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Edition 379: 26th March 2015
Hi ExplorOz Reader, Is Easter really only next week? You know what that means.... traditionally, this starts the opening of the outback travel season with the interior extreme summer heat conditions beginning to drop and less chance of monsoonal conditions allowing access to most areas. However, the Bureau of Meteorology have just released a Special Climate Statement that says we've had an exceptional Autumn hot spell in northern and central Australia, with details being:
- Birdsville had the highest temperature ever recorded in Australia for the second half of March with 46.5 °C
- Jervois had the highest maximum temperature for March for the Northern Territory with 44.0 °C
- Moomba was the hottest ever for South Australia this far into autumn with 45.4 °C
- Maximum temperatures averaged 5 to 7 °C above average over most of the Gulf Country from 6 to 19 March
The takeaway from this is not to expect a normal start to the outback travel season. Take particular care to check your travel plans with local conditions and please report back through the ExplorOz Travellers Comments section in our Road Alerts section so others can benefit from your experiences.
Happy Camping!
Michelle, Adele, David
| Spotlight on the Kimberley
Are you planning a trip to the Kimberley? Want to discover why the Kimberley is an ideal touring destination?
The Kimberley is home to some of Australia's most stunning natural attractions - with spectacular gorges with safe swimming, majestic ancient landforms such as the Bungle Bungles in Purnululu NP, fascinating yet easy walks at Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek and adventurous drives on the Gibb River Road, Mitchell Plateau and beyond. Winter is the best time to visit, so start planning now. Click through to read our travel feature on the Kimberley and get all the must-have trip planning details, recommended maps and guide notes from ExplorOz.
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| Woomera Prohibited Area
We have just published the newly released WPA exclusion periods through to 2016. If you're planning trips in and around the Anne Beadell Highway be sure to check these dates to avoid disappointment.
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| Save Ningaloo Station (again!)
On behalf of the Lefroys from Ningaloo Station, we regret to inform you that the Government land-grab for Ningaloo Station is on again. Unfortunately, this is round two of the same battle that began nearly a decade ago. Bits of information have been flying around social media but the Lefroys (pastoral owners of Ningaloo), have sent us some material, which is now posted in the ExplorOz Forum here.
Ningaloo Station on the pristine Ningaloo Reef coastline has offered low-fee wilderness camping for decades.This is now under genuine threat as the push is on by DPaW to develop the station into an upmarket tourism hub that will cater for a totally different clientele.
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| Power Solutions for Caravanners
Do you know what's legal and safe when trying to keep your caravan supplied with power?
Find out in our Caravan Power Feature here
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| Vote for the Best of the Rustic Outback
Voting for a winner in the Photo Comp is now active via the 5-star rating system. The winner will be drawn on Tuesday 31/3 based on the judges final decision, however you can get involved by giving a rating for each photo.
Use your desktop computer and open this page - 2015 Photo Comp - (this function is not active on the mobile site). Yellow stars show you the current avg rating score. To add your vote, hover over the stars and watch them turn red - click when you see the number of red stars (1-5) that you wish to give as your rating for the photo (half star voting is also possible; 5 stars is the maximum).
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 | Free GPS Track Files & POIs
As a privately-operated, outback focused, travel website, our primary goal is to enthuse and inform you about the many wonderful self-drive destinations throughout Australia. We don't run tours and we don't market an affiliation with any brand or company - our philosophy is to provide you with a truly impartial information resource that simply cuts to the facts.
Membership
is critical to the operation of ExplorOz and we encourage you to join, if not for the free downloads, then for any of the other many features that we offer to Members-only.
The small fee of $49.95 for your first year of Membership can easily pay for itself in the information you'll gain from the site, the savings you can make when gearing up on maps, guidebooks and equipment available to purchase through our online shop, and the enjoyment you'll feel from being involved in our community. After your first year, the renewal fee drops to just $29.95 and we'll even offer you a special deal one month prior to the expiry to get a free renewal.
To become an ExplorOz Member - join here
There is a wealth of GPS downloads of track files and POIs from Places, User Treks and Trek Notes available as free downloads for Members (only).
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