First trip advice please

If you could give people an idea what time of the year and where you will be starting as this would make it easier to answer.
Cheers Dave

Mike a lot depends on which desert tickles your fancy. For the Simpson you'd need to fly into Adelaide and then out from there and in 3 weeks you can see an awful lot of desert. A mad dash trip could see you go from Adelaide into the Simpson via Birdsville and do an East West crossing. Then up to Alice Springs via Finke and then back down to the rock and then to Perth via the Great Central Road which will take you through the Gibson and Great Victoria Deserts.

Bit of a rush but doable. We're doing Perth to Perth via the Simpson in a couple of weeks time and all we've got is 3wks.

Whatever you decide it will be great trip with plenty to see and do. make sure you get a good compressor and tyre gauge as our sand can be pretty soft.

cheers

Dunc

I would start by seeingt where you can take the hire vehicle first - there are restrictions, its in the fine print so can be hard to see but it is there.
also firing off an email should confirm what they will allow you to do

Mike

If you can find a hire car company that will allow you to take the car into the more remoe areas then I think Adelaide would be a good starting point for a three week trip. Go north to Maree then up the Oodnadatta Track to Oodnadatta. Turn right about 20 ks further on to Dalhousie Springs then Mt Dare and on up through Finke and along the Old Ghan Railway Heritage Trail to the ruins of Rodinga railway siding at the end of the trail. You then turn left on a well maintained unsealed road for about 10 ks to Maryvale then out on the 45 k detour to Chambers Pillar. Return to Maryvale then up north to Alice Springs.

That part of the trip will take you over some very remote areas on both major and minor Outback roads but you should see more than enough cars so if something happens, you will not be left stranded.

There is no end of information available at Alice Springs on what to see within a few hours of Alice.Palm Valley near Hermannsburg and the gorges off Namatjira Drive are well worth seeing.

If you now want to go over an extremely remote road where you may not see another car, then go north west of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road for about 140 ks and turn west on the Gary Junction Road to Sandy Blight Junction. Turn left at the junction and go south down the Sandy Blight Junction Road. There is a short detour 20 ks down that takes you to an Aboriginal settlement that has a shop and fuel. The rough section of this road is around 250 ks long. It has flat corrugated surfaces, rocky sections and about 100 ks of sandy surfaces with low sand hills. You will cross the border into Western Australia half way down. It is remote and beautiful but any standard 4wd will do it with ease.

When you come out at the other end, turn back east through Docker River to Uluru and then back on sealed roads to Adelaide.

That should fill in three weeks nicely without rushing. You will need permits from two Aboriginal Land Councils for the Gary Junction Road, the Sandy Blight and to get back to Uluru and I think you will need a one day one for Dalhousie Springs. Ask about that one at the Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta. ..

Many thanks everyone for your very helpful and practical advice - all very useful. Thanks too for kindly replying so quickly.

I suggested three weeks but that was a guess. I could make it four, but as always it is a case of balancing the cost with the benefits. (And I suspect I will want to come back once I have visited.) I will certainly research your suggested routes further. I shall no doubt be asking advice again on finer points as my plans shape up. The key thing for me is to find wilderness routes that can be done solo - I hate convoy driving - without taking foolish risks.

I take the point about hire vehicle small print - same in Namibia and Botswana. Hate hiring really since my truck is fully equipped, but shipping to Oz not really practical.

Will reply to each of you individually shortly. I have just become a grandfather (which is why I couldn't come over this year) and I have a feeling I am being called downstairs to hold the baby.

Thanks again

Hi Transnamib,

Good suggestions above and there's lots of other useful material on this site. A couple of things about this site that are often overlooked - the search button (top right) works very well (not meaning to be rude in stating the obvious! There is so much useful stuff here that it really is easy to overlook that button and there's a wealth of experience behind it.) Among other things it can lead you to relevant members' blogs, many of which are very helpful when planning. Also often overlooked - most pictures can be clicked to expand them.

With a Troopy there are very few constraints on your desert movements. Provided you are desert experienced and mechanically able to deal with day to day issues, solo travel is probably ok in areas where you can expect to see at least another vehicle or two in a day. A companion vehicle is very desirable though if you are going seriously remote. I suggest stay in touch with us using Exploroz and you may well meet amiable companions for the more challenging parts of your trip. There are certainly places that I would not travel solo (even in a Troopy!). Be aware that if traveling alone, seriously remote in a hired vehicle, a satellite phone is probably an essential, though it wouldn't be wise to rely on it to summon outside assistance.

I agree with Equinox that Perth is probably a good starting point for someone looking for our serious deserts.

Cheers

John