MrsDagboy

Where would you take your family on holiday in Australia if you could take a caravan or go camping & what would you do/see there?

Edit: assume its June/July (winter, so not too hot to go away from the coast) & you can spend 3 - 4 weeks doing it

lynnj

I would love to go to Ningaloo Reef.

But if it's fantasy we are talking, where you can take all the time you need and the kids won't whinge once or utter the phrase "are we there yet" it would have to be Uluru. I went years ago and climbed it, yes i know i'll be cursed, but i would love the kids to see it.

Lynn

NickyP

Our first trip will probably be along the Great Ocean Road. We would also like to go to the coast across the Alpine Road and explore the coast between Melbourne and Sydney (but far enough away from both of them). I know that neither of those trips would take that long but we will probably work up to longer trips in time.
Just got to get an off road trailer tent to go with the car and then we can start exploring.
Nicky

webgum

Oooo, now there's a question to chew on. If time wasn't limited then I would take the family plus tent north in WA and explore everything - Kimberleys, Bungle Bungles and everything else we could find, then cross to Darwin and go south to Kakadu and surrounds. I would love to canoe Katherine Gorge with the kids. After that I don't care, I would go anywhere! Far North Queensland, inland Victoria, drive the Nullabor.

Is that too greedy?

If time was limited it would just have to be northern WA. Need to save up for the Engel fridge first!

Wrote the first bit before you edited!

brisnick

wolf creek?

webgum

Think I'll miss that bit off the itinerary.

MrsDagboy

LOL, dont even go there , Im having trouble enough getting Dagboy to consider anywhere that may be even in the slightest bit isolated without that suggestion :scared: .

NickyC

I've got a couple of trips planned in my head.

This is from Sydney - drive west to Broken Hill via Nyngan, Cobar, Wilcannia. Then south-west towards Adelaide with a side trip to the Flinders Ranges.
From Adelaide via the Great Ocean road to Melbourne and back to Sydney.
Shouldn't take more than 2-3 weeks and hopefully we'll do this in the next year or so.

I also have a long trip planned for sometime in the future. This one involves a figure-of-eight once-in-a-lifetime trip around the whole country:

Sydney, north to Cooktown stopping for as long as I wish, whereever I wish.
Then cut across to Alice Springs via Normanton, Burketown and Tennant Creek. Then down south to Adelaide, stopping at Uluru. This should take the best part of 6 months and should be done in the winter.

When the weather starts warming up, it's time to go west to Perth via the Nullarbor and exploring the bits of WA I've never been to. When winter sets in again, move North to the Kimberley and thence to Darwin and Kakadu.

From Darwin, it's back down to Adelaide again and then home to Sydney via the coast all the way.

One day, I will do it.....

MrsDagboy

Thanx for the ideas guys, unfortunately Ningaloo reef may be just a bit too far for us, but I have heard that it's nice! Lynn, I know, our fantasy is that the kids would sleep the whole way but the reality is that they start complaning before we even get over the Gateway Bridge :scared: . Hopefully we will have a DVD player in the new car, so something to keep them amused! For those in WA, lucky you, lots of great places.Webgum, you'd be able to do a fair amount of northern WA in 3-4 weeks Im guessing.

NickyP, thats the sort of thing we want to do, but probably a camper trailer (gotta have a bit of luxury ). The Great Ocean Rd & the coast between Syd & Melb is lovely, you'll have a great time .

NickyC, first one is similar to what I have thought of, considered Lightning Ridge, Bourke, Broken Hill & around. My aunty lived in Nyngan for years & we went to visit her when I was a kid, so it would be nice to go back. Another one was up to Longreach area, then through to the gulf back across to Cairns & back to Brisbane. Or out through Bedourie & Birdsville to Ayers Rock & that general area. Just not sure that 3-4 weeks is really enough for the last 2? My brother did the Longreach/Gulf one earlier this year but it took him 6 weeks.

steandleigh

You should share the driving and spent 48 hours non-stop driving north. Destination - the Daintree / Cooktown / maybe even further north. Good for a week at least then head back south - the Tablelands, Chillagoe, Undara Lava Tubes is good, then head east - Mission beach and lower. Spend the final week south on a leisurely camping trip home - a few nights here and there, so you aren't knackered when you get back.

NickyP

We have a 4WD so Ian won't consider anything that won't go off road with the car. I am not a fan of seriously roughing it so we will see what we end up with in terms of comporamise hee hee. There are just so many places to explore that really I am going to have to deal with my dislike of camping to be able to see the places that we want to see as we haven't got that much spare cash and it gets expensive travelling with 4 kids.
It is always interesting to hear where other people have gone on holidays as it is all new to us .
Nicky

spalen

Ive always fancied a tour of all the Coles in Northern Territory. There are only six. It would take some planning but I think its doable in 3 weeks, Ive listed the addresses below in case you are interested. Ive even got a map with color coded index showing which stores have just basic groceries and those that have clothes sections and small household electrical appliance aisles. Some of the stores have varying ranges of fresh baked goods, the one at Karama is possibly the smallest and really is more of an IGA , I dont know why Coles bother with it.

Of course this is just the six main coles, I mean... to try to include Coles Express in 3 weeks you'd just have to be mad.

Alice Springs
Alice Springs S/C Cnr Gregory Tce & Bath St
Alice Springs, NT 870
Ph: (08) 8952 5389

Casuarina
Casuarina Square S/C Cnr Dripstone & Trower Rds
Casuarina, NT 810
Ph: (08) 8927 9055

Darwin
Mitchell Centre Cnr Mitchell & Knuckey Sts
Darwin, NT 0800
Ph: 08 8941 8055

Karama
Karama S/C Cnr Kalymnos Cres & Karama Dr
Karama, NT 810
Ph: (08) 8945 0588

Northlakes
Corner Links & Mcmillans Roads
Marrara, NT 0812
Ph: (08) 8927 8011

Palmerston
Palmerston S/C Cnr Temple & Chung Wah Terraces
Palmerston, NT 830
Ph: (08) 8932 1222

Ps... I'll look after your boat when you are away , you know keep it clean and stuff. Wont take it out , honest.

Siren & Brian

I have done that, and afterwards you dont really need to go anywhere else for quite a while. It was completely different to what I thought it was going to be. Sooooooooooo much better.

MrsDagboy

Stan - that's the sort of itinery I had planned in my head to start with, I absolutely loved the Daintree & the area north of Port Douglas last time we were up there, but camping (or staying somewhere a bit remote) with the kids & the crocodiles is a bit :scared: .

Nicky - yeah we have a 4wd too, thats why we will probably go for a camper trailer if we get one, alot easier to tow offroad than a caravan or even a poptop, but a heck of alot more civilised than a trailer tent.

Spalen - what can I say?? Straight to the top of the class for making me laugh

Brian - what did you do? All of the stuff that webgum mentioned? All in one go?

A dogs life

If I was going to do a road trip of Oz, I'd go for all the literal name places. Obviously start with Deception Bay, then move onto Mount Hopeless, a quick visit to Mount Despair, and then finish at Lake Disappointment.

I didn't say it would be a fun road trip

Those are all real places BTW,