Hey Guys, We are a not-so-grey couple who need some real grey advice about our impending trip from the Gold Coast to Broome where we are going to work for about a year. Unfortunately the trip has to occur over a four week period between mid January and mid February. We have a landcruiser (turbo diesel) and will be towing a 3 tonne boat and trailer. We were hoping to travel the northern route as it is significantly shorter. However, after talking to a few people around the traps we are a little worried that it may not be the best (!!) idea during the wet season (especially the forthcoming one which looks nasty). The obvious other option is to go south and across the Nullarbor but this adds approximately 30% of distance to the trip. We would really appreciate any advice especially from those who may have run the gauntlet and travelled across from Qld to WA the northern route during the wet season. Cheers!
bill12 said
12:23 AM Nov 24, 2010
it doesn,t rain all the time, but its a bet to be bloody hot and humid. I think you would get through if you keep to the main highway.It is th wet, so any thing could happen. I would take the chance and go.
SJ said
08:38 AM Nov 24, 2010
it is a beautiful part of Australia to see in the wet. Just give yourself plenty of time in case of the odd flood. Stay on the bitumen and enjoy
Beth54 said
08:53 AM Nov 24, 2010
Yep, stick to the bitumen. Very hot and humid, so be watchful of your car temp rising. The rivers rising would be the main concern in the wet season.
In saying that, I reckon go for it! What an adventure!
blaze said
12:17 PM Nov 24, 2010
Dont see the problem myself, water gets to deep just unload the boat and use that as the tow vehicle. 3 tonne boat would have some sleeping area I would think. Enjoy your trip
cheers
blaze
howdrink said
02:36 PM Nov 24, 2010
The young greys wrote:
Hey Guys, We are a not-so-grey couple who need some real grey advice about our impending trip from the Gold Coast to Broome where we are going to work for about a year. Unfortunately the trip has to occur over a four week period between mid January and mid February. We have a landcruiser (turbo diesel) and will be towing a 3 tonne boat and trailer. We were hoping to travel the northern route as it is significantly shorter. However, after talking to a few people around the traps we are a little worried that it may not be the best (!!) idea during the wet season (especially the forthcoming one which looks nasty). The obvious other option is to go south and across the Nullarbor but this adds approximately 30% of distance to the trip. We would really appreciate any advice especially from those who may have run the gauntlet and travelled across from Qld to WA the northern route during the wet season. Cheers!
Have fun but as you say the forthcoming one looks very nasty, sorry if it was me at that time of the year i would be looking at the long way south,
Beth54 said
05:04 PM Nov 24, 2010
howdrink wrote:
The young greys wrote:
Hey Guys, We are a not-so-grey couple who need some real grey advice about our impending trip from the Gold Coast to Broome where we are going to work for about a year. Unfortunately the trip has to occur over a four week period between mid January and mid February. We have a landcruiser (turbo diesel) and will be towing a 3 tonne boat and trailer. We were hoping to travel the northern route as it is significantly shorter. However, after talking to a few people around the traps we are a little worried that it may not be the best (!!) idea during the wet season (especially the forthcoming one which looks nasty). The obvious other option is to go south and across the Nullarbor but this adds approximately 30% of distance to the trip. We would really appreciate any advice especially from those who may have run the gauntlet and travelled across from Qld to WA the northern route during the wet season. Cheers!
Have fun but as you say the forthcoming one looks very nasty, sorry if it was me at that time of the year i would be looking at the long way south,
Oh where's your sense of adventure Howdrink!
Dragonfly said
09:34 PM Nov 24, 2010
Having lived in the North for a fair few years, if I were you I'd take the southern route through the wet season. Although the northern route may be shorter by kms, it could end up significantly longer timewise. The northern wet season is amazing, beautiful, but unfortunately can also be disastrously deadly. Take the safe option as you have time constraints to consider also. Whatever you decide, enjoy the ride :)
Morag
Cupie said
10:37 PM Nov 24, 2010
The young greys wrote:
Unfortunately the trip has to occur over a four week period between mid January and mid February.
Hi ..
I think that the 'four week' time frame & a 3 tonne boat are the main problems.
Very very very roughly GC to Broome across the top may be 7,000 km & via the south 14,000k. (I did 21000k on the round trip over 7 months)
That means the short route in 4 weeks is 250k/day .. doable if no hold ups or breakdowns with your 3 tonne boat behind (with new tyres & bearings I hope). It is predicted to be a wet wet this year & this is close to the peak period.
Then by the longer route 500km/day FOR 4 WEEKS!
IMHO either way is a gamble & a logistics exercise. Not the sort of tour that most greynomads do.
In closing ..
. Check the distances & do the simple sums of average Kms/day.
. Which ever way you go make sure that the boat trailer is up to it & you have spare tyres & bearings for it
. Check out the consequences of a late arrival
Finally ... good luck & let's know how it goes
Gerty Dancer said
11:21 PM Nov 24, 2010
Would it be possible to leave the boat behind until a more convernient/safer time?
gold dandelion said
11:23 PM Nov 24, 2010
i think a few are being a bit pessimistic, have done the trip myself towing a van, though from west to east, mid wet. you wont have any problems with road closures if any maybe a day only, once you get to the territory all plain sailing to broome
Cupie said
08:32 AM Nov 25, 2010
Hi again ...
Been thinking about your trip ...
If it were me, I'd do the northern route.
You should be able to do 500k per day without too much trouble, traveling only in daylight. So that means 7,000 in 14 days.
(averaging 90Km/hr .. that's sitting on 100km/hr with time off for breaks .. is only 5 to 6 hrs/day driving)
Two drivers should be able to easily keep up the pace especially if you schedule a stop over for personal & rig mtce every few days.
So even with 3 days on & 1 off that's around 18 or 19 days to do the trip.
You might be able to get ahead of the clock by almost doubling that the first few days especially if it looks like weather might be developing as an issue.
Using a plan like this you still have a margin of around 20 days for unforseen events.
Waddaya all think?
The young greys said
08:55 PM Nov 28, 2010
Thanks very much for all your replies!! It has given us some food for thought; roughly 4800km the northern route or a bit shy of 7000km going the southern safe option. At least now we know that the northern option is an option albeit with some risk. What do you think of a third option of going south to approximately Adelaide and then head north via the
Stuart highway- this is about half way between the first and second options in terms of
Distance and may cut out a few river crossings...
Cruising Granny said
09:53 PM Nov 28, 2010
The young greys wrote:
Thanks very much for all your replies!! It has given us some food for thought; roughly 4800km the northern route or a bit shy of 7000km going the southern safe option. At least now we know that the northern option is an option albeit with some risk. What do you think of a third option of going south to approximately Adelaide and then head north via the
Stuart highway- this is about half way between the first and second options in terms of
Distance and may cut out a few river crossings...
Welcome and safe travels.
I've just done the reverse, Cairns to Adelaide. I also spent 11 years in the Kimberleys before I headed to Qld 9in 2008.
I came through a torrential thunderstorm south of Alice Springs and struck flash flooding. Once the rain stops the water goes away.
The wet season is the most interesting time to see the top. If you go around the top via Kununurra you may be delayed at Victoria River if it's extremely wet and there have been a lot of monsoonal lows or cyclones through the region. The Fitzroy River is also prone to rise and spread itself across the country.
You can't do the Gibb River Road in the wet season because it gets closed early to avoid damage to the road.
The black top is mainly passable but you will encounter numerous floodways. Some will have shallow, fast flowing water over them, and others will have impassable deep water over them.
The Qld roads may be more prone to flooding than the WA and NT highways across the north.
Take a chance across the north, play it by ear, be aware of possible flooding if you drive through storms, and take supplies with you.
Going east and up the middle will not remove any risk of being stuck.
Watch the weather and when possible, listen to weather forecasts.
Have a safe, memorable trip.
We are a not-so-grey couple who need some real grey advice about our impending trip from the Gold Coast to Broome where we are going to work for about a year. Unfortunately the trip has to occur over a four week period between mid January and mid February. We have a landcruiser (turbo diesel) and will be towing a 3 tonne boat and trailer. We were hoping to travel the northern route as it is significantly shorter. However, after talking to a few people around the traps we are a little worried that it may not be the best (!!) idea during the wet season (especially the forthcoming one which looks nasty). The obvious other option is to go south and across the Nullarbor but this adds approximately 30% of distance to the trip. We would really appreciate any advice especially from those who may have run the gauntlet and travelled across from Qld to WA the northern route during the wet season.
Cheers!
In saying that, I reckon go for it! What an adventure!
I think that the 'four week' time frame & a 3 tonne boat are the main problems.
Very very very roughly GC to Broome across the top may be 7,000 km & via the south 14,000k. (I did 21000k on the round trip over 7 months)
That means the short route in 4 weeks is 250k/day .. doable if no hold ups or breakdowns with your 3 tonne boat behind (with new tyres & bearings I hope). It is predicted to be a wet wet this year & this is close to the peak period.
Then by the longer route 500km/day FOR 4 WEEKS!
IMHO either way is a gamble & a logistics exercise. Not the sort of tour that most greynomads do.
In closing ..
. Check the distances & do the simple sums of average Kms/day.
. Which ever way you go make sure that the boat trailer is up to it & you have spare tyres & bearings for it
. Check out the consequences of a late arrival
Finally ... good luck & let's know how it goes
Been thinking about your trip ...
If it were me, I'd do the northern route.
You should be able to do 500k per day without too much trouble, traveling only in daylight. So that means 7,000 in 14 days.
(averaging 90Km/hr .. that's sitting on 100km/hr with time off for breaks .. is only 5 to 6 hrs/day driving)
Two drivers should be able to easily keep up the pace especially if you schedule a stop over for personal & rig mtce every few days.
So even with 3 days on & 1 off that's around 18 or 19 days to do the trip.
You might be able to get ahead of the clock by almost doubling that the first few days especially if it looks like weather might be developing as an issue.
Using a plan like this you still have a margin of around 20 days for unforseen events.
Waddaya all think?
Welcome and safe travels. I've just done the reverse, Cairns to Adelaide. I also spent 11 years in the Kimberleys before I headed to Qld 9in 2008. I came through a torrential thunderstorm south of Alice Springs and struck flash flooding. Once the rain stops the water goes away. The wet season is the most interesting time to see the top. If you go around the top via Kununurra you may be delayed at Victoria River if it's extremely wet and there have been a lot of monsoonal lows or cyclones through the region. The Fitzroy River is also prone to rise and spread itself across the country. You can't do the Gibb River Road in the wet season because it gets closed early to avoid damage to the road. The black top is mainly passable but you will encounter numerous floodways. Some will have shallow, fast flowing water over them, and others will have impassable deep water over them. The Qld roads may be more prone to flooding than the WA and NT highways across the north. Take a chance across the north, play it by ear, be aware of possible flooding if you drive through storms, and take supplies with you. Going east and up the middle will not remove any risk of being stuck. Watch the weather and when possible, listen to weather forecasts. Have a safe, memorable trip.