Organise a meeting shortly after you have your group to explain the itinerary and to ask for their
input. You might also call for volunteers to make camping ground bookings, enquire about and
obtain up permits for entry to restricted areas, and apply for Nat Parks passes.
You need to emphasize with the group that it is your holiday as well and that you are not a paid
tour organiser.
Make any changes to the itinerary after input from the group.
You probably need to start doing this preparation at least 6 to 18 months beforehand. This gives
everyone time to organise their leave, get their vehicles prepared including any modifications done
and tested.
The Itinerary cannot be set in concrete, as things can change at any time due to weather
conditions, road conditions, vehicle problems, sickness, injury and any number of other reasons.
Inform them that they might not arrive home on the set date due to this.
Vehicles must be suitable for this type of trip, ie; high clearance, off road tyres in good condition,
vehicles serviced and in good condition. The same applies to any trailers going along. Weight in
the vehicles & trailers needs to be kept as low as possible so you don’t overload them as excess
weight causes all sorts of problems to suspension and even chassis.
Vehicles must have an in car UHF radio with an external mast type aerial. Windscreen mounted
aerials and hand held radios are inadequate if the convoy is spread out over long distances due to
dust.
If you are travelling in remote areas you need to have a plan that if any member has medical or
vehicle problems that the group will help get them and their vehicle to the next point where outside
help is available. You can’t always rely on the RFDS to be able to rescue you. It depends if there
is a landing strip nearby for planes to land and it is often out of the range of helicopters.
If you are travelling in the more remote areas of the outback you will most likely have to traverse
through Aboriginal lands for which you will need to get Permits. Some of these Permits can take a
while to get and in some areas there is a quota for the number of visitor’s cars that can be in that
area at any one time (for instance parts of Arnhem Land) so you may have to alter your dates to fit
in with this. Sometimes there are also other permits required like if you are passing through a
Military area. Transit Permits for the likes of The Great Central Road from Yulara to Laverton can
come back within a couple of days. Call for one of the members to volunteer to chase these
permits up.
I try not to do huge distances each day as that makes everyone too tired to enjoy the countryside
and travel becomes a drudge. Take into account that if the tracks are unmaintained that you will
not be able to travel very far in a day. You also need to allow for longer stops of two nights in the
one spot every 4 to 6 days to allow everyone time to catch up on thinks like buying supplies,
washing and vehicle maintenance. It also gives everyone a break from all the driving.
I check the distances that the fuel stops are apart as some of the more remote tracks have very
little fuel available and then usually only diesel. You will probably need to make some long distance
phone calls to these Communities to find out if they can supply the fuel. Ask if they take credit
cards while you are at it. Also not many communities have petrol available so you have to find out if
they will get it in for you if you have a club member with a petrol vehicle. Petrol is usually BP called
Opal which is less toxic but it doesn’t affect the vehicle. It usually comes in 200 litre drums (44
gallons) and sometimes they want you to take all 200lt. None of them have LPG. Many
Communities have a shop that sells the fuel and limited supplies but they often shut the shop for a