expert trip planners

Hi Tim,

Cant help very much without some idea of where you want to go! Have a trawl through this site using the blue buttons above (Places, Treks etc). If you can give us a general idea of at least the direction you want to travel others here can help fill in the detail. Is this your first big trip? How will you be accommodated - tent, campervan, caravan etc? Adding this sort of info will help too.
If its your first trip and you are going solo I would suggest not doing the Simpson.

Happy planning,

Val

I don't want to sound cocky and without knowing your background, I'd suggest perhaps not doing something like the Simpson Desert if this is your first trip... I'm also not sure when you're planning to do this trip, but during the cooler months is best - the inland gets very hot during summer and there will generally be less people around should you have anything go wrong, just be prepared for some cold nights!

On my first trip I headed up through Flinders Ranges (did bit of touring and hike there), up Strzelecki Tk to Innamincka, on to Birdsville and back down the Birdsville Tk (since I didn't think it wise to attempt the Simpson on my first major outing, nor did I think it wise to attempt it without another vehicle in convoy - others may differ on these views). Got to Marree and headed northwards up the Oodnadatta Tk all the way up to Alice Springs via. Dalhousie Springs/Ruins (other side of Simpson to Birdsville) and Chambers Pillar. From Alice Springs, I headed down to Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon, then up through Finke River Gorge to Hermannsburg, then spent a week in the West MacDonnell Ranges visiting all the gorges and hiiking to the summit of Mt Sonder.

There was plenty of off-roading in that trip (depending what sort of stuff you're looking for - I didn't use much lo-range but perhaps Victorian High Country would your best bet if you to use lo-range a bit!) and around Innamincka (trip out to Coongie Lakes) and the Finke River Gorge gave me a gentle intro to sand driving which will be invaluable for when I hope to tackle Fraser Island and Simpson Desert heopfully on a later trip.

If you want to know more, you can read my detailed blog of that trip by clicking on 'my blog' at the bottom of this message.

Thanks for the replies. We will be tenting, and the Simpson , if it was to be tackled would be done at the end of the trip, tagging along with another convoy, but only if enough experience had been had beforehand. I will have a trawl through the treks notes etc. It is just sometimes there is too much info- bit like trying to choose which tyre- gives you a headache in the end. Thanks Timbo for the itinerary- very helpful.

Assuming you are talking an outback trip & not around Oz, I would begin with listing all the "must see" places you have always wanted to go. For me that would
include Flinders, Ood Track, Uluru area, Alice area, Tanami, Broome, Bungles,
Gibb RR, Kunnunurra/Wyndham, Katherine, Kakadu & so on. In fact ,that reads like a good itinerary in itself. Add on any other eastern areas, or S WA if you wish.
As others have said, heaps of good info on this sight, & plenty of well travelled
folk to answer specific questions. I email every place I am going that has a tourist
office & ask for a mailed info pack, that way you get up to date info to assist planning. You can save heaps by bush camping if you are set up for it. Get the
Camps 5 book, great source of low cost campsites. I dont like prebooking unless
in a peak period, as it ties you to a timeframe...not always good.
Enjoy your trip..no better pastime......oldbaz.