Driving to Townsville
Hello All,
This may be a bit of a stretch, but I'm wondering if anyone has ever towed a boat along the northern coast to Townsville, and could provide any advice. I'm heading to Townsville for work at the end of the month, and I've opted to drive there so I can bring my boat with me, rather than flying. I'm planning on heading along the coast, so I can fish as I go, I've done the north west before, and a bit of the NT, but I'm not so sure about after Katherine.
Does anyone have any advice on the best way to get from Katherine to Townsville? Google suggests a route which goes via Barkly highway and Flinders highway, heading a couple of hundred k's south down to Warumungu, then pretty much straight east heading through Mount Isa, etc... I had really preferred the option of sticking to the coast, and then if weather was good, and I came across a good spot, I could get out for a fish, but from what I can see, the coastal road heading through the gulf of Carpenteria is unsealed. I'm in a 75 series landcruiser ute, all loaded up with camping gear and whatnot (thirsty and slow at the best of times) towing a 5.5 metre, 1.5 tonne boat.
If I were just going in my ute, I'd feel ok to tackle some harder tracks, but I'm less enthusiastic about it when I'm pulling the boat. Given that I'll be heading up pretty much dead in the middle of the wet season, can anyone advise if there are any decent roads along the coast through that region? I'd appreciate any input anyone had.
SpotHound
Posts: 439
Date Joined: 06/02/14
This side
This side of halls creek right back to Derby can get very chopped out during the wet season by road trains and is rather twisty and climbing.
Currently the highway is blocked due to flooding in 6 spots but usually drops pretty quick.
A solid trailer is a must.
From Kununurra to Katherine the road is pretty good.
The only road is the barkly/ flinders the other route your talking about is an abomination in the wet season.
Try the NT/Qld main roads websites for details of flooding and road closures.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8050
Date Joined: 07/05/12
My sounder came with spots in
My sounder came with spots in Townsville. Let me know if you want me to see if I ended up keeping them on file
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Comrad
Posts: 109
Date Joined: 17/07/14
Thanks gents - I put the same
Thanks gents - I put the same post up on the 4WDAction forums as well, since theres a heap more people over east on that website, and the response was pretty much exactly what SpotHound was saying. Its a shame to have to go so far inland, away from the coast, but it is what it is - It'll be interesting to check out the inland deserts, I suppose.
JackFrost, I'd love to hear of any marks you may have, I've been researching the area fairly heavily, but, any marks you had to add would be greatly appreciated. I've sent you a PM as well, in case you'd prefer to share via there, but, anything you had would be great.
EL SYD
Posts: 599
Date Joined: 16/08/10
Yeah keep an eye on the road
Yeah keep an eye on the road from willaire to Halls creek... was a bit messy when I returned home to Darwin...
And we are about to have a big dump of rain on the west nt border
maddog1994
Posts: 28
Date Joined: 04/09/14
Howd you end up going in
Howd you end up going in terms of fishing results over ther mate?