Northern Queensland and Northern Territory - how t

[Kimby]

Seeking travel info, for a change. ;-)

We (middle-aged outdoorsy couple) are planning a 3 week trip (first time to Australia) for late October - early November 2009.

We are booked to fly into Cairns on Oct 23 and home from Sydney on November 11. Other than that we have not yet committed to any domestic flights or accommodations reservations. We travelled around New Zealand a couple years back in a rented motor home and loved it, but realize that Australia is huge, and we will have to both limit the areas we visit and the time spent driving between places.

We are wondering about campervan rentals in the Cairns area, and also in the Darwin area. Does not having 4WD limit what we can see very much? Particularly in the Darwin/Kakadu area? We plan to rent self-sufficient campervans with toilet and shower, and are wondering if "free camping" is possible or must we stay in organized camping grounds in many places? Do any campers with Shower/Toilet also have 4WD - if so, I haven't been able to find them searching the rental websites.

How to divide our time? Current thinking is about a week in Cairns/Daintree/Cape Trib/reef area with one campervan/motorhome, then fly to Darwin for another week in another campervan/motorhome in the Darwin/Litchfield/Katherine Gorge/Kakadu area, before flying to Ayers Rock for 3 nights (is that too many?) and onward to Sydney for the final 2 nights.

I am wondering if we are not doing justice to either area by spending only a week (6 full days of sightseeing) to see all the sights we hope to see. But I can't imagine going to Australia and not seeing Uluru and the Olgas (Kings Canyon is optional for us, since we hike in Utah a bunch and believe they are somewhat similar).

Does anyone have any advice for us before we lock in domestic flights and motor home rentals? Basically, should the two areas - Cairns and top end - get a 50/50 split, or is one "worth" more time than the other?

Our preferences are nature, hiking, camping, views. Cuisine and cultural events not so much, though a bit of aboriginal interpretation and rock art would be nice. Nightlife not at all.

Thanks for any help you can give us.

[Deleted]

Maybe 2 nights in the Uluru area would be enough, if you feel pressed for time.

As I already said, I know nothing about renting motor homes in Australia, but one thing that really sort of shocked me last time I rented a car (from Nova) was how they practically went over the car with a magnifying glass when I returned it (having driven from Sydney to Cairns, which is ONE HELL OF A LONG WAY), looking for some way to charge me extra for something. Ha, but they were out of luck!

I think what surprised me the most was that I always considered Australians to be more relaxed that most other cultures, and this was the opposite. (But maybe it's because the renters are too relaxed, so the companies have to be more vigilant?)

[bixaorellana]

Ha ~~ that reminds me of what a newspaperman friend of mine once said. He was telling about having to go into a hurricane area and asked everyone, "You know what kind of car to take into a hurricane area, don't you?" After waiting through answers such as four-wheel drive, etc., he said, "NO ~~ a rental car!"

[Kimby]

Re: Uluru, and how to get there.

It costs 250AUD one way fee to return the motorhome rented in Darwin in Alice Springs.

It costs 207AUD per day to rent the motorhome, and would require 2 extra days of rental: one LONG day to drive to Alice Springs from Katherine (our furthest south explorations around Darwin), and another 2 half days to drive to Uluru and back from Alice.

The one way plane fare to Uluru from Darwin is 365AUD per person at this writing, or 730AUD total, plus the 16 AUD each difference in airfare to Sydney from Uluru vs. Alice. Only a 98AUD difference in favor of driving, which would probably be eaten up in petrol costs, and then some.

This hasn't taken into account 2 nights in a hotel in Uluru if we turn in the motorhome in Darwin and fly. But we'd gain about 23 solid hours that would otherwise be spent driving to and from Alice Springs in exchange for about 340 AUD minimum for hotels for 2 nights.

Seems like a no-brainer to me. Any one have an opinion?

[Deleted]

I found a lot of the driving in Australia to be mind-numbingly boring, and I absolutely love to drive (even things like 'the Loneliest Road in America' US 50 in Nevada). So there is absolutely no point in driving to Alice Springs or Uluru. Damn, I took a bus to Uluru from Alice Springs and everybody was dying of boredom except at the rest stops. That's already at least a 4 hour drive.

I flew to Alice from Adelaide (opposite direction), but I don't think the fares to Alice are nearly as high as the fares to Uluru. Have you compared? It might be worthwhile to take a flight to Alice and then take a bus to Uluru from there.

[Kimby]

Yes the fares are cheaper, but perhaps not enough to compensate for the mind-numbing bus ride? The difference would be 126 AUD more per person for Cairns-Darwin-Uluru-Sydney vs. Cairns-Darwin-Alice Springs-Sydney. And we'd save the roughly 10 hours on the bus there and back, plus the bus fare. Actually if we flew to Alice, we'd still rent a car rather than take a bus. That's just the way we are. But it would still cost 10 hours on the road plus petrol.

Plus, if our flight to Alice gets in at 15:35, it might be too late to start out for Uluru, since the car rental contracts don't cover you for hitting kangaroos after dark! What time is sunset in Australia around November 6th?

[Deleted]

Spring is in the air then... but outback rentals are much more expensive than urban rentals.