First Family Holiday

the timetable can be done - but..............if you want to enjoy a holiday with your kids maybe cut down a bit. the dubbo bit is good and maybe look at hanging around the new england area for a while and carnarvon ranges and sundown np. that should give a good 4 weeks and not too much travel and enable you still to see and do plenty. make the centre another time that is specific to that area. rgds

Yes, I agree it would be a lot of travelling. The 2 boys would get sick of sitting in the car, I guess. I know my kids at that age would have. You will have a great time, then you have a reason to plan the next one.

Hi Penny,
There is no doubt that 4 weeks is sufficient time to "do that route" however what do you want to see/do along the way? We have a saying that a trip is defined by the journey not the destination. Obviously, some activities are quite time consuming - bush walking, photography, sight seeing and you still have all the usual chores you have at home such as laundry, shopping, cooking etc. Some areas you could spend a month in alone and still not see it all. The Red Centre is certainly like that. I suggest doing your research to work out how much time you'll need to get through your wish list of places to see in the area and then working backwards to see what time you have to fit in for exploring along the journey to and from there. Try to avoid too many long days of driving in a row.

Here on ExplorOz we try to advocate that planning is good, but don't lose the adventurous spirit - especially with the kids. Of course on ExplorOz we can help you with resources you can read online in our Trek Notes, Places, and our Shop where we stock all the best available maps and guide books. You've started your planning with plenty of time to give yourself a chance to check out all this available info and if you've any specific questions this Forum is full of knowledgeable people that can help you further.

MM

Hi Penny,

You dont say how you are travelling, camping, camper trailer? If you are camping it will be very cold once you get up onto the tablelands (ie New England, even Dubbo). My suggestion would be to leave that part of the country until a warmer time, say spring or autumn.

If you are not taking your van you could head pretty much west to Tibooburra, Innaminka, down either the Birdsville of Strzlecki track, Flinders ranges, then up to Alice and home as you propose. Heaps to see and do on that loop and it should fit comfortably in 4 weeks.

Cheers,

Val.

Hey Penny,

If its a first trip .... I would cut down on some travelling time.

Either straight to Ayers Rock ... or as above ... less distance and linger in some of the closer areas.

Some excellent areas between Bris and Dubbo no matter whether on the Newell Highway or the New England.

With plenty of good spots along the way, you will quickly lose track of time coming down one of these, do the zoo at Dubbo and head back up the other.

If camping in a "box" is new to your family, long travel distances and tempers is going to make the "get out of my way" problems in the van, even worse. Takes a few trips for everybody to work out their allotted areas in a caravan .... lolol

Excellent detours include:
Torrington Recreation Area ( oops, conservation area. Dont come in from Mole River with a van ) / Emmaville / Bingara / Mt Kaputar and Coolah Tops National Park. Plenty more besides.

Going to be damn cold in nthn NSW highlands at that time of year though - Snow is a likely at several of the above. Much better at Easter but more crowded.

" Happy Trails "

Are you wedded to those destinations or would you consider others.

As some have already said that is a long trip for four weeks, epecially as a first outing.

Other places you could consider would be a trek into the Gulf Savannah Land and back down the inland visiitng Carnarvon Gorge etc. Many possibilities......

Hello Penny,

I think you will be fine. Your boys are at a good age for travelling and in a few years time they may not be able to because of school or other commitments.

We did a lot of similar trips to the one you are planning before our kids got to the higher levels at school. We always had four weeks and we never felt rushed at all. We had a ball and the kids still remember so much about the things we did and the places we saw.

What you need to do is make a plan. Work out what you think is a reasonable amount of kms to travel in one day, then work out the places where you'd like to spend time at. That will give you a framework. You most likely won't stick to it exactly but it will help to keep you on track.


I hope that you do go on the trip you're planning. I'm sure you will look back on it and think it was the best thing you've done. We did because we caught "the travelling bug" and have never stopped looking forward to and enjoying our travels.

Best Wishes

Viv

Hi minarr

Although we don't travel with children, i find travelling 3 -4 hours per day is plenty. Allow plenty of time for walking and for your boysto run around and burn off energy. You will also use less fuel and see more if the trip is not so ambitious. If you travel all day, there is no time to digest what you have seen or for writing up diaries (a must for the children). It just feels like the move "If it's Thursday then this must be Belgium".

My preferred and most relaxing way of travelling is to take our time and have a fairly unstructured route plan. That way we can see what others recommend when we get there, or 'follow our nose' and find something special. When your time is half way through, turn around and work back, taking a slightly different route. That way no-one is stressed, or worried about getting back on time.

Motherhen

We did Canberra to Winton and home via Carnarvon Gorge in four weeks easily in a camper trailer with three kids. Can't comment on the Territory, but I can highly recommend a stop in Winton, stay at Ilfracombe (just out of Longreach), then depending which way you head to Brisbane there is Blackall, Tambo and Charleville (stay at the Evening Star - a farm just out of town - the kids loved it) then Nardoo (a property just north of Cunamulla), or go via Barcaldine, Alpha, Anakie, Rubyvale, Sapphire. Avoid Emerald... nothing much in the town itself, then Carnarvon Gorge. The kids enjoyed all these places.

Cheers

We did a similar trip a few years ago with our boys , at the time 13 and 9.
5 weeks, Brisbane to Brisbane.
Went via the plenty (tenting it) and had three weeks around the the loop west of Alice down to Ayres Rock, looped east via chambers pillar and then north home via Three Ways and Mt Isa. Had 4 days in the Alice. Except for Alice (4 nights) and two nights some places like Kings Canyon, Palm Valley, Ayres Rock, Chambers Pillar, the rest were single nights on the move. Generally most of the gorges were a couple of hours as we past.
If you have a van which is not 4wd, yes, the plenty is out, palm valley is out, chambers pillar is out, so you could do it in 4 weeks.
Still plenty to see.

Some (a fair few) of our days were 500k plus days. Longest was 1000k Barcaldine to Brisbane.

We found with the boys we physched them up for a long day or two in a row and could do 700 to 800k in a day. But always had the following couple of days as short travel or 'in camp' days visiting local attractions and not driving. They got used to the routine quite well in the 5th week !

Where are you in Brisbane? We are on the south side. If you want to talk a bit more about it, send me an email at john_c at gil dot com dot au. Might even let you speak to my better half, who may have a slightly different view of the trip! She still enjoyed it though.