Perth to Rockhampton
Submitted: Friday, Jan 21, 2022 at 19:37
ThreadID:
143133
Views:
5871
Replies:
9
FollowUps:
13
This Thread has been Archived
Rusty Iron
Towards the end of February, I have to make a long delayed road trip from
Perth to
Rockhampton, and return about a month later.
I'll be towing my small Golf Savannah 16ft van behind my 200 Series. The van has the good quality Alko coil and double shock
suspension so gravel roads are not an issue at all. The 200 has the OME BP51
suspension. Tyres are Falken Wildpeaks in very good nick (2 spares). I am a very experienced long time remote traveller. I carry a lot of water and food, spares, sat comms etc etc. I will be very
well prepared.
I would prefer to give NSW a miss entirely, if it's practical to do so. (It's not super critical, just a strong preference) So I'm thinking of heading north from Pt
Augusta, up to
Lyndhurst along the bitumen, then onto the Strezlecki to
Innamincka,
Cunnamulla,
Charleville to
Roma then wind my way through and up to Rocky. Never been that way before.
Can anyone advise on the practicality of that route vs the Pt
Augusta -
Broken Hill -
Bourke etc option. And can can anyone advise on the quality of the roads along that Strezlecki route option?
Reply By: Bob Y. - Qld - Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 09:17
Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 09:17
Haven’t been up the Strezlecki since Nov, ‘15, so my advice might be a bit dated, Rusty?
I understand that there are more sections of bitumen now from
Lyndhurst north, but when I did it, conditions varied from good to ordinary, and road gangs were working on a couple of sections.
Don’t be in a hurry, as there’s plenty to see. A stop at the Moomba viewing area is worthwhile, with some good reading, but be careful where you walk! Have never seen so much discarded toot paper in one small area. If Covid had been around then, I would have discovered where all that hoarded date roll had gone. LOL
Good $2 showers at
Innamincka, but you’ll find the worst part of the road is from there to the border!
Perhaps you could turn off near Noccundra & head up through Erromanga, to
Quilpie? All bitumen, and looks to be a bit more direct than the
Cunnamulla route.
Good drive north of
Roma, between
Carnarvon Range & Expedition NP, then Leichhardt H’way from Banana,
Dululu & into Rocky.
Bob
AnswerID:
639190
Follow Up By: Rusty Iron - Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 09:29
Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 09:29
Thanks very much Bob, that's exactly the type of info I'm after. I'm leaning more towards going this way, it looks quite good. The only thing that might stop me is the weather at the time. I hate the heat....
FollowupID:
918192
Follow Up By: Rod N - Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 12:53
Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 12:53
"but you’ll find the worst part of the road is from there to the border!"
From Innaminka to the Qld border is now sealed, as of course is the road from there on.
FollowupID:
918198
Follow Up By: luxtourer - Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 22:57
Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 22:57
We did the last bit of this (in reverse) last year as per Bob's suggested route, except we went down the Leichhardt to
Taroom, then across to
Roma via Peek-A-Doo, which is now a good bitumen road. All tar to
Innamincka, but I only remember one section of bitumen on the Strz after
Innamincka to the Moolawatana/
Flinders Ranges turnoff. The Strz was in good condition then, but of course may be vastly different now.
Plenty of possible problems in Feb with floods, etc.
John
FollowupID:
918213
Reply By: qldcamper - Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 18:50
Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 at 18:50
Spent 17 years in
Broken hill and 7 days at Innaminka, id choose the latter any time.
Try to avoid events like the fink race or big red bash, roads go from
well graded hi speed to absolute crap in a week and stay that way for ages. Feb should be reasonably low traffic but could be a long time between blades.
Dont ever go in with gravel roads will be no issue at all attitude, always treat them with respect especially when the temps could be in the high 40s
AnswerID:
639205
Reply By: Member - peter g28 - Sunday, Jan 23, 2022 at 15:18
Sunday, Jan 23, 2022 at 15:18
I understand.
In that case...outback SA has received plenty of rain in the last week and so the tracks out there are going to be marginal at best if you are towing.
The
Darling River run...flooded and all roads in the general area are closed until further notice..I came back through
Bourke about a month ago and tracks around there were really a day to day proposition..so with the "dry flood" they have received in the last 10 days...I would give the area a miss...you are looking at late Feb..50/50 at this stage...
check on the
Bourke Shire
Bourke Shire Road Conditions
This may mean...a blacktop run..either north across the top, down and then across through Queensland..or east through SA...over to NSW into Brokenhill..then
Cobar and head north to
Bourke..and up.
If the road from
Bourke north into QLD to Cunnamula is not open...then you might have to go from
Bourke across to Moree and then head into QLD.
Hope it works out.
AnswerID:
639223
Follow Up By: Rusty Iron - Sunday, Jan 23, 2022 at 15:22
Sunday, Jan 23, 2022 at 15:22
Yep, I think you may be right, the BH,
Bourke etc route may be the best option. That Strezlecki area has copped a real hammering. As I said at the start, it's not super critical to avoid NSW, just a "nice to if possible" I'll
check road reports once the trip gets closer.
FollowupID:
918239