DESTINATIONS – TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

South Australia’s Gawler Ranges is a place where history, pastoralism, con­ser­va­tion and Abo­rig­i­nal cul­ture come togeth­er.

When you buy a new or used Earthcruiser 4×4 motorhome you get bonus membership of a tight-knit group of fellow-minded bush travellers. Just how supportive that group can be was evident on a double crossing of the Simpson Desert.

Cape York can be tackled in a variety of ways, from full-on, extreme 4WD tracks to the corrugated main road. This suggested itinerary takes in some demanding off-roading, but not hard-core tracks like the one through Gunshot Creek.

Although the best known sites around Alice Springs are in the West MacDonnells, there are many natural and historic wonders to the east of the town that are not so well visited.

We spent all of February 2023 in Tasmania, but it wasn’t the usual off-road-oriented trip that we normally do. We were running-in our 75 Series’ rebuilt engine, so we played normal tourists for the trip, with some dirt road and beach driving thrown in. Younger members of the group did their own adventure thing.

There are drives that are rougher, sand dunes that are taller and floodways that are stickier, but no track compares with the CSR in terms of sheer distance and the mechanical and physical endurance required.

In response to requests for info on water-based camping venues we’ve checked out some inland waterways in Queensland.

The loose gravel track climbed out of the rocky creek bed and wound its way up a steep slope. When the bonnet crested the rise the view literally stopped us in our tracks: as far as the eye could see the twisted, tortured hills of the Flinders Ranges stretched to the horizon, their folds accentuated by the fading rays of the sinking sun.

After much preparation, our mate Woody and his missus, with some mates, headed for the Madigan Line in mid-2024, but so did the rain. Here’s his story.

This unnamed track connects two of the most remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia. Outback Travel Australia drove it in the company of Alice Springs Expeditions, who organised permits.

It’s often been said that the journey is half the fun and that’s certainly the case with the gravel road alternative routes to the Red Centre from the East Coast: the Sandover and Plenty Highways.

Some OTA website visitors have asked us if we’ve done any interesting overseas 4WDing adventures, so we’ve kicked off with a trip Allan Whiting did to Borneo back in 1991. Unfortunately, the images that illustrate this story are digitised from 30-year-old transparency film, so the quality isn’t flash.

The Silo Art Movement is encouraging people from all walks of life to travel along part or all of what is now one of Australia’s great road trips.

This suggested itinerary around the Gulf of Carpentaria takes in part of the Savannah Way and the old Gulf Track. It’s a great way to travel between North Queensland and the Northern Territory.

The innocuous name doesn’t exactly capture the imagination, but Lawn Hill National Park in north-west Queensland is one of the State’s most spectacular sites.

The Oodnadatta Track is one of the most scenic and interesting drives in Australia. The country is flat to gently undulating for the most part and the gravel road is generally kept in good condition.

With a rich history and old mining towns galore, inland North Queensland is attracting fossicking hobbyists who make the trek in search of gold and gemstones.

The great east-west challenge is the Gunbarrel ‘Highway’, but years of neglect make it a severe 4WD vehicle test. The Great Central Road used to be an easier run from Uluru to The West, but the NT section has always been in worse condition than the WA part.

For many years it seemed that Australia wasn’t home to many large dinosaurs, but discoveries in recent years have revealed the exact opposite. The discovery of the fifth-largest dinosaur ever found and now fondly known as ‘Cooper’ (Australotitancooperensis) has put Australia right up there.

The Beach Run is a fun pursuit today, but Robe’s situation made it an important port in the days when most freight went around the coast by ship. The Beach Run is great 4WD adventure, but there’s plenty more to do in the Robe area.

Australia is a fantastic destination for tourists looking for natural beauty and adventure. Even for locals, there are hundreds of places to explore that will feel just as special as visiting a foreign country. 

For years we’ve driven past NSW’s Yanga National Park en route to more distant places, but our OTA Team members Sheree and Simon Martin spent five days there in 2020. It’s a Park that’s well worth a visit.

This World Heritage listed area offers spectacular views of the Mount Warning volcanic site, along with drives and walks through dense rainforest.

Beach driving, fishing boating and camping are easily accessed in the south section of Myall Lakes National Park, near the NSW coastal town of Buladelah, just north of Newcastle.

This stunning image of the Rainbow Serpent painted under a rock overhang near Mr Borradaile in Arnhem Land is thought to be the largest ever discovered in northern Australia. For Roz and Tim Bowden it was the precursor to three days of joyous discoveries with Davidsons Arnhemland Safaris.

Just half an hour from Coffs Harbour on the NSW North Coast, this challenging track is perfect for the 4WD explorer, as it climbs along the ridges of rocky plateaus and winds through lush rainforest. This journey can take one day or one week depending on how much you’d like to explore the diversity around the National Parks.

We’ve separated the Kimberley into two destinations – east and west – because it’s such a large area and you’ll need more than the customary four weeks to get there from the east, tour the region and then get back home.

Two of the must-visit sites in Western Australia are Karijini National Park and Mount Augustus National Park, although neither place requires a tough 4WD. The access roads to both areas are gravel and that’s the extent of the driving adventure.

Rudall River National Park is one of the most remote national parks in Australia and is strictly for experienced and well equipped 4WD travellers

There’s great scenery and history on this North Queensland trek that weaves along the watercourse of the mighty Burdekin River.

This high-altitude Queensland destination offers rainforest and gorge walks, forest camping, spectacular lookouts and an interesting 4WD loop track.

These two national parks are close together and offer an excellent sandstone escarpment experience for visitors.

There are plenty of 4WD tracks in the NSW Blue Mountains region. We’ve picked out some of the highlights.

The main purpose of the Tanami Road for 4WD travellers is a short cut between Alice Springs and The Kimberley, but there’s plenty to see along the way.

Queensland’s North Stradbroke and Moreton Islands aren’t as well known as Fraser Island, but they’re well worth a visit.

This north-south dune track in South Australia never achieved its original aim to connect arid-region pastoral properties with coastal shipping ports. However, thanks to the persistence of the Denton Family in the 1970s it’s a great 4WD recreational route today.

This track was pioneered by Jol Fleming, from Direct 4WD Awareness in Alice Springs. Unfortunately, since we did this trip, Ethabuka Station has withdrawn access permission, but you could always ask…

If you travel on only one of Len Beadell’s desert tracks the Sandy Blight Junction Road is the one to do. It runs through beautiful, interesting country and was justifiably his favourite.

Len Beadell named this ‘highway’ after his baby daughter, who accompanied him and his wife, Anne, when he drove across country, planning this track that was later finished off by his Gunbarrel Road Construction Party.

This Victorian destination offers easy 4WD touring, bush walking, boating, canoeing, fishing and bird watching.

In 1929 Dr Cecil (CT) Madigan undertook a series of aerial reconnaissances of central Australia and in 1939 followed this up with a scientific expedition into the Simpson Desert.  It’s now a popular, but demanding desert expedition.

This 25,000ha National Park was gazetted in 2001 and contains a mixture of rainforest and regrowth and old growth forest. Easy tracks make this an interesting one-day excursion for softroaders.

Queensland has gazetted a number of former grazing properties as national parks, to conserve significant geography, flora and fauna, as well as for pastoral historical value. We’ve picked out three parks that lie north-south between the Savannah Way and the Diamantina.

Here are two routes through Outback NSW that give visitors an excellent impression of this river country that has supported Aboriginal tribes and white pastoralists for eons.

Although not quite as challenging as Michael Palin crossing the Andes by frog, a trip across the continent in a softroader can have its moments.

OTA was asked to consult with some Arnhem Land elders about the prospect of limited tag-along tourism in this heavily restricted area. Nothing has materialised yet, but we’re hopeful.

The normal approach to Cape York is via the east coast tracks and the Peninsula Developmental Road, but this route starts on the western side of the Peninsula, for those coming from the Gulf.

The first trek was two years in the planning. The aim was to escort two senior archaeologists into this remote region, to search for evidence of ancient Aboriginal occupation in what is today an arid, desert region, with no surface water. The second trek is a round-trip journey from Birdsville, recounted by an OTA Supporter.

In Part Two of following Colonel Peter Warburton’s desert footsteps the team, headed by Jol Fleming, spent a great deal of time locating a native well area that has remained hidden for many decades. Originally we thought that we could retrace Warburton’s footsteps in two desert trips, but it needs three – at least.

The OTA team joined Jol Fleming and some traditional owners to follow in Colonel PE Warburton’s 1873 footsteps through Aboriginal Lands west of Alice Springs.

The best way to appreciate this relatively unspoilt National Park is to enter at the southern end and drive on interesting and sometimes challenging tracks to the more popular and easily visited northern sections.

Located 240 kilometres east of Darwin in Australia’s tropical north, Kakadu National Park covers almost 20,000 square kilometres and is a place of enormous ecological and biological diversity.

Limmen National Park preserves beautfiul savannah country at the base of Arnhem Land. Highlights are riverside campsites and fantastic ‘lost city’ sandstone hills.

Our suggested route takes in some of The Otways highlights, but it’s possible to spend a lifetime exploring this mountainous region.

Yuraygir National Park was created in 1980 and embraces more than 30,000 hectares of coastal land that’s largely unspoilt.

Said to be the worst road in Australia, the Anne Beadell Highway in South Australia lived up to its reputation when OTA ran it.

Victoria’s Mallee National Parks capture arid and river-front landscapes, and flora and fauna that seem quite ‘un-Victorian’ to people accustomed to High Country destinations.

Idalia National Park is a resumed grazing property in central-west Queensland. The Park protects mulga woodlands, the headwaters of the Bulloo River and tributaries of the Barcoo River. It’s home to 15 native fuchsia species and the endangered yellow-footed rock wallaby.

It’s tempting on a Cape York trip to bypass many of the interesting sites along the way in a headlong rush to get to The Tip. One such significant area is Maytown, the centre of the Palmer River Goldfields.

Gregory National Park doesn’t have the scenic attractions of the wetland NT Parks, but is sited in unique country with great historical significance and offers good off-road driving.

The 2200-kilometre-long Binn’s Track runs from Mount Dare in South Australia to Timber Creek in the Northern Territory sub-tropics.

When we turned left up the Hay River valley it wasn’t immediately apparent that we were travelling up anything other than another swale, but after a few kilometres we started to see signs of water flows and obvious flood erosion.

More than 1000 species of native plants have been recorded in the Park, including 90 varieties of orchids. Fauna range is also vast, from tree-dwelling mammals to dolphins and whales in the coastal waters.

Bladensburg National Park is a former grazing property and is one of the best short-drive National Parks we’ve visited. You can camp there or stay at nearby Winton and drive the ‘Route of the River Gums’ in a softroader as a pleasant day trip.

Cape Melville is a little visited destination on the way to Cape York and the main reasons are the remoteness of the place and the difficult access tracks. However, if you don’t mind slogging through rutted bulldust and deep sand, then living with crocs, rays, sharks, stingers, dingoes, feral bulls, giant pigs and hordes of voracious sandflies you’ll just love it. Oh, the fishing’s not bad either

This footage from 1989 is of the now forbidden beach run from Ussher Point to Captain Billy Landing.
Many 4WD adventurers were forced to abandon their 4x4s after becoming hopelessly bogged in sand on incoming tides.

Everyone knows about Uluru (Ayers Rock), which is one of the world’s best known tourist attractions. However, the Rock is just one of dozens of brilliant sites in Australia’s Red Centre and many 4WD visitors don’t leave themselves enough time to see them all.

As with many national parks Beowa (Ben Boyd) is best appreciated by setting up your camp and then driving and walking to experience the attractions. Nearly all the gravel and dirt roads in the Park are suitable for 2WD vehicles, but there are some 4WD-only tracks in the northern section.

Outback Travel Australia helped two senior archaeologists make a highly significant discovery in the Outback. We were delighted to help set up this archaeological expedition and we felt privileged to be present when such an important historic find was made.

Carnarvon Gorge is one of the best known National Parks in Queensland, but not so well known is the fact that it’s only one of four major sites in what is the greater Carnarvon National Park.

The explorer Charles Sturt was the first white man to pass through the area, in 1845, on his way to find the anticipated inland sea. Australia’s inward-flowing rivers surely meant that there must be a central sea into which they flowed and so convinced of this was Sturt that he hauled a whaleboat on wheels with him.

Like many of Australia’s giant rivers the Diamantina has its source in shallow hills, spreads majestically wide when full and ends anti-climactically in an inland swamp. Also like many inland rivers the Diamantina is little more than an expanse of dusty channels, with isolated waterholes, in most years. Flooding rains change that scene.

OTA joined forces with senior archaeologists from the National Museum and UNE. This expedition began with a search for elusive diprotodon fossils on the shores of Lake Callabonna.

K’gari (Fraser Island) is one of the jewels in Australia’s crown and is justifiably on the World Heritage List. We have a need to get to K’gari every few years and the problem is: so does everyone else, it seems.

This World Heritage Area is a must-see destination.

When we did Outback trips with our archaeological mates it never ceased to amaze us how they saw things we didn’t. On this excursion into the Strzelecki Desert we helped them locate what looked like a pile of old rocks, but it turned out to be something quite different…

It’s an unfortunate fact that 4WD enthusiasts are locked out of many Aboriginal lands, so it came as a refreshing change when we were invited by well-known Alice Springs based 4WD guru, Jol Fleming, to join him on a ‘recce’ for what is intended to be a regular tour through Aboriginal lands in the northern Simpson Desert.

OTA joined a combined Direct 4WD Awareness and Central Lands Council expedition into the Northern Simpson Desert. The purpose of the trip was to look for evidence of Aboriginal occupation in the remote Plenty Lakes area.

This trek follows a route laid out by NSW-based 4WD Off Road Driver Training and Tours. The route takes in popular and less travelled tracks across the dune field, followed by a run through the Painted Desert, to Coober Pedy.

Magnificent, tall ferny blackbutt, brushbox, tallow wood and blue gum trees dominate the ridge lines and valleys, and rainforest pockets appear around virtually every corner. Almost half of Tapin Tops NP is old-growth forest and provides a habitat for threatened species, including the parma wallaby, squirrel glider and sphagnum frog.

It’s tempting for east coasters emerging from the Tanami Desert to push through the East Kimberley region and onto the Gibb River Road, but you need more time near the WA border before going west.

There are literally hundreds of tracks through Australia’s tallest mountain ranges, but we’ve selected just a few of our favourites.

Abercrombie River National Park preserves steep sections of forested tableland, amidst less rugged, cleared country that has become pine plantations and grazing land. Abercrombie offers varied 4WD driving conditions and magnificent river-side campsites.