Member - Nick (TAS) replied:

From memory road was pretty good,they were actually there last year when we went through upgrading the road on the northen end and it was like a highway.There are lots of small creek crossings to cross ,the deepest back then only a couple of feet deep.May have changed by now.Also the Oodnadatta track was very good,2wd easily(again last year)

Jim-Bob replied:

G'Day Wizard1
My Navigator and I travelled down from Roper Bar to Borroloola at the end of August.
As far as we are concerned the road was in a fairly good condition. We towed our Aussie swag c.t with our 89 model 2.8d 4runner and the only problem we had was snapping the u.h.f. aerial off in some of the corrigations down near Tawallah Station.
Some parts of the road had larger stones but like always drive to the conditions and you should have no troubles, watchout for the river crossings some are steep.

We have only driven on a few kilometres of the Oodnadatta track at the Marree end so we cannot compare the two tracks.

Wish we were back there,(just bought 2001 Pray Do TD) want to try it out.

Safe travels.
Jim-Bob.

jon jenkins replied:

Hi,

We have done both. We did this trip last year but the other way in a GU packed to the gills. If oodnadatta was a 5 on a 10 scale this would be a 7. No major problems but some of the creek crossings are iffy if the water is high and can be a little steep.

Get you misses/nav to stand on the roof and watch for crocs on some of the crossings. I was really scared on some of them and when the water was dark just drove slowly without walking across first.

If you have a look at the piccy here [ View Image]you will see the tricky little ones first hand. There is a hole in the direct line so I had to go right but the water was so dark and with all the overhanging trees I did not want to walk it.

We travelled the whole gulf alone so often at serious crossings we waited till someone else came along so if we got stuck we could pull each other out.

Jon Jenkins MLC
Parliament House Sydney NSW
www.trac.org.au

SUNSEEKER replied:

Been through there in Sept. and the road is in fairly good condition but as far as towing a caravan with a 2w drive is concerned I would say that you would have no problems providing your speed is very slow on the corrigated sections and make sure all tyres are in good condition(no fatties) and keep those pressures UP NOT DOWN as most so called experienced guys will tell you.Have done the trip for the last three years with no problems but good tyres and common sense are the secret to all offroad travel.

Wizard1 replied:

Just to clear things up, I intend towing thw van with a Prado TD, not a 2WD car. Heaven forbid that I would even entertain driving such a trip in a car. I only use my wife's car to go to the shops.

Thanks for your honest and informative replies. A collegue has also completed the trip and advises similar info to yourselves, accept the angles at creek not being an issue.

He describes the road as being no worse than some of the rural dirt road around Darwin.

They say the best part of the adventure is the journey, so we'll see how we go. I was a little concerned about the Oodnadatta Track. Apart from some collateral stone damage it wasn't too bad.

Wizard

jon jenkins replied:

Hi wiz

The pic is, accoding to the photo album, "dark creek crossing with hole just out of Borroloola" but I cannot remmber which one. The only one that really stands out in my memory out was Calverts (deep, rocky and fast flowing!) but that was definitely the othe side of Borroloola.

None of the creeks are going to give you any real grief, just take it easy and enjoy the trip :-)

jon