It sounds as though you can open a back door and there it is, the outback. The back of beyond, complete with intense heat, dust, roads that are impassable, lots of biting things, dangerous crocodiles and remote. The Australian outback is an evocative name describing the heart of Australia where few people live due to the arid desert environment.
The Australian outback is remote, hostile to human survival yet a tantalising mirage tempting visitors to explore the remote heart of Australia.
What is the reality of the Australian outback for human life?
- There is fine red dust, lots of it ..
- Flies and other biting insects …
- Snakes …
- Crocodiles …
- Acute water shortages
- Enormous travelling distances between places of interest
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Yet people have been living in the outback for as long as people have been around.
Why do people visit the Australian outback if it’s so difficult to live?
Visitors are intrigued by the Australian outback. Visitors are curious about the Australian outback for various reasons.
- To see a landscape that is a survivor, an arid landscape that is readily accessible from Australia’s east coast urban centres.
- Meet an Aboriginal (indigenous) culture that reaches to the beginnings of men and women expressing themselves as human beings and made a home in the hostile environment.
- Extraordinary Australian wildlife that calls the place home.
- Extraordinary landscapes shaped by the extreme weather, hot, hotter or hottest, wet or dry.
- The sheer challenge of visiting a hostile landscape.
- The fact it is there.
The outback has many variations in landscape from the top end of Australia to iconic Uluru. The outback is defined by the Red Centre, Alice Springs, Kakadu, the Kimberleys, the mining towns and the gritty farmers who battle the elements to farm in drought conditions. The outback has characters and personalities, it has even spawned TV shows such as Outback Truckers.
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WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO VISIT THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK?
The best time to visit the Australian outback is between June and September with the temperature hovering around 30c. In summer (December to late March) temperatures can be over 45c.
Where to start your Australian outback trip?
The much planned Australian outback holiday will get a good start when it’s bookende by experiences in major tourist destinations.
- Adelaide start your Red Centre Uluru, Flinders Ranges, The Ghan, Alice Springs and Coober Pedy with a day or two in Darwin to finish the outback holiday.
- Perth for west coast national parks, dolphins, Kata Tjuta (Olgas), Kings Canyon, remote mining communities, Broome and camel rides at sunset.
- Darwin the top end of Australia with Kakadu and Litchfield massive termite mounds, crocodiles lurking in tropical.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO VISIT THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK?
The best way to visit the Australian outback is a combination of guided and self-guided tours. The outback is enormous, between Adelaide and Darwin the distance is 3000 km. Coober Pedy to Alice Springs is 680 km of almost straight road and not a single traffic light or town.
- Remote (and very interesting places such as Blinman or Farina) are not on regular bus routes
- Larger towns, such as Broome, Coober Pedy and Darwin with an established visitor experience have a number of exciting day trip options. No driving necessary
- Consider flying into Alice Springs or elsewhere although it is expensive.
IS IT DIFFICULT TO DRIVE IN THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK?
The Australian outback is vast, the roads either straight and seemingly endless (Stuart Highway) or corrugated jarring dirt. Outback roads require experience similar to 4 wheel driving. Consider the factors of driver fatigue, massive road trains thundering towards you and your response, animals wandering across the road and whether your rental is actually allowed on a dirt road.
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