Trip planning

Greg & Leonie
If you want to avoid the crowds then I would suggest the earlier dates, it is generally accepted that June, July, August is the peak period for tourism in the northern parts of Australia, and if you use your later proposed dates you may find that some of the attractions on the west coast have already closed down before you get there.

As for the weather there should not be much difference, however that is always subject to change. It has been very wet this year through the centre and cyclones have been known to occur as late as May, August can see the 'Build Up' in Darwin and can be very uncomfortable for Southerners.

Be careful that you do not bite off too much for your allotted time frame. It is possible to do the run from Norseman to Ceduna in a good day's driving and see nothing, or you can take 5 days and enjoy what is there (and there is plenty to see if you go looking).

Enjoy your travels (and planning)
Regards
Athol

Google 'school holidays australia' for dates to avoid.

Depending on the Wet areas like Kakadu often do not open until mid May so keep an eye on weather up North. It is always a good idea to have Plan B or even C when travelling North. It is hard to avoid crowds anytime between April and September but school holidays will be worst for popular places like Uluru - think school camps too!
To cover half the continent in a ten week trip, especially your first trip, seems a bit ambitious. Remember you will find towing harder work than just driving a car, especially among the road trains and you need to factor in time for setting up and stopping early enough to miss the wildlife. What seems achievable while you look at a map at home can feel very different when driving through the heat.
Don't become obsessed with covering distance and planning a detailed itinerary. Remember the aim is to enjoy the trip and actually see places so you want to go again. There are always future trips to places you don't reach this time. Relax and slow down a bit. Lynne

Greg & Leonie

Hope you have an enjoyable trip. As to time to do it and avoid crowds - you won't do that. I live in Katherine and in June and July it is full of tourist.
It is starting to thin out a bit now as the weather is getting warmer.
I would suggest leaving on 11 April. Providing it is not a late wet most places should be open in the top end early May. The bulk of the tourist seem to arrive in June.



Tjilpi

We did a similar trip, (Melbourne to Darwin then down the west coast). We took 92 days from start to end, including a 9 day stay in Perth, so I think 10 weeks is doable.

Unlike others, we(me) planned the trip in detail and it has been by far the most memorable trip we've experienced.

In very general terms, we did the following:
Coober Pedy including the Breakaways , Uluru & Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon including the rim walk, West MacDonald Ranges including all gorges, Hermannsburg, Palm Valley, Goss' Bluff, a few days in Alice Springs visiting points of interest, Mataranka, Katherine including Katherine Gorge, Kakadu based at Cooinda, Darwin, Litchfield National Park, Kununurra including Large Argyle and Ord River cruise, Wyndham, Bungle Bungles, Gieke Gorge, Derby including trip to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek, Broome and side trip to Horizontal Waterfall, Karijini NP, Shark Bay including Monkey Mia, then down the west coast to Cervantes and the Pinnacles, Perth, Bunbury, Denmark, Esperance, across the Nullarbor to Clare then home to Melbourne.

It all went roughly in that order. The risk in going in April is road access in the north after the wet, while heading out in July means rougher dirt roads due to tourist activities, warmer weather up north although you would be further south by then.

My suggestion is to opt for a July departure. We left Melbourne on 7th July.

Whatever you chose have a great trip. We surely did.
WBS