Driving Sydney to Perth for Christmas - your input appreciated

[St3veC Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close St3veC]

G'day all,
As the title suggests, the wife, our 2 kids (4 & 1yrs) and I are planning a trip, driving from Sydney to Perth in December this year to visit the in-laws for Christmas! I've done the drive from Sydney to Perth once before (2004), but haven't done the return journey, and didn't do it with 2 young kiddies either!

We've recently purchased a 2002 RV6 that we're very happy with and excited to be taking across the country. It's fairly standard, but suits our needs at the moment, and the budget doesn't allow for too much fruit anyhow. Things like timing belt, water pump, belts, fluids, etc will be changed before we set off. I'm still tossing up about tyre replacements... but that is probably for another thread.

What we're asking is your suggestions regarding any aspect of the trip and also recommendations for possible overnight stops along the way. We plan to take it pretty easy and not do crazy km's. Average 6.5hrs driving per day. We're trying to keep the costs down also, so will be camping each night.

The following list is a pretty well thought out idea of what we're thinking for the forward journey, but any further suggestions/recommendations are very much appreciated. Let us know what you think. So far, I haven't thought too much about the return journey, but because of the side trips in the forward journey, the return journey is going to be pretty much just a bee-line for home. (probably 6-7days).

Day 1 - Sydney > Darlington Point, NSW
Day 2 - Dar Pt > Menindee, NSW (via the Murrimbidgee River Rd, Hay & Ivanhoe)
Day 3 - Men. > Port Augusta, SA (via Broken Hill)
Day 4 - PA > Port Lincoln, SA
Day 5 - PL > Ceduna, SA (via oysters @ Streaky Bay)
Day 6 - Ced > Mundrabilla, WA
Day 7 - Mund > Fraser Range, WA
Day 8 - FR > Southern Cross (via Kalgoorlie (super pit))
Day 9 - SC > Perth


Cheers, Steve!

[jeff s Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close jeff s]

Hi Steve

well by your itinerary your days will be comfortable.
We have done it with kids (9-11 at the time) in much the same as that and roughly the same time of year.. hot..

we did stay at Mundrabilla, and at streaky bay, so can only comment a bit on them.
Streaky bay, lovely,
Mundrabilla. umm. well its a place to stay.. I am not sure of any places along the nulabour that are anything above 2stars, this being one of them.. it was the only place we stayed indoors as their camp ground was under water, but the room was bad. we slept in our sleeping bags on the bed..
alltho, the food was good.
We did the run both ways, and took slight diversions each way.
perth> Norseman. caravan park.
Norseman> border+, Camp in 24hr road side stop. $0
Border> Pildappa rock $0 (near minnipa SA)
Pildappa > Adelaide, van park.
Adelaide > Mildura, van park by river.
Mildura > Bathurst (mt Panorama top of mountain $0)
Bathurst > syd,
return was via white cliffs NSW, innaminka SA, Lyndhurst SA, flinders ranges SA, Coffin Bay SA, streaky bay SA, mundrabilla WA then non stop to perth.
We had a few days at a few of them, noteable spots were white cliffs (underground hotel), Flinders ranges. coffin and streaky bays.

you say you have done this before, so you are well aware of the distances, and the monotany sometimes. Ipod compatable stereos are good, and sometimes the ABC is good for a break as it has continuity between states.

And most importantly, when you hit Perth.. you have to come out on a WAPPER day out 4X4ing..

Jeff.

[footoo Member Find all posts View Profile Close footoo]

G'day Steve
I am Melbournian but have done the trip from Ceduna east and west a couple of times. Your itenary looks great, the only thing I would suggest is when you get west of Ceduna head up a little and pick up the Old Eyre Hwy. It is gravel road but the times I have done it, it has always been in good nick, it runs between the existing Eyre and the railway line. There is a lot of history along the way with old water tank stops for the early travelers and numerous old cars, there are a lot of absolute classics out there and there are plenty of places to camp, if you don't mind bush camping.

You can pick it up just out of Ceduna or there are several tracks heading north of the black top along the way. Just check your maps.

Have a good trip
Geoff

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

My only comment is 9 days of driving each day with a 1 year old and 4 year old could become tiring. I would probably plan a break day or two to see a few things and let the kids run around on a playground.

[Guest Close Guest]

I thought I'd google up Darlington Point and find that we go past that town on our almost yearly trip from ADL to SYD. Suffice to say, I didn't even know the town existed until today. Goes to show how much I noticed that town. Perhaps you are better off going to Hay. There's an area next to the river where I've seen people camping
http://maps.google.com.au/?ll=-34.51...04726&t=h&z=18

There's Chinese food at the Hay Bowling club
http://maps.google.com.au/?ll=-34.50...02363&t=h&z=19

We normally stay at the Cobb Inlander
http://maps.google.com.au/?ll=-34.51...02363&t=h&z=19

Between Hay and Menindee is Mungo NP. It looks to be an interesting place and I'd like to go there one day.

PM ondaboat for things to do at Port Lincoln.

A headrest DVD player would be good for the 4yo. Allow enough space for mum to sit next to 1yo if required.
Get window sox to provide relief from the sun. A trek table is great as a nappy change table.
Drive when the kids are sleeping. Have a power nap when the kids are on the playground.

[Barnesworth Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Barnesworth]

Steve,

I'm reasonably familiar with Eyre Peninsular and have the following suggestions:

Pt. Augusta doesn't really showcase the region well IMO (my neighbour would be horrified - he's from there and loves it) plus that time of year it can be hotter than further south down the EP, mainly as there is not much sea surrounding for a sea breeze. Better options include Cowell (excellent oysters) and Arno Bay, the later great for kids and there's a caravan park right next to the start of the jetty and the pub's just across the road. As you're camping then Pt. Gibbon (between Cowell and Arno) has a free (last I heard) community maintained camping area, great spot but there are no shops.

Likewise, on the west coast of EP, Elliston and Streaky are much better options than Ceduna if you are looking for anything other than somewhere to put your head down. Plenty of sights in between places if you can afford the time. Here's just a few: Coffin Bay is gorgeous, an alternative to Pt Lincoln for camping as well, scenic drive just north of Elliston includes Black Fella's famous surf break, Walker's Rock beach 10-15 mins further north is a great spot with free camping, Venus bay, Thalia Caves also worth a stop, Baird Bay has swimming with seals - expensive from memory.

Obviously these recommendations require some adjustment of your stops either side, worth it IMO. Let me know if I can help further.

Barnesworth

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Tip: don't refuel at SA/WA Border Village. Drive the extra 12 km or so and fuel up at the Eucla Motel. It's cheaper. By all means eat and rest at the border but go to Eucla for your fuel. It's then an easy 700km until Norseman which is the cheapest along the Eyre Hwy (WA end) or wait until Coolgardie or Kalgoorlie for your next fuel stop - an additional 220km from Norseman.

[St3veC Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close St3veC]

Thanks everyone for the replies thus far. They're all great suggestions that we otherwise wouldn't have been aware of!!
Keep them coming!

[chester ver 2.0 Member Find all posts View Profile Close chester ver 2.0]

I thought about doing this at xmas from Perth to Syd and back again but Gen then told me to pull my head in. So i will wave to you from about 30,000 feet

[Antmann Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Antmann]

Can recommend Coffin Bay as a nice stop off, Cooked dinner at the beachfront next to the town jetty last christmas. Although Ceduna has the caravan park on the beachfont next to the pub as well. I found the worlds largest drive through bottle 'O' at Ceduna as well. The Eyre Peninsula has lots of small towns & bays that make great overnighters. If you have the Australia wide camp book you will find lots of free camps along the way. If you're going to Perth Via Kalgoorlie, try a lower route on the way back. The road between Hyden (wave rock) is a nice change. It is maintained by local minesites and there are some picturesque camps along the way, or you could go travel further south to esperence. Quick brag here, made ceduna to norseman without refuelling.

[MUMSRIG Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MUMSRIG]

I thought about doing this at xmas from Perth to Syd and back again but Gen then told me to pull my head in. So i will wave to you from about 30,000 feet

We will be doing the trip from Perth to Newcastle at the end of September...

Trying to sort out our itinerary now...

Mitch