Travelling from WA to SA and then up the Stuart Highway in late June. A couple of questions to those who have travelled up the Stuart Hwy at a similar time.
1. As we will mainly stay at Caravan Parks is there any need to pre book at places such Coober Pedy Woomera
Ayres Rock Alice Springs Tennant Creek and Katherine.
2. Is there much traffic on the Road especially Road Trains
Late June is peak school holiday time.
Advise that you phone ahead a book, at least a few days ahead - or more - at Yulara, Alice Springs (especially if you want one of the better parks), and Katherine.
Will be quite a bit of caravan and other holiday traffic at that time. Will be some road trains, but not excessive.
Not quite free stay, but recommend a night at the Devils Marbles.
These days, we give staying at Tennant Creek a miss, where possible. Very sad and depressing place. Devils Marbles, then Banka Banka gets you past the need to stay there.
We've travelled that road quite a bit. IMO there's not really any need to book ahead, except maybe Uluru, just to be sure. Its a good idea to research if any events are on in AS during the time that you're up there (sporting events etc), if so, I'd book there too. There are a few CP's in AS, and you'll likely get a spot somewhere anyway (we've never had a problem), but it may not be at the CP you're wanting to stay at.
At Woomera & Coober Pedy, most people only stay the one night, so you should be fine. The CP at Tenant Creek, off the Hwy is quite good IMO. We stayed a Wycliffe Well last August for the 1st time & loved it!
If you have time & a 4x4, Rainbow Valley south of AS is definitely worth the detour! The road is probably only suitable for off road van's though.
I'd recommend Mataranka! We've stayed at Bitter Springs, the tourist village on the south side & the CP on the north side where they have the Barra feeding. No complaints about any of them. When we've been, the entertainment at the 2nd two I mentioned has been great. (last year in August, we were camped there alongside a couple from Darwin with a blue BT50 who had a Grey Nomads sticker on their van. He was a retired Security Guard/Ex Navy)
Katherine will be busy! Lots of nomads heading north or west! If the Ghan is in, it will be even busier! I liked the CP over by the river. The motel in town with the huge palm trees has a great BBQ dinner, or at least it did when we've stayed there.
Not as many trucks as the Nullarbor, only a few road-trains when we went up last August. Never had any issues with them. There will be a lot of caravans though, BIG ones lol!
Once you reach the NT border, there are frequent wayside stops with toilets, if you want to free camp. Not very many in SA.
Enjoy your trip! :) (We're up there again late May/Early June)
Vaughan, if you go to Woomera (it's a bit out of your way going up the Stuart) do not miss going to Andamooka. It is totally different to Coober Pedy and well worth the effort. As you approach the town there is a small open air machinery museum on your left. Behind that is a free camp area. Not much in the way of amenities but a good spot for a few days. Be careful if rain is about as it can become very slippery. You need to fairly well take everything other than booze as there isn't much available. Roxby Downs has a supermarket and is about 25 kms away.
Beware Alice Springs on the July long weekend as it is Finke Desert Race and Van parks are packed but there is camping available at the Desert Race Stadium for about $10 a night. Might be best to leave that visit till later.
Just a thought, but have you considered travelling the Great Central Road from Laverton WA to Yulara. Well worth some thought.
Finke desert race is the Queens Birthday weekend in June, so you should miss the crowd from that. Between the 5th and 15th of June will be the period to avoid, unless you do want to see any of the race. This will be the first year in a while that we haven't been there for it. The weather around that time of year is great too. Cool days but nights can get cold, we even had ice on the inside of the camper trailer tent roof a couple of times.
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Woomera is about 5 kms off the Stuart Hwy. Turn at Pimba. There is a free camp area at Pimba that seems to attract people, has toilets and showers I think. It is opposite Spuds Roadhouse.
The run to Andamooka is definitely bitumen to Roxby Downs, but unsure of the ~ 30kms from there to Andamooka.
The main street of Andamooka is Andamooka Creek, and in the event of a big rain, the town gets cut in half. Pub one side of the creek, shops the other!
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Regards Ian
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