After touring FNQ until late July my wife and I are considering travelling from the Cairns area to Tennant Creek. We have a standard caravan and a 4x4, any suggestions on preferred routing and places to stay ( have to be dog friendly)?
Zoomtopz said
07:12 AM May 29, 2014
Jack , have you thought -
Cairns - Mareeba - Ravenshoe - Undara volcanic n/p . Then decide if you can go to
Normanton - Cloncurry or Charters Towers - th Curry , as I think there is still some dirt roads ,
going via th Gulf.
yeoeleven said
11:01 AM May 29, 2014
Hi,
I drove between Normanton and Undarra (Savannah Way) a couple of years ago and there was no dirt, there were several sections of single track but also plenty of room to get off when the road trains were around. The same applied to the road between Normanton and the Burk & Wills Roadhouse.
I propose to repeat the trip later this year.
John
Renfrew said
02:39 PM May 29, 2014
Hi Jack,
Checkout the Overlander's Way website, that contains a wealth of info including current maps etc.
Great experience, especially early/late winter months.
Cheers
JohnG
wendyv said
11:28 AM Jun 1, 2014
Suggest going via Atherton Tablelands to Mount Surprise. Bedrock Village CP there is excellent as a base to explore the surrounding area a bit. From Bedrock Village you should be able to do a tour to the Undara Lava Tubes (better than staying at Undara); I think there are topaz fossicking tours out to O'Briens Creek from Mt Surprise; not sure if Bedrock Village still runs a tour to Cobbold Gorge - worth doing, if it does. I think there is also a little outing available on the SavannahLander train available as a tour. Check out Bedrock Village CP on Google. It is a favourite of ours.
From there you could go to Normanton. This is a good base for exploring. Can do a trip on the Gulflander train, if that appeals. Can go to Karumba for the day - which is probably about all it is worth, in my opinion, unless you fish. Is local scenery and "atmosphere" around Normanton.
From there, head south towards Cloncurry. You could turn west at Burke and Wills Roadhouse and go to Gregory Downs - bitumen road to there. Can camp - unpowered - at Gregory. The river there is very pretty. Leave van parked and do day trip to Adels Grove; that is partly gravel road. You could suss out whether you think you could take your van in there - many, many conventional vans and ordinary cars do. If you want to make that more than a day trip, Adels Grove campground is dog friendly and will dog sit, if you wish, while you visit Lawn Hill National Park, which is seriously beautiful. If you do go to Gregory/Adels, will have to backtrack to Burke and Wills, but believe me, is an extremely worthwhile side track!
From Cloncurry via Mt Isa, Camooweal ( people camp at the pretty lagoon there), Three Ways and Tennant Creek. You may wish to break that long stretch with an overnight stop at one of several popular free camp areas between Camooweal and Three Ways.
Jack said
06:30 PM Jun 1, 2014
Guys,
Thanks so much for all the advice will absorb and do some planning.
After touring FNQ until late July my wife and I are considering travelling from the Cairns area to Tennant Creek. We have a standard caravan and a 4x4, any suggestions on preferred routing and places to stay ( have to be dog friendly)?
Jack , have you thought -
Cairns - Mareeba - Ravenshoe - Undara volcanic n/p . Then decide if you can go to
Normanton - Cloncurry or Charters Towers - th Curry , as I think there is still some dirt roads ,
going via th Gulf.
Hi,
I drove between Normanton and Undarra (Savannah Way) a couple of years ago and there was no dirt, there were several sections of single track but also plenty of room to get off when the road trains were around. The same applied to the road between Normanton and the Burk & Wills Roadhouse.
I propose to repeat the trip later this year.
John
Checkout the Overlander's Way website, that contains a wealth of info including current maps etc.
www.overlandersway.com/default.aspx
Great experience, especially early/late winter months.
Cheers
JohnG
From there you could go to Normanton. This is a good base for exploring. Can do a trip on the Gulflander train, if that appeals. Can go to Karumba for the day - which is probably about all it is worth, in my opinion, unless you fish. Is local scenery and "atmosphere" around Normanton.
From there, head south towards Cloncurry. You could turn west at Burke and Wills Roadhouse and go to Gregory Downs - bitumen road to there. Can camp - unpowered - at Gregory. The river there is very pretty. Leave van parked and do day trip to Adels Grove; that is partly gravel road. You could suss out whether you think you could take your van in there - many, many conventional vans and ordinary cars do. If you want to make that more than a day trip, Adels Grove campground is dog friendly and will dog sit, if you wish, while you visit Lawn Hill National Park, which is seriously beautiful. If you do go to Gregory/Adels, will have to backtrack to Burke and Wills, but believe me, is an extremely worthwhile side track!
From Cloncurry via Mt Isa, Camooweal ( people camp at the pretty lagoon there), Three Ways and Tennant Creek. You may wish to break that long stretch with an overnight stop at one of several popular free camp areas between Camooweal and Three Ways.
Thanks so much for all the advice will absorb and do some planning.
Stay safe out there
Regards
Jack