THE OUTBACK ALL-STARS
Uluru, NT
Standing at the base of ‘the Rock’ will recalibrate your perception of being Australian. It really is awe inspiring in its scale and beauty, but it is the feeling it instils in you, informed by its infinite history and cultural significance. And the awesomeness doesn’t end at Ulura; Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) is close by, offering an inspiring location to watch the sun rise in the chill morning air of the desert.
Alice Springs, NT
Australia’s quintessential outback city is as interesting as it is remote: think endless Northern Territory horizons to be explored and seriously good coffee once you are done.
The Ghan, SA – NT
Our most iconic train journey cuts a swathe through the red dirt of Central Australia from Adelaide to Darwin. journeybeyondrail.com.au
Coober Pedy, SA
This quirky subterranean South Australian city – the opal capital of the world – really is one of those places that has to be seen and experienced to be believed.
Longreach, Qld
Located in Central West Queensland, it is considered by many as the ultimate embodiment of an outback town.
Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, SA
At 64 kilometres long and 24 kilometres wide, this is the country’s largest salt lake, and at 15.2 metres below sea level it is also the lowest point in Australia. Experience the sense of stepping away from the modern world by standing on its vast expanse, engulfed in silence, or fly over it to really come to grips with its size and isolation.
Cape Leveque, WA
Perhaps no place better captures the contrasts of Australia than this far-flung coastal outpost, where the ochre rocks of the Western Australian outback melt into the roiling blue waters of the Indian Ocean.
Horizontal Falls, WA
Sitting in the stunning Talbot Bay in the Kimberley (Australians’ ultimate bucket list location), the Horries as they are known are a compelling sight that no less than Sir David Attenborough has described as “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world”.
Purnululu, WA
Located within Western Australia’s Purnululu National Park, this fascinating range, also known as the Bungle Bungles, has stood silent and proud over the expansive landscape for 350 million years. So it is completely puzzling to learn that most people only found out about the now World Heritage-listed formation in 1983 after a film crew flew over it while working on a documentary. Do like the documentarians did and fly over the park to get the full effect (try bunglebungleexpeditions. com.au).
Kings Canyon, NT
With its towering sandstone walls stretching up to 300 metres high, and lush, green oases of palm trees and waterholes scattered throughout, Kings Canyon, part of Northern Territory’s Watarrka National Park, is big in size and beauty; take the famed Rim Walk to take it all in.