Driving Sydney to Uluru in the Summer?

Question

Hi there,

Would love to hear anyone's experiences and / or advice about our latest holiday idea. We are thinking of driving from Sydney to Uluru and back in December / January with kids aged 3 and 7. We have a 4WD and access to a trailer. We are intending on camping and staying in a hotel every couple of nights. I know the temperatures are probably crazy, but we are both only able to have time off work then and have around 4 weeks to do it.

Has anyone done the trip? What route/s did you take? Any good campsites you can recommend? Things for the kids to see and do? Are we nuts?

Thanks,

K8

Answer 1

advice. driving out of sydney is near impossible without a GPS. my mates and i flew down there to get his car  he bought. and even using the GPS we took a few wrong turns.

where it looks like 2 lanes; well the lane on the left is like a car park over there so stay two lanes from the left.

Answer 2

DFeMan is right, it's the wrong time of the year.

I'm sorry I'm goin to sound like a real wet blanket but....

If everything goes according to plan it's bearable.

If anything goes wrong it's h**l on wheels.

Imagine being stuck on on the side of the road:

over 40 degree heat, no shade etc, etc, etc. Not fun.

If you do go.....go fully prepared.

We always did, it makes for a much easier trip and gives some peace of mind.

We used to do the trip from Brisbane to Adelaide every second Christmas, to visit the in-laws.

It's not the best time to travel long distances in Australia, especially with 2 bored little ones.

Answer 3

if u are gonna do it in the summer

take ALOT of water!!!!!!!!!!

my advice would be wait till autumn. but if u insist make sure car is in perfect shape coz if it breaks down you'll be in trouble

Answer 4

I have done it twice in December and January. Once with my 4WD, once with an organized outback tour, from Adelaide via Alice, Kings Canyon, Yulara. Summarizing the experience,:

always hot ( our last trip we had 37 degrees Celsius at 1 am midnight as the LOWEST temperature. There will be most likely so many flies around you that even enjoying a meal becomes a battle (unless you like the protein surplus :-) ).Accommodation at Yullara is very expensive ($300 to $3000 per night), check the rates beforehand as well as availability and book. There is nothing else for over 500 km...

however, seeing Uluru, and the Olgas was worth it !

Answer 5

my  advice to u is not to do it. Summer out there is theworst possible time, especially with 2 small children. They will find it very boring and u will get very annoyed with them.

I have done the trip many times, and there arent many caravan parks that are between stops, although if u r prepared to rough it!!, which is very dangerous out there. Again with motels they r very in frequent, such as arriving in a town at 2pm, then deciding to drive on to the next one, only to discover that the next one is 300 kms away!!

If u r still determined to go then the best route from Sydney is Dubbo, Broken Hill, get on to the Sturt Hwy in Sth Aust, which is about 200 kms north of Adelaide Drive north for about 600 kms, making sure u have plenty of petrol etc, because the facilities are sparse.

Uluru is a turning off to the left, and the rock is about 400 kms west.

Make sure u have plenty of fuel before u drive west because there is only 2 petrol stations. With children that journey will take u about 10 days!!!. Again my advice is dont do it...... U will be disapointed once u arrive at the rock!!!

Answer 6

As a lot of people have said, it is likely to be far too hot during that time and I am thinking of the little one... and an upset little one who is too hot in the middle of no where and nothing that can be done about it... buut then again it depends on your family...

If you guys like a challenge and know that its going to be tuff, then I'd say, go for it. Heres a link to a hotel booking site where you can find deals that may include meals for really good prices, which you may find useful.  

Answer 7

No! too long and too hot with kids in the car, pick something sea side, uncluttered and stay put for the same amount of time, take the kids to Stradbroke Island or King Island or some island, all you will remember on a trip in the heat is the trip in the heat and how you nearly went nuts with worry as the 4wd breaks down in the middle of nowhere with two little kids on board.  If you do go, get a sat nav eperb lifesaving device just in case.  

Answer 8

Read DFeMan again and again. Temperatures are above 45.C.

Answer 9

Hot hot hot hot and burning hot. Advice don't do it in Dec/Jan. The only think you will remember is the heat. Try to set your tour around before November and after March.

Good Luck

http://www.sydneykingscross.com

Answer 10

Yes, as said above, it'll be hot. But with a modern aircon 4x4, plenty of water & safety gear inc. CB/satelite phone you won't die from it.

If you are going through Queensland, a consideration, however, is it'll possibly be wet. If so, some of the roads will need to be driven with care, even the bitumen ones which tend to get a thin veneer of slippery mud on them. If rain, count on perhaps spending a few inadvertent days stuck in somewhere like Windorah, Charelville, Boulia or somesuch (depending on your route) when the creeks rise.

Probably the safest but longest route would be up the coast to Rocky, out to Longreach, Mt Isa, Tennant Creek etc.

Inland route (without rain) out to Bourke, Cunnamulla, Charleville, Boulia. If adventurous, there is a 'short cut' from Boulia to just north of Alice via the Plenty 'Highway' (a dirt track in reality - take spare petrol).

Join the RAC/NRMA for updated maps and advice.

Answer 11

I think it would be a great experience I did an assignment on Uluru and there are camping sites that you can stay at but I don't remember them at the top of my head sorry it will be hot but it will defiantly be worth the great experience.  So know your not crazy and I'm sure your kids will love it and you could take some really memorable photos in front of mount Uluru with the whole family.