Maitland to Charters Towers
Submitted: Friday, Oct 28, 2022 at 17:49
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Ray Lucky
Hi all just after some travelling advice please. Heading to Charters Towers Qld from Maitland NSW this coming Tuesday.. Going inland and looking to do around 500km day. Just after route and recommended van parks to stay along with any known road conditions. 24ft Jayco Sterling double axle
Kind regards
Ray
Reply By: Member - Mark (Tamworth NSW) - Friday, Oct 28, 2022 at 20:53
Friday, Oct 28, 2022 at 20:53
Ray
Within NSW it will be a case of what roads are open with flooding
use Live Traffic to see what's open in NSW, I know the road from Narrabri to
Moree is open, not sure about
Moree to Goondi. A farmer who lives 40km south of Goondi told me two weeks ago before the last flood that the Newell has really suffered with potholes from the flooding. Most main roads north of there are open. The alternative is
Tamworth to Warialda to North star to Goondi, route not as flat though as the Newell, which should mean less prone to prolonged flood closures. There is a small CP at North Star for an overnight stop, that's about 500km from Maitland
Between 35 to 15mm is forecast for NW NSW and the western Downs next Monday night, that may change things.
The route form
Moree to Mungindi onto
Roma may still have floodwaters on it and shut
If
Emerald is a planned stop, the CP at Lake at
Fairbairn Dam 30km south of
Emerald was good a few years ago.
AnswerID:
641936
Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Saturday, Oct 29, 2022 at 09:49
Saturday, Oct 29, 2022 at 09:49
.
Yes Mark, we came up the Newell just after the first flooding event and it was most difficult to avoid the potholes, many of which were severe and unmarked. Although repairs were being performed and flooding has passed, I would expect that fresh potholes would progressively occur due to traffic over weakened roads. I would avoid travel in areas that have experienced flooding.
FollowupID:
921353
Reply By: Member - Roger K (NSW) - Friday, Oct 28, 2022 at 22:55
Friday, Oct 28, 2022 at 22:55
Ray,
We travel from Dubbo to
Townsville most years for family reasons and prefer to use the Great Inland Way. This year we left Dubbo on 23 August and crossed the Q'ld border at
Hebel, making our way along that route to Cleremont , Charters Towers and
Townsville. The road conditions were very good then (quality bitumen all the way). When we ultimately left
Townsville on 1 October, we came
home much the same way, and the road was still in very good condition . We arrived
home on 6 October - just before widespread rain saturated central and southern Q'ld, and most of NSW, and it seems to have continued ever since. I suggest you will need to research road conditions very carefully because of that.
Shortly after getting
home we heard a number of horror stories from reliable sources about the condition of the highway around
Moree, with many tyres (and rims) being destroyed by very large potholes that could not be avoided in time.
We stayed in Caravan Parks in
Dirranbandi,
Surat,
Rolleston,
Injune,
Theresa Creek Dam, and Dalrymple Tourist Park in Charters Towers and were happy with all of them.
Obviously there are other ways you could go, but I suspect minor roads (including those with a single strip of bitumen) should be avoided because of the recent adverse weather, and with more to come. I doubt that any parts of the Great Inland Way would be closed for any length of time, but I could be completely wrong. Finally, whichever way you go, I suggest you look at this site:
http://131940.qld.gov.au - it is excellent.
Roger.
AnswerID:
641938
Follow Up By: Briste - Saturday, Oct 29, 2022 at 09:17
Saturday, Oct 29, 2022 at 09:17
I've travelled that route a few months ago, before the outbreak of potholes, up to
Emerald. The biggest risk of a closure seems to be the
Hebel -
Dirranbandi road, which is currently flood affected but apparently open with caution. It had been closed not long before we travelled over it, and there were a few areas of water damage and water partly over the road.
FollowupID:
921351
Reply By: Hoyks - Saturday, Nov 05, 2022 at 20:24
Saturday, Nov 05, 2022 at 20:24
I've done that trip a few times, I turn off the
New England HWay at Willowtree and go to Gunnedah, Narrabri and directly north from there. It is flatter, so probably a bit easier to pull a van.
Moree and Goodndiwindi have copped a flogging from the floods though and quite a few roads are marked as still closed. My sister drove up to
Brisbane from Narrabri yesterday, so I don't know how accurate the road closures are.
I'd add StGeorge to the route
Google Maps Link and stop at Nindagully
Queenslands oldest pubPub for the night.
Free camping by the creek, hot showers at the pub and a good feed can also be had.
AnswerID:
642020