Ready, steady, go north! Nomads cross into the NT

Published: July 17, 2020
Heading north

The Northern Territory borders are open to travellers from most parts of Australia for the first time in nearly four months and many grey nomads are eager to head north.

Anyone who has recently been in Victoria, Sydney and the Blue Mountains will no longer be able to cross into the NT without being sent to supervised quarantine for 14 days at their own expense … but everyone else is finally being welcomed again.

Janice English says the roadhouse she manages just south of the border between the Territory and South Australia has been booked out for the past few nights:
“They’ve just been waiting and waiting and very eager to get into the Territory,” she said. “At this time of year everyone loves going up there … early this morning, some of them started heading off at about 5am.”

Full-time grey nomad Kevin Kyle, 70, and his son Aaron, 51, have been camping out at Marla, just 100 kilometres south of the NT / South Australia border for the past week.

The pair report that their campsite was fully booked last night with many fellow travellers just as excited as them to venture into the Territory.

“Before the Covid thing came up, we were making our way across the bottom of South Australia, heading to Cape Leveque at the top of Western Australia,” Mr Kyle told the ABC. “Then we got caught up in March, at Port Lincoln, and of course we got stuck there until about three weeks ago.”

Travellers that come to the Territory will have to sign statutory declarations that they have not been in a hotspot, and face heavy fines or even jail if caught lying.

The Northern Territory has avoided any community transmission or deaths of Covid-19, with 32 cases since early March and just two currently active.

Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie says he is ‘calm and confident’ as he believes the Territory has all the right measures in place.

He told the ABC this included testing capability, intensive care capability, retrieval of people, isolation of people, and potential lockdowns of urban, apartment or remote communities if there were outbreaks.

  • Are you heading in the Territory over the next few days? Comment below.
  • We now have a Grey Nomads Instagram page. Please click here to follow us.

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Josie hall
5 years ago

Could you please post information in Regards to grey water tanks rules. Also advise re fitting to caravan if needed. How does it work re weight distribution etc.

RobMac
5 years ago
Reply to  Josie hall

Hey Josie..I’m no expert. I’m assuming you are female so try solo travellers on the forums. I don’t think people post on here often so try FB page..not twitter..it’s pretty much photos. As a novice I just try to not overfill my fresh water tank….and keep my grey tank pretty empty where possible. Given my the relative weight of the items on either side. I’d be happy to hear from more experienced travellers as well.

Kevin Kyle
5 years ago

Arrived at Erldunda Roadhouse 6am this morning. Very busy tonight but crossing the border was a doddle, in one in front of us.

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