Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Northern Territory and some South

Finished planning on NZ, so it is time to put together our final (6th) trip to Australia.

Looking for help on a couple items.

Plan is to go on a bus or train tour up from Adelaide (been there), Coober Pedy, Alice Ayuers, Darwin, Kakadu, Katherine and potentially some boat "stuff". Will be flying UA (hopefully) to SYD or MEL if better and still available. Then it is open. Will be planning about 25 max days from CA.

It appears that the best time is May thru Sept. What should the target month be...July?...least rain, lower temp., etc?

Any experience/recommendation with the long haul tour companies? I have only been on day trips on the bus.

Seems I heard that a RR was being built that goes N/S. Did the happen? Name of it so I can do the research.

Tempted to drive the Stuart Hwy, but not that brave, nor is my wife. I seen movies with those trucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for any help available...will be surfing too

The Adelaide to Darwin (recently extended from Alice Springs the former terminus) train is called the Ghan. Takes a few days I think. Apparently very popular (despite the expense) and IIRC there will be extra trains starting some time 2005.

The likes of APT should have bus and 4wd tours that cover all this - may be one big tour or combine some shorter ones.

Between Alice Springs and Yulara (village nearest Uluru/Ayers Rock and Kata Tjuta/Olgas), I recommend going one way via Kings Canyon (other way either fly or take the main road which is much quicker).

The central area (Alice Springs & Yulara) is suprisingly cold at night from autumn to early spring. The far north is hot year round but to be avoided spring/early summer (high humidity before the wet) and summer (the "big wet" makes travel difficult).

Have only been on the road northern & central part and the highways are very good road. If driving at night/twilight, watch out for wildlife may be lying on the road or beside the road and jump onto it suddenly (there's a good reason for those bull bars!). Side roads (eg Kings Canyon) may require 4wd (and experience in dealing with any mishaps in hostile environments).

I concur with Kiwi Flyer regarding the route via Kings Canyon. I posted the following a few months ago in another thread, but I'll repeat it here.

Don't go to Uluru (and Kata Tjuta aka. The Olgas) without also going to King's Canyon (do the hike around the rim, not the one up the canyon). It's best to do King's Canyon and Uluru as part of a loop from Alice Springs (via the Western Macdonald Range), but you need 4WD. If I were doing it again, I'd join a tour.

If you need a one-way car rental (e.g., AYQ to ASP), check out the specials at http://www.hertznt.com .

Depending on your interest in geological curiosities, the Devil's Marbles may be worth a detour (they are about 300 miles north of Alice Springs, just off the main road).

In view of the time you have at your disposal and the distances you are considering, I'd recommend flying between the main points and take side trips from there.

Star alliance i.e. UA is not ideal as they have so to say, no partners in Australia. Oneworld has very good deals inside Australia, saving a lot of money.

King's canyon is a must and with a 4wd you will have no problem. The driving is not too hard and much more interesting than the (quite boring) normal road between Alice Springs and Uluru. Once at King's Canyon, hiking trips are organized in groups and are much fun.

The Ghan is interesting if you are a railroad fan and are in the 70 year-old range... Sleeper cabins are a must, but I find the prices too high.

I did combine additional flight coupons and Hertz Car Rental and got very good deals.

KiwiFlyer, I have question... How strongly would you advise traveling from Adelaide to Alice at the end of December/early January?? Will it be terribly rainy? We were not planning to get a 4wd if that is a concern. We were thinking to go with a smaller motorhome... Should we re-think this & go in March?

Thanks, coincidentally I have to decide tomorrow (or, maybe availability will decide for me)

It will be hot (100++F) and likely very dry. No need for 4wd if sticking to main highway.

See Australia climate data (http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/)

Eg Alice Spring, Yulara (Ayers Rock) average at 100F in shade. Can get much hotter, especially in more sheltered places.

I completely agree that Kings Canyon is a must if you're in the Uluru/Olgas area, but just thought I'd point out that you can do it without a 4WD. The drawback, however, is that this means backtracking by about 100km or so (from memory), but the roads are good, open, straight and traffic free so we didn't find that too much of a burden (especially compared to the massive extra cost of hiring a 4WD).

I completely agree that Kings Canyon is a must if you're in the Uluru/Olgas area, but just thought I'd point out that you can do it without a 4WD. The drawback, however, is that this means backtracking by about 100km or so (from memory), but the roads are good, open, straight and traffic free so we didn't find that too much of a burden (especially compared to the massive extra cost of hiring a 4WD).

Thanks for the information! Can either of you give me a general description of how to get from Adelaide to Uluru, would we then go on to Kings Canyon (no 4wd) & then on to Alice?

Regarding the heat, I'm not so worried about it, as we will have AC, that should work for us right? It's not like we'd spend much of the daytime outside, at night we can sit & relax under the stars, after the sun has gone down... otherwise, it's touring from the motorhome right?

If you could just describe what it might be like to take these roads, maybe the time involved, where we might want to stop, I'd so appreciate it. I really don't know how many days to schedule for our journey...

I've come up with a potential itinerary, but I would really like your help in determining if it makes sense! Here is what I was thinking....
December 23 - arrive Melbourne (start driving to KI via Great Ocean Road)
Melbourne - Torquay - Port Campbell - Warrnambool - Port Fairy - Portland - Nelson - Mt Gambier - Millicent - Robe - Kingston SE - Meningie - Wellington - Milang - Goolwa - Victor Harbour - Cape Jervis

December 25 - arrive KI ferry, arrive KI early in the morning
December 29 - ADL -> Wilopena Pound (500km)
December 30 - Wilopena Pound ->Coober Pedy (350km)
January 1 - Coober Pedy ->Uluru (500 km Ayers Rock Resort)
January 2 - Uluru -> Kata Tjuta-> Uluru (Ayer's Rock Resort)
January 3 - Uluru -> Kings Canyon -> Uluru
January 4 - Uluru -> Alice
January 6 - Alice -> BNE (flying via Qantas)
January 6-11 Surfers
January 11-16 Noosa

January 17th we leave any destination bound for BOS....
I'm particularly concerned with our drive times/destinations, if they don't make sense, or are out of order, please tell me :)

TIA!
Chris

How long would you feel comfortable driving each day ?

Some of the legs you mention there are approaching 10-12 hours driving - more if you want to stop and enjoy the scenery along the way. For example, Coober Pedy is over 850km (530 miles) north of Adelaide.

Melbourne - Cape Jervis (for KI ferry) ... Melbourne to Adelaide is about 700km or so up the highway, and then a further 60km (?) to Cape Jervis. I'd say 10 hours drive time easily, plus stopping time.

More interesting would be the Great Ocean Road - follow the coast up from Melbourne, but don't try and do that in one day ... take a couple of days to enjoy it ... it's much slower, but much more scenic. Melbourne - Torquay - Port Campbell - Warrnambool - Port Fairy - Portland - Nelson - Mt Gambier - Millicent - Robe - Kingston SE - Meningie - Wellington - Milang - Goolwa - Victor Harbour - Cape Jervis ... in fact, that route would take you much more than a day to drive - it's very slow in parts.

Sime, I re-vamped the schedule based on what you said & what others have said as well... Does this new schedule make more sense?

Please post any answers for chris1gill to his/her other thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=397573).