The Ultimate Australian Road Trip – Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Option 1: Brisbane to Uluru
Written by Cristian & Fernando – BROWNS Intensive General English (B2 level) students
Road trip from Brisbane to Uluru with a camper trailer.
It will cost you between $300-$400 in petrol (fuel), each way.
Distance: 3.272 km
Route: You can drive to Uluru from Sydney in 3 days in an ordinary 2WD car.
- Get on the M3 from Edward St and Alice St
- Take National Highway 15, Cunningham Hwy, Newell Hwy/A39 and B76 to Castlereagh Hwy/Fox St/B55 in Walgett
- Merge onto M3
- Take Cumberdoon Way, Carinda Rd, Buckiinguy Rdand Colane Rd to Mitchell Hwy/Pangee St/A32 in Nyngan
- Continue on A32. Take National Highway A87 to Lasseter Hwy/State Route 4 in Ghan
- Follow State Route 4 to your destination in Petermann.
When is the best time to visit Uluru?
That depends on what you want to do.
If you just want to see Ayers Rock and take a few photographs of the Uluru sunrise or sunset, you can visit at any time of the year.
If you want to climb Uluru or do any of the walks around
Ayers Rock or Kata Tjuta, then the cooler months of the year (May to September) are the best.
Safety Tips and Other Advice
Driving to Ayers Rock is safe, however there’s a few outback driving safety tips we’d like to share with you.
- Fatigue kills. It is five and a half hours drive from Alice Springs to Uluru. You MUST stop and rest every two hours for 15 min.
- Animals kill. Camels and cattle (cows) roam freely on the Lasseter Hwy. Be alert and slow down when you see them. Hitting cattle at night is the most common cause of tourist fatalities on the Lasseter Highway.
- Speed kills. Slow down. The speed limit is 110km/h for a reason.
- Don’t drive at night. Kangaroos, cattle and camels are active at night. A collision with one could be fatal.
- Overtake only when you have a long, clear straight. Leave three times extra space if you’re overtaking a road train. They are up to 55 metres long!
Option 2: Gold Coast > Sydney > Melbourne > Uluru
Written by Sayo and Jihoon (one) – BROWNS Intensive General English (B2 level) students
We are planning to go Uluru. So we made a plan to go there.
Our total travel days is a minimum of 8 days.
Total cost is almost AU$1100.
Overview:
- G.C (1day)
Currumbin > Byron Bay - Sydney (2 days)
-Opera house > Bondi Beach - Melbourne (2 days)
-Great Ocean Road – Saint Paul’s Cathedral - Uluru (2 days)
– Night view
– Sunrise, sunset
– land, camels
Transportation:
G.C >Sydney (Plane) Sydney >Melbourne (Tram, Bus) Melbourne >Uluru (camping car)
Details:
First, we take a bus to Currumbin. Go to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. We can take a photo with a koala. Next we take a bus to go Byron bay > Go to Gold Coast Airport.
Second, we arrive in Sydney. We take the bus to go to the Opera house, Bondi Beach. We stay in a hotel for 2 days.
Third, we are in Melbourne. Here, we are going to the Great Ocean Road, Saint Paul’s Cathedral. We stay here for 2 days.
Last, finally we arrive at Uluru!
We rent a camping car. We can see great night view, sunrise, sunset. We sleep in the camping car.
Total cost:
Plane – $100 (One way) Bus, tram – $30
Hotel – $200 (One day) Food– $300 (One person) Camel tour– $80 (One person) Camping car- From $1 per day + petrol (fuel)
How to get a camping car/van from $1 per day:
Relocation cars and campervans may be available from various locations around Australia for one-way rentals. There are a variety of websites that you can check. Here are a few:
Safety:
We have to drive long times.
So we need to change driver. If someone tired, one person should take a rest.
*This article was written by BROWNS students and should be used as a guide only. If you have any questions about travelling around Australia, we recommend you contact Backpackers World Travel.
Upcoming articles:
- Information about New South Wales & ACT
- Road trip from Sydney to Cairns
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