Not sure about driving at night particularly with a boat. North of Murchison River you will encounter a lot of livestock, cattle, sheep and goats. As well as Kangaroos and Emus.

Will need to take your time. Good set of spot lights will be handy.

When we went we drove during the day and stopped overnight at the Overlander Roadhouse. Arrive around lunchtime the next day. Even during the day we encounted livestock and fauna but able to spot a lot easier.

Your best bet is to drive Perth - Gero at night, say leave perth midnight, then drive through to Exmouth.

15 hours is a quick trip towing a boat for anyone. I do it in 15-16 towing mine when i drive straight through, but i can set on 100km's without too many problems.

Same with driving back, i usually leave exmouth on sun up, and as long as we make it to Geraldton before dark we are sweet.

A couple of years ago i did drive through at night, put it this way, i slowed down at least 40-50 times and stopped a few times between northhampton and canarvan. I barely went over 75kms on this trip.

I have not done the trip during the day since the first time i went , i now will only drive the night. Its cooler so better on the car, no idiots on the road, no traffic to get stuck behind and best of all if you have a big load you can go what ever pace you want without upsetting others. live stock isnt to much of an issue till your comming into canarvon. i have done close to 16 night drives to exxy alone now and have never had an issue just take it easy and youll be right. Also you should easillty do the trip in under 15 hours with a 5.5 m  we usually get it done in 14 hours while towing, stopping in canarvin and 440 roadhouse on the way to top up with fuel

Hey AaronC. 15 hours is plenty of time. I did it in about 13 towing a similar size boat and didnt rush. No worries with fuel in Carnarvon. Servo on the left at the end of the highway will be open. Once you get toward Carnarvon and definately after it and even more so on the Exy peninsular, roos, sheep and every other thing that jumps or runs will be out on the road as it gets dark so it can be a frigin nightmare. This side of Gero isnt as bad for livestock but you still need to be careful as you wont stop in a hurry fully loaded.  You need to have good spotties or plan to do the last stage in daylight. When I left in November at 5am we were reduced to 60 - 70 kmh on the peninsular due to roos, emus cattle, sheep ect ect. Just be careful and use common sense. Long way to go to have a destroyed radiator in sight of the finish line. Have a safe trip and hope you catch some good fish. 

We leave busso/margs around 4pm, get to perth and pick mates up etc, get a feed of HJ's and fuel then keep going.  Usually get to gero about midnight for a snack and walk around at the 440 then head north.  Usually kip for a couple of hours at murchison river then drive on to get to carnarvon for brekky and grab some fruit and veg.  The drive into carnarvon from murchison river you will want a good set of spotties and alert drivers.  Cows are just south of carnarvon but theres usually a few roos between.  At the moment its probably fairly green still from the big lot of wet they have had for a while so stock may be well off into the bush.

After that its daylight into exmouth and you rock up in time to grab a cold beer from the bottlo.

Driving back from exxy in the dark is a bit iffy, there are lots of roos all the way out to minilya but the cruiser does a good job at fending them off.  Get to carnarvon for brekky again.  Sorted

we drove back last sunday after Gamex towing our 25'. took 14 hours with the usual fuel stops and odd leg stretch. the rune between Gero-Perth we did in the dark - didn't see any wildlife. Good to have a bullbar though ;)

13-15 hours is about right if you factor in a stops/breaks etc.

We usually leave around midnight as you only drive in the darkness for only 5 hours or so. Which is the most tiring and dangerous for roo's etc. You will pretty much get to Gero around sun up at that time of the year, the livestock factor isnt too bad until kalbarri onwards. Although i have hit a roo in northampton (at 7am) out of all places. We genrally arrive in exmouth by 4ish. Got the long range tanks so only fuel stops we take are gero and carnarvon (cheaper fuel too)

on the way back, we leave around 2am and drive the Minilya stretch in the dark. Which isnt ideal as thats the worst for roo's, sheep and cattle. We just take it easy until we reach the turnoff and its generally smooth sailing all the way back to perth.

Yep agree with all posts, I only drive north at night! as long as your alert most wildlife can be spotted/avoided safely, in my 5 odd trips north i have seen maybe 5 roo's & 1 fox, not many trips i know but have never had an issue.

Normally leave around 7pm drive through with your usual stops at 440, overlander etc. dawn and dusk as usual your most productive times for animals on the move.

As for travel time, i'd allow 14-16 for a comfortable trip towing 5.5m, done coral bay to perth in 14 hours non stop 1 driver with 5.5m behind the troopy slug, fridges freezers etc camping gear. All depends on how comfortable you are with long distance driving and knowing your limits, Much prefer to get there safe then not get there at all. Especially to that magic part of the world.

Have a good trip & let the fish be on the chew!

caltex will be open here in carnarvon when you get here...the one at the t intersection...

just be aware when you are driving that roos and most wildlife come out more the later into the night it goes. as roos shooters dont usually head

out til late at night. so just keep your eyes peeled.  we have done the drive perth-carnarvon so many times at night, it is good to get it done at night as your not wasting a day in travel, and easier on the car not in the heat..

good luck and tight lines buddy

roo's where out last week just north of Eneabba and i'd dare say ths tretch from Woomeral all the way to Exy would be littered with roos after dark and i never drive this stretch in the dark and wouldn't with a boat on the back thats for sure. a trick i was taught, if it's windy you won't see many roos but if it's calm they'll be out and about, saw 60 roos in 25kms from work to home one still night, wind blew up and not one the next night.

The Caltex on the corner of the NWCH is 24hours and there is a few in Gero including the 440 roadhouse in Gero so you'll need to be able to travel 480kms on one tank for that stretch otherwise Overlander is probably open until 10pm but i'd leave from perth early morning and avoid the possible hassle and aim to get to Exy by 5pm before dusk sets in and the wildlife comes out. have good aligned spotties and a awake passenger to watch the road with you, a UHF radio is great for the trucks to see what the road is like ahead of you and for overtaking etc.

 we are doing the drive in a couple of weeks, leaving perth at lunch time then 4hours to gero stay the night leave at 5am and drive straight throught to exxy and only stop at carnarvon and some other place(cant remeber name) for fuel, dont do the drive at night was up in exxy about 8 months ago and me and dad were coming back from a shark fish and in about 15 mins we counted 180 roos. counldnt get over 20ks the whole drive. some nears misses to. wouldnt do it m8 

cheers pom 

also guys exmouth road can be a bit iffy....with the narrow lanes, and cows/sheep etc etc...

 Leave Perth at 3 or 4 am and u should get there by 7pm is what we did at Xmas time

Aaron- make sure you go the indian ocean drive too- cuts off a bit of time and cuts out towing up and down those hills around badgingarra.  Found there was less wildlife around the coastal area too- well roos anyway.  I reckon there are more foxes and cats!

just been to exmouth for boneheads, towing my 4.8 galey. left around 4.30am got there 6.30ish same day.left exmouth 6ish am and got home at 8pm. only stopped for liquids in and liquids out.

i struggled to see how the IOD is shorther/quicker than the brand, even in my HSV allowing for overtaking just about anywhere it was quicker to gero going out via midland than wanneroo. well for SOR people that is i found (from rockingham)

Keep an eye out for roos and goats from Wooramel roadhouse for the next 40-50km and again from 50k south of to Carnarvon for roos and cattle tthis time.

Haven't heard of whats about north of town but would expect the same up until about 15k passed the Blowholes turn off and between the turn oof north of Minillya passed the Lindon river to Coral bay turn off.

If you arrive in Carnarvon in working hours the fuel is cheaper at KCD fuel supplies about 500 metres towards town on the left or at the card only bowser on the right going out of town behind Centurion transports old depot on the speedway / rubbish dump road turn off.

if you leave at eight by the time you get to overlander it will just be opening and sunrise, then rest of trip is daylight.

I have done the run to exmouth plenty of times over the past 7 years, towing a few different boats and generally make it in 15-16hrs. Last trip we did it in 14hrs towing a 5.5mtr.

Its ok to drive at night time, but obviously fatigue is an issue if your not used to driving that distance.

Plan the trip out, if you leave perth at 3.30am, get to Gero and have a break and fuek uo, hammer it to overlander and have a break and fuel up, same in Canarvon. Pull over at the turn off to exmouth (should be 5ish in the arvo), and you should be pulling into exmouth about 7 oclock.

Watch out for wild life 150km before and after gero, ive had few close calls.

Get some cranking music, save a few good stories and the time will fly!

also what car are you using for towing? fuel tank capacity?

I agree with Brenz, regarding it being easier on the car at night. I have just fitted an additional trany cooler to my hilux as the tranny cops a hiding during the day sitting on a 100 clicks towing the rig.

We lways head out around 3:30-4:00 am from Perth usually arrive in Coral Bay (our normal destination) around 6:00 pm two drivers - we go non stop apart from fuel stops

Towing 5.5 mtrloaded up with camping gear etc with Patrol or Navara - set the cruise at 100 and off we go

Cheers

Paul J

Same as paul, we leave around 4;00am & arrive in Exy around 7;00pm taking the Brand. I think we are gunna try the IOD for sometning different this week. We have fuel stops then a quick shop for food in Carnarvon. There is normally only 2 of us & we change drivers regularly, makes for a good trip.

cheers Rob

you don't get the bloody little old lady through the Lancelin part of IOD, when we took off to Leeman, where you can't over take due to the winding road,  Geezes she was sitting on 80klms, a semi behind her, then us and 6 cars behind us.  Bloody stupid old biddy, once we could pass, which felt like for ever,  she was driving like she'd seen a ghost, upright, hands gripped to the steering wheel, staring into the big wide road.  She'd go from 60klms to 80klms, god we felt like running her off the road.  I know why there is road rage out there.

We saw in the trip to Leeman and back home to Perth heaps of emu's, no kangaroos, just squashed ones, couldn't get over the amount of emu's eating on the side of the road, while traffic zooming past.

Good luck with your driving and stay safe.

The night missions are good if you have a solid driving crew, have had trouble with fog south of Carnarvon when going that way in June/July, other than that a good pair(s) of spotties and some tunes make it a pleasant drive.

I think the 'night driving' has to be a personal decision based on your own experience and priorities. Obviously the animals and limited visibility will increase the risk, but as with everything it is a case of weighing up the risks and benefits (more fishing and cooler, more comfortable journey) as well as taking steps to reduce the risk.

If you are not used to long distance driving in general, it might be not be a good idea as one of the main issues with night driving is learning to maintain your concentration. If you do decide to give it a go, some things to bear in mind:-

• I would say that a good pair of (properly aimed) spotties are essential. Set them slightly wide so that they light up the verges and make a consicious effort to concentrate on the sides of the road looking for eye reflections and dark outlines. 
• Another obvious one is reducing your speed (especially when you have your lights dimmed for oncoming/overtaking traffic). I normally cruise at around 80-90km/h at night. It might sound quite slow but it gives you a lot more time to react,  and at any rate, you are still going 80-90km/h faster than if you had stopped for the night. And while I'm on the light dimming thing - when you see the lights an oncomming vehicle over a rise - dip your lights BEFORE you actually see the other vehicle as brights/spotlights will give them a blind spot even if they are only on for a second (if you get what I mean )
• If I have passengers, I normally ask them to stay awake and help out with the 'spotting'. It's also a good safety net incase you start nodding off, although you should really stop driving if you feel like you are getting anywhere near that stage.
• Probably the most important thing, and something my father hammered into me when teaching me to drive, if something does jump out in the road in front of you, brake as hard as you safely can but DON'T SWERVE! Rolling and writing off an expensive 4by and boat while avoiding a 15kg hopping rat will make you feel a right d**k.

I've done Exmouth overnight a couple of times now, and while it can really take it out of you - arriving in the morning with a full day of (potentially) awesome fishing ahead of you will soon make you forget how bad it was.

 I drive most of the way myself.I normally sit on about 90km/h and the only issue is not getting in the way of the truckies.After about 1 am most of the run is easy.I then have most of the drive into exxie in the morning so i dont run the cattle in the dark.I will be doing it again in May and will be doing it that way until my body tells me i need to stop and break the drive into two parts and that will be no time soon.If it gets that way i will get a second boat and car up there and just fly up.

If you spot a roo drop your lights to low beam, that way the roo can see where its going and get out of your way

As others have said, just take it easy.  The one thing I notice about people coming up here is that they are in such a hurry to get here to go fishing.  You don't want to ruin a holiday by hitting an animal and damaging your car, you aren't really going to gain that much by getting here an hour earlier, the whole thing about a holiday is unwinding and enjoying it and I can bet your bottom dollar that you will have 10 times as much fun and catch more fish if you take it easy and let it all happen rather than trying to force the issue and doing everything in a rush.

The night drive is fine, just take it easy, swap drivers every few hours and keep the speed at an acceptible level and you'll be all good.