Bookings Required?
Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 09:39
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chilliedog
Hello All,
Excitement is building in our house for our departure on our first big trip. Family of 5 heading off for three months!! Fun. Broadly speaking western vic up the centre to Alice, Tanami, Bungles, over to
Broome,
Cape Leveque, GRR,
Kununurra,
Katherine,
Kakadu,
Darwin, Alice and
home james....
We have a trak shak CT, (largely self sufficient) and are leaving end of June. Currently the only booking I have is for
cape Leveque and an apartment in
Broome (thought to be our only bedded accommodation). Do we need bookings??? Are we right in assuming a couple of days in advance is OK for bookings if needed? Where are the 'Hot spots' to keep an eye out for??
THank you so much in advance for your assistance. It is great to be able to tap into such experience.
Chilliedog
Reply By: Baz&Pud (Tassie) - Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:21
Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:21
G'day Chilliedog
Having travelled a similar course a couple of years ago we pre booked for
Alice Springs and
Broome (which U have already arranged)
Kununurra and
Darwin only.
Would suggest that you work out approx your time of arrival and then book, if going to be late then phone through, balance of
places you have mentioned we just arrived and were able to get in.
In regards to hot spots, just follow the madening crowd, in
Kakadu make sure you
camp at
Gunlom Falls and would suggest a visit to
Litchfield NP.
Enjoy, it's a great area the
Kimberley's.
Cheers
Baz
AnswerID:
369277
Follow Up By: chilliedog - Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:43
Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:43
Thanks Baz for your advice.
I forgot to mention that we have friends in
Kununurra who have a bit of land out of town a bit and we will
camp there.
With respect to 'Hot spots' I was thinking
places hard to find camping..... but the other is also excellent!!
I shall plot a little course in some of the broader areas and make a couple of tentative bookings perhaps. We have a bit of an idea as we have committed to meeting a few people at certain times....
Thanks for taking the time to reply, Chilliiedog
FollowupID:
636731
Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:25
Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:25
We are in
Kununurra at present and its quite busy but not full.
Katherine last week was the same
Jabiru was busy
Darwin was also busy but not full
HOWEVER Its getting busy and we had to grovel to get a week in a park in
Broome.
PARK RECOMMENDATIONS
At
Jabiru Lakeside caravan park Ensuite for $30 a night only 14 sites and is the cleanest tidiest park weve been in in 5 months travelling.
Katherine Shady Lane $29 with discount large sites separated by palm trees.
Alice Springs McDonnell Ranges Best large Park weve been in but ask for a site away from the kitchens down the back or u will be kept awake by backpackers Not cheap but really nice.
GRR has been graded this week but will cut up before you get there.
Its $17 EACH to go into
El Questro so !!!!!!!!!!!
Have a good time if you have time at top of GRR a trip to the
lookout at
Wyndham is worth while ( Go right to top)
The Bungles are the highlight of the trip and Echidna and Cathedral gorges are superb
Cheers
AnswerID:
369278
Follow Up By: chilliedog - Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:47
Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:47
Hi Graham,
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your trip to give us some advice. It is very generous of you.
As i mentioned above we are OK in
Kununurra, (forgot that bit) and I shall get to and make some bookings based on this great advice.... Do they all take bookings?? some info is conflicting on this front!!
Have a great trip, take care, Chilliedog.
FollowupID:
636733
Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 11:33
Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 11:33
All parks mentioned take bookings
The roadhouses like
Timber Creek,
Erldunda,
Wycliffe Well all said just roll up and pick a spot. Same for down the middle further like Dumarra etc.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:48
Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:48
We did a very similar trip to yours 4 years ago. Our only pre bookings were
Broome and
Cape Leveque. As it turned out, we would not have had problems at either without bookings. For certainty though, booking for
Cape Leveque is always recommended.
We did not want to pre book too much to allow flexibility. A couple of days before we got to
Darwin, we rang and booked (Lee Point). The same for Kunanurra and
Katherine and had no trouble. Everywhere else, we arrived on spec and had no difficulty.
Have a great trip.
Norm C
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: chilliedog - Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 12:05
Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 12:05
Thanks Norm,
It pleases me to hear your advice, given that at this stage I dont have many bookings. I am certainly building a bit of a list of the favourite
camp grounds...those mentioned the most.
No doubt once we have returned we will be able to contribute to the knowledge base.
Many thanks Chilliedog
FollowupID:
636745
Reply By: tim_c - Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 12:43
Wednesday, Jun 10, 2009 at 12:43
One other place you will probably need a booking (if you plan to visit) is Mornington on the GRR.
We were up that way in May/June 2007 just as the roads opened and we didn't pre-book anywhere and had no major hassles: a couple of
places got grouchy because we hadn't booked but they still had room for us, and in
Broome we paid extra for a powered site (even though we weren't using 240v) just so we could have enough space to open the car doors LOL. Since you're travelling later, things will be getting busier by then... but it's a great part of the country - hope you have a great trip! :)
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