LONGREACH, QUEENSLAND
At the crossroads of several old stock routes, this legendary township is known throughout the outback.
One of the country’s most famous bushrangers, Captain Starlight, kicked off his career here by swiping
a thousand cattle and driving them down to sell in South Australia. Longreach was also one of the
founding centres for the iconic Qantas airline, and the Qantas Founders Museum now holds some of the
earliest aircraft to link the remote towns. If you want to meet the pioneers and heroes who worked the bush, the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre explores the nation’s outback history, including Aboriginal cultures and regular whip-cracking and horse-riding shows.
The Qantas Founders Museum (www.qfom.com.au) is open daily except 25 December.
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks in Longreach
BROKEN HILL, NEW SOUTH WALES
This way-out westerner is known as the Silver City for its roots as a mining town – silver, lead and zinc are all still mined here. When it’s time to down tools, head to one of several old-fashioned Australian pubs including the celebrated Mario’s Palace, which starred in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Just outside town is the Sculpture Symposium, which features 12 artworks against a spectacular backdrop. If Broken Hill is a little too busy, make for the ghost town of Silverton, with an old gaol and a pub that has appeared Mad Max II and A Town Like Alice.
Before you head off to Silverton, check that the hotel’s open and maybe even book a room at www.silverton.org.au/hotel.htm.
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks in Broken Hill
HEYSEN TRAIL, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
This 1200 km trail, with a trailhead just south of Adelaide at Cape Jarvis, is for dedicated walkers only. It sweeps through some of the state’s best terrain, winding along the ridge of Mt Lofty and wandering through the awe-inspiring Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges before winding up in Parachilna Gorge. The trail is named for the acclaimed South Australian landscape painter, and as you amble through the ochre hills of the Flinders Ranges you might even be inspired to take up a brush yourself. If the distances sound too huge, it’s possible to break up the track into a series of one-day and half-day walks.
The trail is open from May to November. Check out some of the excursions offered by Friends of the Heysen Trail (www.heysentrail.asn.au).
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks in the Flinders Ranges
COOBER PEDY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Looking to really get down under? To escape the soaring 50°C temperatures, most of this outback
town, from private homes to elaborately carved churches, was built underground. It was opal mining that drew people into this inhospitable environment and there’s still fun (if not fortunes) to be had
by noodling (fossicking) through mullocks (waste heaps) from other mines. An opal was first discovered
here in 1915 and people from around the world have been trying to strike it rich ever since. Alternatively you can snap photos of the Big Winch or other-worldly props left over from movies, such as Pitch Black, that were filmed in the area.
When it comes time to hit the sack the Desert Cave Hotel (www.desertcave.com.au) offers the comfiest spot in town, with an underground pool and restaurant.
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks in Coober Pedy
THE KIMBERLEY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
This huge chunk of WA remains one of the true remote Australian destinations. Start by making a base in Broome, the celebrated northern beach town that has a diverse Chinese and Malay history. From here, head out into Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) National Park, known for the Bungle Bungle Range: a stunning series of striped rock towers that have a distinctive rounded shape. Two of the best attractions – Echidna Chasm and Cathedral Gorge – are an hour’s stroll from a car park, but soaring Piccaninny Gorge is a 10-hour overnight hike that will get your blood pumping.
For decadent digs in Broome you can’t go past Cable Beach Club (www.cablebeachclub.com).
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks in the Kimberley
OODNADATTA TRACK
This epic Australian road trip kicks off in Port Augusta in South Australia, snaking up through the ochre-hued Flinders Ranges before heading off the tarred roads at Lyndhurst and on to the rough stuff through to Maree. Just 60 km from Maree stop off at Mutonia, a scrapyard-cum-sculpture park that includes ‘planehenge’, a series of planes poking out of the earth to resemble the UK landmark. Along the way there’s camping under the stars, ideally next to waterholes used by Afghan cameleers who traded through here. Stop at Oodnadatta before heading back towards the Stuart Highway and the Northern Territory.
Everyone on the track stops for a brew at the Pink Roadhouse (www.pinkroad house.com.au) in Oodnadatta’s Main Street; a real outback classic unmissable in bright pink.
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks in Port Augusta
KAKADU NATIONAL PARK, NORTHERN TERRITORY
Sitting near the northern coast and covering more than 19,000 sq. km, this massive national park is synonymous with adventure. Over 5000 examples of Aboriginal rock art are daubed on the walls of this
World Heritage site, with some dating back more than 20,000 years. There are crocodiles throughout the billabongs and creeks, but they don’t stop many from admiring the spectacular 215 m drop of Jim Jim
Falls. The area became even more precious to Australians when the Jabiluka uranium mine was proposed within the national park in 1998. The mine was ultimately prevented by thousands of protestors supporting the local Mirrar people’s opposition to it.
The main entrance to the park is 135km east of Darwin on the Kakadu Highway.
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks in Kakadu
THE GHAN
Not every outback experience requires you to break a sweat. The genteel Ghan is one of Australia’s great railway adventures. It runs between Darwin and Adelaide, following the trail of Afghan cameleers who lent the train its name. Beginning in 1877, the track took decades to lay, mainly because the original routes went across a flood plain that destroyed the track in wetter weather. Today the Ghan makes trip in two days, with an afternoon in Alice Springs that can include whistle-stop tours to get you out bush on a quad bike or swooping over it in a helicopter.
Book for the Ghan and other great Aussie rail journeys at www.gsr.com.au.
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks in Darwin
NULLARBOR PLAIN
Named for the Latin phrase for ‘no trees’, this plain between Adelaide and Perth offers a long drive that is so straight you can see another car coming from kilometres away. People used to hop out for a chat
when they met because there were so few people on the road. You’ll want to head off the road to keep it interesting, so turn south 20 km to Point Sinclair and Cactus Beach, one of the country’s best surf beaches, or veer off to Yalata Roadhouse to get a permit to whale-watch at Head of Bite. After the detour, head on to Bordertown – from there it’s just another 725 km to Norseman in Western Australia.
Plan fuel stops carefully because it can be 200km between petrol stations and tow trucks charge an arm and a leg.
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks in Adelaide
ULURU, NORTHERN TERRITORY
At Australia’s dead heart a 348 m high monolith rises out of the surrounding scrubland. It’s the rock
that sold a thousand postcards, but up close you can’t help but feel why the local Anangu people regard it as sacred. While the two-hour climb may afford a view of the surrounding emptiness, the Anangu believe that this was the route of the Mala (hare-wallaby ancestor) and hence shouldn’t be climbed. Even from the ground you can marvel at the rock’s slow colour change from iconic orange to ash grey as the light fades.
A free ranger-guided walk does the 2 km Mala track, around the northwest side of Uluru. It departs at 10am (8am from October to April).
LINK: Find campsites, caravan parks and holiday parks near Uluru
Home Travel Destinations Gallery: The Australian outback destinations
