Road trip to Mt Isa, Queensland - cancelled due to COVID-19
NB, Planned trip is contingent upon Qld and S.A. borders re-opening in July. An alternate trip staying within Vic and NSW will be posted shortly.
Date and time: 03 to 29 Aug 2020. 27 days.
===== COMPLYING WITH COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS ======
There are hoops that we need to jump through to comply with the restrictions, although these are relaxing.
As part of your registration, we need to know who will be in your car. The people in your car must live with you to comply with social distancing rules.
COVID-19 - ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS
These additional restrictions have been put in place to confirm with the Government regulation. It's the trip leader's responsibility to ensure they are adhered to and you will be asked to confirm each one during registration. So it's more important than ever to follow the Trip Leader's instructions.
- All passengers are your family members (partner or child, in same household)
- As the club member, you are responsible to ensure your passengers are aware of and follow the restrictions.
- Everyone must respect social distancing, of 1.5m, from other members - particularly during:
- Breaks - briefings, tea breaks, lunch breaks, etc
- Recoveries - stay in your car where possible, unless asked to help.
- You cannot attend If you are feeling unwell, been in close contact with anyone suspected of having the virus, or recently returned from overseas
- Bring hand-sanitiser along with your normal kit.
- There may be no access to public toilets or other facilities (toilets should be open by then)
- We also suggest that you use the COVIDSafe app.
All passengers must be named for tracking purposes. Use the Comment section of registration to list all people in your car.
IMPORTANT NOTE -
The number of people on the trip must remain within the prevailing restrictions or the organiser and participants might receive large fines, as well as greater chance of infection. In this case, there's not enough cars to reach this maximum number of people, so the number of cars is the limiting factor.
===== End of COVID-19 Restrictions Section = Enjoy the trip ======
Description: Road trip to Mt Isa, Queensland.
The trip is suited to off-road camper trailers and caravans capable of travelling on corrugated outback dirt roads including the Birdsville Track.
We will depart Melbourne and stop overnight mainly in caravan parks in order to enjoy their showers and toilets. On the way to Isa, overnight stops are planned in Darlington Point near Griffith, Kidman’s Camp at Bourke, then two nights and a rest day at Charlotte Plains Station near Cunnamulla where we can soak in hot artesian baths whilst taking in the outback scenery. Check it out at www.charlotteplains.com.au.
The trip continues to Charleville then on to a tiny unique town called Ilfracombe which is well worth a visit. We will take a couple of rest days at Ilfracombe, just outside of Longreach, to visit the QANTAS Founders Museum where you can get up close and personal with a jumbo jet and the famous Stockman Hall of Fame. Departing Ilfracombe, we head to the one-pub town of Middleton for the night. There is the 143 year old Cobb & Co staging pub, and that’s it for the whole town. The elderly publicans make travellers welcome with meals, free camping, and use of their “basic” facilities.
From Middleton, it is on to Julia Creek for the next night before a short drive to the remains of a uranium mining town called Mary Kathleen where we will bush camp overnight to explore what is left of the mine and town. From Mary Kathleen it is on to Mt Isa only 60km away. There are four nights planned for Mt Isa to explore the region and visit the underground Hard Times Mine.
Leaving Mt Isa, we start the journey home stopping the night in Boulia whilst heading south to iconic Birdsville where we will spend two days exploring this remote community and visit the Birdsville Hotel. Day trips out to the Betoota pub and Big Red sand dune can be done from Birdsville. Departing Birdsville, we head down the Birdsville Track for Marree and camp at another outback icon, the Marree Hotel. From Marree we continue south and into the Flinders Ranges stopping two nights at Wilpena Pound on our way to Peterborough. Another rest day in Peterborough will allow us to visit Steamtown which is a heritage rail museum with lots of interesting trains and carriages from the days of steam and early diesel. The last two days are spent returning to Melbourne via Mildura and St Arnaud.
Distances travelled on most driving days will be three to five hundred kilometres with most of the trip on bitumen save the Birdsville Track and 40 kms when approaching the Flinders Ranges.
Weather: We should enjoy warm sunny days in the mid to high 20’s as we head north. However, the clear nights in the outback can be very cold with sub zero temperatures not uncommon.
Equipment: Well-maintained 4WD vehicle with good all terrain tyres, recovery points, standard recovery gear including dampener, rated snatch strap and shackles, shovel and UHF radio (or one borrowed from the club). A sat phone will be taken for emergency use. Mobile reception is typically available in all towns visited.
No pets or firearms as we will be visiting the Flinders Ranges National Park.
Trip Standard: Easy with some medium sections including potentially badly corrugated outback roads (Birdsville Track).
Fuel: Fuel is generally readily available on the planned routes.
Distance: Approx. total distance is 6,000 Km of mainly bitumen driving.
Duration: 27 days
Convoy limit: 6 vehicles
Meeting arrangements: First day’s travel to Darlington Point is via Yea, Seymour, and Tocumwal. We can pre-arrange convenient times and locations to meet up along the way on the first morning.
Trip Leader: Roland Hollingsworth - rolandjh@optusnet.com.au
