Port Augusta to Coolum

Submitted: Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 11:53
ThreadID: 140136 Views:10358 Replies:5 FollowUps:10
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Hi all
Heading off from Perth to Coolum as soon as the borders open to pick up a 6m off road van.
I was wondering what would be the most scenic but direct route from Port Augusta to Coolum( 135 km north of Brisbane).
I will be driving a 200 series Landcruiser (2019) .
Happy to take backroads but want to get there in around 6 days from Perth so no time for extended sight seeing , we will do that on the way back home.
Want to stay in motel type accommodation along the way, but not too fussy on standard.
Looking forward to responses.
Cheers Craig
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Reply By: Gbc.. - Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 12:37

Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 12:37
Over to Mildura and then straight up the Darling river run, or come up the Barrier Highway to Broken Hill and Darling run up from Menindee - Bourke, then Hungerford - Eulo then back in. Nice part of the world now they've had some rain.
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Follow Up By: Craig M1 - Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 14:14

Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 14:14
Thanks Gbc that looks an interesting alternative.
In rough terms how long will it take to drive from Menindee to Eulo without taking side detours.
Cheers
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Follow Up By: Gbc.. - Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 14:23

Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 14:23
Easy 2 day drive if you aren’t sightseeing.
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Follow Up By: Craig M1 - Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 14:45

Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 14:45
Thanks looking forward to it.
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Reply By: Member - BobD - Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 23:22

Thursday, Jun 11, 2020 at 23:22
We went to Coolum in early March and had to hightail it back to the WA border in 36 hours before the border closed. We were lucky, we were in our Zone RV 18.6 OffRoad in both directions! You will only have the Zone in one direction.

We went via Tamworth and along the top of the Great Dividing Range on the way there and obviously the most direct route on the way back. We did the last 2400km to the border in 28 hours, non stop apart from fuel and toilet breaks. It was really nice going through Tamworth and everything was green across the whole of the country after good rains in February/early March.

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Follow Up By: Member - Mark (Tamworth NSW) - Friday, Jun 12, 2020 at 08:15

Friday, Jun 12, 2020 at 08:15
Bob
As per Google Maps, Broken Hill to Cobar to Nyngan to Walgett to Collarenebri to Mungindi to Talwood, onto Goondi. Roos should be much less of an issue now that we have had decent rain east of Cobar, There's a bit of dirt between Nyngan & Mungindi, not driven all of that route myself
Coming through Tamworth would add a couple of hours. You won't find a motel every hour of so, hence need to plan where you will stop for the night around lunch time each day and call ahead
Mark
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Follow Up By: Craig M1 - Friday, Jun 12, 2020 at 09:42

Friday, Jun 12, 2020 at 09:42
Thanks Bob
I will try that route on the way back home when I have some more time.
Hope you are enjoying the Zone.
Cheers Craig
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Reply By: Zippo - Saturday, Jun 13, 2020 at 16:25

Saturday, Jun 13, 2020 at 16:25
(Slightly tongue-in-cheek, you can see I've been in lockdown too long ...)

A lot depends on which borders open. If the Qld/NT/WA/SA open among themselves but SA/Qld keep the two "diseased" states (NSW/Vic) shut off, PtA -> Birdsville -> Windorah -> Charleville would be a goer - and shorter than the GRR ;-)

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Reply By: Member - IndroCruiser Brisbane - Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 01:01

Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 01:01
We are planning the reverse journey to Perth from Brisbane when we can leave Queensland without spending 14 days at the border when returning and when the WA folks let us in without 14 days at their gatehouse! I was born in the Kimberley, admittedly long ago, but maybe I can claim I am just returning to my home State ….

Anyway, my answer to your question is the REVERSE of the following route:

Brisbane
Toowoomba
St George
Cunnamulla
Thargomindah
Innamincka
Strzelecki Track
Lyndhurst
Port Augusta
Onwards ever onwards to Perth

If we were coming from Coolum, we would bypass Brisbane and given that we know the area, probably something like

Coolum
Landsborough
Beerwah
Kilcoy
Esk
Toowoomba

Our route is about 4,600 kilometres from our house in Brisbane to the house of our daughter and family in Perth. There are many alternative overall routes including the Darling River Run as has been suggested above – this would be about 4,300 kilometres house to house and is probably the shortest and fastest distance. We already did this during the drought and pre-COVID so we will do something different this time. That said, the Darling River Run is great trip. We stopped for a few days in Bourke, Louth (Trilby Station is recommended) and Broken Hill with just a fuel-and-snack stop in Wilcannia.

The LC200 will not be troubled by any of the roads. You will be able to hold good speeds even on the backroads. Some parts can be rough, especially if you choose Wilcannia northwards along the Darling River Run – but it certainly ain’t “hard-core off-road” stuff. The roads from Broken Hill to Wilcannia, and, beyond Bourke, are fast, sealed roads. From Wilcannia to Louth it does depend when the grader last passed through and what the recent weather has been like – but there is nothing unusual about that. It is a good idea to check out the road condition reports on the Shire Council websites.

The main point if doing long hours is to be VERY wary of the large numbers of kangaroos, emus and wandering unfenced stock in his part of the world, especially early and late in the day, and to be aware that the rough approaches to some grids (some people call them ramps) may even challenge a LC200 – but again there is nothing unusual about that, and it is not different to WA.

General:

• In our case we want to do something different to last time,

• We won’t be towing – just Mr and Mrs Indrocruiser in the trusty turbodiesel LC100 with our usual backroad stuff including two spare tyres, recovery gear, tools, satphone, PLB, UHF, lots of water, just OEM fueltanks as roads are easy and 1,000+ kilometres of range is plenty, including safety margin,

• We want a “minimum days of travel” trip and our selected route is about as direct as we can make it, other than by repeating the Darling River Run. The penalty is about 300 kilometres.

• Plenty of accommodation choices are available all along the way – we will plan it out and book ahead to avoid stressing about when and where to stop,

Even the shorter route along the Darling River Run of 4,465 kilometres (including 135 kilometres to Coolum) in 6 days does mean averaging 716 kilometres per day. This is doable with the whatever hours and speeds are necessary. We are much more lazy and slow – probably at least 8 days for us – reckoning on 6 to 7 hours per day with wheels turning and maintaining 100 to 110 kph wherever possible to achieve a house-to-house overall average of 85 kph.

Go to this link to read the Queensland “Easing Restrictions Road Map”.
Queensland COVID-19 Restrictions Road Map
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has yet to actually commit in writing to opening the Queensland Borders on or before 10th July 2020 but it does seem like a fair bet.

The South Australian position can be found here:
South Australia COVID-19 Border Restrictions

You will know best what is happening in Western Australia with regard to Border Restrictions.

One issue that is important is to check the “Designated Biosecurity Areas” (mainly designated to protect Indigenous communities) in all relevant States/Territories. These internal prohibitions in various States/Territories may remain in place longer than the State Border restrictions and may impede travel.

Go well!!
2006 Toyota HDJ100 Landcruiser Sahara 4.2 T/D - AHC/TEMS, BFG A/T 275/65R17, ARB Deluxe Bar, Kaymar Single Wheel Carrier, ARB Intensity lights

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Follow Up By: Craig M1 - Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 11:12

Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 11:12
Hi Indrocruiser
Loved the book. ;-)
Had some great information.
We won’t be heading over until all the boarders are open and planning on leaving in late October.
I like the back roads and have done lots of bushwhacking so will include part of the Darling River Run from Menindee, Bourke, to Hebel. Was then thinking , St George, Dalby, Yarraman then east through Glass House . Similar to your run.
Any comments?
Cheers Craig
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Follow Up By: Craig M1 - Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 11:45

Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 11:45
Hi Indrocruiser
If you have a little spare time and not done it previously the track to the east of the Flinders Ranges is very picturesque and the road when I drove it last (2018) was fine .
Always check of course.
Turn off the Strzelecki Track near Mount Hopeless then
Moolawatana
Balcanoona (Side track into Arkaroola )
Wearing ( ruins)
Wirrealpa
Blinman ( from here on its bitumen)
Now head south to
Oraparinna
Wilpena
Hawker
Quorn (a delightful town)
Then PA

Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - IndroCruiser Brisbane - Monday, Jun 15, 2020 at 10:16

Monday, Jun 15, 2020 at 10:16
Hi Craig M1,

Your route West to East looks great!! Late October means that you will dodge Qld School Holidays and Public Holidays. An alternative interesting backroad might be BrokenHill>through Mutawintji National Park>White Cliffs>Wilcannia>DarlingRiverRun -- but it would be a bit slow through the NP and you miss the Menindee>Wilcannia stretch of DRR.Menindee is worth a visit to get a grip on the Darling River situation.

We hope to be in Perth for the Sep-Oct School Holidays, assuming COVID border restrictions will allow.

Thank you for the suggestion involving a turn-off through the Flinders Ranges. We did something similar in October 2016 -- seems hard to imagine now but it was just after the floods of that year. Our route was Brisbane>LightningRidge>Bourke>Tibooburra>CameronsCorner>MertyMerty>Strzelecki>MountHopeless>Moolawatana>Balcanoona>Arkaroola for 4 days>then South along the route you outlined. Great country, wonderful trip. Mrs Indrocruiser did ask whether the route Mount Hopeless>Balcanoona was a real road even though she could see it on the map -- but she enjoyed the country and could be talked into North Flinders Ranges again.

We have thought about diverting North to Alice Springs>Uluru>Perth but not sure about ongoing access restrictions along the Great Central Road -- and it adds quite a few more days. We don't really have the patience for a Simpson Desert crossing.

Cheers!
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Follow Up By: Craig M1 - Monday, Jun 15, 2020 at 10:57

Monday, Jun 15, 2020 at 10:57
Thanks Indrocruiser
That side track does looks interesting. Could even get the wife interested specially with the suggestion of may be finding an Opal ;-)
Cheers
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Reply By: Bob Y. - Qld - Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 07:44

Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 07:44
You’d make BH no worries!

Back in Dec ‘75, I travelled from about an hour south of Coober Pedy, through PA, and was east of Wilcannia as the sun went down. Experienced the densest ‘roo population there I’d ever seen, along both shoulders of the highway, for about 50-60 kms. Never seen roos as thick since either.

Bob

Seen it all, Done it all.
Can't remember most of it.

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Follow Up By: Member - rocco2010 - Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 13:49

Sunday, Jun 14, 2020 at 13:49
When I went they way in 2016 (started in Wudinna and made BH easy) it was emus.

Country was as dry as it could be and there were big mobs of emus.

They always worry me as they inclined to cross the road and turn around and head back. Not much brain power in that little head.

Cheers
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