[wildbill]

I thought this might be a good area to start a thread on my coming 6 week road trip via car which will cover around 9,000 miles in Central Australia and the top end of the Northern Territory.
We plan to see such places as Coober Pedy the Opal capital of Australia where it's that hot in summer they build their houses underground to escape the heat. not just houses ..the church too!
Then drive up to Alice Springs the heart of Australia and on to Ayer's Rock/Ularu
and kata Tjuta or the Olgas plus venture into a few of the gorges etc etc. This area I hope to sight a few of the wild camels which roam the area from stock which were imported to Australia in the late 1800's
Then fire off up the track to Katherine and to the famous Katherine Gorge then onto kakadu national park and all the sights. Here we have the salt water no swimming in the water style crocodile which has a reputation for the odd Aussie or tourist for lunch....and I mean lunch!
From Darwin we plan to head towards the West Aust border and over to look at the famous prison Boab tree which was once used as a prison to house the locals - or so they say.
Best of all these photos will be shot on a pretty good camera and I will be using the new 4k video mode which is 4 times sharper than HD
For some places of interest I plan a few helicopter flights over certain areas of the trip for a birds eye view of the county.
Now it's a car trip well actually a sports car trip with a difference and they journey will involve sealed and dirt roads plus the opportunity to drive past the huge Northern territory road trains which pull thripple trailer behind their prime move and can be 150 ft in length.
So there is no Royal Enfield ride involved so if you think you want to read or see a bit about the Aussie countryside from a local and not a tourist -here's you chance to say if you really want to read the threads and view photos plus the video uploads. Now even it you have no interest in this part of world travel as it doesn't involve a motorcycle I am sure I can pull something out of the trip which could make it worth the view.
Lets see now ...What you think!

[wildbill]

Mode of transport for the 6 week run

[mattsz]

I'm in!

Those road trains can kick up a lot of dirt and stones and crap, yes?  Any way to protect that little beauty from all that?

[High On Octane]

Sounds like a fun time!  Also sounds like a lot of time in such a small car. 

[Arizoni]

I'm in, even if you didn't drive a Miata.

If you don't have one of these, you ought to look into getting one.



The nose cover.  Not the 10 AE.

If you squint you might notice that my Miata also has a moderately course wire grill over the radiator and I drive it often in 115° F heat with no problems.
That wire grill does a good job of protecting the radiator from stones kicked up by cars or trucks ahead of me.

Have a good trip and keep us updated on your adventure.

[JVS]

Should be a good trip, Graham. Be careful out there in the middle of nowhere. Carry all the emergency kits. Maybe even a satellite phone. You never know. But other than that! Keep us updated 

There used to be a very famous computer video game called Need for Speed: Underground, that was released back in the early 2000s. One of the cars the player got to use was the Miata. I had a lot of fun, even though it was just in a game lol.

[gashousegorilla]

  Watch out for those Rogue Abarths as well Wildbill !        Have fun and keep in touch ! 

[wildbill]

thanks all. later this month I might throw a sample video up prior to the departure. once that side is sorted out I know I can upload key points of interest as I travel.

[beansprout]

Best of luck. Make sure you never leave any petrol station without filling up entirely - From memory, Coober Pedy and Alice Springs have 24 hr petrol, but not much else in between. If you end up in Port Augusta, I can recommend a caravan park slightly out of town that will give you an air-conned cabin for about $40 a night instead of an average of $100.

Keep a lot of water, sort out some emergency contacts beforehand. It isn't quite as dangerous as many folk make out, but if you get stuck around there, you're... Basically f*cked.

Done the ride (Uh, no car) many times, and it's quite amazing. Be very careful driving dawn and dusk, as Kangaroos come out around then and love hopping over the road. I dare say, your car wouldn't last an encounter. A truck with bull-bars, yes, but that car... No.

I'd also see about contacting the Royal Enfield Club of Australia (RECOA) and joining. For $30 for a year (unless fees have gone up, that's from memory), you might end up meeting some great folk, getting the odd ride, staying with some good folk. Who knows. We're a good mob! Plenty of good advice.

[wildbill]

sure I will keep in mind what you have mentioned about the trip up the centre. yeah you can give me that caravan park info just in case I happen to stay the night in that locality.
as for the car your right again. I definitely have little to no room for error with any native or feral animals on the road or the trip is over for me and probably a plane trip home as well...
will do most of my travelling in the daylight hours and especially looking forward to the alice to tenant creek section where I expect to engage the turbo plus a bit of boost!

[Jonno]

Have a great trip Wild Bill. It's a great place to drive or ride around. My son and I have just completed a trip from Melbourne to north of Geraldton in West Australia with the Royal Enfield Club of Australia. We covered about 8500kms over 3 weeks and had a ball. Between 3 and 12 club members at various times as we met up with members in the 3 states. We had 3 States, 5 time zones and 2 countries (Principality of Hutt.  http://www.principality-hutt-river.com/gov/PHR_45th_Anniversary_Celebration_Weekend.htm) covered by the time we got back.
A link to a few photos and a ride report can be found on dropbox by following this link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bk0ittu4kum55xz/AAAzH94KiuFj-LPFdaa7mG_5a?dl=0
I'm sure you will have a great time, and I look forward to seeing some photos.

Take Care

Jon

[Bulletman]

 
I'm in Graham, have a great trip and kiss the Kangaroos for me .....

[wildbill]

will do my best to keep an eye out for the grey jumpers or out that way the red version.

car has now joined the backpackers club  this unit hold approx. 50 litres of gear and will give me more room for the other stuff. held down on the boot at 6 points on a anti-slip mat and rock steady






while at it today I decided to pull the droopy eye ball air vents and replace with the Mitsubishi vents. these give a much better close off and directional control so should help channel the air conditioning better......or so others have said.






I had this bonnet bra I had not used for a while so I might give it a trial run on the trip.

[2bikebill]

That's going to be a real adventure of a drive. I've spent time in Coober Pedy, my brother lived there for 30 years, opal mining of course. I've driven there from Adelaide and from Alice - either way is 500 miles of desert - I wouldn't do it in a car without a top on it!
Coober Pedy is as hot as hell and bone dry - it can go over 50 centigrade! At least you're not going at the hot time of year! It's on the tourist trail now, unsurprisingly I suppose - it's a pretty surreal place. The Stuart Highway hadn't been built when Bro moved there - dirt road all the way! You see CP coming from miles across the desert - the "moonplain" - miles and miles of conical piles of white spoil. It's like a pepper pot - shafts every few feet in parts. Mind where you step - people disappear....
Have a great trip, your post made me itchy for another visit. The bro lives on the coast now, with a boat - hmmm... I'll just have a quick look at air fares....

[2bikebill]

They make quite a few films round Coober Pedy, when they need unearthly landscapes. The spaceship from the film Pitch Black, with Vin Diesel, was left outside the underground hotel in Coober Pedy. It may still be there. And the rocks from which the flying monsters emerged at night can probably still be found around the place