6 months - half lap - when to go?
 

All, apologies as kind of this question has been asked many times before, but I can’t really find a detailed informative response to the question I have. Hopefully the HUBB army can help me sort it out.

We plan on doing a 6 months trip by car around early 2022. Although we could be flexible (but this might depend on where we can buy a 4x4), I reasonably expect to start in Sydney (or Melbourne). High level plan:

(Melbourne -) Sydney - Brisbane - Cairns - Cape York - Darwin - Gibb River Road - Alice Springs - Adelaide - Melbourne (- Sydney). OR: CLOCKWISE?

A preferred must is to have nice warm weather all the way ☀️ . We don’t mind heat

The main thing to keep in mind is that the north part of Australia has distinct "wet" and "dry" seasons - the "wet" is roughly November to April, and much of the accommodation and roads in the Kimberly will be closed or inaccessible. Cairns and Darwin are also affected by the "wet".

The interior (Alice springs, etc) is *really* hot in December/January - 40+.

Sounds like a great trip!

I did that same counter-clockwise loop in September 1996 over about 4 weeks on a motorcycle. The weather was generally good - not too hot, not too cold - though I did run into about 3 days of rain on the southeast coast towards the last week of September.

In September, I found the night temps in the interior could drop to within a few degrees of freezing, yet the highs were well into the 30s by mid-afternoon. Temps on the coast tended to be more mild then.

I'm a bit jealous. With six months you could easily loop the whole continent and visit the interior!

Northern bit in the winter, southern bit in the summer.

What the man said. :thumbup1:

Highly unlikely you would get to the cape in the wet season without getting bogged.

Mezo.

When we made a circuit in 2019 we built the timing around the seasons and it worked well, although we plan to go back to Kakadu in "the wet" in the future for a very different experience there. I think your timing is about right, at least for the way we travel.

So, the drivers, as others have noted, are to avoid summer in the north and centre (if you want to travel into the Simpson for example you won't get a permit in the summer). For Victoria you're better off in the summer so you would want to be in Melbourne in January or February.

I think that if I were doing your trip I'd start in Melbourne in February/March, spend some time in Victoria, explore the southern part of SA then work my way through NSW to Sydney and then north to Cairns to arrive around May, then west to Darwin/Kakadu, GRR in June/July, and south through the Red Centre in July/August, arriving back in Melbourne in August/September.

PS: anticlockwise is shorter.

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:


Shorter, yes.
Quicker, no.
Because it takes much longer to go up north, the slow way.
(Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Clever Trevor)

Thanks all for the useful responses.

Just to avoid any misunderstandings, please apologize me as this is the world upside down for me, what would you exactly consider 'north' and 'south' and 'summer' and 'winter'?

North & south of Australia, and Australia`s summer & winter (which is opposite to the northern hemisphere).

So mid summer in the northern hemisphere (june, july, aug) is mid winter down here & is the best time to explore the top part of Australia, if you come in your winter its mid summer here & very hot, plus mid summer in the top end is the wet season.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Australia

Mezo.

I recommend adding Cape Tribulation to your itinerary.

You may as well keep going all the way up then to Cape York which is very popular with ADV & 4x4 guys, but like has been said it can only be done in the winter months, June July & August (the dry season).

Mezo.

Seasons were explained by mezo.

North is the same everywhere - north means closer to the north pole, south means further away. Northern Territory is (as you might guess) in Northern Australia. South Australia is south of NT.

Apologies if I'm stating the obvious.

Just a few words of caution to anyone travelling to Australia;
1) Australians drive on the left side of the road, but only those in cars.
2) Trucks drive on the right.
3) Motos go down the middle, except on Tuesdays.
4) Kangaroos have right of way and may not indicate.
5) Police officers are not paid by the government; if you are stopped by one, it is customary to offer him a wage subsidy.
6) North is usually the direction you are travelling in the winter, except, as before, on Tuesdays.
7) Public displays of homosexuality are frowned upon. Unless on.... yep, Tuesdays.
8) Possibly a good idea to stay home on Tuesdays.
9) Aussie Rules Football is the national game, it's usually played on Tuesdays. (See 7, above).

Hope this clears up a few things.

And watch out for Drop Bears (no camping under tree`s).

https://i.postimg.cc/mr5BFMSB/143225...35376270-n.jpg

Mezo.

That's a tame domesticated Drop Bear, mate.
You could've found a picture of a proper wild one.