Perth to uluru

with the weather as it is and as the forcast is not really for a dry few months you will be limited to the tar and i would say it will be via the southern route .....
Good luck eh, nice and green out there atm

how far can you travel on a tank of fuel? How much extra fuel can you carry?

Grunta1970

The quickest by far is the Great Central Road, all dirt but in good weather, a great road from Laverton straight through to Yulara. The worst part of the road section is just before the WA/NT border. The biggest concern out there would be keeping an eye out for stray camels. There is a lot to see along the way and some great places to camp. I would recommend Tjukayirla and Warakurna as good safe places to stay along the way. The detour up to Empress Springs is well worth it and it will be the best dirt road that you will drive on.

If it is wet, then stick to the bitumen.

Cheers

Stephen

Hi Grunta

I am not aware of the conditions in the specific areas you are talking about, but I do know that there is a quite a bit of rain about, and you would be better sticking to tyhe sealed roads.

Cheers

Gday Grunta,

My son and I have just driven from Perth to Cairns across the great central road. It would be by far the quickest way to Uluru. As mentioned by other members, Tchykira road house and warakurna are good places to stop at. unfortunately we were on a very strict time limit, so didn't stop to smell the roses as they say.
we copt a bit of a down pour right at warakurna, and it made the road pretty boggy in places. but the ground is good and hard, and the bog was mainly on the surface. docker river would have been the worst place for the bog.
most of the track is in good condition, with about 80% corrogation. we did the trip in November this year. the rain over took us and ended up flooding out the plenty highway into Boulia, so we ended up taking the tarmac from alice and across to mount isa, normanton, then onto cairns.
being on a bike is obviously a totally different story, so i cant comment on how to ride to those conditions.
feel free to read our blog on the trip.
John

forgot to mention that you will have to apply for permits for WA and NT. that can be done online.
John

Gday,
I would go the GCR as long as its open when you leave.
I came across it recently ( a few months ago) the day it was reopened after rain, and its was fine.
I wouldnt hesitate doing it on a bike in that condition compared and your option is obviously a lot further.

Cheers

Thanks for all of the posts, much appreciated. Im not sayiong exactly when i would do it, I realise that it would be reliant on the weather . I do have experience in touring off road, i went to the kimberley last year on my bike, about 2000kms of that trip was on forest roads, sand and rough road. I did manage to make google maps accept the route through the GCR. It is just on 2000kms one way, which is about 1600kms shorter than the other way. For me its more about the journey than the destination, so doing the unsealed roads would be a highlight for me, not a hinderance. Thanks again

Last time I come back from Uluru along Gt Central rd ,I found a young guy who had come off his BMW 1200 about 100klms east of Laverton.
He had come up a hill and down the other side and found the other side was thick, loose sand .
He lost control and rolled the bike putting it out of action and luckily he was only dazed.

Im not saying dont do it,it would be great on a dual sport bike but you have to take it easy and preferably have a mate to ride with or a back up vehicle behind.
It was 2050 klms one way by my Landcruiser odometer.

My tip,air down the tyres a few pound.

I rode a suzuki vstrom along the GCR a couple years ago and got fuel at laverton, Tjukayirla, Warburton, Warakurna (giles) and at uluru. Only just made the section between warakurna and uluru as docker river didn't sell any. We camped at Tjukayirla which was good and also at a camp ground at docker river. There were 4 of us on vstroms. We found most of the road was ok but every now and then the road would be soft which would cause your butt cheeks to grab the seat.lol. The tour at Giles weather station was worth it. We did it in september and most temps was in low 30's which was hot on the bike.
good luck

wizzer

Excellent replies, thanks everyone, much appreciated.