Opinions on this trip

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Roads are OK. Rig is OK on those roads if you have A/T tyres, not bitumen road tyres.

How many Km is this trip gunna be?

Holidays - a break form being a slave at work. Your outline in 8 weeks = slave to driving & packing up.

IMHO you are at serious risk of being a family who hated their holiday.

Halve the distance, have more nights at a location you fall in love with when you arrive, and you & especially under 10 year olds, will enjoy it far more. Get to understand a region more than just a whistle-stop overnight stay at a location. Do day trips from your base camp. Or have a lazy day in camp just 'coz you want to.

Enjoy more by lowering the potential stress factors.
Do the second leg in 5 years time with your then teenagers - they will remember more of that trip than this one.

Cheers

Gordo,
Maybe cutting out the NW section this time (Tanami & up thru WA) and concentrate on the Alice & Ularu area instead. I could fill 4-6 weeks in that area alone, there is just so much to see and do there.
Cheers Colin.

Gordo, You can see our trip details here if you like:http://www.kidsandall.webs.com/

Josh

That's an awful long way in eight weeks,especially with kids. I'm a week off finishing 9 weeks up and down the East Coast from Hobart to Port Douglas and back. Only done 5 o'nighters in all that time.
Have done a few long days when needed but then followed up with 3-4 days in one place. Spent 7 nights in Cairns and 5 in Surfers.
Kids will soon get sick of the packing up and setting up every day if you're moving all the time.
My kids are 12 + 14 and travel well.I dont stretch the friendship too far by making them live in the backseat for days at a time.
Have a look at www.cooneystour.blogspot.com to see where we've been.

happy planning.

Gordo, I did a very similar trip in 2007 with my brother and we only had five weeks (but no kids).

We didn't stop much before Alice Springs (took 3 days to get there from Canberra) and spent 2 days on the Tanami (including a few hours at Mt Doreen Ruins and Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater). Most of our trip was around the Kimberley so we didn't stop to look at much on the way to/from but when we got there we strayed a lot further off the main road than your suggested route indicates. I'll see if I can drag out our itinerary if you're interested.

It looks like the toughest part of your journey is the Tanami Desert - just make sure you've got enough fuel for a range of at least 1,000km for that leg of the trip. Some short sections of the road were quite rough which required us to go quite slowly at some points but most of it was quite good condition - I'd expect the Kluger should cope well as long as you're not 'rally driving'!

Some will suggest "wait until you've got more time" but if you are sensible about balancing the time in the car and the time sightseeing, your kids will remember the places you all went long after they forget the endless hours in the car! Many travellers I've spoken to have said the biggest mistake they made was not travelling more while they were younger, fitter & generally healthier... then they could have even enjoyed some of the walks!

Gordo


Your trip looks OK and 90% bitumen but the Tanami Road is 800km of very rough gravel at times and it is not graded that often. A low slung Kluger and Jayco might not like it.

Cheers

Gordo, if you leave out the crossing into WA & Broome leg of this trip, I think you have an excellent trip logged there, for your time available, and it will be very enjoyable and adventurous for the kids, especially Alice, Kings Canyon, Ayers Rock, the Olgas and all the attractions on the run through SA. If you haven't been there, go from Pt Augusta over to Broken Hill,(maybe meet Willem at Peterborough LOL) and then down to Mildura, rather than through the Barossa, on the way home, (Nothing wrong with the Barossa BTW) just to keep the outback theme going.
Broome is a long detour, and at that time of year the "House Full" sign may be up in any case.
You will get the "Call of the Outback" and soon realise that 8 weeks is just a tease, and in all probability, you will be back :-)

Whatever you do, enjoy your trip.

Fred.

Hi Gordo,

I just completed a 27 day road trip from Sydney to cape Tribulation & back with my 7 year old daughter. We did just under 7,500kms in that time. As a few have mentioned above, yes it was just a tease & I can't wait to get back up there again. But in saying that, we saw & did so much in that time. It was far from a relaxing holiday, but we both had a fantastic time!

I didn't have a DVD in the car, we travel to different places to see things not to watch DVD's & my daughter quiet happily took in the things around her. In saying that I only have one child, so no arguments or fights between a sibling! I mixed up the attractions with things that interested her and some that I wanted to do. Regular quick rest stops, for me to have a smoke & for her to have a quick run around also broke up the journey.

We stayed at Town of 1770 for 3 nights & did a couple of day trips & stayed at Cairns for 3 nights, other than that it was pack up & down each day. I was also towing a camper trailer as you have mentioned. By the end of 27 days I wasn't sick of packing up, I didn';t want to go back to work & I was envious of every "grey nomad" I came across!

I found we were up very early each morning & were normally on the road by 7:15am, this gave us the chance to clock up a couple of hundred km's a day & still have ample time to stop & do & see different things. I guess at the end of the day, it comes down to your personal choice of how much you want to drive each day & how well the kids travel. That's my 2 cents worth :)

Enjoy......

Did 15000kms in 6 weeks Perth Darwin the Alice Cooper Pedi Esperance and back to Perth it is just a taste but worth doing I find the long trips very pleasurable went back to Alice again 12 months later we had no kids with us though try to plan a reasonable break at least 4 days in one place at about the half way mark it is a long way but can be done ok
enjoy!
Steve