Gold Coast to birdsville and back
Submitted: Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 13:18
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kirkfort
Hi everyone
Great site, very intresting . Just got my new dual cab turbo diesel 4x4 and itching to go bush. I would like to take a trip to
birdsville and return via the northern part of NSW. I have been googling the maps and it looks so vast. I will be travelling with my Wife and daughter who love long drives....thank goodness. We plan to stay at motes/hotels or any half decent place to bunk down. It is our first trip to the outback so we reckon we rather do a LSD trip first (look, cee and discover) before attempting a camper trailer/
camping expedition. I reckon light travelling for the first time. I have done some meduim/hard four wheel driving before but not to such isolated areas. My main concern is the timing. I can only travel between the 5th January and return 15th January. Is it advisable to go this time of year ? ie heat and floods, and should this rather be done in convoy. Am I been over cautious ? Will appreciate all advise and tips.
Thanks once again for a great site.
Regard
Kirkfort
Reply By: Member - redust..... (SEQ) - Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 13:43
Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 13:43
hi kirkfort, have a look at thread no. 70065
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Alan H (QLD) - Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 14:57
Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 14:57
Kirkfort
January may indeed need accommodation for aircon. The gamble is the weather, It may be just hot or super hot.
Be sure to carry plenty of food and
water. The road is bitumen to the start of the
Birdsville Rd about 100km out from
Windorah.
South into NSW the roads will be dirt until you get back to near
Bourke.
Windorah has a great motel attached to the pub. Likewise there is one attached to
Birdsville pub.
To get down to NSW you can go a couple of ways and include
the DIG tree near
Innamincka. Then could head for
Cameron corner to enter NSW via Merty Merty.
Jsut before leaving check that there is no "wet" coming down that area (usually not at that time) and also check if extreme temperatures are expected. treat the temps with a lot of respect especially if you haven;t travelled these roads before.
Navigation is easy just follow signposts on the main tracks but don't expect help from passing traffic as traffic thins out at that time of year.
Cheers
Alan
AnswerID:
391907
Follow Up By: kirkfort - Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 15:06
Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 15:06
Many thanks Alan and Redust for your advise.
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659843
Follow Up By: handy - Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 16:05
Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 16:05
here at
windorah we get most of our rain around this time and things can change very quickly, cheers
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Reply By: Member Brian (Gold Coast) - Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 19:30
Friday, Nov 20, 2009 at 19:30
Kirkfort,
I see you live on the
Gold Coast, if you like I can give you a bit of info on that trip, we might just need to meet up for a coffee sometime.
Cheers
Brian
AnswerID:
391941
Follow Up By: kirkfort - Thursday, Nov 26, 2009 at 15:52
Thursday, Nov 26, 2009 at 15:52
Hi Brian
Yes, I would be most grateful for advise on this trip. The Wife happened to see Gbc's comment on the heat (which I duley appreciate) and went rather cold on the idea. Hence the delay in replying. However I am back on board to hear more and have assured her that there are plenty air-conditioned stopovers(here's hoping!). Please send your contact details.
Cheers
Peter
FollowupID:
660690
Reply By: gbc - Sunday, Nov 22, 2009 at 08:53
Sunday, Nov 22, 2009 at 08:53
Temps don't get below 30 at night at that time of the year - bugger all travellers on the roads, and the locals all look at you real funny.
Too hot to get out of the car to see most tourist attractions for very long, but a coopers in the innaminka pup in January is hard earned and much enjoyed.
We walked into the
Hungerford pup during the boxing day test match one year and it was 46 degrees inside the pup with the coolers (wet hessian bag in front of a fan) going.
It's all good while the car goes, but in the event of a breakdown you'd better have a bloody good plan in place, because people die quick at that time of year without one.
I'm not saying don't go, just go prepared.
AnswerID:
392137