The longest shortcut-Doing the diagonal (1)

INTRODUCTION Plan A Our initial plan for the challenge was to traverse the Australian continent, from the east coast city of Cairns, to Perth on the Indian Ocean side of the continent. Most west-bound road travellers opt to use the all-weather National Highway A1, heading south through Queensland and then tracking, south-west through New South Wales and South Australia before crossing the Nullarbor Plain to Western Australia, a drive of around 5200km. We decided to follow the Outback Way (OBW), a diagonal route traversing outback Australia, more adventurous, definitely less travelled, and certainly less tarmac than the A1. Imagine driving out of Cairns, pointing your vehicle diagonally across the continent towards Perth, traversing the outback roads across 3 states and visiting iconic and historic towns such as Alice Springs and tourist ‘must see’ places such as Uluru and Kata Tjuta. The OBW is now being promoted as an adventure tourist drive (a long one) as is shown in the following blurb. It is becoming more popular, particularly with the grey nomad set. Specifically, the OBW commences at Winton in western Queensland, but in reality, it provides the eastern end of another connection between the east coast and WA. Likewise at the WA end, the OBW officially finishes at the small town of Laverton, but again opens an alternative route to Perth and other regions of WA, some of which we visited and are described in the following picture series. I like to think of the trip from the east coast to Perth as a diagonal which encompasses the OBW and a range of roads to complete the full distance, or as it I also described ‘the longest shortcut’. Embark on an epic four-wheel drive outback odyssey, through three states and Australia’s Red Centre, on the Outback Way - Australia’s longest shortcut. Encounter pristine nature reserves, majestic ranges, mining ghost towns, Indigenous communities, vast desert landscapes, outdoor art galleries and more. Connecting Cairns in Queensland’s tropical north to Perth in Western Australia’s Mediterranean south, the Outback Way begins in Winton, south-west of Cairns and ends 2750 km later in Laverton in Western Australia, still a 10-and-a-half-hour drive from Perth via Kalgoorlie (https://www.australiasgoldenoutback.com/products/outback-way) So, that was the plan in 2019, just prior to interstate Covid travel lockdowns coming into force. Plan B We had to rethink our plans, opting to explore our own state between 2020 and 2022, undertaking camping trips to the Gulf of Carpentaria and to western Queensland. These included travel to Cairns and parts of the state which overlapped with our planned diagonal route. Plan C 2023 was looking like the year, but instead of heading to Cairns to commence the trip, we planned to head west from our base in Toowoomba and join up with the diagonal at Boulia. Well, that didn’t happen due to heavy rains making the western Queensland dirt and gravel roads impassable. More trip modification was required. Plan D We eventually departed Toowoomba on the 1st June 2023, for the 4 day, 2867 km drive to Alice Springs via Longreach, Mt Isa and Tennant Creek. Let the adventure begin.