Stirring up the dust on an Outback Odyssey

We roar along the dirt road towards the Northern Territory border with Hell’s Gate on our right and the never-ending outback on our left. Darwin is a shimmer in the distance ahead and Cairns just a speck in our rear vision mirror. We’re on the biggest outback odyssey of our lives, the Savannah Way, even though the trail of dust is already settling behind us, like we’ve even never passed through.The Savannah Way is an adventure drive that strings together Cairns and its coral adorned reefs, to Broome and its pearl embedded ocean. It slices across the Territory – weaving around stray cattle on the roadside, running down the main streets of tiny townships, and dropping in right to the verandah of some of Australia’s best outback pubs.We roar past the ominous sign welcoming us to Hell’s Gate and stop in a cloud of dust at the quirky little service station. Our 4x4 guzzles up diesel from the bowser in big gulps and our adventure into the wilds of the Territory is about to begin.

The road from Hell’s Gate to Borroloola is bumpy. And there’s rivers that need to be crossed (although these are mostly dried up to a trickle by the middle of the Dry season). The locals at Wollogorang Station, which operates as a roadhouse just inside the NT border, lean back in their seats thoughtfully, and inform us the road should be fine because it was graded just before the wet. And they’re right. Except for all the creek wash-outs that definitely make this path a 4x4 drive early in the Dry. Savannah scrub whizzes past the windows, as does a semi-trailer bogged in the Robinson River (with a very patient truckie waiting by its side). And before we know it, we’re at the Heartbreak Hotel at Cape Crawford… and it’s a lively night tonight! Travellers mix with cowboys and ringers, sharing tales and taking turns picking tunes on the jukebox. It’s a party into the wee hours of the morning, including boot-scooting on the dance floor, and we fall exhausted into our tents which are attached conveniently to the roof of our Britz 4x4 hire car. It’s parked under a nice shady tree in the caravan park, which is attached to the back of the pub.

Hovering in a helicopter by 8am the next morning, I leave my companions sleeping peacefully while I go off to explore the Lost City, which is in the Abner Ranges, not far from Cape Crawford. The Lost City can only be reached by air. The sandstone formations tower into the sky like skyscrapers – the only thing that’s missing is the busy city traffic. The precarious skyscraper rocks have been more than a billion years in the making and consist of 95 per cent silica, held together by an outer crust made mainly of iron, giving them their red colour. We swoop down between the rock faces and take a wander around the base of this sea of peaks which stretches into the horizon. My pilot picks up a handful of the soft sand and crumbles it between his fingers. The next day, cooking toasted cheese sandwiches on a campfire by the side of the Roper Bar road, we watch fishing boat after fishing boat, filled with cheerful fishermen, heading north towards Limmen Bight, one of the fishing meccas of the Territory. We pack up and follow the trail of dust in the distance… and as we cross the Towns River, a crocodile glides across the top of the water, which is gushing across the road in front of us. I take a quick "snap" (excuse the pun) with my camera, and when I get the film developed upon my return to Darwin, find myself staring at a crocodile’s spiny tail, disappearing into the murky depths …

That night we pull up on a high bank beside the Limmen River and cook a camp oven dinner. Delicious veggies and roast lamb -- which has kept remarkably well in the little refrigerator in the back of our hire car. Cooking marshmallows for dessert, we fall asleep to the crackle of the camp fire. The next morning, we awake to the sound of fishermen starting up their boats at first break of light and speeding off in bursts across the glassy water as the sun pushes up behind the trees.We’re almost home. We know that when we hit the bitumen, not far out of Roper Bar. After being out of mobile phone range for almost a week, it’s daunting to be heading back into reality. About two hours down the road, we pull into the tiny Territory town of Mataranka – which is famous for its thermal springs. (Interestingly, it seems Mataranka is also famous with the famous. A signed photograph of Russell Crowe is nestled above the bar in the little Mataranka pub, which has walls covered in signatures, photos and memorabilia. A barmaid explains that the Hollywood star drops in whenever he is passing through.) We head out to the thermal springs, but hang a right before we get there and set up camp at Elsey National Park and go for an early evening canoe on the peaceful Roper River – the only living creatures we have to share it with is a few waterbirds. We warily eye the croc trap sitting on the opposite river bank. If it’s empty, that must mean …It’s our final day on the road. Somehow the gentle hum of the tyres on the bitumen of the Stuart Highway, winding up through Katherine to Darwin, just isn’t as thrilling as the sound of skittling rocks on an outback track. We’ve driven through some of the remotest parts of the Territory, indeed Australia. I look in the rear vision mirror at the empty road unravelling behind me and see the end of an amazing adventure. Now I just have the other half of the epic Savannah Way ahead of me.

Savannah Way Fact File:

• It’s 3699km from Cairns to Broome

• Most of it can be done in a family sedan

• It includes five World Heritage listed sitesTerritory must-dos along the Savannah Way:

• A sunset canoe on the Roper River at Elsey National Park, near Mataranka

• A helicopter ride over the Lost City at Cape Crawford

• A beer at the Heartbreak Hotel

• A fishing charter to the Gulf of Carpentaria near Borroloola

• 4x4 driving in Gregory National Park

• Bushwalking through the unusual landscape at Keep River National Park

• A detour to Kakadu and Litchfield national parksFor more information, visit http://www.savannahway.com.au/, or pick up a copy of the Hema map of the Savannah Way. The Katherine Regional Tourist Association also has information on 08 8972 2650.