ADVENTURE
Pack
the family car or four-wheel drive, head for your nearest travel agent,
book a package by train, plane or bus, even thumb a ride with a friendly
bush pilot... or perhaps saddle up a camel.
However you decide to travel Australia's great Outback, it will pay to do your homework first.
Sample some of the great travel adventures on offer in this amazing part of the world with this selection of articles from back issues of R.M. Williams OUTBACK magazine.
Van Diemen’s drovers
Issue 37 Oct/Nov 2004
Droving was once a way of life for cattlemen all over
Australia, not just in the outback. Even Tasmania had its droving traditions,
as the re-enactment of a famous late 19th/early 20th century events readily
attests.
Mysterious
art of the Kimberley
Issue 36 Aug/Sept 2004
John Bradshaw, whose great-uncle Joseph was the first European to sight
the now world-famous Bradshaw rock art galleries in 1891, journeys back
to his family’s
dreamtime in a remote region of the Kimberley.
Surf and dunes of the Coorong
Issue 35 June/July 2004
The pristine coastal setting of Coorong National Park is renowned for booming
surf, drifting sea mist, towering white dunes and a wondrous sense of isolation.
Snowy Mountains high
Issue 34 April/May 2004
As you sit and listen to 73 year-old Clydie Miller tell stories
of the old days on "Boonoo", your imagination soars with every twist and
turn in his tale.
To the gates of hell
Issue 33, Feb-Mar 2004
Following the tracks of the Palmer River gold prospectors,
a party of offbeat travellers and their donkeys take on the aptly named
Hell's Gate,
in north Queensland.
Shady Shangri-la
Issue 32, Dec 2003/Jan 2004
Exquisite beauty and boys-own adventure are butted side-by-side in the Top
End, where the lily-clad Shady Camp Billabong meets the murky undercurrent
of
Sampan Creek.
Game for the Gulf
Issue 31, Oct-Nov 2003
The untamed tracts and rivers of Strathmore Station, in Queensland's Gulf
Country, are luring tourists keen for wilderness fishing and hunting holidays.
Swept away by a seabird sanctuary
Issue 30, Aug - Sep 2003
There is great excitement, and a tinge of apprehension, as we zoom toward
the Lacepede Islands.
Savannah vision
Issue 29, Jun - Jul 03
Back in 1982, John Courtenay had a vision. There were no specialised tourist
guides in the Gulf Country, and the former Gulf Local Authorities Association
chief executive officer's concept was to train guides who could man
strategic locations as protectors and interpreters, and act as a launch
for employment opportunities and flow-on effects for isolated Gulf communities
and cattle stations.
Gorgeous gorge country
Issue 28, Apr - May 03
The rugged beauty a Kimberley cattle station has been turned into a wildlife
sanctuary - in doing so converting the views of a cattleman who ran
the place for 20 years.
Across the Tanami - On Foot
Issue 27, Feb - Mar 03
Augustus Gregory discovered the Tanami Desert and contemplated a crossing
from west to east with horses, but baulked. Four years later John McDouall
Stuart - also using horses - attempted a crossing from the opposite
direction, but was beaten back a quarter of the way into his journey.
Birdsville or bust
Issue 26, Dec 02 - Jan 03
Of all Australia's outback tracks, the Birdsville Track is rightly
regarded as the king. Not because it's the toughest road in Australia,
which it certainly isn't; not because it's the most scenic - there
are numerous other outback journeys with more visual delights; and not because
it's the most remote - any number of other tracks are 'further
out' and necessitate a better vehicle, equipment and preparation.
Back to Beltana
Issue 25, Oct - Nov 02
Early South Australian pastoralist and businessman Sir Thomas Elder is remembered
by many Australians as a founder of Elder Smith and Company (later Elder
Smith Goldsborough Mort, now trading as Elders Ltd). But the man after whom
a major range in the Flinders Ranges is named was also a noted camel breeder.
The Darling River Run
Issue 24, Aug - Sep 02
Everyone knows of the mighty Darling, Australia's longest river. Yet few
Australians visit the western reaches of outback NSW where the Darling River
meanders south-west for 2740 kilometres before joining the Murray at Wentworth.
Trail to the nation's heart
Issue 23, Jun - Jul 02
Walkers have been experiencing parts of central Australia's Larapinta
Trail for more than a decade, but now that the full 233km walk is open,
it is being hailed as one of the world's great trekking experiences.
The Lost Cities discovered
Issue 22, Apr - May 02
Some say they are the eighth wonder of the world. Others believe they're
bound to become an outback tourism hot spot. What is certain is that the
Lost Cities won't remain "lost" much longer.
Paddling with the crocs
Issue 21, Feb - Mar 02
"You are totally immersed in your environment. It's not like a
four-wheel-drive journey. You are part of the river, you work with its flow
and enjoy it as a primal source," says Snowy Wohling - the man who
takes visitors down the Top End's pristine Flora River.
Breathtaking Bullo
Issue 20, Dec 01 - Jan 02
People around the world have come to know about Bullo River Station - through
the books of Sara Henderson. Open to visitors for the past three years,
the remote Top End station is now owned by Marlee Henderson and her husband,
Franz Ranacher, who take great delight in showing off the many attributes
of the station and the area.
Survivor - the real thing
Issue 19, Oct - Nov 01
In this test of outback survival, there's no camera crew, nearby doctor
or helicopter. And nobody gets voted out. In this case, survival is a team
effort.
The last packhorse ride
Issue 18, Aug - Sep 01
Since the 1840s there has been an unbroken link between horses and Victoria's
Bogong High Plains. Explorers, cattlemen, brumby chasers, bushrangers, goldminers
and adventurers have all taken to horseback to access and traverse the High
Country. But with horse treks in the Alpine National Park threatened, a
journey up Mt Bogong immediately before winter may have been the last packhorse
ride.
Sights from the saddle
Issue 17, Jun - Jul 01
Against a fiery setting sun the majestic Cockburn Range glows red, just
like our evening campfire that is sending up a plume of smoke in the distance.
Our answer to Africa
Issue 16, Apr - May 01
The northern wet season is just about over. Crocodiles and goannas are out
on the floodplains getting fat on magpie geese and their eggs, while the
entire Top End is alive with colour and tucker.
Call of a coastal wilderness
Issue 15, Feb - Mar 01
Unspoilt beauty characterises Croajingolong National Park, a wilderness
escape ideal for hiking, swimming and camping on Victoria's East Gippsland
coast.
A desert Odyssey : The Simpson
Issue 14, Dec 00 - Jan 01
Of Australia's major deserts, the Simpson is probably the best known - and
the most feared. But from its northern and southern entry points the Simpson
is quickly becoming a tourist destination in its own right, providing an
outback exoerience like no other.
River of dreams
Issue 13, Oct - Nov 00
On land and water, Tasmania's west coast is home to some of Australia's
most ruggedly beautiful wilderness. The Franklin and Gordon rivers that
came to the nation's attentions during the 1970s and 80s environmental activism
- and the small town of Strahan are today focal points for a burgeoning
different kind of outback tourism.
Captivating Cape York
Issue 12, Aug - Sep 00
The 1200 kilometres from Cairns to the top of Australia are filled with
immensely rewarding and totally unique sights and experiences.
Riding for Riley
Issue 11, Jun - Jul 00
The man from Snowy River is a household word today, And the stockmen tell
the story of his ride.
Trekking with Tim
Issue 10, Apr - May 00
His love affair with the Snowy Mountains goes well beyond political connections.
It's where Tim Fischer is investing for the future.
Capricorn by Camel
Issue 9, Feb - Mar 00
Deniliquin, NSW jackaroo Andrew Harper has just completed an epic seven-months
crossing of Australia along the Tropic of Capricorn.
Ultimate Arnhem Land
Issue 8, Dec 99 - Jan 00
Mount Borradaile - where wilderness, wildlife and eco-tourism meet.
Once wild Wollogorang
Issue 7, Oct - Nov 99
It's hard to travel in the remote Gulf Country of far northwest Queensland
and the Northern Territory without hearing about Wollogorang Station and
Paul Zlotkowski long before you reach there.
The Trail Blazers
Issue 6, Aug - Sep 99
Australia's Bicentennial National Trail is the longest marked trail on earth,
winding 5330 km down the Great Divide. Although within four hours' drive
of more than 10 million Australians, less than 20,000 people have completed
long-distance treks on the trail since it was officially opened in 1988.
Kimberley coast paradise
Issue 1, Oct - Nov 98
It's dawn at Faraway Bay and guests are waking to the sound of bush birds
and the ocean rolling shells back and forth on the beach below the cliff
top where their bush huts are perched, each with a birds-eye view of one
of the most remote and beautiful bays in the Kimberley.
Bluff and beyond
Issue 2, Dec 98 - Jan 99
A humble trail riding venture has grown into one of Australia's great mountain
adventures.
Camel safari
Issue 4, Apr - May 99
Camel safaris are thirsty work, even for camels, but they offer a unique
view of Central Australia.
World's longest mail run
Issue 2, Dec 98 - Jan 99
Jody Rollings is not your regular postie. Sure he's got his letters and
his parcels and his canvas bags. And a neat uniform too. But there's no
motor cycle. Nor does he walk. And his round is somewhat longer than usual
- 2600 km, in fact, which takes him two days to complete by air.
