back way to alice

Hi Katz,
that's like asking how long is a piece of string. Depends on how "off road" you want to be, and what do you want to see.You either have to go via QLD or SA. Sydney, Dubbo, Charleville, Bedourie, Boulia, Donohue Hwy, and Plenty hwy will take you 80km north of Alice on the Stuart hwy is just one example.

Sydney, Dubbo, Broken Hill, then Peterborough north to Leigh creek, Marree and Oodnadatta Track to Marla and then to Alice is another. So it all depends on how much time you have, how adventurous you want to be.

Best time to travel in NT is the dry season (May to October), but again, what is it you want to see and do. Nights can be very cold in central Aus.
hope this helps,
regards

Go the ultimate "Back way":

Sydney, Bourke, Wannaring, Tibooburra, Cameron Corner, Innaminka, Haddon Corner, Birdsville, Poepple Corner, Dalhousie Springs, Mt Dare, Finke, Alice Springs!

Knock over three of the "Corners" while your at it!

The back way will take at least 3 times longer than the front way. If you haven't done it before, the front way is good enough. :-)

Look at Google Maps or such to plan some different routes and then ask about conditions of roads.
Of course you could look at the Treks on this site.

Hi Katz,

There are many ways to and from Alice Springs, starting from Sydney - you cant expect a sensible answer from such a broad question. It all depends on how you are travelling (van, camper, tent) and how much time you have, whether you want to see something a bit off the beaten track etc.

If you are going to Alice Springs you really should be carrying paper maps. I suspect that if you have asked this question you dont have decent maps available for trip planning - and IMHO paper maps are essential tools for starting to plan a trip. The Hema 4WD Atlas is an excellent map book that covers all of Australia. Its available from the shop on this site.

Get a copy and spend a while poring over it (starting with the map key), taking note of what roads are sealed and which are unsealed or just tracks. Then you can get some idea of which way you might want to travel. Then you can ask more specific questions, such as the current state of x or y road/track.

The best way to travel to the Northern territory is in winter. Then the days are not too hot, rain is unlikely (but not totally impossible) but the nights will be cool to cold unless you are well north.

This site has a wealth of info - use the search button in the top RH corner and it will point you to many forum posts, blogs and articles etc that will help you to plan your trip.

Cheers,

Val

Thank you for the replies definately give us some good ideas.We definately keen to see as much as we can in the 3 months we have to do it in.