4WD Adventure Route Details

Day 1: We start the week in Kulgera, just inside the Northern Territory border, before heading west through a number of privately owned stations; Victory Downs, Lyndavale & Mt Ebenezer before hitting the Lasseter Highway. Variety is very appreciative of the Stanes & Morton families for allowing us access over their properties. Sometimes we forget this land is their income and to be able to travel it is a great honour which Variety is very thankful for.

Heading west to Yulara, ‘The Rock’ will be a major highlight, particularly for some of you who have yet to visit this gargantuan Australian icon. Besides Uluru, we will provide time for entrants to head out to Kata Tjuta (Olgas) an awesome rock formation which is surprisingly large.

Of course there is something special planned for our first night on the event and we know the entrants will thoroughly enjoy what we have in store.

Day 2: A late check out allows entrants more time to explore the Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park before we head east on an easy drive, via lunch at Curtin Springs, to an early check in at Kings Canyon Resort.

There is time to visit and walk this sensational area called Watarrka National Park. There are numerous walks available, all taking different times, so there will be something available for everyone. Don’t forget to pack those walking shoes!

Day 3: An easy drive via Ernest Giles Road we head to Henbury Station on our way to Boggy Hole where we will give you two nights in the one spot. Once we turn left off the Ernest Giles, we change from tourist to Adventurer and the fun of four wheel driving begins in earnest.

On our way we will enjoy lunch at The Illamurta Springs Conservation Reserve before we head to our overnight camp at Boggy Hole in the Finke Gorge National Park. OVZ can attest to the name ‘Boggy’ as they did find some very difficult sandy areas. Mind you, OV1 did try to climb a rather large rock and required assistance to be dragged off, due to two front wheels flailing in the air!

Throughout this area the scenery changes quite incredibly, with sand, rocky outcrops, creek beds and a wonderful billabong where you might enjoy a quick dip or at least enjoy the serene oasis.

Day 4: We continue our rugged 4WD journey north along the Boggy Hole Track and toward Larapinta Drive. Then onto the township of Hermannsburg, the first Aboriginals Lutheran Mission, where you can take time to explore and have a look at some of the wonderful attractions and Indigenous artwork available.

We then head south to the wonderful and picturesque Palm Valley purported to have the oldest river in the world. What else is there to see? palms! Red Cabbage Palms (Livistona Mariae) to be precise and the things that obviously gives the area its name. A tropical oasis in the desert!

Then back we head for a second night in Boggy Hole, crawling along the Finke River to get there!

Day 5: We then head east in the valley between two very different mountain ranges which make up the James Range. To the left there are masses of fallen boulders and rocky outcrops and on the right there are majestic rock flumes that are coral-like and look like they should be in the ocean. How two sides of a valley could look so different is amazing.

Hitting the Stuart Hwy we turn south with a quick diversion to Hendbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve on our way to Erldunda. After lunching at Erldunda we will travel through a number of significant Central Australian Stations, such as Erldunda, Indracowra, Horseshoe Bend and onto Lilla Creek for our night stop.

Well, given we will be at Lilla Creek, that’s where we plan to set you up. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain and the creek starts flowing… wet swags are not fun things to sleep in!

Day 6: More travelling through private stations; The route takes us through more of Lilla Creek before we head into Lambert’s Centre of Australia for morning tea. Lambert’s Centre is considered to be both the geographical and the gravitational centre of Australia, by Geoscience Australia. Apparently this location was calculated from 24,500 points at the high water mark of Australia’s coastline.

Given OV1’s expertise in this area, or lack thereof, we find it hard to work out what this actually means but contemplate this could lead to some great discussions around the campfire one night.
After Lambert’s, we travel to New Crown Homestead for lunch. We recognise the Costellos, Colleen & Don, for making their stations available to us, as they did in 2008. We certainly appreciate this is largely because of Variety’s fantastic reputation.

In the afternoon we drop into the infamous Mt Dare and then head south so we can let you wash away the dust and soak those tired bones in the magnificent hot Dalhousie Springs… just don’t get too alarmed when something starts nibbling on your toes!

Day 7: Perhaps another dip in the hot springs before we take you south via Old Dalhousie Ruins to Oodnadatta for lunch.

After lunch we take you to Arkaringa Station for a sensational sunset, or as Greg Quicke would say, an evening earth turning, overlooking the rugged and majestic Painted Desert. The scenery, which can be viewed from a number of the great lookouts available is quite incredible. A mixture of moonscape, ruggedness and colour, we can only imagine how many artists have been inspired by the harsh beauty of the place.

We think the Painted Desert makes a perfect setting for the final night for an adventure in the Red Centre.

*All route and locations mentioned are subject to change pending conditions or other environmental factors