Brisbane to Uluru via Innaminka and Flinders Rangers

Fiona, I have an off road camper trailer and can maybe make some observations, although I haven't got first hand knowledge of the whole route you are taking.
My wife and I camp outside of caravan parks whenever possible , although we tend to go to one every so often to have a shower. Showers in bush camps are pretty inconvenient and a waste of water. However we do not camp at roadside rest stops ( popularised by Camps 5) mainly because of the FILTH and lack of security.

I note you want water at Arkaroola. Well when I was there the only water AFAIK ,is the stuff you buy in the mini market in bladders. Their other water is bore water and you will see its mineral content by the stalactites in the showers.LOL You can buy water at Coober Pedy from a council coin pump which is very cheap. ( reverse osmosis but still may give tummy probs)

My advice is to keep a separate source of water only for drinking and replenish it from either known low mineral sources or buy some at supermarkets. You do not use much, in our case only about 2-4 litres per person per day (plus beer and soft drinks). We did three months in the Kimberleys and there and back without a tummy upset.
Wilpena Pound- there are some bush( national parks) camps in the gorges which looked good but we stayed at Rawnsley Park. It is a caravan park but pretty casual and you can bush camp if you like.
Painted Desert - Hmm . You would have to like wind. And it is desolate. we stayed in Coober Pedy for the experience but the caravan park was nothing to write home about. You can camp at ABC bay , but you would have to LOVE desolation and wind.
A good camp on the way is Coward Springs but take the citronella and Desert Dweller as legions of flies are replaced by legions of mossies on sundown.

Innaminka common is quite nice except you may be kept awake all night by thousands of Corellas arguing. It is underwater at present. they have coin showers there, which hopefully will be in operation. I am sure you can buy water at the store but doubt there is much reticulated water, but I havent been there for many years.
The Strezlecki should be OK as the Santos trucks use it and there are now many bitumin passing areas ! It can get VERY corrugated and beware of road crews unlike my wife who didn't slow down when I said don't go behind the water truck, and she did a half spin which is unpleasant with a camper trailer.

I did the Oodnadatta last year and could sit on 80Kmh nearly all the time with tyres down. It was great then but who knows now.

Hope this helps.
Regard sPhilip A

Hi Fiona,
can't help you with the road and camping info, but I would suggest to you that a new UHF radio isn't that expensive compared to 2nd hand. You will also have the warranty to go with it.

If you meant HF radio, then thats a differnt matter and the costs vary greatly dependent upon your set and antenna of choice. There are reputable sellers of 2nd hand Hf radios around.
regards

Most of the roads you are travelling on are bitumen or good hard capped dirt roads.

The roads in QLD are OK, the NT very good and SA???.

The road conditions can change overnight so even a good road can become slow going.

The Plenty has had graders and road crews working for about the last 2 months, the NT side is good and capable of 110Kph, there is about 30K of road works but the QLD side is still slow in place, we spoke to a couple at Jervois station about 2 weeks ago who damaged their camper trailer on the QLD side when they had to swerve suddenly to avoid a star dropper placed in the middle of the road supporting some rocks (no warning signs).

They destroyed a tyre, rim and punched a hole in the front of there ultimate when it jack knifed......these people were experienced long distance travellers.

Jervois Station has good camp grounds or you can camp along the Plenty Highway, in Alice Springs you might want to check out G'day Mate caravan park.

In June the Plenty Highway about 80K west of Jervois may have a lot of road train activity due to a lease holder loosing his lease and having to move 10,000 head of cattle......130 double decker triple road trains is on order.

At Uluru you have no real choice but to camp in the caravan park unless you can out of town.

Innaminka has good camping at the Common, Montecollina Bore is a dive....no shade but plenty of parking and heaps of sand, may be better to find somewhere on the Arkaroola road as you turn of the Strez.

There are plenty of places to camp on the Strez and Oodnadatta track but if staying in Coober Pedy it may pay to stay in the caravan park as they are having a lot of trouble with transient aborigines from the YPA lands.

In the Flinders don't stay at Wilpena Pound (Wilpena I think means DOG), stay at Rawnsly Park down the road....much better.

Water is available at most towns.

If you camp in towns it pays to camp in the caravan park as the locals can become a problem.

Sorry for not being in order.

Hi Fiona,
You can camp for free across the road (track) from the Noccundra Hotel, on the banks of the river. There are free hot showers at the pub. You can then drive from there to Cameron Corner and out to the Strzelecki Track at Merty Merty. We took our caravan that way. Or you can back-track from Noccundra a bit and go direct to Innamincka along the Adventure Way.
There is also a good free camp at Bollon again free hot showers in town not a long walk.
I suggest you buy Camps 5. It is abook full of free and low cost camp sites.

I too have 3 kids, a CT and don't like Big 4 style caravan parks. We bush camped at Rawnsley park in the Flinders. Could walk to the flushing toilet and fill up water there for our bush shower yet be bush camped around our own campfire. The main campground had the washing machines etc.

The Pound was too crowded to camp but not far to drive.

Don't forget Jervois Station on the Plenty is cash only for fuel.

Enjoy!

Fiona

I haven't read all the replies but here are our comments
Innamincka town common was great, we actually paid a few $s and stayed down the Ck a bit where there was a long drop and less crowded. We paid for drinking water (bore water was a bit ordinary) but it was OK for washing etc...

Montecollina Bore when we were there it was a cold day with a gale, with poor access to the water which memory says was high in sulphur and the country side was a moonscape from rabbit erosion 80 years ago. We pushed onto Arkaroola

We really liked a bit of civilisation at Arkaroola after a while roughing it.
Coober Pedy is a buy water pl;ce, but to fill up 60L will cost you very little. For the Painted Desert, you need to stay at Arckaringa (spelling?) station for a minor fee they provided rubbish drop off, good showers and toilets.
Dalhousie springs is a great place to swim, but rough as guts road in and even more so out (direct road to Mt Dare).
Strezleki track when we did it a few years ago was a super highway (dirt) due to Moomba Gas fields. Even the Oodnadatta track last year was in great shape.

Uluru, you have to stay at the resort camping ground, but at Kings Canyon make sure you stay at Kings Ck Station instead of the resort. Never heard anyone say otherwise, nothing wrong with the resort, but at the station you get real local Aussies who know the area as opposed to European backpacking staff.
Be prepared for temperatures down to -3, as we found last July.
Alice Springs region, stay at Ormiston Gorge NP, not at Glen Helen "resort", Plenty of gorges and waterholes, but they will be far too cold for swimming. Make sure you do the 8km Pound walk at Ormiston, better for the kids than more well publisised Simpsons Gap or Stanley Chasm.

Last year we found the Plenty Highway a 80-100km/hr affair (we were passed by vehicles doing >100km/hr), don't know how it is chopped up by good rains this year.

I found none of the dirt roads (except Dalhousie region) any worse than dirt roads in NW slopes & Plains of NSW.
While you are at Boulia, consider going down through Diamantina Lakes NP (need to watch fuel) instead of bitumen straight to Winton. Our kids loved swimming there last year in July when the days were in high 20's (too cold for me though).

4 weeks, barely/ justlong enough to do what you are planning. We crammed it into 3 weeks last year without the Innamincka/ Flinders leg which we did a few years ago.

You & the kids will have a ball, but remember to schedule in some rest/ going no where days.

Hi Fiona,
On the subject of UHF radio. I survived on a couple of 1 watt Uniden hand helds for 10 years. I have only in the last 18 months, bought a GME vehicle mount. If you are using just car to car, a handheld is fine and usually very clear within a short distance, up to a few ks apart, even with a 1 watt unit. If you have a pair of them you can use them for parking caravans and campers and for giving directions to your driver if you need to walk in front of your vehicle in difficult terrain. I'm not really sure there is a lot of value in a vehicle mounted unit other than slightly better range and and maybe a little more convenient over a 5 watt hand held. Michael

Hi
We did a trip around LaKe Eyre from the direction of Brisbane, last September.

You can set up at Monetecollina Bore- there were several caravans set up there as well as 1 c/t. There are picnic tables and a drop toilet. Re swimming in the bore- there is only a small area where the spring comes out which is the hot part-its like quick sand around the edges...learned that the hard way. Its nice for a o/n stop, but not much around and exposed.

Innaminka- you have the Coongie Lakes which are magnificent. Its a slow old trip out there especially if the road is wet. Its quite corrugated. The solitude and the river and lake are exceptionally pretty. A few sights on the way. I would stay two nights out there. Also new drop toilets there. There is also the dig tree and Burkes grave. Some nice walks and relax. The pub is great as is the newish restaurant. We got stuck there in the big dust storm.

Arakoola is fantatsic. We stayed for three nights. Its a long way down the track from Innaminka- but we came from Maree direction. There are lots of walks to do at Arakoola and 4wd tracks you can take. There are maps at reception avail. Lots of organised tours you can hop on as well. There is an observatory with viewing etc at night- but may not be suitable depending on the age of your kids. The restaurant provided us with waaaay too much food and wine- but I wasnt complaining at the time! We stayed in a nice motel style room to have a break from camping. I would love to go back.
We came in from Parachina via Blinman(v nice) and then a LONG, CORRUGATED, big stones/rocks, road past Balcanoona. I believe the better way is via Copley.Leigh Creek has everything if you need to stock up.
The tiny shop at Arakoola is very limited.

Re the water- as were were camping, we had bottled water for drinking. We had approx 40l. But we kept topping up wherevere we went( Innaminka, Cameron Corner etc). We used the great shower facility at Innaminka.

We had a uhf radio - a GME 3440. Our aerial did break off in the corrugations on the way to Akaroola though! It was a relief to be able to contact someone on the Strezlecki track in the middle of the dustorm. We also had a sat phone.