The Outback Way - Britz

Fourteen nights and 2,800 kilometres from Winton to Laverton in a 4WD camper, straight across the continent on the Outback Way.

The route links western Queensland to the Western Australian goldfields and is mostly red dirt, with cattle stations and roadhouses the only stops on it. Winton comes first, where Waltzing Matilda was first performed and some of the best dinosaur trackways in the world are preserved, then Boulia, Tobermorey and Jervois stations across the Channel Country.

Gemtree and Alice Springs follow at roughly the halfway point, then Erldunda, Uluru and Kata Tjuta. The western half is the remote one: Kaltukatjara, Warakurna and Warburton are Aboriginal communities on the Great Central Road, which requires transit permits, and the Tjukayirla roadhouse stands alone before Laverton.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, 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. Permits for the Western Australian and Northern Territory sections need arranging in advance and are free but not optional. Fuel is available only at the communities and roadhouses, several hundred kilometres apart, and the corrugations do more damage than the distance suggests. Fifteen days is the right allowance, and this is dry weather driving only. The Outback Way is being progressively sealed, so the proportion of dirt changes year on year, and it is worth checking the current state of the Queensland and Western Australian sections before committing to a date. For a traveller who wants to cross Australia away from the highways, there is nothing else quite like it.