How to plan a self drive touring adventure in Australia - for the independent traveller:

"Let us enable you to fulfil your passion for adventure with your own expedition of discovery"

We share our insight, experience and passion for those travellers who long for a touring adventure yet prefer to be independent to enjoy the freedom of being their own masters rather than being part of an organised commercial tour.

Our insight can save you a huge amount of time in research by removing some of the guess work. We help you to embark with peace of mind and great anticipation.

Australia is a very big country, full of stunning natural wonders. The following post will provide some invaluable guidance for you to plan your own trip.

In the post we cover:

• Where (the best of Australia);

• When (best time to travel);

• How (how to get set up for travel on a road trip);

• Planning (tips on planning your road trip);

• Travel Tips (tips on travelling around Australia).

1. Where:

We focus on the best of Australia, the iconic destinations - the ‘must do’ experiences. In particular, Australia's wonderful wilderness destinations. You will know you are going to the most sought after destinations in Australia & seeing the best each destination has to offer.

The following link has our Trip Notes to the some of best Australian destinations. Our posts have not been developed to promote a given region or to sell travel product but rather have been developed just to share our passion for this amazing country.

https://www.australiatt.com.au/blog/categories/expedition-trip-notes

In addition, the following is a summary of Australia's most iconic natural environment destinations:

a. UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Australia:

• Australian Fossil Mammal Sites;

• Fraser Island – K’Gari (4WD);

• Gondwana Rainforests of Australia;

• Great Barrier Reef;

• Greater Blue Mountains;

• Kakadu National Park;

• Lord Howe Island;

• Ningaloo Reef & Coast;

• Purnlulu National Park (4WD);

• Shark Bay;

• Tasmanian Wilderness;

• Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park;

• Wet Tropics of Queensland;

• Willandra Lakes Region;

• Budj Bim Cultural Landscape;

b. Our top 40 National Parks:

• Queensland:

  • K’gari (Fraser Island) Great Sandy National Park (4WD);

  • Whitsunday Islands National Park;

  • Daintree NP;

  • Cape York Peninsula Parks (4WD);

  • Carnarvon NP;

  • Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP (4WD);

• Victoria:

  • Port Campbell NP (inc The Great Ocean Road);

  • Grampians NP;

  • Wilsons Promontory NP;

  • The Victorian High Country (incorporating Snowy River NP, Alpine NP & Mount Buffalo NP)(4WD);

• Tasmania:

  • Cradle Mountain & Lake St Clair NP;

  • Freycinet NP;

  • Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers NP;

• Northern Territory:

  • Kakadu NP;

  • Nitmuluk NP;

  • Litchfield NP;

  • Elsey NP;

  • Uluru-Kata Tjuta NP;

  • Watarrka NP;

  • West & East MacDonnell NP;

  • Finke Gorge NP;

• New South Wales:

  • Blue Mountains NP;

  • The NSW Alps (incorporating Kosciuszko NP);

  • Warrumbungle NP;

  • Murramarang NP;

  • Sturt NP;

  • Mungo NP;

  • Barrington Tops NP;

• South Australia:

  • Simpson Desert Conservation Park (4WD);

  • Innamincka Recreation Reserve (4WD);

  • Flinders Ranges NP;

• Western Australia:

  • Purnlulu NP (4WD);

  • King Leopold Ranges CP (4WD);

  • Windjana Gorge NP (4WD);

  • Walpole-Nornalup NP (Valley of the Giants);

  • Karijini National Park;

  • Cape Range NP;

  • Nambung NP;

  • Kalbarri NP;

  • Torndirup NP;

  • William Bay NP;

c. Our Top 5 Wilderness Adventures (4WD):

• The Kimberley & Broome (inc The Gibb River Road)(4WD);

• Cape York Peninsular (inc The Bloomfield Track, The Old Telegraph Track, The Creb Track & Thursday Island)(4WD);

• The Simpson Desert (inc The Birdsville Track & Oodnadatta Track) (4WD);

• Innamincka & The Strzelecki Track (4WD);

• The Victorian High Country (4WD);

d. Our Top 10 Iconic Road Trips:

• Tropical north Queensland region (Innisfail to Cooktown);

• Adelaide to Darwin (incl Kakadu NP & Litchfield NP);

• Outback Queensland (incl. Longreach & Winton);

• Sydney to Cairns on the stunning east coast;

• Central Australia (inc Macdonnell Ranges, Alice Springs, Uluru & Kata Tjuta);

• The Nullarbor - crossing the continent;

• The Great Ocean Road & Regional Victoria (incl The Grampians & Victoria’s Golden Triangle);

• Tasmania (incorporating Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritgae site, Cradle Mountain & Lake St Clair NP, Freycinet NP, Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers NP);

• Western Australia's South West Region;

• The Coral Coast in Western Australia;

e. Other Iconic Destinations:

• Beaches of the NSW coast;

• The Golden Triangle of Victoria (Ballarat, Bendigo, Castlemine, Maldon);

• The Sunshine & Gold Coast regions of Queensland;

• The Barossa Valley;

• Margaret River;

• Kangaroo Island;

Where is the Outback?: The Outback has no defined borders and generally refers to areas of Australia that are remote, vast, sparsely populated and made up of wide open spaces. The Outback also has a largely in-tact natural environment. It is more remote than areas referred to as “the bush” being a term given to regional areas away from capital cities & more settled areas. The Outback is rich in Australia’s folklore & heritage. The third term that you may hear is the “Never Never”, being largely from Australia’s folklore, which refers to the most remote parts of the Outback.

2. When:

Australia is home to tropical, subtropical, desert and temperate climates with seasons opposite to the northern hemisphere.

Northern Australia (tropical)(north of the Tropic of Capricorn): essentially has two seasons, dry & wet monsoon. Travel in northern Australia is generally recommended between May & September. Ideally, June to August. Travel outside this period is too hot, too humid and too wet. Some roads become impassable, it is cyclone season, you can’t swim in the ocean due to dangerous jelly fish and some of the tourist industry closes down or is inaccessible. These ideal travel periods also apply to central Australia.

Southern Australia (sub-tropical & temperate)(south of the Tropic of Capricorn): is generally suitable for travel all year around, particularly on the coast, however most people avoid the winter months of June to August. In many inland areas, the summer months are too hot being December to February. South Australia & Victoria can also be baking hot in Jan & Feb.

Travel along the southern coast of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia (incl the Nullarbour) can have very unpleasant strong winds in spring making Autumn the best time of travel for this area March to May.

Specific climate data: You can obtain specific climate data on the area you are planning to visit, with the following link, to more carefully assess the best time of year to travel. http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/ca_site_file_names.shtml

School holidays & public holidays: crowds are at their worst during these periods. These dates vary between states.

Migrating whales on the east coast: best time is between May & November.

Snorkelling with Whale Sharks and Manta Rays at Ningaloo Reef Western Australia: best time is March to September for Whale Sharks & May to November for Manta Rays.

Snow ski season: June to August in the southern Alps.

Wildflowers in Western Australia: September.

Festivals & events: these can best be searched through government tourist information sites.

3. How:

Only since about the mid 1980's has it really been possible for people to travel just about anywhere in Australia. Destinations have become more accessible and vehicles have advanced significantly in capability and reliability.

An explosion in recreational 4WD'ing, since the 1980's, has also led to the popularity of exploring remote outback and wilderness destinations. However, there has not been a corresponding awareness of the need to prepare for risk. This is partly because there is very little in the way of resources in the market to help a family de-risk an expedition.

For comprehensive detail on getting set up for a self drive road trip refer to the post in the following link on "Do you ever dream about camping or a recreational vehicle but don't know where to start?"

https://www.australiatt.com.au/post/do-you-ever-dream-about-camping-or-a-recreational-vehicle-but-don-t-know-where-to-start

For a comprehensive of invaluable travel, caravanning & camping tips, refer to the post in the following link on "Over 200 caravan & camping tips". We focus on less well known tips that you won't just find on a retail website or at least wont find them all in one place.

https://www.australiatt.com.au/post/200-caravan-camping-tips

For an eclectic mix of 4WD'ing, camping and touring tips with a mantra of 'Improvise, Adapt, Overcome', refer to the following link to our YouTube posts:

https://www.australiatt.com.au/post/youtube-videos-with-tips-insights-from-the-not-bad-series

4. Planning:

Touring around Australia on the black top is relatively straightforward with the national highway and most regional roads being sealed. However, more remote sections of the Outback still need careful preparation and planning. Towns, or at least a roadhouse, are generally not more than 250km apart making fuel and provisions readily available albeit with some areas having less choice and higher prices.

On the other hand, remote Outback travel (off the black top) can be very hazardous and should only be undertaken after lengthy and careful planning. Do not attempt to access remote areas in an ill-prepared vehicle and without adequate communications equipment. Do not under estimate the limited supply of fuel, water and provisions in remote areas as well as the possibility of encountering extremely harsh elements and conditions. If you do so you could place yourself into an 'extreme risk' situation.

Australia has a great network of fantastic caravan parks with multiple choice in most areas. This makes an ideal scenario for a road trip.

Only 27% of the Australian land mass has mobile phone coverage. Therefore, a sat phone is an important item for Outback travel in case of emergency & essential if going off road.

Telstra rules the bush with the best mobile phone coverage of all providers. Telstra is the only carrier in some parts of Outback Australia.

Common hazards in remote country include:

• Running out of fuel;

• Running out of provisions - food & water;

• Vehicle breakdown;

• Unsuitable clothing for conditions;

• Driving incident in unfamiliar conditions such as losing control on unsealed roads;

• Inadequate emergency communications or inability to access emergency services;

• Inadequate first aid supplies or inadequate first aid skills;

• Experiencing heat stress from activity in hot conditions;

• Breakages from vehicle overloading;

• Camping in the wrong place - under trees, in creek beds or exposed to severe weather;

• Incident with flora & fauna.

Refer to the following link to our post with detailed information on planning an expedition:

https://www.australiatt.com.au/post/what-is-your-state-of-readiness-vision-planning-confidence

5. Travel Tips:

Travel Tips soon to be available for purchase:

In addition to all the free tips listed above, the following Travel Tips will soon be available for purchase which will include:

• Driving Tips (on sealed & unsealed roads);

• Sharing the roads with trucks;

• Vehicle Tips;

• Communication Tips;

• Accommodation Tips;

• Best time of year to travel;

• Emergency Services & other sources of advice;

• Fuel Tips;

• Dangerous Flora & Fauna;

• Safety Tips;

• Travelling with others;

• Insurance & Roadside Assist;

• Camping Tips;

• General tips.

This package will be listed as:

Element:	Included in this Package:
​Trip Planning for Outback Touring Adventures - Part 5: Travel Tips	A detailed list of Outback Touring Travel Tips - 28 pages in length.

David & Rosemary Allan – the faces behind:

May adventure & discovery be your constant companions.

Remember: Your adventure begins the moment you decide to go.