A bit of Travel Advise Please

[Stepho_62]

G'day All

Mrs n I are traveling to Darwin on March 5 for 10 days and I'm begining to wonder if I've buggered up in my planning process. See the idea is to have 10 days cruising around in the Territory and getting Mrs used to what its like when it hot steamy and downright unpleasant if your the kinda person that cant handle the humidity etc. This is a bit of a Reccy for the next trip which will be in the Princess.

Now, 25 years ago when I lived n worked in the Tanami the wet started about October n was generally done n dusted by end of Feb or early March.

We're plannin on layin round on our butts in a good hotel somewhere in Darwin for the first few days ( Gotta get over that long flight from Hobart) then hiring a vehicle n heading off christ knows where.

We are booked to fly outta Alice on the 16th March. I'm lead to understand that the Stuart is now a super highway (its even got a bridge over the Attack Creek for christ sake :D )

Providing we don't plan any off roading we should be right to get to Alice in 10 days shouldn't we?

Cheers,

The ol bugger whos forgotten WTF its all about :eek:

[dmdigital]

Good place to stay in Darwin is the Palms Resort (where the old Hotel Darwin was) they've got some nice reasonably self contained bungalows and its at the end of the Esplanade down town.

The wet in the top end is more late Dec to April now days.March 05 was TC Ingrid, April 06 was TC Monica.

There's now a 130kph speed limit in the NT but 10 days is plenty of time to get down to Alice and see some of the sites on the way. Hire a car with cruise control!

[Blknight.aus]

you can do darwin to the alice in 1 day but it aint comfortable.

3 days does it nicely with all the appropriate rest stops and only being on the road about 8 hours a day.

Id do it in 5 if I was being touristy about it and stop at both sets of springs, the marbles and do the river cruise with the crock watching.

[Stepho_62]

Guys

Its not the distance. I've driven Tennant to Alice or Tennant to Darwin more times n I've drank Brisbane Bitter :eek:.

When I was there it was 1175k of gravel from Marla Bore to Kingoonya with no blacktop in site. In the wet you sometimes couldn't get past bloody Katherine heading north cause the road kept collapsing into the red ochre underneath.

What I'm trying to get a handle on is
How much have the roads improved
How much has the wet changed due to climate change
What sort of vehicle should I hire?
Where should I go for a look?
Will I get recognised by some of the old hookers :wasntme::D
Will anyone remember that I owe them for 10 lines of columbian gold
Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc,Just kiddin about 6 :cool:

Cheers,

[Blknight.aus]

all black top but I wouldnt want to do it in anything small, or sans a bull bar.

from what my aj mates are telling me the build up is long, the wet not so long and the dry about the same, although apparently when it does fall its not mucking around...

Id guess that only holds down to kathrine... cant help you past there.

[cartm58]

its been all bitumen since the early 1980's the last bit of unsealed roads was between woomera and cooper pedy got done around 1983. All this was done thanks to Malcolm Fraser who started the fuel tax at 4c litre to seal the road network around australia and then supposedly to develop alternative fuel sources for oz. Roads got sealed havent got alternative fuel and we are paying a lot more in fuel exciset ax as Malcolm Fraser to avoid annual budget tax increases pegged it to the light crude price on the Singapore oil.

Dad and l did Alice Springs to Darwin in rental Fairmont in 1984 in three days of comfortable highway speed crusing ie 110 kph with over night stops at Tennant Creek and Katherine

[dmdigital]

Not only is it all Bitumen, it is some of the best road surface in the country given the distance etc. The Barkley is the same from the NT border to Tennent Creek, it hilarious when you do the trip via the Isa and get to the sign Welcome to the NT, the road just opens up in front of you. The SA portion of the Stuart is also very good.

What you're all missing is that there are somethings to see and do on the way to Alice from Darwin.

[MT]

Stevo,

You will probably catch the tail end of the wet if recent form is anything to go by. All of the rivers in the top end will be 'up' and the flood plains full-ish. This tends to limit some off road options, normally we would try and plan 'deeper' bush trips for May in order to ensure dirt track and river crossing / fording mobility.

It will be hot and sticky, so make sure you get something airconditioned if your other half is at all sensitive to humidity.

Cheers,

MT

[Stepho_62]

The Barkley is the same from the NT border to Tennent Creek, it hilarious when you do the trip via the Isa and get to the sign Welcome to the NT, the road just opens up in front of you.
:D****, You used to get to the border from Three Ways and u were hard pressed to tell where the track went after that:eek::p. I pulled the bull bar off a HT ute in the concrete creek crossings on the QLD side. Might have had something to do with approaching them at about 120k :eek:. Ground the bottoms of the brackets off :p

Cheers

[MT]

Coming from the Territory towards the Isa via the Barkly there was always a piece of graffitti on one of the road signs:

Welcome to Queensland - please turn your watches ahead 30 minutes - and back 30 years!

Of course, I am sure this is no longer relevant.... probably.