mereenie loop road N.T.
Submitted: Sunday, May 01, 2005 at 17:50
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silverback
planning a trip to N.T. in september, Driving a toyota landcruisertowing 4wd camper. Would like to know if anyone has been down, and around the
mereenie loop road. If you have can you tell me if the road is suitable to tow the camper, or should i leave it somewhere and just take the car.
Reply By: Peter W - Sunday, May 01, 2005 at 18:55
Sunday, May 01, 2005 at 18:55
G'day Silverback,
Did the trip in Sept 2002 with '98 Prado towing Jayco Outback Eagle.
Found it very,very corrugated in parts and very slow going even down to 7kms an hour in some parts and hugging the side of the road quite a deal. Followed a mate in a Disco and Kimberly Kamper who had his wife and two
young kids. We were both somewhat inexperienced but as long as you knew not to speed and had a few breaks along the way (the women did not enjoy the ride) it can be done quite ok. From memory it was about 6 hours from King's Canyon Resort to the
Palm Valley turnoff (a great visit with good basic camping ground) with visit to Grosse
Bluff ?along the way.
Both trailers coped ok but you MUST make sure all items are adequately secured as the bumps can be regular and severe. I did break my interior tap along the way from sheer vibration. Obviuosly a road condition up date would be advisable.
A great challenge so enjoy......but with care.
Peter W
"Life is not a Rehearsal"
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Follow Up By: silverback - Sunday, May 01, 2005 at 20:36
Sunday, May 01, 2005 at 20:36
Thanks very much peter for the information you provided, we dont care how long it taks as long as we have fun along the way
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Reply By: gurich - Sunday, May 01, 2005 at 22:02
Sunday, May 01, 2005 at 22:02
We went through in a Land Rover Defender in 2001. We weren't very experienced at that time and we didn't have a camper trailer, but we really didn't have any problems. I would think it would be OK providing it was a proper off-road camper. The only fright we had was a wash away that snuck up on us, but apart from that it was OK if you adjust your driving to the conditions.
We got some good information at Kings Canyon where we bought the permit. They can tell you when it was last graded.
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Reply By: Member - Duncs - Monday, May 02, 2005 at 10:37
Monday, May 02, 2005 at 10:37
Did the trip Sept 2003, GU Patrol, Mum, Dad and three kids youngest 8yrs, towing a Trak Shak. Notes fromt the diary say we had a walk through
Palm Valley in the morning, lunch at Hermansberg where we paid $2.20 for the permit. After leaving Hermansberg we went to Grosse
Bluff and did a short walk. We camped that night in
Kings Canyon campground which we thouhgt was pretty good.
My memory of the road is that it was mostly, pretty wide but badly corrugated. The most commonly seen vehicle was the 24
seat 4wd tour bus. One of which had dropped it's lunch. They picked the norrowest part of the road and there were 24 sunburnt Germans wandering like lost cattle all over the place.
The other interesting vehicle we saw on that road was a clapped out XD Falcon with 2 flat tyres rattling it's way towards Hermansberg. They declined our offer of assistance.
Duncs
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