Round Australia Road Trip
The Savannah Way
When Chris retired from work we were living and working in Cairns, North Queensland.
Our dream for some time had been to travel the Savannah Way, which is a road going from Cairns in North Queensland right across the top of Australia to Broome in the North of Western Australia. (There is an alternate bitumen route to Darwin via Townsville and Tennant Creek that avoids the dirt roads and river crossings of the Gulf Country for those that prefer)
Unfortunately work commitments had never made this possible, and so we decided now was the time.
Savannah Way Map
Round Australia Road trip planning
After much thought, it was decided that we would not only do the Savannah Way, but go right around Australia from Cairns, across the Savannah Way to Broome. Following that we would go down the West coast of Western Australia. From there we would go round the bottom of West Australia, and cross the Nullarbor Plain to Adelaide.
A stay in Adelaide where we come from was next and then a return to Cairns, but by an inland route as we had both been around the coast route before.
A rough map of our trip
Enjoy the videos below which will give you some insight into the remoter parts of Australia and the amazing sights there are to see outside of the main tourist destinations.
Round Australia Road Trip
Join us on our travels round Australia in a Great Wall X240, from Cairns to Broome via Darwin & Kakadu, on the Savannah Way, then down the coast of WA, across the Nullarbor, to Adelaide then back to Cairns
After a storm, we thought the road was closed
Here we cross several rivers whilst travelling between Burketown & Borroloola in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
See the bras in the pub in the quirky pub in Daly Waters
See the giant termite mounds, thermal pools, we of the never never, roper river bar and more
Leaving Mataranka we head to Kakadu National Park
See Mary River National Park, Window on the Wetlands Adelaide River and Darwin and the Palm City Resort
See the wonderful waterfalls in Litchfield National Park and the magnificence of Nitmiluk – Katherine Gorge
Was the photo worth the effort? Plus view the memorial site to the Nackeroos. Memorial to Northern Australia Observation Unit (NAOU) and aboriginal volunteers.
See Sherrie and the Giant Boab Tree, Wyndham – the Northernmost town in the Kimberley, and the five rivers lookout.
Did we hear the spirit of Jandamarra? In Tunnel Creek off the Gibb River Road. The tunnel is the oldest cave system in Western Australia. It became famous in the late 1800s. Aboriginal leader and “outlaw” Jandamarra (better known as “Pigeon”) was using the “Cave of Bats” (also called “Pigeon Cave” = Tunnel Creek) as his hideout.
Furthermore we also blow a tyre as a tropical storm heads straight at us
We have to drive into this storm! A tour of Broome, dinosaur footprints, rain and Port Headland (picture of a train similar to the longest train ever run in the world) on our way to Karratha.
Sun, Sea & Kangaroos at the beach. Visit Cossack, an historic ghost town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Go through another storm & where the road is used as the Flying Doctor runway (quite common here). Check out Exmouth and the beaches of Ningaloo reef.
Don’t fall in!! Blowholes on the Quobba Coast. Cross the Tropic of Capricorn.
Come feed the dolphins with us!!. See us get bogged , and meet our ancestors the stromatolites!
Nature’s Window Come see Sharks and wildflowers, and look through nature’s window which is one of Western Australia’s most iconic natural attractions, formed from layers of Tumblagooda Sandstone in Kalbarri National Park.
See the other-worldly landscape of the Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park, and a quick drive through Perth.
See the longest wooden jetty in the world and climb a fire lookout tree.
Giant Tingle Trees, waves and wind.
Sun, Sand, Surf & Seals
Cross the Nullarbor on Australia’s longest straight road & see the Skylab crash site and wreckage
Have Christmas in the middle of the Nullarbor & see the Nullarbor Nymph?
Did we see any Camels, Wombats & Kangaroos between Nullarbor and Ceduna?
SeeThe Power of Nature at Pildappa Rock between Ceduna & Port Augusta
Adelaide to Halls Gap (Grampians)
See the Jaws of Death, Waterfalls, Kangaroos and much more
Flowers, Rivers and Mountains
See the Murrumbidgee River in flood and meet Ned Kelly
Find the black stump,Giant Meat ant & the tree of knowledge
Drought and the Long Paddock. Meet a large mob of cattle on the long paddock
See Hinchinbrook Island and a look at things to see and do in Cairns on this final leg of our travels round Australia