2019 wander time to plan a trip to NT

poor but proud

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Aug 25, 2018
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redlands
Time for me to get the minister of finance and war to get interested in our next winter trip .we are planning to leave Redlands just after Mother's Day enter NT from camoweal do the bottom half before it gets too cold and then head up towards Darwin ,do the tourist thing around there , on leaving do the Kakadu loop then down to the Booroola King ash bay loop and back to Qld through camoweal , so far apart from the normal destinations we want to see Ross River resort, Hermansberg Warrego fossicking area .. If the well travelled know any special areas not too far off the tar please let me know. We will have about 16 weeks in NT Cliff and jenny
 

Crew family

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Mar 26, 2016
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West MacDonnell Ranges are stunning. You could base yourself at Glen Helen and visit Gosse Bluff, Redbank Gorge, Ochre Pits, Ormiston Gorge, Standley Chasm (small fee here but worth it) etc. If you have an off road rig, then Palm Valley is incredible. The road in is quite sandy and a few rocks though, so doing in convoy and lowered tyre pressures best. Our 14.44-4 Off road expanda and our friend's 17ft Expanda made it in no probs. Hermannsburg great for day visit to historical museum.
Lots to do in and around Alice Springs. The nocturnal walk at Desert Springs Park was a highlight and day visit also, plus the Old Telegraph Station and Todd Mall markets.
 
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poor but proud

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Aug 25, 2018
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redlands
thanks this is just the type of infomation i was hoping to get , did you get to kings canyon ??so far we are a bit unsure if we will get there due to poor reviews ,the distance in and back out if we want to stay on the tar and there seem to be a lot of other gorges out there which are more accessable as our van is not off road thanks again
 

Crew family

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Mar 26, 2016
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Melbourne
Hi. Kings Canyon "Resort" isn't fabulous and pretty expensive, but it's fine for a couple of nights. The pool is refreshing and bathrooms could do with a spruce up. Sites are all under trees. The walks into Kings Canyon however are incredible. With 2 families, the boys did the longer rim walk, while the girls (youngest was a spritely 6yo) did the southern rim walk (about 5-6km) meandering up a ridgeline and still had a great view of the Canyon. You can't go any further here as the bridge is one way, but the main rim walk is a loop. Worth it I reckon. Not sure what the Kings Canyon Station stay is like, but Wikicamps had pretty good reviews. It's tar all the way from Yulara to Kings Canyon - you have to backtrack about 120km along Lasseter Hwy then head up Laritja Dve. One pit stop on the way that's only just bearable.
From Kings Canyon, you'd probably head back to Alice (about 4.5hrs) on the tar, and then from memory (April 2018) it's tar on pretty much the whole West Macs loop. Roads into the Glen Helen Homestead are dirt but easy 2WD and not long. New bathrooms here too and the homestead has a ripper view for happy hour and good basic food. Can do daytrips from here to many places.
We didn't go to East Macs so not sure how far bitumen goes - Ross River I think.
Aileron on the Stuart worth a stopover to see the Anmatyerre Man and woman & child. Red Centre Farm has excellent mango icecream and snacks. Devil's Marbles has $7 camping and though road in is dirt, it's fine for 2WD. Daly Waters has good food at the pub (didn't stay) and Mataranka def worth a couple of days. We stayed at the Homestead. All ok with 2WD.