Suggestions on a planned route from Members?

Yes share your Route here and in the FB group for different responses but be specific what you are asking as people skim and may miss it.

Thanks for the info.

I didn't want to be too specific asking for info as in early stages of planning.

9000km and 3mts averaging 100km/day sound ok?

Is it doable to too much?

We use a few other apps like wikicamps and fuel app so hopefully good for accom and sight seeing?

We have done the Cape and GOR and few trips to SA as well as a decent Queensland lap. just wanting to take a bit longer and travel a but further.

Cheers

Suggest write the route start/end point locations in your post as unless they bother to click they wont see your route and wont know if its an area theyre familiar with.

This is planned as an anticlockwise route leaving Brisbane and heading to Darwin then back down the centre to Ayres Rock then back to Brisbane.

We have done the Cape and GOR and a few trips to SA and back to brisbane.

The route is approx 9000km and planned for a 3 Month trip.

We use Wikicamps for planning stops and a couple of fuel apps.

Questions:

Is the distance/time long enough ?

What time of year would best to do it?

Any Must do/see stops on the way?

And a few thousand other questions.

The journey will be done in a 2022 Dmax with RTT.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Mark B68,

As far as time is concerned, looking at your intended overall time frame and schedule, it is doable. However, a lot will depend on how long you choose to spend at various locations, and if you are hard and fast with your schedule. Is there any specific location that you want/need to be at a specific time, or are you flexible?

As far as overnight stops are concerned, when we are “touring”, we mostly bushcamp, only using caravan parks etc. when we have to, such as laundry, showers, or are staying for a few days to sightsee. We did a 4 month trip in 2004 (April to August) from Melbourne, up the centre to Uluru, Kings Canyon, West McDonnell ranges, Alice, Kakadu, Litchfield, Darwin. Then across the Kimberley via the GRR to Broom, (including Kalumburu), back down the Tanami to Alice, down the Oodnadatta to Hawker, across to Broken Hill and back to Melbourne. The only place we were booked into at a specific time was Darwin as we were going to the V8 Super cars. Whilst we did have a rough schedule, we were very flexible, however we did have all our Transit Permits for accessing First Nations land (Kalumburu) in advance. We were “tenting” it, so similar to your RTT.

As for the timing of your trip, I would suggest June, July & August. Try and avoid School Holidays if you can. Booking places like Yulara Resort and Kings Canyon might be a good idea, as both can fill up quite quickly. You will need a minimum of 3 days at Yulara to see both Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and I would suggest 2 or 3 days at Kings Canyon. The rim walk is very steep at the beginning, and will take a half day to complete, you may possibly need the rest of the day to recover, depending on your level of fitness. The Canyon walk is much easier and will only take an hour or so.

I would suggest you will need at least a week in Alice Springs to see both the West and East McDonnell ranges. If you are interested, a couple of hours out of Alice Springs is Gemtree on the Plenty Highway. There are Garnet and Zirconium gem fields nearby, and you can fossick for gemstone. The Caravan Park at Gemtree conduct fossicking tours and will hire all the gear you will need. I would suggest a minimum of 2 nights, with the day in between fossicking for gemstones. I would contact them in advance, as they only do the fossicking tours on specific days. These are just a few suggestions based on our experience, I am sure others will also add some more ideas for you.

If you do not already have one, I would strongly recommend that you get a UHF Radio for vehicle to vehicle communications while driving. Unless you have the latest IPhone (or equivalent) with Satellite comms access, I would also recommend some sort of Satellite Comms, either a Sat. phone, PLB, EPIRB or a Zoleo Satellite Texting device for emergencies. Also a comprehensive First Aid Kit. Whilst you are not going really remote, these items may just save your life. Something else to consider, is that depending on your mobile phone service provider, phone coverage is limited. Whilst Telstra & Boost have access to the full Telstra service, not all service providers on the Telstra network do. Overall, Telstra has the widest coverage in Australia, although there are places that Telstra is not available, but Optus is.

Safe travels, and have a great time.

Macca.