Tuesday, Dec 31, 2024 at 08:16
Hi Albert S,
End of May is perfect for the
Kimberley Tag-along, there should still be some water in the gorges, and the waterfalls should still be flowing.
Leaving
Melbourne end of January gives you quite a few options with regard to getting to the
Kimberley by end of May. You could travel along The Great Ocean Road in south western Victoria, and then continue along the
Limestone Coast in South Australia. Look both these areas up on Google. Then the McLaren Vale wine growing area just south of
Adelaide. All of this will be on sealed roads, and depending on what takes your interest along the way, could take you 2 to 3 weeks to get to
Adelaide.
Then there is also the
Clare Valley wine growing region north of
Adelaide, on the way to The
Flinders Ranges. You can spend a couple of weeks touring the Flinders Rangers area of South Australia, most of this will be on unsealed roads. Look this area up on Google as
well, as there is a lot of things to do and see, including the Pichi Richi Railroad.
After the
Flinders Ranges, there are a couple of choices, you could do The
Oodnadatta again, or you could travel the
Birdsville Track from Maree to
Birdsville. This is another iconic Australian unsealed outback road, worth checking it out on Google to get the history of the road.
From
Birdsville, if you weren’t towing a trailer, I would suggest crossing the
Simpson Desert, but trailers are not recommended for crossing the
Simpson Desert.
From
Birdsville, you can then head north to
Bedourie,
Boulia and on to
Mount Isa, and then head along the
Barkly Highway through to The Stuart Highway at Threeways. Here you turn right and head north towards
Katherine and subsequently
Kakadu. Along the way, there are quite a few Hot Springs around
Mataranka, and
Katherine Gorge or Nitmiluk as it is now called.
Another choice after The
Flinders Ranges is to head to The Stuart Highway via the
Oodnadatta, and
Coober Pedy if you have not been there before.
Coober Pedy is known as the Opal capital of the World. Heading North up the Stuart Highway, gives you access to Uluru (Ayres
Rock), and
Kata Tjuta ( The Olga’s), the second largest single monolith in Australia. From Uluru, you can then head to Kings Canyon, and then the West McDonnell Ranges via the
Mereenie Loop Road and on to
Alice Springs. The
Mereenie Loop Road is unsealed, and can be quite corrugated.
From
Alice Springs, head north along the Stuart Highway, there are many
places to stop and look at, this was the original route of the Inland Telegraph line that connected Australia to Southeast Asia and then England, so there are quite a few old Telegraph Stations to look at. There is also The
Devils Marbles, a unique
rock formation, if you wish to
camp here, you need to book on line, and get there early. From here you continue to head north to Tennent Creek, and then on to
Katherine, and
Kakadu. After
Kakadu, you need to head back to
Katherine and then head to
Kununurra and the start of The Kimberleys.
This will take you several weeks, and should see you getting close to
Kununurra by the end of May. All National Park campgrounds require you to book on line.
I would strongly recommend you
check all these
places I have suggested out on line. I would also suggest you
check the South Australian and Western Australian Quarantine Websites as there are restriction as to what Fruit, Vegetables and honey that can be brought across these state borders. Ensure you dispose of any prohibited items before you get to the checkpoints, as they will fine you if you don’t. Another thing I would recommend you buy is a HEMA Australian Road and 4WD Atlas. It is a very comprehensive atlas with other
information such as camping sites, etc. It is not cheap, but we’ll worth the money.
I hope this
information has been of some help, or at least given you some things to think about.
Macca.
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