[Gustomaximus]

Definitely crocs up that way. But there if bugger all on the northern tip even today. It would have been more than 1000km in tropical conditions and not sure if they even had tracks up there back in the day, let Lone shops to fill supplies, and no coastal road around the Cape even today. Have a look at Google maps of the towns up there. Its hardly a town, a lot of traditional owners and tourism support as it's popular to 4WD to the tip these days as an adventure experience.

[bogomipz]

Thanks, yeah it's amazing the number of perils an unprepared adventurer could encounter on that continent. I would be curious to hear any of your thoughts on how difficult or foolhardy trying to do an Adelaide to Darwin road trip would be solo.

[Clewza313]

Adelaide to Darwin is a cakewalk in comparison. The Stuart Highway is fully paved, excellently maintained, and has roadhouses every 100 km or so. It's completely doable by a regular sedan or campervan, and if you run into any trouble, there's enough traffic that you won't be left in a lurch.

That said, there is still a whole lotta nothing along the way, and you still need to keep your eyes peeled or you'll run into wildlife or get flattened by a road train. It'll also be extra tedious if you can't alternate driving with somebody else.

[bogomipz]

Thanks yeah I think there's some interesting points(Flinders Range, Coober Peddy, Uluru) along the way there just not on or directly off the highway correct? I was unaware of a road train, is that where the train track do not have a proper crossing signals?

[DyslexicAtheist]

road trains are very long trucks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_train#Australia going through the dusty red center (the dust from them often takes very long time to settle so no fun driving behind one :)).

the road to coober peddy, uluru etc should be maintained will enough today and provided you don't make shortcuts (or "go exploring" off the main road) but you still need to watch for large kangaroos, emus and dingos crossing. Dead or alive, they're no fun to crash into - although a road train will not stop for them (they probably couldn't even if they wanted to stop).

[bogomipz]

Wow that picture of the Shell Oil 2AB-quad tanker really merits the description of train. That's impressive.

[toast0]

4 trailers on one truck sounds insane[1]. I wouldn't get close to the triples in Oregon, and it's not dusty.

[1] But must make a lot of economic sense.

[akudha]

Coober Pedy - isn't that the town where people live underground because of the heat? I remember seeing it on some TV show. Fascinating stuff

[bogomipz]

Yeah it's an Opal mining town in South Australia. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/lens/living-underground-t...

[Gustomaximus]

Assuming car as transport, no issues.

Some golden rules are;

1) Take a few more days water than you expect the journey to take.

2) Let someone know when you should hit checkpoints so they can report if you don't show.

3) Don't go off track if you don't know what you are doing.

4) Dont leave the car if you break down.

5) If a crossing is flooded, don't take it.

But I think that's a relatively well trafficked route if you take the main roads.

[ungamedplayer]

This advice is spot on. If everyone took this advice we'd have considerably fewer issues in the outback.