SA to NT to QLD

Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 08, 2011 at 21:59

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tinbutterfly

hi all :)

we are long time caravanners for short holidays but planning the long service leave trip in 2013.

the plan is to travel from semi rural SA to Uluru, Alice, Tennant Creek, Mount Isa, Townsville then Cairns. then slowly back home (not sure yet of what direction!)

we are looking at a minimum of 4 months but are aiming for 6 if we can get enough cash together.

We have a 100 series landcruiser and Island Star van, we have a currently 2 1/2 year old coming with us.

I am looking for tips from those that have done any part of this trip before, where should we not miss? anything we should beware of? are the roads in good nick? any suggestions / ideas most welcome

cheers Tina

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Reply By: Motherhen - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 00:47

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 00:47

Hi Tina

We did sort of similar from WA over five months, but didn't have a young child to prevent us doing long walks and climbs. Check out My Blogs for 2008 and 2009. I am still working on 2009 travelogues, but in the interim have a summary Blog of where we went. We chose a heavy duty off road caravan so we could take the outback roads, and they don't come much rougher than the long dirt roads in NT outback. There are good bitumen roads you can stick to. When you get into Queensland (and this was before last year's damage to their roads), some areas suffer subsidence with a rock and roll effect when towing a caravan, so we needed to take them even slower than the corrugated roads like the Tanami.

Motherhen

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Follow Up By: tinbutterfly - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 20:03

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 20:03

Hi Motherhen, you have some great blogs :) thank you for sharing. I am so very tempted to try to travel further north to the top of NT but must remember I have years to see this great country! what time of year did you travel? we are thinking of leaving Adelaide mid May in the hope that we get the best of the weather. cheers Tina

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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 20:31

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 20:31

Hi Tina

Ideally we would have left early to mid May, but in farming we have to wait until the season breaks (which never happened last year). In 2008 we left 22 May to go to the Kimberley, with hopes of taking a different way home with a trip to Uluru and surrounds if time. We got it all in and were home by end of September (grandchild due early October). In 2009 we couldn't get away until 13 June, returning mid November. When we reached Queensland late in August when it was heating up and getting too late to go further north; also we had limited time to get back to the opposite corner of Australia with lots of things we really wanted to see on the way. An early May start would have helped us get a lot more in like touring Far North Qld - possibly to the Cape.

Subject to weather and roads being open, i think leave early May if you can.

You need to allow for the fact that a breakdown (even something simple like a vital bolt) can takes weeks to get spares, there will be lay days to do laundry, shopping, or if someone is ill.

Mh

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Reply By: Member - John and Val - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 08:53

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 08:53

Hi Tina,

You will have a great time doing that trip and you may have time to head west from say Katherine and have a look at the very different country that NW WA has to offer.

There is a wealth of information on this site tucked away in various places. In particular look in the Blogs section which can be easily searched, and also in Places (go in via the buttons in the blue bar along the top of the forum page). We have done trips along the route you propose though not with a young child and many of them are covered in our blogs which you can easily get to via the link just near my sign-off.

What not to miss - depends very much on what you like and the effort you are prepared to put into getting to places. The condition of the roads will depend on weather conditions closer to your trip but you could stick to bitumen all the way - but be aware that if you did so you would miss seeing a lot of places.

My tip would be to take your time to look at the many interesting things you will come across between the "tourist spots", and remember that on a trip of a few months its about the journey rather than the destination.

Cheers,

Val.

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Follow Up By: tinbutterfly - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 20:14

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 20:14

Hi Val, thanks for your post! Your blogs are great and fill me with enthusiasm... our toddler will be just over 4 by the time we travel so hopefully we will be able to accomplish a reasonable amount of walking (he is a very active little tot who spends most days out in the paddock!)

We are really looking forward to the journey! and exciting pics and memories of our trip :) cheers Tina

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Reply By: rumpig - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 17:57

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 17:57

have a read of this trip report i did from a recent 5 week trip away with my family, it might help you with some ideas of what to see along the way.
http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=179&t=121720
you will struggle to do any long walks with a 2 1/2 year old, but shorter walks are still easily doable and will have you visiting some spectacular places along the way.
cheers

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Follow Up By: rumpig - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 18:05

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 18:05

i probably should have mentioned that you should probably stay away from some parts of the Savanah Way with your caravan due to the shocking corrogations on the dirt roads up there, but alot of roads up around Kakadu and Litchfield are bitumin these days. the run from Hells Gate to Borroloola and also the section of road a few hundred klms before / heading into Roper Bar were really bad when we traversed them for corrogations, you'd want a really well built offroad van to survive those sections IMHO, but obviously road conditions are always changing.

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Follow Up By: tinbutterfly - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 21:19

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 21:19

hey Rumig what wonderful stories you have :) I am amazed at how far you drove in such a relatively short time with the kids in the back. did they not drive you mad? I have 4 old teenagers and we travelled alot around Vic when they were younger and the "are we there yet" started not long after taking off! thank you for your stories :) my little one will be 4 by the time we travel so hopefully will be ready for some of the walks you did! cheers Tina

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Follow Up By: rumpig - Sunday, Nov 13, 2011 at 19:31

Sunday, Nov 13, 2011 at 19:31

Hi Tina,
sorry for the late reply but i've been away from the computer for a few days.
our kids are great when it comes to long distances to travel, the DVD players we have on the back of the front seat headrests do make it alot easier for us though. i will say that our 8 year old started to get abit annoying at the end of the 4th week, she was starting to act silly in the back seat towards the end of the afternoons, but we knew for most part, both kids had been pretty good really. i think a major help with the way our kids behave in the vehicle is due to them having other kids the same age travelling with us in the other vehicles that came along on that trip, they get to play with them at morning tea and lunch times, so that helps alot i reckon.
you can only do so much with little kids when it comes to the walks, but short walks are better then none IMHO. we're not waiting until our kids grow up to get out and enjoy visiting this great country we live in, so we'll do what we can for now and hopefully go back to visit the places again at a later date if we get the chance.
hope you have a fantastic trip away, i'm sure you will.
cheers
Mal

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Reply By: KevinE - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 18:42

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 18:42

Hi,

This is my 1st post here, we live in TTG & have done the Adelaide to NT trip a few times. Not sure if you've been up the Stuart Hwy before? If not, you'll have a ball! The 1st trip on any road is always an adventure! :)

My sister in law used to live in Alice for over 20 years & we made the trip up a few times. For the 1st stop; the bar at Glendambo is good, but a tad exy & there's bugger all to see there. We tend to stop at Coober Pedy the 1st night these days. Just have a few 20c coins in your pocket, as the showers at the Stuart Range are coin operated. You get a fuel discount at the servo across the road with your receipt from the caravan park though :) Plus there is a pizza joint in the caravan park that knocks out a decent freed.

Uluru is an easy day trip from Coober Pedy; Erldunda is full of greasy food & it's exy, but you'll need to get fuel there coz it's even more exy at Curtain Springs :( Nothing I could say would do the Rock justice! Suffice to say, you'll be glad you went :)

Alice & the McDonnell Ranges are a trip by themselves lol! The trip out to Glen Helen is a must! There are various gorges/chasm along the way & all are worth the effort & all are doable with a toddler :)

If you have time, Hermannsburg is a good trip, but the complete loop road from Uluru is not a good idea towing a van. Best to visit from Alice on the bitumen.

The dawn air ballooning from Alice is sensational if it's still going! :-)))

The trip out to Ross River Station is also worth the effort!

Like I said, heaps to do in Alice! We recently did the Kimberley & stopped at the "G'day Mate" caravan park in Alice on our way back & were very impressed :) Very clean, lots of facilities & very friendly!

We've stopped at Tennant Creek a few times too (sister in law moved to Darwin lol!) To be honest, I'd never really liked the joint until this trip. We stayed at the park off the main road this time & it was quite nice.

Done the top end a few times now & as I said, we recently did the Kimberley (SENSATIONAL!) but I haven't gone east from 3 ways, maybe one day! ;)

Hope some of the above info is useful!

Cheers,

Kevin........... :)

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Follow Up By: KevinE - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 18:46

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 18:46

Forgot to mention that we stopped at the old telegraph station at Tennant Creek this time & the park ranger was there, he was brilliant! He spent heaps of time chatting to us about all the NT national parks :)

Also forgot to mention Rainbow Gorge: great spot to camp, but don't go there with a van.

The camping is very cheap at the Devil's Marbles too, rather than Tennant Creek, but very limited facilities.

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Follow Up By: tinbutterfly - Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 20:21

Wednesday, Nov 09, 2011 at 20:21

Thanks Kevin :) it is great to hear from someone starting in the same place as us!

I think it will take us longer to reach uluru but interesting to note that you do it in 2 days! We have been up to Broken Hill but that is the furthest North by car so I am really looking forward to the trip. Have always wanted to see Uluru so hope I will not be disappointed :) I did live in Alice for a while as a teenager so have been to Ross River and Glen Helen but i am certainly keen to see them again with older wiser eyes! Not sure if I want to see Alice from the air though I am quite keen on keeping my feet firmly on the ground haha.

was there little to see in Tennant Creek? I just wonder why you didn't think that much of it :)

cheers Tina

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Follow Up By: KevinE - Thursday, Nov 10, 2011 at 07:03

Thursday, Nov 10, 2011 at 07:03

Hi Tina,

2 more good caravan parks on the way up are Wycliffe Well & Banka Banka. Both have lovely green grass :) There's a roadhouse at Wycliffe Well, but no fuel available at Banka Banka.

If you do choose to go further up in the NT, you will really enjoy it! You can tow the van on bitumen to all of the popular spots. Mataranka/Bitter Springs is a beautiful spot, as is Edith falls (both good spots for a swim :) ), Katherine is very busy these days, but still a good place to stop. The Riverview Caravan Park was very good & backs onto yet another swimming hole :) Then of course there's the gorge, which is a must do. We hired a canoe & paddled it. Sensational! A little freshy popped it's head up in the water next to the canoe!

Then there's Lichfield & Kakadu. NB: Kakadu is $25 per head to get in.

My memories of the 1st time I drove into Tennant Creek are camp dogs in the main street & people queuing along a footpath to a window with bars on it at the pub to get grog! The facilities are good there, motels, servos, caravan park, but very little to see or do.

Cheers,

Kevin........... :)

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