Road Trip from Canberra to Uluru

Road Trip from Canberra to Uluru

by Nadia
(Canberra)

Port Pirie main street

Myself and my husband are planning on road tripping to Uluru from Canberra leaving on Boxing Day December 26th 2009 for 2 weeks. Will it be stupidly hot??
We are planning on taking our SS Comodore ute V8 - how are the roads - the itinerary I have planned is as follows:
Canberra to Robinvale to Port Pirie to Coober Pedy to Marla to Uluru and then on the way home Uluru to Cadney to Glendambo to Port Augusta to Mildura to Darling Point to Canberra. Will the road be sealed all the way and if not are they still good dirt roads??
Some days we will be doing 8 hours of driving - some only 5, some only 3 hours. Does this seem like a reasonable itinerary and from my studies I think I have chosen some good Australian stop-over nighters??
Would appreciate any advice!!

Thanks!
From Nadia

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Road Trip from Canberra to Uluru

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Oct 04, 2009

What is hot?
by: Rita

Hi Nadia,

well, what is stupidly hot? Like so many things in our lives, heat is a very individual feeling. What can you bare?

According to the Australian weather bureau, the mean maximum temps for Alice Springs in Dec are 35,8°C, for Jan 35,9°C.
For Uluru / Yulara the temps are 36,8°C (Dec) and 38,6°C (Jan). As these are the mean temperatures recorded ove the last 20+ years, this means it can be a bit warmer, or cooler, on any day.
You know, the weather is never predictable. However, as it is a dry heat in central Australia, I think it is much more bearable than a humid 30°C.

Your itinerary sounds reasonable to me. You've done already a lot of research.
I've never been to Robinvale and Darlington Point, but I definitely like Mildura, and Coober Pedy.
Have you already checked for accommodation at your stopping points, or are you going to camp? Robinvale has a motel and two caravan parks, Darlington Point at least a caravan park.

You can check out motels and caravan parks for Mildura, Port Augusta, Port Pirie, Coober Pedy and Yulara through Hotelscombined. Just click on the town links to see what's available.

All roads are sealed along your way. In SA you have several choices, you can go via Burra & Jamestown to Port Pirie, and on the way back you can go through Wilmington, Melrose & through the lovely Clare Valley until you hit the Sturt Highway to Mildura again.

The mid-north of SA is really nice, I've travelled back and forth a couple of times on my way to the Australian Outback.

For more info about the stops north of Port Augusta, please check my Stuart Highway page. If you are interested in doing a tour at Uluru, the Uluru Tours page might give you some suggestions.

uluru

Uluru is really worth a visit, even if you have to drive a lot to get there.

Happy planning, and don't hesitate to ask more questions. We'd also love to hear about yur Uluru impressions.

Rita

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Oct 04, 2009
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Submitted by: Rita

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Hi Nadia, well, what is stupidly hot? Like so many things in our lives, heat is a very individual feeling. What can you bare? According to the Australian weather bureau, the mean maximum temps for Alice Springs in Dec are 35,8°C, for Jan 35,9°C. For Uluru / Yulara the temps are 36,8°C (Dec) and 38,6°C (Jan). As these are the mean temperatures recorded ove the last 20+ years, this means it can be a bit warmer, or cooler, on any day. You know, the weather is never predictable. However, as it is a dry heat in central Australia, I think it is much more bearable than a humid 30°C. Your itinerary sounds reasonable to me. You've done already a lot of research. I've never been to Robinvale and Darlington Point, but I definitely like Mildura, and Coober Pedy. Have you already checked for accommodation at your stopping points, or are you going to camp? <a href="http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/vic/goulburnmurray/murrayvalley/directory/accommodation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Robinvale</a> has a motel and two caravan parks, Darlington Point at least a caravan park. You can check out motels and caravan parks for <a href="http://www.hotelscombined.com/City/Mildura.htm?label=c2mildura&a_aid=6689" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Mildura</a>, <a href="http://www.hotelscombined.com/City/Port_Augusta.htm?label=c2augusta&a_aid=6689" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Port Augusta</a>, <a href="http://www.hotelscombined.com/City/Port_Pirie.htm?label=c2pirie&a_aid=6689" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Port Pirie</a>, <a href="http://www.hotelscombined.com/City/Coober_Pedy.htm?label=c2pedy&a_aid=6689" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Coober Pedy</a> and <a href="http://www.hotelscombined.com/City/Yulara.htm?label=c2yulara&a_aid=6689" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Yulara</a> through Hotelscombined. Just click on the town links to see what's available. All roads are sealed along your way. In SA you have several choices, you can go via Burra & Jamestown to Port Pirie, and on the way back you can go through Wilmington, Melrose & through the lovely Clare Valley until you hit the Sturt Highway to Mildura again. The mid-north of SA is really nice, I've travelled back and forth a couple of times on my way to the Australian Outback. For more info about the stops north of Port Augusta, please check my <a href="http://www.ritas-outback-guide.com/stuart-highway.html">Stuart Highway</a> page. If you are interested in doing a tour at Uluru, the <a href="http://www.ritas-outback-guide.com/uluru-tours.html">Uluru Tours</a> page might give you some suggestions. <img src="http://www.ritas-outback-guide.com/image-files/uluru-base-walk.jpg" width="285" height="426" title="Uluru base walk" alt="uluru"/> Uluru is really worth a visit, even if you have to drive a lot to get there. Happy planning, and don't hesitate to ask more questions. We'd also love to hear about yur <a href="http://www.ritas-outback-guide.com/uluru-tours.html#INV">Uluru impressions</a>. Rita

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Oct 04, 2009

Re places to visit
by: Terry Everson

Your trip as Rita says is over sealed roads and it will be hot but probably less people travelling and heat is dry with low humidity. Some places you might like to visit on return assuming you will pass through Morgan and Burra (don`t miss them) on your way to Port Pirie, Out of Willmington take a detour to Hammond which is a classic Ghost town and then through Orroroo,Jamestown, Clare, Barrossa Valley,Nurioopta, Angaston, Swan Reach and Loxton and Renmark if you are going home the same way. I would be happy to suggest other ways home to Canberra if you have time.