How hard is it to drive in the outback? Fear not. I am a very inexperienced driver and I made it, or the Landcruiser made it for me. This is not an invitation to drive around the bush as if you were a participant in an F1 race. Easy does it, easy nice and slow.

The first obstacle with driving a 4WD in Australia is to get used to driving on the left side of the road. It is extremely odd the first days, but then you get used to it, and get used to that some things in the car are reversed, like shifting gears with your left hand. 

The second problem is to get used to driving a car that is much higher and bigger than a conventional car. A 4WD does not do too great in sharp corners. A diesel engine is nothing you race hoons with at traffic lights. Once you get used to driving on the left and driving a big car, the rest is easier.

THE 2WD MACHOS
Even if the 4WD-transmission is very handy in many difficult conditions, it's basically the sturdy build, the big tyres and high clearance that makes it possible to drive a 4WD in rough terrain. It will not take you long before you bump into a 2WD macho (typically a station hand, a mining prospector or similar) who will tell you that they never use the 4WD. The politically correct opinion in the outback is that the 4WD transmission is just for wimpish cry baby city people from Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, or Perth. Agree and shout these 2WD machos a beer at the pub, then use the 4WD as much as you please. Rather safe than sorry. Driving in 4WD is further less damaging to the fragile desert environment. 

HOW THE 4WD WORKS
A conventional car has transmission to either the front or the rear diff. A 4WD has transmission to both. Normally with a 4WD vehicle you have power only to the rear diff, mostly you drive the car in 2WD. 

When you are going to drive in 4WD, you stop the car, then you go out and lock the hubs on the front wheels. There is often a mark that says either "lock" or "4WD". If you do not lock the hubs, engaging the 4WD will not help. Both hubs need to be locked, or the 4WD will not work. Locking the hubs means that both front wheels are now rotating synchronous at the same time. Most hubs are "free wheeling", which means that if one of the front wheels can't get a grip, it will spin, while the other one is still working. Very handy when climbing on rocks, uneven surfaces, sand, mud or other forms of nastiness. 

The hubs should not be locked when driving on hard surfaces, like bitumen for a long time. Then you can destroy them. 

After the hubs are locked, you get back in the car and move a lever to either "high ratio 4WD" or "low ratio 4WD". Now you have transmission to both the front and rear diff and you're prepared to tackle many obstacles that you wouldn't have thought possible to overcome.

BASIC RULES
There are some basic rules for driving on dirt roads:
1. Slow down (except on corrugations) 
2. If you come to a difficult spot like a river crossing or a very steep rock, stop the car, get out, walk the obstacle, assess the situation (should you be driving here at all?) and then act. Don't rush into difficulties and get stuck. 
3. Don't shift gears in the middle of a difficult patch like mud, sand or a river crossing.
4. Be careful with the breaks. It's very easy to start sliding if you break too hard. Drive slowly.
Stick to these basic rules and you'll be right in most situations. 

CORRUGATIONS
Corrugations, when the road looks like a washboard, is the only time when you should speed up. If you drive in 60-80 km/h, you will find that the rattling and shaking in the car will get better (but it does not disappear). I found that high 3:rd was a very versatile gear for these situations in lower speeds. If you drive in higher speeds, then of course you shift to a higher gear so that you don't rev up the engine. 
A combination of corrugations and sand is tricky, but driving in high ratio 4WD will mostly solve the problem. 

POTHOLES AND WASHOUTS
There's only one remedy for potholes and washouts: SLOW DOWN!

DRY RIVERBEDS AND OTHER NASTY DIPS
Keep you eyes open for dry riverbeds. If you see a line of trees in front of you, slow down. If you hit a dip too fast, everything in the car will jump around, things will break, and you might loose control of the car and hit a tree. Not fun.

SAND
If you drive in sands, try to slow down and go up to a higher gear. Keep an even speed. Try to keep a straight line. High 4WD is very useful in sand. Drive straight ahead up onto sand dunes. Don't break on the way down. Deflating your tyre pressures will help you get a better grip in sand (all though I could seldom be bothered and I only got stuck twice...). Deflating the tyres helps save sandy tracks, just as using the 4WD does.
Don't drive on sandy beaches or up and down untouched sand dunes. 

STEEP HILLS
On steep hills, use low 2:nd up and low 1:st down. Keep an even speed uphill, so that you don't stall. When driving down a very steep hill or rock, you use low 1:st and keep you foot off the accelerator. Let the engine scream, it will do the walking for you. Just concentrate on steering and not falling of the cliff. :-)

MUD
Mud is the most disgusting road surface you will come across. Try to avoid to get into it in the first place. If you do come across mud, even high speed in low 2:nd or 3:rd will do the job. Maybe.

RIVER CROSSINGS
Before crossing a river, stop the car, get out and assess the situation. If the water is raging past, then don't even think about driving or walking it. If it's crocodile free water, walk it. Use steady shoes, not thongs since the stones in the river bed might be slippery. Look out for markers, stones etc. that people might have put up to help you. If the water isn't deeper than 0,5 to 1 m, then you can probably drive (at least if you have a snorkel).
   Use low 2:nd or 1:st to get through. Choose the gear that you think you will need to get up on the other riverbank. If the riverbank on the other side is very steep, then you use low 1:st. To keep an even speed, you can pull out the throttle. Don't touch the clutch and don't attempt to shift gears in the middle of the river. Easy does it.

ONCOMING TRAFFIC
Stop for oncoming traffic, pull out to the left and wait and see what the other vehicle does. 

ROAD TRAINS
When a road train approaches, get well out of the way. Wait until the dust settles, before you start driving again. 

OVERTAKING
If you want to overtake someone on a dirt road, drive into the other vehicles dust and then turn on the lights. If he observes you, he slows down and gets out of the way if he is polite. If you see someone in the mirror flashing his lights, then slow down, get out of the way and let the other vehicle pass. 

DRIVING IN A CONVOY
If you drive two or more vehicle in a convoy (which is a good idea for safety), make sure you keep distances. Don't drive in the other vehicles dust. If you have a CB-radio, the people in the front vehicle can warn the followers about dangers on the road.