Planning A Route; Karratha-Alice-Darwin-Karratha.
Submitted: Thursday, Jan 29, 2015 at 23:01
ThreadID:
110911
Views:
1955
Replies:
2
FollowUps:
4
This Thread has been Archived
Tim 2
Hi,
This is my first post as Im starting to plan my first ever 4x4 trip. My planning is based around the Finke Desert race and the V8 Supercars in
Darwin.
I have an ex army Mercedes Unimog, she's only good for about 80km/h :s but i can cary plenty of fuel and water.
Basically I have no knowledge of any roads or tracks so I am looking for help. I want to travel from
Karratha to
Alice springs, then
Alice Springs to
Darwin and then return to
Karratha. Doing a dogleg is not an issue as its all about the journey and I want to stay off the bitumen as much as possible!
My only real constraint is have 9 days to get from Alice to
Darwin in order to make it in time for the V8 supercars. And I can only take 6 weeks off of work.
Can any one suggest a route or track I should definitely tackle?
Cheers, T.I.A,
Tim.
Reply By: Idler Chris - Vic - Thursday, Jan 29, 2015 at 23:51
Thursday, Jan 29, 2015 at 23:51
If you want to go faster than 80, Larry Perkins has designed an overdrive box for the Unimog. A Google search will find the details.
AnswerID:
545047
Follow Up By: Tim 2 - Friday, Jan 30, 2015 at 00:05
Friday, Jan 30, 2015 at 00:05
Cheers, I'll have a look into his o/d gbox. The only bolt on over drive splitter that i was aware of costs about 10K...
FollowupID:
832541
Follow Up By: vk1dx - Friday, Jan 30, 2015 at 05:20
Friday, Jan 30, 2015 at 05:20
Good idea Chris
FollowupID:
832545
Reply By: Motherhen - Thursday, Jan 29, 2015 at 23:59
Thursday, Jan 29, 2015 at 23:59
The easiest route to
Alice Springs for you is via the
Gary Junction Road Tim. I think we spent three days. From Alice to
Darwin is easy and a pleasant drive on the Stuart Highway, but you could take the roads comprising the Binns Track to stay off the highway. It rejoins the Stuart Highway just north of the Devil's Marbles.
AnswerID:
545048
Follow Up By: Tim 2 - Friday, Jan 30, 2015 at 00:17
Friday, Jan 30, 2015 at 00:17
Cheers, good on ya! I will look into these tracks.
FollowupID:
832542
Follow Up By: Motherhen - Friday, Jan 30, 2015 at 00:29
Friday, Jan 30, 2015 at 00:29
I have
blogs on the
Gary Junction in my 2009 My
Blogs. We went from
Port Hedland to
Marble Bar, but from
Karratha you may consider including the Talawana Track. You need permits from DIA (Department of Indigenous Affairs WA) for these roads, and they need to be applied for a few weeks ahead of time. The permit for the Northern Territory side is easy on line overnight from CLC (Central Lands Council in
Alice Springs). I have a summary of what comprises the Binns Track if you contact me privately.
FollowupID:
832543