Where do you begin? Where do you start? Which direction? All pretty big questions when you’re starting out.
During these challenging Covid-19 times, initially staying within your state borders is a safe bet. If your area goes into lockdown you won’t be stranded away from home. That’s what we decided to do in 2020, we travelled as much of QLD we could fit in before the wet season started.
I like to begin a new trip plan with some inspiration, I follow other traveling families on social media, I watch travel shows on the weekend on TV, in the past I’ve found travel Australia books useful to highlight an area and not drive past something amazing.
Where to record your planning:
You can start collecting camps and activities that appeal to you, can be as simple as a screenshot on your phone, or noted down in a book, even dots on a map like Wiki Camps or Google my maps.
Google My Maps
This tool is free to use, you simply search a location and drop a pin in that spot, you can colour code them and change the icon from a place of interest or camp.
Wiki Camps Trip Planner
The Trip Planner tool is included with the standard Wiki Camp app purchase and allows you to add locations in a particular order and have the program work out the route between locations.
Polar Steps
This phone app is pretty cool, it can be used as a planning tool or to record your trip automatically. Most of the features are free to use with some upgrades available. you can view other peoples trips and your own trips are plotted on a map automatically from your phone photos.
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet like Excel or Googles free Sheets program are great for getting the specifics down for your trip. You can include things like dates for school holidays (book ahead), costs, deposit paid, distance between locations, camp costs and number of nights to stay.
Australia's Travel Seasons
You may have heard the term “follow the sun” before when people talk about travelling. What they mean is be in an area at the right time of year for the best weather and all facilities and attractions open.
GreyNomads.com.au describe this really well here.
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The WET season in the North
October – May and that is when heavy rain, flash floods and sometimes even cyclones occur blocking/closing roads. -
The DRY season in the north
June – September, there is low humidity and very little chance of rain -
The HEAT in the centre
November – March temperatures in outback Australia soar up to 45 degrees with unexpected rain causing flash flooding. -
The COOL in the centre
April and October daytime temperatures are normally very pleasant although it can get very cold at night during July & August. -
Summer in the South
November – March are the best times for low rain fall and warm temperatures. -
Winter in the South
June – August winters in the south are often wet and cold.
