Road conditions in March in North Australia

Submitted: Sunday, Nov 02, 2003 at 05:11

ThreadID: 8253 Views:2265 Replies:7 FollowUps:8

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Dutch Richard

Hello All,

My name is Richard and I am new to this site. The reason why I am posting is that I am searching for specific details about road conditions in March in North Australia and was not able to find something usefull yet.

In January I am coming to Australia for the second time to do a lot of driving again. I shall name the cities I want to pass: Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Port Headland, Broome, Fitzroy Crossing, Kununurra, Katherine, Darwin, Alice Springs, Uluru, Melbourne.

I will leave Melbourne the end of January and I think I will reach Broome by half March. What worries me is that March is still the wet season. Will I be able to do do Broome - Darwin, passing the above mentoined cities? That is Great Northern Highway, Victoria Highway and Stuart Highway. I am talking about a conventional 2wd car.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

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Reply By: Member- Rox - Sunday, Nov 02, 2003 at 11:06

Reply By: Member - George (WA) - Sunday, Nov 02, 2003 at 21:54

Reply By: Dutch Richard - Sunday, Nov 02, 2003 at 23:59

Reply By: Willem - Monday, Nov 03, 2003 at 11:41

Monday, Nov 03, 2003 at 11:41

Hi Richard,

From Broome to Darwin and you may experience some delays at river crossings if the rivers are in flood. It depends on how active the WET season has been. Normally Northern Australia will receive around 2500mm of rain between November and the end of April. All the places you have mentioned have sealed roads connecting them. Going off the sealed road in March could bring problems. Best thing to do would be to do a search on the Internet on the Road Report for each state that you intend to visit. Enjoy your travels.
Cheers,Willem

Always going somewhere

AnswerID: 36034

Follow Up By: Dutch Richard - Monday, Nov 03, 2003 at 18:47

Monday, Nov 03, 2003 at 18:47

Hi Willem,

Thanks for the reply. It is not my intention to go off the sealed roads. You talk about 'some delays', is that a couple hours, a couple days or even a couple weeks? I've seen the sites from the government with the road conditions, they will be very usefull when I am there, but not yet with planning.

Bye,
Richard

FollowupID: 26027

Follow Up By: Willem - Tuesday, Nov 04, 2003 at 07:28

Tuesday, Nov 04, 2003 at 07:28

The river which may stop you is the Victoria River in the Northern Territory. The bridge is about 16 metres high over the river but when the river floods it rises up to 20 metres. It may take up to 4 days to subside to make crossing possible. Other rivers that flood are the Fitzroy River but I am not sure if there wopuld be any problems there as I have not been there for a whie now. The East Baines River could also flood its banks and push water on to the plains around it. It has from memory a low level bridge. So it all depends on how much rain has fallen in the WET season. As a general rule we found that moving around in the wet season you may have restrictions from Novemebr through to the end of April. The main rains come in February where it would rain for a week solidly in a rain depression. A few years ago when the town of Katherine flooded up to 400mm of rain fell in 5 hours. If you could vary your plans to fly in to Darwin in January and do the reverse trip you may have a better scenario for travel. Remember also that you are visiting Australia at the hottest time of the year and temperatures WILL be uncomfortable up north.

Cheers,
Willem

Always going somewhere