For those planning a driving holiday along the Stuart Highway which runs from south to north of Australia, here are a few facts and figures as they stacked up for us on a 4 week (25 day) getaway. Our travelling ‘rig’ is a Toyota Landcruiser 200 series V8 diesel, and our caravan is a 22ft Jayco Silverline.

On our journey north we stopped at Lake Hart (free camp), Agnes Creek (free camp) then crossed the Northern Territory border and detoured off to Uluru, a 244 kilometre side trip. We stayed at Uluru for only two nights then returned to the Stuart Highway and northwards. Alice Springs was our next stop for two nights before we moved on to Banka Banka Station for one night. After Banka Banka we moved to Daly Waters for one night then on to a farm stay at Katherine for one night. Next day we travelled to Darwin where we stayed with friends for 5 nights.

For our return trip, we planned on shorter travelling days and more stops so our first night on the road home was at Pine Creek (caravan park) for one night, next stop was Katherine (caravan park) for one night followed by our farm stay again for one night. We stayed again at Banka Banka station on the way home followed by Tennant Creek for one night. Karlu Karlu – Devil’s Marbles was our next overnight stop, followed by Alice Springs (caravan park). The next day we crossed back into South Australia and Agnes Creek (free camp) was the best option again. Another free camp suited us the next night at The Twins and the next night we stayed in Woomera (caravan park).  Our final night’s stay on the journey was another free camp, at Mambray Creek.

For this trip we had a total of 8 nights free camping at 6 different sites, 2 nights at a station stay, 9 nights in 7 different caravan parks and 5 nights with friends in Darwin.

The total distance we travelled was 6,955 kilometres and fuel was by far the biggest expense, coming in at a little over $2,300 with the most expensive fuel we bought being at Uluru / Ayers Rock campground and costing 1.95 per litre. Our fuel economy for the trip averaged 20.9 litres per 100 kilometres.

The furthest we travelled in one day was a little over 600 kilometres, with most days averaging a little less than 350 kilometres. We didn’t experience any issues with the car, but making sure your car is serviced and tyres are in perfect condition before you go is imperative.  The caravan had a couple of minor (but annoying) issues which I will let you know about in a future post, but overall the trip was smooth and enjoyable.

If you have any questions about the journey, especially if you are thinking about on embarking on it one day, ask away.

Any questions on the best, worst, scariest, most expensive, cheapest parts of the journey I will give you the honest answers!

Cheers

Glenys