Melbourne to Alice Springs via the Great Ocean Road and Uluru - Apollo

Thirteen nights and 3,096 kilometres from Melbourne to Alice Springs in a campervan, the Great Ocean Road first and the Red Centre second.

Melbourne and Apollo Bay both get stay days at the start, the second on the Great Ocean Road, where the Otway rainforest comes down to the coast and the Twelve Apostles stand offshore a little further west.

Portland and Salt Creek follow along the coast, the second on the Coorong, a long shallow lagoon behind a dune barrier that is one of the most important waterbird sites in the country. Adelaide comes next with a stay day, then Port Augusta where the farmland gives out, and Coober Pedy with another, which produces most of the world’s opal and where much of the population lives underground. Marla and Uluru follow, the monolith getting its own stay day, with Alice Springs at the end.

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 3,096 kilometres is a fair pace with five stay days, which is how the route manages both the coast and the centre without feeling like a transit. Winter is the season for the inland half. The Great Ocean Road is narrow and winding in places and the Apostles are best in the hour before sunset. Fuel stops are far apart north of Port Augusta. This is a one-way hire of some length, so a relocation fee is worth confirming at booking.