Lap of the Map

[Mc4by]

What time of year are you going?
Are you going to Tas as well?

If it is the traditional 'April to Sep' or thereabouts then I would go clockwise as the Kimberley/NT/FNQ are best in the months of Mar, April, May.
Those areas change so much that they can be totally different each tropical season (they don't have 4 seasons up there) but the late run off or early dry is great.
Early wet is the best but you risk not getting in or even worse out of so much Top End.

If it is earlier and you are going to Tas I would go anti-clockwise, Tas is best in Autumn IMHO

Once you decide which way to go then it would take maybe 100 forum pages to list the "do not miss" or "make sure you see"

I would sprint to Broome or SA, you live in WA so can pick up anything within say 1500 to 2000 K's some other time and get the max time for teh interstate stuff

I also think that it is a good idea to have an Icon Event or two to attend, say... Sydney New Year Fireworks, Tamworth Music Festival, Supercars, Moomba, a GF or State of Origin or whatever floats your boat. Only downside is it can potentially dictate the pace of your trip or when you go but that is what I usually do and it has worked for me on every major trip I've done. It can be a real downer to arrive/leave just before or after something unless you are timing the trip to deliberately miss it... kinda like going fishing and finding out you should have been there yesterday :-)

Camper - def a hard floor as a minimum, if the budget stretched to it a semi- hardshell like an Ultimate or full hardshell like a Tvan is even better. Access and setup becomes paramount when you are doing it on an almost daily basis, the easy the better by a loooong margin.
At some point you will get adverse weather so the tougher the rig the better and if like me cold is bad warm is good stay away from cold high places in Winter if in a camper.
Budget for a day or two or maybe even more in a Chalet/Cabin/Motel every few weeks, the breaks from the Camper are gold.

$2000 return to Tasmania!!! It also looks like free camping is being shut down there.
$2k is a lot of fuel on the mainland.

[taslucas]

How come $2000 return for tassie? Was that the boat price?
Also, there's heaps of free camping and lots of great places that aren't necessarily "camp sites" but no one cares if you camp there.

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[Mc4by]

How come $2000 return for tassie? Was that the boat price?
Also, there's heaps of free camping and lots of great places that aren't necessarily "camp sites" but no one cares if you camp there.

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I managed to reduce the cost to $1556 by selecting less luxurious accommodations than my wife had selected.
That is a return fare.

[taslucas]

Ahh yes, it can add up if you want it to.
Last time I did the trip it was around $500 one way. That was two people in a four berth and a commodore sedan in winter.
The prices in their ads can be quite misleading. With all their specials and off/on peak times and different levels of cabin, different types of vehicles etc... You never really know what it'll cost until you book.

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[pearcey]

Back and forth a few times, Tryhard towing 15ft caravan all up around the 12, 13 meter mark, deck chair accommodation, one only, night trips, over in June back in Oct cost around $ 1300. Good price I recon. One thing you must do is book the return trip. I got caught once, emergency trip over only booked one way as I was not sure how long I`d be there , went to book return, had to wait 6 weeks to get back.

[taslucas]

I bet they were the worst 6 weeks of your life pearcey

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[Mc4by]

Back and forth a few times, Tryhard towing 15ft caravan all up around the 12, 13 meter mark, deck chair accommodation, one only, night trips, over in June back in Oct cost around $ 1300. Good price I recon. One thing you must do is book the return trip. I got caught once, emergency trip over only booked one way as I was not sure how long I`d be there , went to book return, had to wait 6 weeks to get back.

That is a really good piece of advice!!!

[Mc4by]

I bet they were the worst 6 weeks of your life pearcey

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Without good friends or family, it could be a very expensive unplanned stayover.

[taslucas]

Without good friends or family, it could be a very expensive unplanned stayover.

Just a joke mate, I met pearcey when he stopped over one time and he thoroughly loved tas

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[Mc4by]

I have been to Tassie 3x and loved each trip.
But not booking a return trip with a 6 week wait would test any friendship.