{"id":115665,"date":"2021-08-04T16:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T06:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stillaslife.com\/?p=115665"},"modified":"2021-09-18T15:46:43","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T05:46:43","slug":"sydney-uluru-road-trip-itinerary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillaslife.com\/fr\/sydney-uluru-road-trip-itinerary\/","title":{"rendered":"Itin\u00e9raire de 11 jours de Sydney \u00e0 Uluru Road Trip (et retour)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is one of the most iconic destinations in Australie<\/a>, and while you can fly directly to Yulara airport, there is nothing like a great Australian road trip. This road trip itinerary departs from Sydney<\/a> heading to Uluru through Broken Hill, visiting some of Australie<\/a>’s most unique towns. It then comes back to Sydney<\/a> via a slightly different route so you can see a little of Victoria and say you went to 4 states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned a lot about driving on remote Australian roads from our Sydney<\/a> to Uluru road trip, and that’s where the advice below comes from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While the route is not the most direct and has some long driving days, I think the itinerary we came up with is fantastic. It gives you enough time to cover the key sights at Uluru and Kata Tjuta while also experiencing some remarkable parts of Australie<\/a> that most Aussies have never seen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just before we jump into the details of how you’re going to get yourself from Sydney<\/a> to Uluru. Lets run through a few safety and preparation tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These tips are by no means exhaustive but they will hopefully help you get more from your Sydney<\/a> to Uluru road trip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian Road Trip Safety Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This road trip involves long stretches of driving, and there is a lot of ground to cover during the day. Between goats, cows, emus and kangaroos, there are a lot of animals that you may encounter on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At night, these animals can be especially difficult to see – and there are black cows and goats that are almost invisible after dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Black
A black cow on the road near White Cliffs<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At dusk, kangaroos come out to feed and are very unpredictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flash flooding can also be a problem. The road is all sealed on this itinerary (except for a few sights that have dirt access roads), however, It doesn’t take much rain for roads to be cut off. Take care and never drive through deep water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A flooded road we encountered near Broken Hill<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Drive with care and always try to arrive before dark. Especially avoid roads after dark that run through cattle stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Trip Preparation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Australie<\/a> is big, and it’s a long way between things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This whole trip is almost 6000 kilometres worth of driving just to get there and back. More depending on how many things you do along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you are adequately prepared for the trip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Know your fuel type.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you know what kind of fuel your vehicle needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more remote you get, the less choice there is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common options for fuel in outback Australie<\/a> are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Diesel<\/li>
  2. E95 Regular Unleaded<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If your car needs premium unleaded fuel, be prepared to take E95 or consider a different car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Fuel<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Most remote service stations and filling stations only have diesel and one kind of unleaded petrol – E95 regular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you are taking a voiture de location<\/a>, your fuel will most likely be either diesel or E95 regular unleaded petrol. Make sure you know which one it is. You don’t want to put the wrong fuel type in your vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There will usually be a sticker inside the fuel cover telling you which fuel type it is. If you are renting a diesel vehicle, they now often have stickers on the outside of the fuel cap and on the windshield telling you that it is diesel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Use the right fuel<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    At most service stations in Australie<\/a>, diesel is marked with black. The pump will have a black handle and the word DIESEL<\/strong> will usually be written in white on a black background<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    E95 regular unleaded petrol will usually be marked with green. The pump will usually have a black handle and the word REGULAR<\/strong> UNLEADED<\/strong> will usually be written in white against a green background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is not always the case though, especially on some of the smaller independent service stations on the route from Sydney<\/a> to Uluru. Sometimes all fuel types will have black handles and white writing against a black background. Make sure you double check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

    Choose a diesel vehicle if you can<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    If you have the option of a diesel vehicle, and it’s not going to be significantly more expensive for you, I’d highly recommend taking the diesel route. There are two reasons for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The first is that you have long distances to cover. There are enough service stations that any vehicle SHOULD make it between them. The longest stretch between fuel is from Glendambo to Coober Pedy, 254 kilometres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, if you are driving something like a petrol Kia Rio, while it might be a fuel efficient, economical little car, it’s only going to do around 600 kilometres on a tank of petrol. That means you need to stop frequently to fill up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Refuelling<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Diesel vehicles often have a range in the 900-1000 kilometre mark per tank of diesel, especially on long open roads like the ones you will find on this road trip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Our diesel car easily does 1000 kilometres from a 55L tank on these long open roads which is part of how we were able to get away with doing this trip with far less planning than we should have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The second reason you might want to consider a diesel vehicle is that diesel prices are more stable around Australie<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While diesel prices do still get higher the more remote you get, diesel can be significantly cheaper than petrol at outback roadhouses and filling stations. This can save a lot of money on fuel<\/a> over long distances like this road trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    >> For more tips on how to save money on fuel during your next Australian road trip check out this blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Plan your fuel stops<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    There are more than enough places to get fuel on this route, however, there are still long distances between many of them, so it is important to be aware of how much fuel you have, and how much you will need to get between each roadhouse or town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You don’t want to get caught out a long way from fuel and potentially in an area that has no mobile phone service, so know where you can get fuel on the route, and identify when you will need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Erldunda
    Erldunda Roadhouse – Northern Territory, at the turn off to Uluru<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    If you are driving a voiture de location<\/a> and you aren’t familiar with the mileage it gets, having a plan of where you will be able to fill up can help to ensure that you don’t get stuck somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even without a detailed plan, we still checked where fuel stops were every morning before leaving our accommodation so we had some idea of where we should fill up to ensure we didn’t get caught out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Plan your days<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Just as important as planning your fuel stops is planning out your days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I know everyone is different in how they like to travel, and for some of us, that means planning can be a little light on. However, it’s important to plan your days for a few reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. It’s not safe to be driving after dark.<\/li>
    2. Ensuring you have enough food, water and fuel.<\/li>
    3. Operating hours are often shorter than they are in cities and check-in times can be early.<\/li>
    4. Ensuring you have adequate breaks.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      This itinerary is completely doable. We have done it in Winter when the days are shorter, but it is only just possible to get in before dark on some of the longer days. With that in mind, it is important to know how early you need to leave each morning and how long you can spend at each stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If you need more time, take more time, but stay safe and avoid driving after dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

      Mobile phone service<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Cell tower coverage is pretty limited on a Sydney<\/a> to Uluru road trip, however, you will find coverage with Telstra in almost all the towns<\/strong> and Telstra does have the best coverage along the road as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Optus does have coverage in many of the townships but it doesn’t extend far out, especially as you get more remote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      One exception to this is Yulara and Coober Pedy which has excellent coverage with Optus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Vodafone has the most limited coverage. If you choose a sim card that uses the Vodafone network, you will spend most of this trip without any coverage at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If you need the maximum coverage possible between Sydney<\/a> and Uluru, I recommend getting a sim card that uses the Telstra network.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Yes, Telstra is the most expensive, but there are some great options that use the Telstra network without being anywhere near as expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      These are called MVNO’s, or Mobile Virtual Network Operators. These are providers that use some or all of the coverage provided by an actual network operator. Be aware that there are some regions where you will still only get coverage if you go directly with Telstra, but most MVNO’s that use Telstra still have more coverage on this route than Optus or Vodafone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Dans Australie<\/a>, there are only three network operators. Telstra, Optus and Vodafone in order of coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Great options for low cost pre-paid access to the Telstra network are:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n