Cairns to Broome and back

[Kevin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kevin]

Hi all,
I have just started planning my annual leave, 6 weeks in August/September.

This is the rough route I am looking at taking. I am going to give the Prado and Camper a real work out by staying on Dirt roads for as much of the trip as possible. :wink:



Hopefully I can catch up with a few fellow Prado Pointers along the way.

Cheers,
Kevin

[Crammy Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Crammy]

Looks like it'll be a great trip. How many kms will it be?

Just had a quick look on whereis... It'll be around 8000kms round trip? Average kms per day would need to be around the 200km mark.

Hmm I rekon it may get a little rushed. All depends on what you want to see and how long you want to stay along the way. Just hanging around Alice would burn an easy week without going to the rock.

[Kevin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kevin]

I am up to 9.5k so far... :roll:

That will average out to around 270k at day for 5 weeks. If it gets too be to much for the family I will hit the blacktop and head for home 8) .

[joey Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close joey]

holly jumpin mate thats some serious drive... you say around 270kms per day for 5 weeks?? thats a big call..driving dirt roads day after day k after k is tedious...

i would try to alternate a little with the black top maybe to give you faster access to some destinations and free you up a little...

i bet you will be cleaning some spew!! ha ha :lol:

joey

[Kevin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kevin]

We won't be travelling every day...Just every second one :roll:

I am planning to head to Alice Springs first and see the big rocks :wink:. If we think we can handle a 1000k of dirt to do the Tanami track then we will do it and head to Broome. Otherwise will probably head up the center towards Katherine/Kakadu.

Re the spew...I will be installing a sickie bag dispenser in the back :wink: and teaching him to put the window down :roll:

[joey Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close joey]

sounds like a cracker of a trip mate....will look forward to the review and photos....

joey

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Should be doable no problems, remember that some days you will travel a lot more than 270 kms. Realistically the trip will probably consist of hops of around 500 kms at a time so that should give you enough breaks inbetween to do some sightseeing.

[Brissy4me Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Brissy4me]

I did Perth to Brisbane via the top-end in 3 1/2 weeks about 8 years ago. Got up at dawn and hit the road by about 7:30. Usually stopped to setup camp around 2pm then spent the rest of the afternoon having a look around at the local secenery. Did most of the National parks and part of the GRR and spent 4 days in Kakadu. Most of the travelling was on bitumen though. By the end of the 3 1/2 weeks I was glad I was home. A suggestion I will make is to spend 1 night a week in a motel or similar (something with Air-con) just to give the family (and yourself) a break from the camping.

Sounds like a great trip though, I wish I could do it myself

[plucker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close plucker]

Are you on the blacktop to Karumba, as the drive via Chillagoe is not too bad as far as roads go that time of the year. The Gilbert River near the causeway on the southern bank is a great camp spot. Most of this road we did at 80KM in th ol Lux and only needed to open 3 gates in 6/700 odd KM. The Prado would eat it at 100KM
I am not sure if Hells gates is still open, on the Qld border, but I have heard there is a fuel depot at Doomagie before then anyway.
Burketown that time of the year has the mornig glory cloud thing happening if you are lucky enough to be awake at sparrows fa**.
Hughenden to the Lynd will definately be the worst bitumen road you have ever been on - its corrugated. :shock: The dirt through this section is better by heaps.
When you go to Boroloola definately drive the extra 45 Km and stay at King Ash Bay. The pub feeds are cheap - and so too are the beers.

[lc120_man Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lc120_man]

I would say first depends how olds the kids are... Without kids this probably can be done in less than 3 weeks with small kids can take 9 :wink:

[Kevin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kevin]

Thanks for the feed back guys. I am having a bit of a play around with the route to include more time in areas that are further away from Cairns (Alice Springs/Broome) and maybe stick to the black top from Katherine back to Cairns and do the gulf country on another trip.

When I get it finalized I will post it up with some dates.

Other things I need to sort out are:

Hire/Buy Satphone. I am going to take a satphone as it will be easier for the wife/boys to use in case of an emergency.

Buy an EPIRB, probably one that broadcasts the GPS location as well.

Organize for the wife and myself to do Senior First Aid course.

Find a better solution for in-car entertainment than the twin DVD Dick Smith system I have with cables going everywhere. I like the look/price of the Polaris system.

Cheers,
Kevin

[muzza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close muzza]

well

Well, I would suggest IMHO that you are trying to do too much in too little time. Of course this is is just my opinion so take anything i say with a grain of salt as i am not trying to force my opinions down your throat. you know better than me what your priorities are and your capacity to do the trip.

Anyway, my humble suggestions.....

Why not concentrate on an area and save some of the others for later trips.

I would break up the Kimberley, Gulf, Top End and the Centre for starters.

The Kimberley is an absolute almost spritual blast.......you need time to explore it.....and as it is the furtherest to go, maybe you need more time to do that just on its own. Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek, Giekie Gorge, old Halls Creek, Bungle Bungles, Parry's lagoon, Wyndham, Derby, all the Gibb River Rd gorges, Keep River etc etc. Hire a tinny and cruise the Ord River from Kunnanurra, fly over the Kimberley coast from Derby etc etc. All worth doing and none worth missing.

Then you will realise that Broome is not even really Kimberley but more a doorway to the absolute best......the North West of WA....Burrup, Eighty Mile Beach. Karajini, Exmouth etc etc.....another trip is a must then.

Then there is the centre....East and West McDonnels are worth weeks in themselves, Hermansburg, Palm valley, Gosses Bluff etc etc. then you need to factor in the long distance to Uluru and the Olgas and Kings Canyon. Long long drives.

The Top End is under-rated I reckon...I loved Kakadu and spent a week there alone, Litchfield for something different, Darwin itself...Mindl Beach, East point, Fanny bay etc. Katherine Gorge is OK, but after Karajini and the Kimberley is not so impressive.

The Gulf I'll leave to others to comment as it is not somewhere I have been in any depth.

For another time, don't forget the biggest and best kept secret in Australia....the South-West corner....Esperance, Albany, Caves Rd etc etc.

all the best

Muzza

[plucker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close plucker]

I voted no but have not been past Boroloola, but having seen most of western Qld would think that there isn't too much to see at less than 100KM/Hour.
Realistically you could make Karumba in a day, make Lawn hill in 4 hours from there and so on.
Also from Boulia back there will be lots of flat country that you can admire at 100Km.
It all depends on how much time you want to spend in each area or if you just go on a reccy trip for next time to see where you really want to see.
Having not travelled through a lot of NT and WA I cant comment but sounds like Muzza has some good info there anyway.
Talking to a mate from Mt Isa yesterday and he said they have not had any decent rain there for a long time. The gulf and the coast copped it all.
My tip would be to have a little bit of time for the "what if" scenerio.

[MTpockets Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MTpockets]

One of our club members did this trip last year and it took him 3 months, and he still didnt get to see all that he wanted due to some roads closed and some properties unavailable at the time. He has been up that way twice before and still has not seen everything. Its an exhausting country out there. The Gibb River Road has soooo much to explore he says....

[muzza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close muzza]

this chart puts the trip in perspective.....



Cairns to Broome is 3750kms. Cairns to Sydney is 2860 for comparison.[/url]