Perth and South West Australia

The four-wheel-drive track from Perth to Alice Springs in the heart of Australia leads you to gold prospectors and remote ghost towns in the outback and the vast desert – with the many facets of Aboriginal culture along the way.

The first stretch of the journey is still sealed: on the Great Eastern Highway you drive past fertile farmland. The further inland you travel, the smaller the settlements become: Merredin, for example, still marked on the map, turns out to be a small village with a grain silo. The large pipeline that often runs alongside the road was built to carry water to the Goldfields. In Hyden, a detour to the 15-metre-high Wave Rock is well worthwhile – a natural formation of ochre-coloured, two-billion-year-old granite that resembles a giant wave.

We cross the Rabbit Proof Fence, the longest wildlife fence in the world. Here the farmland ends, the hinterland begins and the first kangaroo warning signs appear. In Kalgoorlie you reach the Goldfields. Irishman Paddy Hannan discovered the yellow metal here in 1893 on the ‘Golden Mile’ between Kalgoorlie and Boulder.

Along Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie has preserved splendid buildings from the heyday of the gold rush, as well as some of the roughly 100 original pubs where the miners washed the dust from their throats back then – and still do today. After the Super Pit Tour and a stroll around town, enjoy a cold beer at the Palace Hotel or the Exchange Hotel before setting off towards the Red Centre with its deserts, gorges and rivers – past huge salt lakes and endless grazing land.

Your first destination is Leonora, 230 km north of Kalgoorlie. On the way you will come across three ghost towns – places that were among the richest in Western Australia during the gold rush but fell into poverty once the mines closed. Take Kookynie, for example, where only nine people live today. Or Menzies: its Town Hall, dating from the boom year of 1896, is wonderfully picturesque – the number of its tin chimneys is astonishing. The shopfronts all faced east, so they lay in the shade in the afternoon. Another ghost town is Gwalia. In 1969 the largest mine outside the Golden Mile closed: Sons of Gwalia – Australia’s third-largest gold producer, which also controlled more than half of the world’s tantalum production. Overnight, Gwalia became a ghost town – with its workers’ huts, which give an impression of the miners’ hard life, the narrow-gauge Wood Line railway, which kept the mines supplied with mulga firewood, and the ‘State House’, an impressive pub. The magnificent Victorian residence, built in 1898 by mine manager Herbert Hoover, who later became President of the United States, has been a cosy Bed & Breakfast since 2001. Hoover House invites you on a journey back in time, with heavy fabrics and antique furniture. Breakfast is served in the large dining room where the mining companies once sealed their deals. Since 2008, gold has once again been mined in the new mine. Between the two towns, Lake Ballard, Australia’s largest open-air gallery, attracts numerous visitors. A total of 51 sculptures are spread across 10 km² of the dry salt lake.

After Laverton, the tarmac gives way to the gravel of the Great Central Road. Stock up on water, fuel and provisions in this mining town, and before continuing, check with the police station on the condition of the track towards Uluru. According to the signpost, Alice Springs is 1587 km away – the same distance as Berlin to Rome. No wonder some tourists lose heart and turn back here: along two thirds of this four-wheel-drive track there are only five ‘roadhouses’ and filling stations for food and drink. For hundreds of kilometres you are alone in the middle of a semi-desert. Red sand, endless expanses, heat and a vast sky: pure outback!

Driving on the ‘gravel road’ is not difficult, but it is not permitted in a conventional vehicle – the route may only be driven with a four-wheel-drive vehicle. To make the most of the Great Central Road, take your time – spend a night in a ‘swag’, the typical Australian bedroll, and sleep under the stars. The less adventurous will find a bed at a ‘roadhouse’.

In Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park all the roads are now sealed. After the jolting of the previous days, the quiet, dust-free drive is a real relief. Ayers Rock Resort offers accommodation in various categories, from the campsite to the 5* hotel. Even more exclusive is the luxury camp ‘Longitude 131’ in the middle of the dunes, with views of the 347 m high icon of the outback. Please note, however, that climbing the sacred mountain of the Anangu has been prohibited since October 2019. Discover the region and its mysterious waterholes on excursions with Indigenous guides, on walks such as the Base Walk, or on tours that let you witness a fascinating play of colours at sunrise and sunset. The rock formations of Kata Tjuta, the national park’s second striking landmark, glow from vivid orange through fiery red to deep violet. The Aboriginal people called the 36 rock domes ‘many heads’ – they are a delight to explore on a wonderful walk. The trail through the ‘Valley of the Winds’ takes you into a mystical world. Via the Red Centre Way you reach the largest canyon on the fifth continent, Kings Canyon in Watarrka National Park. Hike for four hours on the Canyon Rim Walk along the edge of the gorge and then down into the ‘Garden of Eden’. The Meerenie Loop Road, a backcountry track, then takes you to your accommodation for the night, Glen Helen Resort. The Homestead Lodge offers bunk beds or motel rooms, and the food is hearty and plentiful. At weekends there is even live music – in the middle of the outback!

After Glen Helen the road is sealed again and leads to the most beautiful gorges of the West MacDonnell Ranges: Ormiston Gorge, Serpentine Gorge, Ochre Pits, Ellery Creek, Standley Chasm and Simpson’s Gap – a wild dreamland for hikers that also gives access to the Larapinta Trail. This 223 km trail leads from Alice Springs to Mount Sonder through an ancient mountain landscape of red rock, shady gorges, lookout summits and billabong oases, and is divided into twelve stages.

Then set off towards Alice Springs, passing the Meerenie oil field and the village of Hermannsburg – the route has only been open for a few years, and you will need a four-wheel-drive vehicle for the river crossings! From Hermannsburg, a detour to Palm Valley further east is well worthwhile. Would you rather drive straight to Alice Springs? Then it is best to spend several nights there. With its lively music scene, art galleries, pubs and boutiques, the pioneer town – known to locals as ‘The Alice’ – offers the perfect contrast to the Outback Way. The small town is also home to the School of the Air and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The Explorers Way awaits you!