Heading Out On The Ozzy Highway
By: Michael Gebicki
Australia offers desert journeys to quicken the traveller’s pulse, journeys through rainforests and along glorious coastlines, and journeys that give a totally different view of the world. Set your wheels spinning on a modern-day odyssey, and discover a country full of amazing journeys.
Gibb River Road, Western Australia
The Kimberley is one of Australia’s most sensational landscapes. A wild, arid plateau at the top end of Western Australia, the Kimberley covers an area larger than Germany yet barely 30,000 people call it home, a place where cattle stations are measured by the million acres, where the trees come from Africa and the climate comes from the furnace, a place that seems to take its structure from science fiction. The only road across the Kimberley is the Gibb River Road, the 660-kilometre cattle track that cuts a diagonal slash across the region from Kununurra to Derby. There are plenty of tour operators in Kununurra and Broome who offer camping safaris along the Gibb River Road, but for anyone with adventurous inclinations, both Budget and Hertz have offices in Kununurra with one-way rentals of their four-wheel drive vehicles. The Kimberley is at its loveliest in its river gorges. Typical is Manning Creek, on Mount Barnett Station. Barely a two-minute walk from the campsite, the trail ends at a large rock pool where pandanus palms and paperbarks stroke the water lilies. Water brings life to this parched landscape, and there is no better place to camp for a couple of nights, dividing your time between the cool water and the warm rocks. The Gibb River Road passes a number of similar gorges – Bell’s, Adcock, Lennard River – each a reworking of the same elements of sand, rocks, shade and cool water.
Rainforest Way, New South Wales and Queensland
About 23 million years ago, the volcanoes that lie along what is now the border between Queensland and New South Wales began bubbling lava. When they had finished three million years later, layers of lava and ash had spewed over a huge area. What remains today is a rippling landscape of high peaks and green valleys, and a biological wonderland. Over the eons, the lava laid down by the volcano has broken down to a lush, red soil colonised by subtropical rainforests so rich with life that the region is home to 14 national parks with World Heritage listing. The Rainforest Way is a 650-kilometre circuit drive that showcases the best of the region. The drive is broken down into a series of seven touring routes that fit neatly into a one-day format. Centrepiece of the Rainforest Way is the rhino-horn spike of Mt Warning, a plug of solidified lava that towers above a landscape of surreal beauty. Pillars of bare rock rise from subtropical forests, and in the mornings, the peaks float on cloud pillows. Where the forest has been cleared there are dairy farms, banana and macadamia plantations and sugar cane farms, and sleepy country towns under siege from the surrounding vegetation. Larger towns along the route such as Murwillumbah, Kyogle, Lismore and Beaudesert offer accommodation, but there are also many rainforest lodges where guests wake to the sound of birds and the smells of the forest.
Sunshine Coast Hinterland Drive, Queensland
Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is rightly famous for its beaches and the resort lifestyle that flourishes in coastal towns such as Noosa. Yet just a few kilometres inland is another world, the cool, moist heights of the Blackall Range, where waterfalls tumble from the lip of the escarpment in a glistening arc and disappear into subtropical rainforests. The most distinctive features of this landscape are the Glass House Mountains, a series of sharp-sided volcanic peaks that rise suddenly from the coastal plain. The main visitor activity within Glass House Mountains National Park is bushwalking, and although the trails are short, most have fangs. Perched in the heights of the Blackall Range, the village of Montville subtitles itself ‘The Creative Heart of the Sunshine Coast’. A truly eclectic blend of architectural styles have taken root here – Tudor houses, stone cottages, Bavarian chalets, an old water mill and traditional Queenslanders – set against a backdrop of panoramic views over the coastal plain. Just to the south is the Mary Cairncross Reserve, a 52-hectare remnant of the magnificent rainforest that once covered the Blackall Range. Within the reserve a walking trail winds among the giant strangler figs, with frequent sightings of wallabies, bandicoots, echidnas, goannas, whipbirds, bowerbirds and kookaburras along the way.
The Great Ocean Road, Victoria
The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s definitive wonders, a dazzling, heart-stopping, 250-kilometre drive along the southern coastline of the continent. In the east, the Great Ocean Road begins at Torquay. This is Australia’s Surf City, home to the world’s largest surf museum, several enormous surf gear shops and Bell’s Beach, scene of the Rip Curl Pro Surf Classic, the headline event of Australia’s surfing calendar. The next town, Lorne, is the beach belle of Victoria’s coast, with a lively café culture to go with the stirring views across the broad, sandy crescent at its feet. Between Lorne and Apollo Bay the Great Ocean Road sprints along the base of the cliffs with the foam off the waves almost licking the wheels of the cars before it ducks inland to skirt Great Otway National Park, where soaring forests of manna gums and mountain ash erupt from an understorey of tree ferns that surround them like lacy green petticoats. The Great Ocean Road returns to the coast at Princetown, and for the next 35 kilometres, the scenery meter runs off the dial. Here the limestone cliffs along the southern fringe of the continent are besieged by a raging Southern Ocean that has left tall pillars of more resilient rock stranded 50 metres out to sea. The scenery reaches its climax at the Twelve Apostles, where the rock stacks are huddled photogenically close together. This is easily the most famous stretch of coast in Australia. Each corner delivers another even more spectacular combination of cliffs, islands and battering sea, each scene demanding a stop.
Cape to Cape, Western Australia
In its forests, vineyards and extravagant coastline, Western Australia’s south-west region is a showcase of Australia’s extraordinary diversity. This 200-kilometre route between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin knits this wonderland together, and although the distance is short, this is a journey to savour. South from Cape Naturaliste, Caves Road parallels the coast, swooping through luscious, rolling farmlands and canyons of karri trees that lock arms overhead to form green tunnels above the road. The wildflowers in this region have evolved colours and forms that are found nowhere else. Come spring and the landscape erupts in an exotic show of orange banksias, vivid yellow wattle and kangaroo paws. About midway along this coast, a detour inland leads to the Margaret River wineries. This is one of Australia’s premier winegrowing regions, acclaimed for its ability to produce wines of astonishing finesse and longevity. There are around 130 wineries here, and a tasting tour is essential to the full experience of the region. South of Margaret River, the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park is a favourite with fishermen, walkers and surfers, who come here to experience sublime scenery as well as a legendary surf break. The road ends at Cape Leeuwin, where the Pacific and Indian oceans meet, and a favourite spot to watch for cruising whales.
