OUTBACK TRACKS
Savannah sensations
Story and photos Don Fuchs
The Savannah Way links Australia's east and west coasts. From Cairns to Broome, its 3501 kilometres cross some spectacular country, not the least of it to be found on the Queensland leg of this wonderful journey.
Unlike the Gunbarrel Highway, which was first built to recover rockets launched at Woomera in South Australia, or the Gibb River Road in Western Australia's Kimberley, which was designed as a beef road to move cattle from the isolated stations to abattoirs in Wyndham, the Savannah Way is a marketing product. Dubbed 'Australia's adventure drive', the Savannah Way leads from Cairns on the east coast, heads across the base of Cape York Peninsula into the Gulf Savannah, links tropical Queensland with the Northern Territory, and ultimately ends on the other side of the continent at the Indian Ocean in Broome. It is a conglomerate of roads with a total length of 3501 kilometres - too long for one leisurely trip if time is limited. It is, of course, not necessary to travel the way's entire length to experience something of what it has to offer.
Full story Issue 34 April/May 2004
