The 'Outbacker' tour - Melbourne - Ayers Rock - Darwin
(or vice-versa)

Travelling across the continent on the North - South route probably gives you the most comprehensive impression of Australia. We pass through three climatic zones, starting from the temperate climate of the south heading through the subtropics of the centre to the tropics of the north. Furthermore, Australia is not just desert and prairie, the South being reminiscent of Ireland and the North very similar to the tropics of Asia.

This tour can be mastered by bikers of average experience. Most of the roads are surfaced but there is always the opportunity to ride off the road and to have some "Enduro" fun.

We leave Melbourne heading west and follow the "Great Ocean Road", one of the most beautiful of Australia’s coastal roads. This part of the coast consists of countless sandy bays and bizarre rock formations created by thousands of years of erosion. It is here that we find the "Twelve Apostles", a collection of twelve massive detached rocks, which are an absolute must for every hobby photographer.

This coastal road provides you with constant breathtaking views of the ocean and gives you the opportunity to go for a refreshing swim. In Cape Otway National Park there is the opportunity to hire horses and ride through the unique countryside for a few hours. A great experience for beginners too! On every ride up to now it has been possible to see koala bears and kangaroos living in the wild.

After about three days we arrive in Adelaide. Another day’s ride and we reach Port Augusta, which borders on the Outback. This is where the legendary Stuart Highway begins which then winds its way along the 3000 km to Darwin and the Timor sea.

Just a few kilometres beyond the outskirts of Port Augusta we are already in the Outback, with its thornbushes, huge cattle herds, gnarled Eucalypt trees and of course, kangaroos.

Already we hardly see any other vehicles, just the occasional roadtrains. Between Port Augusta and the next town, Coober Pedy, we camp out in the bush beside a huge salt lake. The fascinating atmosphere of the Outback at night is something you can’t describe, it’s something you just have to experience.


Coober Pedy is the most abundant source of opals in the world, providing 75% of world production and is a desert town. Most of the inhabitants live underground in dug-outs which are hewn out of the soft rock and which are often very comfortable dwellings. Our over night stay here is in a dug-out. Nearby there is an interesting museum which gives a good impression of the early pioneer days in Coober Pedy.

After another two days we arrive at Kulgera which is nothing more than a road-house. Not far from here is the turn off to Ayers Rock, the red heart of Australia and the world’s largest monolith, which is 8.8 km in circumference and towers 348 m above the plain. Geologists have estimated that it also reaches a depth of 3000 m below ground level. This "giant" is a sacred place for the Aborigines who call it "Uluru". Every aspect of the rock, whether it be the 60 m long "kangaroo’s tail", the waterholes, the caves or the formations caused by erosion, such as the "The Brain", has its own individual religious importance for the indigenous population. Wall paintings can be seen in some of the caves. These are painted in three colours; red, representing the past, black, for life and white, for death.

It is also possible to climb Ayers Rock along a well marked route and to enjoy the magnificent view of the vast expanse of countryside below. Those reaching the summit can enter their names in the visitors book. Only 30 km from here are the equally impressive Olgas whose granite cone-shaped summits rise up the a height of 546 m .

After Ayers Rock it’s another day’s ride along a dusty track to Kings Canyon, which is a rarely visited National Park. Here, we take a day and a half break from riding in order to do some hiking through this immense canyon with its hidden oases and their tropical vegetation. On the way to Alice Springs we stop and take a look at the crater left by the Henbury meteorite. In "Alice", as the Aussies call it, we have a day’s rest and visit the local attractions, for example, the open-air museum and an old telegraph station.

After a further two nights in the bush we finally reach the tropics just north of the gold-mining town of Tennant Creek. We spend the night by the hot springs of Mataranka and visit the Edith Falls in the Katherine Gorge National Park, which are terraced waterfalls set amid unique shrub bland.

In the middle of the tropics we reach our destination, Darwin and the Timor sea, after travelling some 5000 km. Darwin is a town with a typical easy-going atmosphere and it’s here that the tour ends. This tour is full of unique experiences in a wild untouched countryside and will, by now, have provided you with a fantastic overview of the "real" Australia.