Road trip time frame, Syd-Alice-Darwin-Syd

top madra

How long would it take do a trip like this without it being too rushed.

Sydney to Alice Springs via Stuarts Hwy then

Alice Springs to Darwin

Darwin to Cairns (not sure to whether take the Savannah route or other)

Cairns back to Sydney. (try to hit all the major places on the way down)

Google maps can tell me how long the journey is but obviously it doesn't take into account taking time out to see things etc.

I haven't done the East Coast yet so I really want to do that, but I also have a uncle in Alice Springs and a mate in Darwin so I'm thinking of planning a monstrous trip and it would be nice to catch up with them for a night etc.

Taking time off work isn't really a problem but I'm heading home for 3 weeks in August so I don't wanna be taking the piss too much.

If somebody has done something like this, how long did it take and how expensive was it?

I plan on taking my own vehicle and camping as much as possible..

AngryHippie

Personally, I would give myself at least 6 weeks to do that trip. It sounds like a lot, but even if the first 3 legs go smoothly and you end up in Cairns with 3 weeks to travel the east coast, you'll find you could spend 6 weeks doing that stretch , alone without getting bored, there are places that you could easily spend a week exploring and only have scratched the surface.

You'll need to time the NT legs pretty well and be well kitted out for it. It's definitely not a trip to undertake in a sh1tbox. 50mm of rain , or a minor mechanical issue up there could leave you parked up for a few days and a few grand out of pocket.

Think of it as a once in a lifetime trip, it pretty much is.

top madra

If it's unrealistic I'll just do the East coast, but rather than drive up and down the East. I thought it may be better to see some of the inland too.

I get a month off at Xmas but could get another month on top of that. Don't want to be taking much more as I'll probably be broke by then.

My car is pretty old but I spent a couple of grand a few weeks back so it's running good now. Plus it's a little kitted out for camping, off-roading etc. I've read about people doing this in rental sedans so I'm fairly confident apart floods etc.

But as I said if it makes more sense to just do the East in the time frame I'll do that.

AngryHippie

Realistically you could do it in a month, I don't see why not.

What are you driving ?

Mellor

It's probably about 120 hours total driving total. So breaking it into 8 hour block on average, and driving every second day (Avg again) leaves 30 days to do it.
How long were you expecting it might take?

pete4130

I was going to do Sydney to Uluru last Xmas with a month off. We planned to travel for about 2 weeks. It's about a 4 day drive (40 hours) just to get there and another 4 days to get back. Coupled with it being 40+ degrees that time of year we decided to leave it. Ideally take a week to get to Alice Springs taking your time at least.

I've driven Cairns to Sydney about 3 years ago and that was a solid 4 day drive without stopping our touristy things so thats another week or so just taking your time.

I'd go with the 6 week minimum too. If you are going off road and 4WDing then give yourself extra time for that too.

top madra

Ya the more i think of it's totally unrealistic as I don't want to rush and according to Mellor's maths I would be driving 8 hours every second day, blow that..The way I wanted to do it it would take me about 3 months

Ideally I'd like to spend a few days here and there, take a week to go diving in the Barrier reef etc.

I think I'd be better to break it into separate trips, or just quit my job and go full on hippy mode

Tigerandahalf

All the good places are along the east coast except seeing the national parks in the NT which are well worth seeing. I didn't see Alice Springs/Uluru but there is not a lot to see there. You would have a lot of driving up the centre without seeing much. The fuel bill would certainly add up. You could do with company going up through the middle. A break down could leave you pretty isolated. Have plenty of water and phone coverage.

stickman1019

Try the south west easily accessible in a car Margaret River Dunsborough Denmark

massdebater

I've just driven from Adelaide up to Alice Springs (and Uluru) then up to Cairns and down to Brisbane via all the touristy things. I spent about 7 weeks doing all that. 2 weeks driving from Adelaide to Cairns, including a 4/5 day stop at uluru and alice springs, 4 weeks driving from cairns to brisbane and I've been on brisbane a week. I didn't drive to darwin this time because I had already been there before. I think 6 weeks minimum is a good enough estimate for your planned trip.

Be warned though, there's a whole pile of nothing in the middle of the country. Uluru and Darwin/the surrounding parks are worth a visit (Alice Springs is a bit of a dump imo) but I'd fly there rather than drive. It will be cheaper to fly to these places (fuel costs were up to 3 times more expensive than melbourne in some places). Any breakdowns could potentially leave you stranded for a few days/weeks depending on where you are.

I done this trip on my own and put ads on gumtree to see if anyone wanted a lift from some of the places. I always found people to share with me (mostly germans and always female for some reason!). Great way to meet people and split the driving costs