Darwin to Adelaide - non-paved roads

[edwardbgill]

Hi all,

I'm riding from London to Sydney this year, and I'll be expecting to make it to Oz in around late October.

For the final leg of the trip I'm really interested in crossing the continent from north to south from Darwin to Adelaide, through the Outback and non-paved roads, including by stock routes.

Obviously the Outback is a risky place to be at any time - but I wondered if anyone on here had any pointers regarding potential route options or anything else that should be thinking of here.

At the early stages of looking in to, so any thoughts welcome.

Thanks

Ed

[farqhuar]

No biggy on unmade roads, when I first did that ride in the '70s unmade was the only option you had - there simply wasn't any bitumen!

Nowadays my route suggestion would be Oodnadatta track to Mt Dare /Finke then up to Alice, followed by Tanami north to Halls Creek then Ord River Rd to Katherine. From Katherine you can ride through Kakadu to Darwin.

[Bucket1960]

Originally Posted by farqhuar

Nowadays my route suggestion would be Oodnadatta track to Mt Dare /Finke then up to Alice, followed by Tanami north to Halls Creek then Ord River Rd to Katherine. From Katherine you can ride through Kakadu to Darwin.

Remembering that this is downunder.......turn those directions upside down for your trip from Darwin to Adelaide

[Tony LEE]

Originally Posted by farqhuar

No biggy on unmade roads, when I first did that ride in the '70s unmade was the only option you had - there simply wasn't any bitumen!

Nowadays my route suggestion would be Oodnadatta track to Mt Dare /Finke then up to Alice, followed by Tanami north to Halls Creek then Ord River Rd to Katherine. From Katherine you can ride through Kakadu to Darwin.

If you want to push yourself - from Fink to Alice up the old Ghan route is a parallel track used for the Finke-Alice desert race. http://finkedesertrace.com.au/

The Tatts Finke Desert Race is an off road, multi terrain two-day race for bikes, cars, buggies and quads through desert country from Alice Springs to the small Aputula (Finke) community. The race is held each year on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June. “Finke” as it is commonly known, is one of the biggest annual sporting events in the Northern Territory and has the reputation of being one of the most difficult offroad courses in one of the most remote places in the world. Finke is unique and the most fun you can have with a helmet on!

Just make sure everything is tied on tight. On the Ghan road you can play dodge the railway spikes



Be aware that australia is infamous for having the worst corrugated roads in the world.


Oodnadatta track has two options which you can't influence - mud or corrugations. Often both on the same day



Tanami is sometimes dead smooth after the graders do their bit, but otherwise pretty soon end up corrugated.

Ghan track - not the race track. The race track is easily accessible and often only 50 metres off to one side of the Ghan track so you can mix and match as desired

[edwardbgill]

Great - thanks all. Very helpful. Will investigate this info further.