lawn hill & cape York

Have a look at a map for a start...then have a think about just what you are going to /want to see in 4 weeks over that distance, in my opinion...not much. To have any sort of a decent look you will probably need at least twice that long, you have some rough territory to cover in your time frame and it will be just drive, drive, drive with a little bit of sleep in between maybe...there is just to much to see and do for me to list here , but at least a day or 2 or 3 at lawn hill and I have not been to the other two but there is one hell of a lot to see..cheers and good luck

Nick, G'day, that is a very quick time frame for a trip like that. I would skip Lawn Hill as you really need a few days there and concentrate on getting to the Cape and back. So much to do on the Cape that you will run out of time. Maybe an easier and quicker run via Broken Hill, Cobar, Bourke, Lyndhurst, Cairns etc. Then relax and enjoy your time on the Cape.

With 4 weeks from Adelaide I would not be going further than Birdsville and Innaminka.

The 4 weeks is just for the Cape York bit, right?
Thats a huge area with a ton of stuff to see just by itself.

Do you have a basic itinerary of what you are thinking?
Are you going for adventure or gray nomading?
How are you getting to Birdsville - via the Simpson?

Nowhere near enough time. Your not going to see much as you'll be rushing about.
I had 6 weeks ex Sydney. Straight up the black top to Cairns (about 4 days), 4 and a bit weeks from there up and down, drive back to Sydney. You are traveling further plus I'm guessing a lot of dirt along the way.
Having spent 4 weeks on the Cape, I saw very little really. Its a huge area with a ton of stuff to see and play in.

It all depends on what you are expecting I guess but its a long way to go and going to cost a lot of fuel just to rush about.

Having done this several times from Adelaide can I suggest you do check the map. We cover around 10,600km on this trip without a lot of sight seeing and we take a quick run using a lot of dirt and bitumen. Comments on spending time on the Cape are spot on we reckon two months to really explore and even then not getting it all done.

A Simpson crossing via Birdsville, Innamincka, Coongie Lakes and Broken Hill takes us around 14 days and that is moving each day and we do not travel at night to avoid the obvious risks

A visit to Lawn Hill and touching some of the Gulf Country would be a stretch in that time frame in my view

Rob

One thing to take note of I am a resident of Broken Hill for over 15 years now and one thing keeps cropping up each holidays season and that is the number of Accidents

many are people from the city try to get up this way and further on and try to rush and end up going home via RFDS

What you do not know is we have a major problem with wild life Emus and Roos and wild goats wandering on the roads , the drought is making things really bad

so driving is a real pain you have to have eyes in the back of your head and be thinking all the time trying to see the wild life and the emus are a bugger they just for no reason just run out into the road , one ran into the side of my car last week I did not even see it till it was too late,

I was lucky he hit the wheel I was expecting major damage a tiny scratch

Also Road conditions can change over night with just a little rain out this way

You may be experienced the roads up this way many be not but rushing all that way to the cape and back to me is asking for problems

plan a easy holiday and enjoy it and one day when you get the time then go

There is a huge choice of places to see in 4 weeks not far from Adelaide

Hi Nick

I've written a couple of blogs on trips through Western Queensland and the Gulf Savannah...they don't cover the Cape though...

Outback Queensland & Gulf Savannah - 2011

Outback Queensland and Gulf Savannah - 2010


Cheers, Baz – The Landy

Not the answer you requested Nick, but I'll chance a comment............too far in the available time for a 'quality trip' in my view.....your plan covers some fabulous regions and places, but sitting behind the wheel and scooting across the outback for most of the day will probably become the most memorable activity of the trip (and that long distance driving, on gravel especially, can be come very wearing). Pick a shorter trip, drive less each day, camp with a nice fire, and see more ! Hope it all turns out well......planning 6 months in advance is a good start.

hey nickb
when we did our cape York trip in 97 ,we had 1 week to cairns ,3 weeks to the tip an back to Cairns an 1 week to home , 10,000 ks +or - a few
cheers mechpete

I can undersrand people wanting to see as much as possible in 4 weeks which is school holidays or their annual leave quota. We are in that boat, but what we have done is see "everything" closest to us, and gradually fan out from there and then each trip we punch out the kays to get to "launching point" for the next trip from where we last were so from Darwin usually a few full days behind the wheel to say get to Townsville or Adelaide
I would suggest write down in order what you want to see in order from most to least and go from there. But sounds a bit much from what you have posted. Either choose The Cape or the interior.

thanks for replies : so what your saying is i need to add a few day to my trip plan ......lol
try this a different way .....
Is lakeland the start of the dirt ? and about 800ks to tip ? av speed 50ks or less ?
NOT look at doing the telegraph track or anything to adventurous ....
must see places , as i haven't been there b4 need some suggestions please .

Nick
Regarding the Tip, buy the HEMA or Ron Moon book on the Cape, read it, then come back and ask more specific questions if you still intend doing the Tip. You can buy those books from the Shop on this web site
I can't add anything constructive additional to what previous respondents have said regarding your ambitious schedule
Mark

Looked at the map to refresh my memories and I reckon a trip like you suggested is feasible, driving up the Birdsville track, then to Mt. Isa, Lawn Hill, Burketown, Normanton. From here you may have a choice either via the Gulf Developmental Road or via the Burke Developmental Road and turning off at the Mitchel River and short cutting to the Peninsular Developmental Road, coming out 23ks south of Musgrave Roadhouse. We took that short cut in 2005 when we went to the tip with friends and it added some interest without losing much time. On the return trip we went down through Cairns. Things may have changed since then due to permits required or track changing due to floods etc, others will comment perhaps if that is so. We took a fortnight for the Peninsular trip, but didn't take any of the side trips accept to Weipa (that's the trouble with traveling with friends who aren't as adventurous as yourself, eventually we left them at Old Laura and went up to Cape Melville by our selves)
A longer time period would be good but better to rush a bit than not do these things at all. My wife who wants to see and do everything would get frustrated when I would come up with one of my three excuses, (not enough time, to dangerous or not enough fuel). Only scared her ounce when she asked me to turn back which I did.

Be adventures and see what you can when you can.
Mal

Hi Nick

Here's a bit of the itinerary we did. This is cairns - tip - cairns only

Cairns to Lions Den hotel via Daintree
Lions Den to Cooktown
Cooktown to Elim Beach
Elim Beach to Laura
Laura to Coen
Coen to Chilli Beach
Chilli Beach to Bramwell station
Bramwell to Elliot Falls
Elliot to Seisha
Day trips from Seisha to tip, Punsand bay, lots of stuff at the top end.
Seisha back to Vrilya Point if road open
Vrilya Point to Elliot falls
Elliot falls to Captain Billy Landing
Captain Billy to Weipa
Weipa to Oyala Thumotang Nat Park
Oyala Thumotang to Rinyirru (Lakefield) NP
Rinyirru to Cape Melville
Cape Melville to wherever

* Time at each spot is up to you to research, lots to see but no time to do it.
* Fuel is seldom a problem. Usually less than 300Km between potential fuel spots plus food.
* Note, the Nat Parks need to be booked in advance via the internet. Lots of rangers patrol these.
* Make sure you have a Telstra phone, the others are useless up there. If you're on your own and want to be adventurous then consider a sat phone. No guarantee anyone's coming along the less used tracks for some time. I bought a sat phone after our trip due to discovering first hand how badly things can go wrong up there.
* Ensure you have spare parts, tools plus fluids incl brake and steering. Everything is trucked or barged in up there so expensive and a long wait. Spent two weeks in Weipa waiting on a steering rack.
* Make sure you have NRMA/RACQ type roadside assistance plus a list of their agents.


Thats a start, others can chime in as well.

we have done both Lawn Hill and Cape york. 14 weeks for Lawn Hill from Bannockburn and 18 weeks for Cape york with a side trip to the Birdsville races.
I wouldn't even try to do both in 4 weeks.
We spent 20 days going from Cairns to the tip and back to Cairns, this was still not really long enough.

Good luck????