Thread: Road trip Melb to Uluru over Easter - how long to do Oodnadatta track?

Your going to Uluru from melbourne over Easter?
It will take 3 days just to get there.

Do not be lulled into believing the Oodnadatta track is a highway.

It is far from it and has some of the worst road surfaces you are likely to encounter anywhere. The surface changes all the time dependant on recent rain, wind , vehicle usage etc. Call the William Ck hotel and the Oodnadatta Roadhouse for latest conditions.

My advice...if you want to get to Uluru over easter go up the Stuart Highway.

I drive these roads several times each year and I allow 3 days just to reach the Oodnadatta track from the Gold Coast and I know these roads really well. I will be out there from 10th April myself.

The Oodnadatta Track: A Complete Guide
Should have all the info you need. Those outback tracks are best taken in easy stages. There is so much to see and do along them. I really pity the people that roar along at 110klms, and see nothing. There are lots of historical ruins, mound springs, beautiful scenery etc. The track itself is only a bit over 600klms long, but I could easily spend a week or more just on that part.
Rest assured, if you do it, you'll be back!

I'm sure we don't have enough time this time to do it properly, I'm just hoping to get a taste of it and come back for a proper stint and really take our time.

We will probably leave the Tuesday night before Easter, maybe drive four hours and stop somewhere just to get a head start.

Then we need to be back the following Tuesday night for work on Wednesday.

We want to spend two nights at Uluru. The rest is whatever we can squeeze in...and after reading about it I'm not sure how much we will be able to squeeze. I'd be happy to just do some up the Stuart Hwy and maybe try to get a little bit of Oodnadatta in but if we don't this time then we'll just come back for a proper run.

Just got excited and then read about it and figured out time frames so thought I better clarify my expectations. Dammit...alternative is we don't go that far this time and make a bigger trip of it over Christmas but I'm not sure what the weather is like then...isn't it wet season over Christmas?

Okay we are having some serious thought about this and we had some time put aside, about 17 days, for a drive to Esperance in October this year. Now after reading we are thinking maybe that is a really good amount of time to do Oodnadatta and probably not enough time to do an Esperance trip properly...so perhaps we'll swap them around and have a brilliant trip up through the Oodnadatta track, Uluru, and actually be able to relax and take our time.

That sounds SOOOOOO much more appealing to me right now

When I was doing my trips, I would get to the first destination asap. Melboune to perth in 3 days Stay a couple of days with my daughter. Next destination (purpose of trip), Perth to Willaire, 1 day. Now start the trip back to Tassie via gunbarrel highway, Uluru, ordatta track etc etc, took six weeks or there abouts
cheers
blaze

ps another one, got off the sprit in Melbourne and drove to 1770 qld, 25hrs and 40 mins, got on a boat out to lady muskgrove island and fished for a week.

Christmas is not the time for inland trips! Very, very hot! Easter is probably the earliest in the year to do any of the tracks.

Not realistic unfortunately Angus ...Melb to Uluru via highway - 3 days minimum - 10-12 hr days driving - one way. If you have 7 days, maybe go to the northern Flinders Ranges / maybe southern end of Lake Eyre...for a taste of the desert. Even then it would be a tight turn around.