Explorers Way: Adelaide to Darwin in 14 Days - Apollo

Thirteen nights and 4,215 kilometres from Adelaide to Darwin in a campervan, up the Explorers Way from the Southern Ocean to the tropics.

Port Augusta comes first at the head of Spencer Gulf, where the farmland gives out and the arid country begins, then Woomera and Glendambo, the first a rocket range township closed to outsiders for decades, and Coober Pedy, which produces most of the world’s opal and where much of the population lives underground in dugouts.

Marla follows, then Uluru and Kata Tjuta with a day there: the monolith stands 348 metres above the plain and the domes of Kata Tjuta nearby are taller still, with the Valley of the Winds walk running between them. Kings Canyon comes next, where the rim walk runs six kilometres round sandstone walls a hundred metres high, then Alice Springs, and the long run north through Katherine and Litchfield to Darwin.

The camper and the day-by-day plan come from Apollo, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Fourteen days for 4,215 kilometres means long days at the wheel, and this is the full length of the continent rather than a tour of any part of it. Winter is the season for the centre, since summer temperatures there are punishing and the walks close in the heat of the day. The Uluru climb is closed and the base walk is the better way round it. Fuel stops are far apart on the Stuart Highway and road trains need room. This is a one-way hire the length of the country, so a relocation fee is worth confirming at booking.