Head north for the winter

At this time of year, many people are heading north, to spend the winter where it's warm, or as part of an extended trip around Australia.

They're usually retirees, or those fortunate enough to be able to take a few months off work, to relax and see some of the country, or simply hole up on the northern coast and go fishing for a while.

Many are travelling with a 4WD and a caravan or camper trailer on the back. Independent, inexpensive touring is the name of the game, though with fuel prices reaching record levels it's a more expensive exercise than previously.

In April, northern Australia - from the Tropic of Capricorn up - is emerging from the wet season.

However the timing of "the dry" can be unpredictable.

There are several very good reasons why the top end is relatively free of travellers during the wet season.

Firstly, the humidity is extremely hard to take if you're not used to tropical climates, especially in association with the relatively high temperatures - 30-35°C maximum - which occur on Australia's north coast year round.

Inland, the north is just too hot - often 45°C and up - to be comfortable in summer, and the flies are feral. Vehicles also do it tough in these conditions, with greatly increased risk of mechanical and tyre failure due to the extreme temperatures.

Then there's the roads. Popular routes like the Gibb River Road in the Kimberley, and the Gulf Track, are usually impassable from January to March.

You travel them at your own risk, and in some cases heavy fines apply. Local authorities are sick of rescuing stranded tourists who have ignored warnings.

The best time of year to explore the top end is from May to the end of October.

At the beginning of the dry season - May and June - you can still see the explosion of greenery and life generated by the summer rains, but the roads have usually been graded and are in reasonable condition.

June-August brings the mildest, driest conditions, which make for comfortable, relaxed travelling.

It's starting to warm up in September-October, but it's still comfortable and, unless something weird happens, the rains are still a while away.

By this time, however, many of the tracks have been fairly well worn by tourist and livestock transport traffic and are starting to get pretty corrugated and dusty. Top end bulldust is nasty stuff, so you need to be careful. It also gets into everything.

Late October sees the start of the build-up, when the humidity rises and the heat of the afternoon often sees storm clouds build up, then dissipate - until the rain comes down again.

So, what's the best way get from down south to up north?

That depends upon how long you have, how you're travelling and what you want to see and do along the way.

There's no point in turning the trip into a driveathon. If you can, give yourself at least a couple of weeks to reach the starting point for your northern adventure, which will usually be Cairns or Darwin.

Heading for Cairns?

Up the east coast to Cairns is a simple, easy drive as long as you take your time.

You can take the Newell, New England or Pacific Highways to Queensland, then connect with the Bruce Highway for the trip to Cairns, which is just over 1700km from Brisbane.

The two inland NSW highways - the Newell and the New England - are much more relaxing drives than the Pacific, with considerably less traffic.

The Newell passes through relatively flat country. The New England is quite mountainous - and mostly uphill - from Tamworth to the Queensland Border.

The Bruce Highway is relatively flat and easy travelling, all the way to Cairns.

If you're towing a caravan or trailer, you'll find inexpensive council caravan parks in most of the inland towns on these routes, with rates much cheaper than the more popular parks on the coast.

At this time of year it can be difficult to find a caravan site in many of the coastal parks, especially on the far north coast of NSW, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, but also elsewhere along Highway One.

Although many long term travellers consider it anathema to plan ahead and book caravan sites, demand for them has risen to the extent that it is unfortunately becoming the only sure way to secure one in those places on the coast where you want to stay, especially for more than one night.

Heading for Darwin?

If you're heading for Darwin, the Matilda Highway (a tourist route, not a highway name itself) is the way to go. It's a great trip, which heads north from Bourke, then passes through the iconic towns of western Queensland including Cunnamulla, Longreach, Winton, Mt Isa and Camooweal.

You then cross the border and drive due west into the vast plains of the Northern Territory on the Barkly Highway for 500km, where you hit the Stuart Highway and the famous Three Ways Roadhouse.

Turn right, and you have only another 1000km or so to go until you get to Darwin.

The Matilda is all sealed. Sydney-Darwin is approximately 5000 kilometres.

The alternative sealed route is to head west to Broken Hill, then to Port Augusta in South Australia, and take the Stuart Highway north to Darwin via Alice Springs.

Again, there's much of interest on this drive, although it's very different to the Matilda, which passes largely through the pastoral country of western Queensland.

The Stuart runs through several deserts. Stop at Coober Pedy, Uluru, Alice Springs and Katherine for several days each - or a week if you have the time.

Sydney-Darwin via Port Augusta is about 6500 kilometres.

Of course if you're properly equipped and self sufficient, there are also several unsealed routes from the southern states to the Top End. In fact if you don't mind the dirt the possibilities are almost endless.

We'll cover them another time.

Article by Bill McKinnon, April 2005.

All information was correct at the time of writing but may change without notice.