80 mins | |
| 3 | Devils Elbow Special | 29.62 km | 23 mins | |
| 4 | Boomerang Transport | 2.51 km | 5 mins | |
| 5 | Purgatory Mountain Special | 33.08 km | 26 mins | |
| 6 | The Lakes Way Transport (Pacific Palms Recreation Club) |
49.59 km | 45 mins Depart 6.20 pm |
|
| 7 | Forster Transport | 27.53 km | 40 mins | |
| 8 | Pines and Yumps Special | 8.69 km | 7 mins | |
| 9 | Rainbow Flat Transport | 17.47 km | 15 mins | |
| 10 | Kiwarric Special | 33.49 km | 26 mins | |
| 11 | Nabiac Transport | 27.53 km | 30 mins | |
| 12 | Bachelor State Forest Special | 15.46 km | 12 mins | |
| 13 | Wootoon Transport | 6.68 km | 6 mins | |
| 14 | Wang Wauk Special | 54.10 km | 42 mins | |
| 15 | Coolongolook Transport | 32.36 km | 36 mins | |
| 16 | Koolonock Special | 28.33 km | 22 mins | |
| 17 | Tipperary Special | 33.49 km | 26 mins | |
| 18 | Bakers Creek Transport | 7.41 km | 10 mins | |
| 19 | Fords and Forests Special | 103.67 km | 81 mins | |
| 20 | Black Flat Lane Special | 11.59 km | 9 mins | |
| 21 | Wingham Transport | 34.34 km | 45 mins | |
| 22 | Konunk Kosh Kosh Special | 50.88 km | 40 mins | |
| 23 | Wauchope Transport | 54.66 km | 90 mins |
Route instructions are available here.
Day Two
Click the map to go to a Google Maps trace of the route. |
The second night was Dan White's attempt to have as much competition as possible in as few a sections as possible. In the end, there were only three special stages, the first at 235 km being almost the longest in any Cross (there was a 236 km stage in 1977). It traversed the forests south-west from Kempsey all the way through to Yarras on the Oxley Highway. After a transport up the Oxley Highway to Mount Seaview, another long 156 km stage looped north of the highway, then along part of the highway and then south through the Doyles River and Bulga Forests all the way back to Yarras. A transport then took crews almost back into Wauchope before a meandering 100 km stage through Kerewong and Comboyne. Much of this final stage is missing from our route instructions but the distance is identical to a stage the following year so we have assumed it is the same. |
Section details
Click on the section name to see the map.
| Section | Name | Special Stage | Transport | Time Allowed |
| 24 | Telegraph Point Transport (Kempsey) |
53.37 km | 60 mins | |
| 25 | Kempsey Transport | 7.57 km | 10 mins | |
| 26 | Southern Cross Extra-Special | 235.14 km | 190 mins | |
| 27 | Mount Seaview Transport | 39.20 km | 45 mins | |
| 28 | Doyles River Special | 156.81 km | 125 mins | |
| 29 | Long Flat Transport | 51.92 km | 60 mins | |
| 30 | Kerewong Special | 99.18 km | 77 mins | |
| 31 | Byabarra Transport | 41.67 km | 60 mins |
Route instructions are available here.
Day Three
Click the map to go to a Google Maps trace of the route. |
The third night was a more traditional Cross format with a long loop north to Grafton and Coffs Harbour. After a short and fairly direct run through the Tam Ban and Ingalba Forests, crews tacked the full 84 km length of the Horsehoe Forest Road. The next tortuous 104 km stage took crews from Dorrigo to Nymboida to the south-west of Grafton, including over the rugged Black Mountain, used later in the 79 Repco Round Australia. After the Grafton refuel came a short stage in Glenugue Forest and a somewhat longer one in Barcoongerie Forest (used in the first Coffs WRC for the power stage). Two more traditional stages in the Wedding Bells and Bucca Forests took crews to Coffs for a refuel. Two stages remained for the run south, the first being in the Newry Forest and the second an exact reversal of the night's first stage through Inglaba and Tan Ban. |
Section details
Click on the section name to see the map.
| Section | Name | Special Stage | Transport | Time Allowed |
| 32 | Collombatti Transport | 67.94 km | 70 mins | |
| 33 | Ingalba Special | 38.64 km | 30 mins | |
| 34 | Macksville Transport | 28.74 km | 40 mins | |
| 35 | Horseshoe Special | 84.04 km | 70 mins | |
| 36 | Dorrigo Transport | 20.77 km | 25 mins | |
| 37 | Black Mountain Special | 103.93 km | 81 mins | |
| 38 | Coutts Crossing Transport | 57.48 km | 60 mins | |
| 39 | Glenugie Special | 10.30 km | 8 mins | |
| 40 | Tick Gate Transport | 14.17 km | 15 mins | |
| 41 | Barcoongerie Special | 39.93 km | 32 mins | |
| 42 | Corindi Transport | 9.98 km | 15 mins | |
| 43 | Gentle Annie Special | 24.07 km | 19 mins | |
| 44 | Mount Coramba Special | 42.66 km | 34 mins | |
| 45 | Coffs Harbour Transport | 8.05 km | 10 mins Hold until 2.15 am |
|
| 46 | Urunga Transport | 31.40 km | 30 mins | |
| 47 | Newry Special | 35.90 km | 28 mins | |
| 48 | Bowraville Transport | 25.20 km | 33 mins | |
| 49 | Tanban Special | 38.64 km | 30 mins | |
| 50 | Frederickton Transport | 67.91 km | 90 mins |
Route instructions are available here.
Day Four
Click the map to go to a Google Maps trace of the route. |
The final night of the 1972 Cross began with a long stage starting in Middle Brother Forest and ending in Coopernook Forest. An interesting stage on shire roads at Mooral Creek broke up the otherwise lengthy transport up to Elands which served as something of a hub for the night's subsequent competition. A stage west along Padmans and Bobin Creek Roads led to another busy hub deep in the Dingo Tops. From here crews did a 128 looping stage to the south including the little used Nowendoc Road. A further 40 km stage into the Bulga Forest took crews almost back to Elands. Collings Pass to Comboyne preceded a long meandering stage through Kerewong finishing with a run along the famous Rollover Road. A transport out to Yarras for a 120 km stage that initially followed the reverse of the mammoth stage from the second night but then went further south through the Ballengarra Forest. After a quick run through Cairncross crews returned to Port Macquarie for breakfast. The final morning comprised two daylight stages, the first over Rollover Road and the second a repeat of the Cairncross stage. |
Section details
Click on the section name to see the map.
| Section | Name | Special Stage | Transport | Time Allowed |
| 51 | Kendall Transport | 38.24 km | 40 mins | |
| 52 | Kew Transport | 11.27 km | 15 mins | |
| 53 | Middle Brother Special | 64.08 km | 50 mins | |
| 54 | Strathcedar Transport | 28.33 km | 25 mins | |
| 55 | Mooral Creek Special | 19.32 km | 15 mins | |
| 56 | Bobin Transport | 22.30 km | 30 mins | |
| 57 | Padmans Special | 20.12 km | 16 mins | |
| 58 | Murrays Creek Transport | 0.48 km | 3 mins | |
| 59 | Knodingbul Special | 128.48 km | 100 mins | |
| 60 | Rowley Transport | 0.65 km | 3 mins | |
| 61 | Blue Knob Special | 39.36 km | 31 mins | |
| 62 | Elands Transport | 6.20 km | 15 mins | |
| 63 | Collins Pass Special | 15.45 km | 12 mins | |
| 64 | Comboyne Transport | 8.61 km | 10 mins | |
| 65 | Blackbutt Special | 72.85 km | 57 mins | |
| 66 | Wauchope Transport | 55.06 km | 60 mins | |
| 67 | Molly Milligan Special | 120.83 km | 94 mins | |
| 68 | Telegraph Point Transport | 14.65 km | 25 mins | |
| 69 | Waterfall Special | 24.15 km | 20 mins | |
| 70 | Blackmans Point Transport Port Macquarie Impound |
25.07 km | 60 mins Depart 9.00 am |
|
| 71 | Herons Creek Transport | 40.25 km | 50 mins | |
| 72 | Rollover Special | 17.95 km | 14 mins | |
| 73 | Stopover Transport | 9.26 km | 15 mins Depart 12 noon |
|
| 74 | Bains Bridge Transport | 19.80 km | 20 mins | |
| 75 | Cairncross Special | 24.15 km | 19 mins | |
| 76 | Hastings Transport | 27.37 km | 60 mins |
Route instructions are available here.
