Outback trip is a go.

[JT76]

After we got home from our GOR trip just before Christmas we thought we would have a quiet year and a few weeks back we decided lets sell our van and when we are ready we will go shopping for a new van. Well a few days after advertising it, we had a bunch of enquiries and it was sold to a nice young family who were the first to view it. It was bitter sweet as the van was set up just how we wanted it and was perfect on our GOR trip. But was good to sell so quickly too.

A few weeks later and we have now changed plans and have decided to plan another trip for mid this year. So then it was time to start research for a new van, long story shot in about two days we had it down to two vans Jayco 19.61-3 or New Age Road Owl 19ft Adventure pack. We were really happy with our expanda and Jayco Sydney made us a pretty good offer (much better then Newcastle) and we were put on the spot. A quick lunch break and phone call back to New Age with an offer and they said no, on our way back to Jayco and phone calls back and New Age came to the party and we now have a new van on order from New Age.

So now we are back to planning our trip with about 4 weeks up our sleeve. It's going to be probably a little more rushed then we want but still looking forward to it.

To be honest I feel like we have most of the trip sorted from home to Alice and then we head to the coast and make our way down from around 1770 area ish.

One area we need help with is between Alice and Winton. We will probably stop over night at the devils marbles and then head over to mt Isa then onto Winton for a couple of nights. It will be a lot of driving but we have limited time days to work with. I am thinking we will spend 5 or 6 nights around Alice which would let us visit West mac ranges and other nearby areas and using this extra time at Alice would mean we have to skip through to get to Winton in a couple of days. Will we miss much in that area? Should we take a couple of days out of Alice and spend more time on the trip to Winton?

I would love to have more time but it just won't happen so any advice on this Alice to Winton leg would really help. In a way I hope there is not much there to miss so we can skip through and spend more time in other areas but I also don't want to miss something due to poor planning.

I'll have to start of thread on our new van too when I get a chance.

http://wctrip.co/au/106607/2024314216

Link to wiki camp trip so far.

 

[Smirke]

After we got home from our GOR trip just before Christmas we thought we would have a quiet year and a few weeks back we decided let sell our van and when we are ready we will go shopping for a new van. Well a few days after advertising it we had a bunch of enquiries and it was sold to a nice young family who were the first to view it. It was bitter sweet as the van was set up just how we wanted it and was perfect on our GOR trip. But was good to sell so quickly too.

A few weeks later and we have now changed plans and have decided to plan another trip for mid this year. So then time to do reasearch on a new van, long story shot in about two days we had it down to two vans Jayco 19.61-3 or New Age Road Owl 19ft Adventure pack. We were really happy with our expanda and Jayco Sydney made us a pretty good offer (much better then Newcastle) and we were put on the spot. A quick lunch break and phone call back to New Age with an offer and they said no, on our way back to Jayco and phone calls back and New Age came to the party and we now have a new van on order.

So now we are back to planning our trip with about 4 weeks up our sleeve it's going to be probably a little more rushed then we want but still looking forward to it.

To be honest I feel like we have most of the trip sorted from home to Alice and then we head to the coast and make our way down from around 1770 area ish.

One area we need help with is between Alice and Winton. We will probably stop over night at the devils marbles and then head over to my Isa then onto Winton for a couple of nights. It will be a lot of driving but with limited time I am thinking spending 5 or 6 nights around Alice would let us visit West mac ranges and other nearby areas and using this extra time at Alice means skipping through to get to Winton in a couple of days. Will we miss much in that area? Should we take a couple of days out of Alice and spend more time on the trip to Winton?

I would love to have more time but it just won't happen so any advice on this Alice to Winton leg would really help. In a way I hope there is not much there to miss so we can skip through and spend more time in other areas but I also don't want to miss something due to poor planning.

I'll have to start of thread on our new van too when I get a chance.

http://wctrip.co/au/106607/2024314216

Link to wiki camp trip so far.

Hi @JT76 . We did the reverse to what you are planning. From Winton we went up thru Cloncurry, Mt Isa and then to alice. We spent 2 nights (possible 3) in Alice and found it long enough to see what we wanted. There isnt much on the trip between so you wont miss much at all. We didnt stay overnight in the towns between, but stayed in the stopping areas along the highway. They are where the big towers are and dont look much, but we had it to ourselves and were off the road. Wiki has them listed.
this is one picture of one we stayed in.

 

[JT76]

Thanks @Smirke that was the feeling I was getting. I am kinda glad there might not be too much we will miss in that leg as there is so much we want to see and do in other areas. We may take your advice and reduce the days in Alice too. But there are a few spots in West mac ranges that I really want to see plus thinking it might be nice to check out east mac too?

 

[Drover]

Cloncurry has a few nice places to look around for a day ....out at the Lake for a picnic or a good wander at the Heritage Museum...............short detour to Julia Crk great butcher, feed the Dunerts good camp night then to Kynuna, lunch at pub then onto Winton.

Winton can eat up a couple of days....Lark Quarry, Age of Dinosaurs, Middleton Pub out of town, in town Transport Museum with some fantastic rare vehicles , Watlzing Matilda Museum re opening late April after the big fire, lots to see and do in Winton, 3 days at least................Alice to Winton is lots of nothing with the odd town which are worth a lookie and stretch of the legs for a coffee.

 

[Hubble80]

Plenty to see in Winton. Age of Dinosaurs is awesome. Musical fence is a hit with the kids. Enjoy the water too. Just a warning, the water smells of rotten egg gas as it comes from the ground. Perfectly healthy to drink and bathe in, but can be off putting!

 

[JT76]

Thanks @Drover and @Hubble80 Winton is certainly somewhere we are looking forward to. Might have to make sure we have enough water to make it through as we will have 220 litres over two tanks as rotten egg water does not sound to good! Wiki camps will get a work out and I think we will plan not to plan that section and just pull up stumps when we get tired and find the closest camp.

 

[Drover]

Winton water does pong but it clears quickly then your left with a nice tasting fluid, like all the water out there it's bore, some smells, some don't and some can taste horrible but mostly good......

 

[Glen Bundesen]

In 2015 we drove from NT to Townsville - At Mt Isa check out the Underground Hospital at the Hospital Museum. Then there is a fantastic Free Camp at Julia Creek beside a billabong just west of the town. They have free push bikes to ride into town and also a $10 meal on Fridays.

 

[Eddii]

Hi @JT76, we are also looking to head to Uluru mid year. We thought of this route as well but might end up doing the top part after Alice (Darwin - Normanton - Cairns). We have 5-6 weeks off. I might let my wife know that it is possible to do it in 4 weeks and less klms as well

 

[JT76]

Thanks @Glen Bundesen ill look those places up now!

@Eddii I would love to head further up and explore Kakadu but we just don't have the time this year. Friends did a similar loop to us over 8 weeks but headed further up and said it was amazing up there so I would stick to your plan if you can. We were going to head back the way we came but changed and added in the qld section, it will be more driving but will see more too.

 

[JT76]

We have been fine tuning our plans and have now included a night at Rainbow Valley, just south of Alice. Its around 22km of dirt road and possible will be quite corrugated. How bad is it driving on corrugated roads with a van attached? The van will be brand new (pick up early June and we will leave late June) and I dont want to do too much damage but I don't want to regret not staying the night.

I know quite a few members on here have taken their vans all over the place @Crusty181 come to mind with lots of off road adventures. I was 100% happy to head in to Rainbow Valley with van attached but a few people are saying just stay down the road and do a day trip. Surely it cant be that bad??

I know tyre pressures and speed are important so I would be doing my best to pick a speed that suits the conditions but the van could be shaking around a lot more then I feel in the car too. I can just see myself pulling up thinking that wasn't too bad then a open the door to the van to find half the contents have been shaken onto the ground out of the cupboards!

 

[Drover]

Drop tyre pressure but not too much as low pressure will stuff things up as much as too much and go at a speed that the coffee stays in your cup when the lid is off (most of the time), the lower the pressure the slower the speed but nobody can give you the magic pressure as each rig is individual.

I used the coffee cup trick in my truck to make sure bins of watermelon, styro brocolli boxes and other stuff didn't crush, works on my van as well though screws still pop out so don't forget the no more gaps and screw driver.

Don't forget to look out for the smooth patch of dirt road, keep clear it's probably a hole full of bull dust, sometimes big sometimes small.

 

[1DayIll]

just had a look at your Wikicamps Trip Planner. trip looks great and also the planner looks good as well. Might have to get the card out and actually pay for access to it!

 

[JT76]

Thanks @Drover I think ill start at 30psi and drop a bit from there if I need to. I find 25 works for my car alone on rough roads but never towed on such roads and will start a little higher due to weight, plus its quicker to drop more air then to put it back in. I think if we don't camp in there I will regret it so we will go for sure. My dad is traveling with us but he can't get in there with his motor home but there is a nearby camp on the main road for him.

@1DayIll wiki camps is worth it. It's the only app I have ever paid for I think but I would be lost without it.

 

[Drover]

Only use the tyre placard as a guide and cross reference with what the actual tyres figures are, on the hard stuff when towing I'm higher than what the stickers say and it works well, dropping the pressure for various surfaces, though if going from dirt road to rocky road then tar and back to dirt sort of thing every few hours then stay at one higher range pressure and adjust speed, if your constantly changing pressure you won't get anywhere, trucks set it and adjust speed to conditions.

 

[JT76]

Yeah sounds smart, Normal on road I'm 40 all round then put back of car up to 50psi when towing. Dirt roads 25 and sand straight to 15. This little section is the only real dirt we will go on but at 44km there and back I'm happy to drop them down to what ever works. Tyres are rated up to 80psi.

 

[Drover]

Gee, 15 for sand, up here I drop to 30 and maybe go 25 when soft otherwise wide hard beach at 15 you can't do 70 kph, mind can travel over 60 km to Noose along beach and at times do it at highway pressure, just use grunt to travel the 100 MTS of soft stuff.......I digress though, the trip looks good just take gaffa tape, lol.

 

[JT76]

Yes must be a lot softer down here in the sand. 25 or 30 and you will be stuck real quick. 50km is about as quick as I get on the sand. Not that I get on the sand that much but when I do I look for something to climb so I prefer to play away from the water.

 

[Drover]

At the moment wide flat beaches that are very hard and at times drop further but when they shorten up and no rain I will be down at 15 to 20 and about the same speed, this last week you wouldn't drop the tyres at all, so much rain it would be like a highway.

 

[1DayIll]

At the moment wide flat beaches that are very hard and at times drop further but when they shorten up and no rain I will be down at 15 to 20 and about the same speed, this last week you wouldn't drop the tyres at all, so much rain it would be like a highway.

Yeh yeh...stop boasting!