Melbourne to Birdsville via Cameron corner -looking to travel together
Submitted: Friday, Jun 29, 2018 at 11:18
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sharpmonkey
Hi
Embarking on first leg of our outback trip on 5th of July. One 4wd kitted car, no trailer.
Planned route is from
Melbourne via
Broken Hill to
Cameron corner (Burke & Wills memorial/dig tree) via
Cordillo Downs to
Birdsville by 10th of July.
Now the not so funny part is that we are traveling alone (at this stage) and considering recent rainfalls in Strzelecki Desert area lot's of tracks are 4wd crossing only with warning or closed.
ExplorOz road conditions report
https://www.exploroz.com/roads
SA road conditions report
https://www.dpti.sa.gov.au/OutbackRoads
QLD road conditions report
https://roadconditions.racq.com.au/-29.026820196144357,139.94395563574574,z8
NSW road conditions report
https://www.livetraffic.com/desktop.html
Hoping that conditions will improve by next week for most of those roads/tracks to be at least in somewhat passable condition.
Questions.
Assuming tracks are open with warning should we attempt crossing alone?
Is anyone traveling same way and want to pair up?
Alternative route is
Melbourne -
Griffith -
Eulo -
Thargomindah -
Charleville -
Windorah -
Birdsville. It's longer, got better roads and probably not as entertaining :) Also happy to pair up on that one.
Cheers,
Greg
Reply By: rumpig - Friday, Jun 29, 2018 at 11:50
Friday, Jun 29, 2018 at 11:50
Considering school holidays start this arvo here in Qld (and maybe other states also?), I seriously doubt you’ll be “alone” out there....can’t see an issue if the roads are open.
AnswerID:
619864
Reply By: Nacho - Friday, Jun 29, 2018 at 13:28
Friday, Jun 29, 2018 at 13:28
you should be right...no rain in the last 24 hrs and sunny conditions over the next week....long range forecast for July is no rain.
no worries travelling solo up there...particularly school holidays.
AnswerID:
619873
Reply By: mechpete - Friday, Jun 29, 2018 at 18:50
Friday, Jun 29, 2018 at 18:50
our party come across from Mt Dare,
Birdsville ,Innaminka ,
Coongie lakes
an the country is very dry an bull dust like you I never seen before
this was in the last 10 days
mechpete
AnswerID:
619876
Follow Up By: qldcamper - Friday, Jun 29, 2018 at 19:07
Friday, Jun 29, 2018 at 19:07
We just got back from out there too, the
birdsville, strezlecki and
oodnadatta tracks are all rollformed clay highways now, just a few bulldust holes that can catch you out, just started to rain when we were coming from
birdsville back to the sunny coast, didn't see any roads closed except the old section of the
birdsville track. Take a fly vale, flys are unbearable everywhere but
innamincka and
the dig tree are on a level of their own.
FollowupID:
892199
Reply By: Member - lyndon NT - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 07:50
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 07:50
Folks, you've just spoiled it for the OP. Thought they were going on a 4x4 adventure, only find out they are going with hordes of other people down a formed road and that the fly's will make for a terrible time :-).
I can't comment on the roads but I have been out that way, and yes, the fly's are disgusting.
Cheers
LK
AnswerID:
619880
Follow Up By: rumpig - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 12:22
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 12:22
Can’t comment on recent road conditions, but when we did
Cordillo Downs a few years ago, the lady running the
Innamincka Store said we were crazy to take our camper trailers through there...reality was I could have driven the wife’s
sedan along that nice gravel road, and we came across 2 vehicles going the opposite way towing on road caravans with ease....fly’s were no issue at all back then. Road conditions and fly numbers are a always changing thing, and one persons view on what is rough or what is normal or how many flies are annoying varies greatly. I’m sure the OP will have a great trip regardless of what we write.
FollowupID:
892209
Follow Up By: Darian - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 18:17
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 18:17
Yep...ain't that the truth....its a pity, but when seeking advice on road conditions from locals (and even other travelers on those very roads) they can unhelpfully exaggerate the conditions (depends on the reporter.....for some, it must be a 'been there, done that' thing :-). One often has to simply listen, make a judgement call and possibly press on.
As for flies...them too...there should be a nationally endorsed 'fly problem scale'...from 1. Disappointing through to 10. Hell...these flies are trying to kill us :-) ! (seen that).
FollowupID:
892213
Reply By: KevinE - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 08:13
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 08:13
I agree with the previous posts, you should be fine solo.
I like your
plan B, it's a very enjoyable trip that way too. If you amend it in the middle to go from
Bourke to
Eulo or
Thargomindah via
Hungerford on the Dowling Track, it'll be even better IMO. Then, up through
Toompine to
Windorah and
Birdsville, or west to
Eromanga & do the Burke & Wills sites/
Innamincka that way.
Have a great trip! :)
AnswerID:
619881
Follow Up By: Ozi M - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 09:19
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 09:19
I just came down this way, the road is mostly reasonable but there are quite a few bulldust holes between
Hungerford and Thargo.
Three are really bad, one in particular could swallow a truck, I found the best line was to stay hard left when heading north.
FollowupID:
892207
Follow Up By: qldcamper - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 14:14
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 14:14
Kilcowra station about 75Km south of Thargo on the
Hungerford rd is a good stop if you need to catch up with the laundry and they have a good self guided tour that fills in 5 or 6 hrs while your waiting for the washing to dry, nice grass covered sites also and good amenities.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Blue M - Thursday, Jul 05, 2018 at 18:32
Thursday, Jul 05, 2018 at 18:32
The bull dust between
Hungerford and
Thargomindah is the best road to
test if your caravan, car or camper trailer is dust proof or not.
Best I have seen for years.
Cheers
FollowupID:
892288
Reply By: COLIN D4 - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 13:08
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 13:08
We will be there at about that time and are travelling alone as usual , , i have no problems about going alone however if you are around , happy to join you .
We hare in a 78 series troopy with Conqueror camper trailer .
we plan on going Strezleki to
Walkers Crossing track that joins
Birdsville track , we are heading to
Lorne Hill .
Colin
AnswerID:
619882
Reply By: sharpmonkey - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 16:27
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 16:27
Hi All
Thank you all very much for suggestions, ideas and updates. A lot calmer now as to our trip :)
Cheers,
Gregor
AnswerID:
619885
Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 17:38
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 17:38
Hi Gregor
Sounds like a great trip you have planned and your route has plenty to see and offer.
Can I suggest that you take time to stop in at
Milparinka (40-klms south of
Tibooburra) and visit the Historic Precinct and Information Centre - and perhaps a cold beer at the Albert Hotel.
I spent about 3-weeks out there in May/June as caretaker and information person and at the risk of sounding biased, it is a great spot to visit. You can
camp there also for a modest fee.
I wrote some information in the following blog which is on ExplorOz and you can read it here.
Milparinka Historic Precinct
Whatever you do, just enjoy it...
Cheers, Baz - The Landy
FollowupID:
892212
Reply By: rooster350 - Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 20:00
Saturday, Jun 30, 2018 at 20:00
We have just come from where you are going , yes the flies are bad to very bad and some of the roads are rough to very rougher...you just have to take your time like we did...but of course we had a poptop non off road van behind us (which handled the conditions o.k.) The
Birdsville-
Windorah road is a shocker as is
Cordillo Downs-
Birdsville.
The dig tree is out from Innaminka and the last 10km in to it is rough in
places. From Cameron cnr westward to Innaminka needs a lot of care as the tops of lots and lots of dunes have red flags in some of them denoting bad bulldust one even had a 44gal drum in it to stop unwary people from going through it...a bad bulldust hole , have fun and take lots of care...and did I mention the FLIES
AnswerID:
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